The irritation came so quickly Lee hadn’t the chance to mask it. “He’s the kind of man who can’t admit when he’s made a mistake. I’m a reporter, not a novelist.”

“I see.” Still smiling blandly, Bonnie dropped her chin onto her laced fingers. “So, what are you going to report about Hunter?”

Was there a challenge under the smile? A trace of mockery? Whatever there was at the edges, Lee couldn’t help but respond to it. Yes, she thought again, Bonnie Smithers was a great deal like her brother.

“That he’s a man who considers writing both a sacred duty and a skilled profession. That he has a sense of humor that’s often so subtle it takes you hours to catch up. That he believes in choices and luck with the same stubbornness that he believes in fate.” Pausing, she lifted her cup. “He values the written word, whether it’s in comic books or Chaucer, and he works desperately hard to do what he considers his job—to tell the story.”

“I like you.”

Cautiously, Lee smiled. “Thank you.”

“I love my brother,” Bonnie went on easily. “More than that, I admire him, for personal and professional reasons. You understand him. Not everyone would.”

“Understand him?” Lee shook her head. “It seems to me that the more I find out about him, the less I understand. He’s shown me more beauty in a pile of rocks than I’d ever have found for myself, yet he writes about horror and fears.”

“And you consider that a contradiction?” Bonnie shrugged as she leaned back in her chair. “It’s just that Hunter sees both sides of life very clearly. He writes about the dark side because it’s the most intriguing.”

“Yet he lives…” Lee gestured as she glanced around the kitchen.

“In a cozy little house nestled in the woods.”

The laugh came naturally. “I wouldn’t precisely call it cozy, but it’s certainly not what you’d expect from the country’s leading author of horror and occult fiction.”

“The country’s leading author of horror and occult fiction has a child to raise.”

“Yes.” Lee’s smile faded. “Yes, Sarah. She’s lovely.”

“Will she be in your article?”

“No.” Again, she lifted her gaze to Bonnie’s. “No, Hunter made it clear he objected to that.”

“She’s the focal point of his life. If he seems a bit overprotective in certain ways, believe me, it’s a completely unselfish act.” When Lee merely nodded, Bonnie felt a stirring of sympathy. “He hasn’t told you about her?”

“No, nothing.”