“See anything interesting?” Her dad sat across from her and brushed a red leaf from the wooden table with the side of his hand.

“There are a couple new ones I’ll check on tomorrow. I’m still considering the one on Green Meadow Drive.” Kate didn’t want to overstay her welcome. She’d planned on staying at a hotel, but her dad had insisted she take his spare room. And she had to admit it had been a relief to hide away the past three weeks. She’d had time to think, time to pray and draw closer to God. It had been a bittersweet time.

“How much longer on the steaks?” she asked.

“Oh, seven or eight minutes,” he said.

“I’ll put the salad together.” Kate entered the house through the sliding door, careful not to fingerprint the glass. She found the head of lettuce and chopped it, then sliced a ripe tomato and placed the knife in the dishwasher.

Her cell rang as she was getting the dressing. Every time it rang, her thoughts turned to mush. She hadn’t heard from Lucas since she left, but Jamie had e-mailed her twice.

It’s not Lucas, Kate. For heaven’s sake. Get on with your life.

Bryan had called the day she arrived in Columbia. She’d told him not to call again, and so far, he’d respected her wishes.

She pulled her cell from her pocketbook and answered.

“Kate. How are you?” Her agent’s voice greeted her.

Kate squelched the inevitable disappointment. “Hi, Ronald. I’m okay. Getting settled in, looking for an apartment, avoiding the media. You know, the usual.” It had been easier than she’d hoped to avoid the press since only a few people knew her whereabouts.

“Yeah, I’ve noticed,” Ronald said. “It looks like they’ve run out of things to say about you.”

“That’s what we were hoping.” A flurry of papers had covered the story initially, and several tabloids had joined the fray, but the scandal seemed to have died down already.

“That part’s working for us.” The caution in his tone warned of a negative flip side.

“What’s wrong? Have you heard from Chloe or Paul?” Her editor had been quiet. In fact, Kate hadn’t heard from Chloe since their conference call over three weeks earlier.

“I called her this morning just to check in,” Ronald said. “I’m afraid sales have dropped off quite dramatically. She mentioned the ugly ‘R’ word.”

“Returns?” The stores, if unable to sell the books, returned them to the publisher, unsold.

Kate set the plastic tongs in the salad bowl and faced the sliding door. “I don’t understand. I’ve done what they asked. I’ve avoided the spotlight, and everything has died down. I thought that’s what they wanted.”