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crying out loud, a little girl’s daddy.
    â€œSo,” he asked, “what brings you to Arlington?”
    â€œI was looking for a change of pace,” she said vaguely.
    â€œYou’re leaving Mercy Hospital, aren’t you,” Lindsey said.
    Susannah turned to the girl. She’d liked Lindsey when they’d met in the front yard that afternoon. She liked anyone MacKenzie approved of, since MacKenzie tended to be quite selective in bestowing his approval. The moment Lindsey had caught Mac and scooped him off the ground, the cat had sighed and snuggled into her arms, melting into a purring ball of fuzz—his signal to Susannah that the kid was okay.
    The kid was a little less okay right now. She’d brought up the one subject Susannah really didn’t want to talk about: her acting career.
    She was going to have to talk about it. Sooner or later, people were going to recognize her. She could introduce herself as Sue Dawson—or Mary Smith or Sally Jones or Hazel Berrybush, for that matter—but anyone who watched TV or read showbiz magazines was going to realize she was Susannah Dawson, the onetime star of the top-rated TV show Mercy Hospital.
    Lindsey was staring at her, her eyes wide and glistening with curiosity, or maybe awe. Susannah had to say something. “I’ve already left the show,” she murmured, infusing her voice with a note of finality.
    â€œSee?” Lindsey swung toward her father. “I told you she was a famous actress! I told you! I can’t believe she’s living right next door to us! This is so exciting!” She turned back to Susannah, who felt her appetite slipping away. “I love that show! It’s the best show on TV. I thought you were great in it. I read you were leaving the show, and Dr. Lee Davis was going to be written out during the May sweeps. I don’t know why you left, except that now you’re here and that’s so incredibly cool.”
    â€œWell…” She wished Toby would bail her out, steer his daughter in another direction, talk some more about the appalling increase in pediatric asthma cases over the past decade. But why would he? He was probably just as fascinated by her career as Lindsey was. People always thought working on a television series was more exciting than it actually was, more glamorous, more stimulating. He was probably just as curious as Lindsey to learn why Susannah Dawson had abandoned the show and transported herself all the way across the country in an effort to get as far from that whole scene as she could. She couldn’t expect him to stifle his daughter.
    â€œI was looking for a change,” she said again.
    â€œBut it’s the most popular show on TV,” Lindsey said. “And I bet you made gazillions of dollars, and people all over the world watched you every week. Plus, you got to kiss Lucien Roche—”
    And an unfortunate experience that was, Susannah thought bitterly, although she didn’t say so. She hadn’t fled from Mercy Hospital with the intention of badmouthing everyone else connected to the show. The producers still wanted her writing scripts for them, which was generous of them and a wonderful opportunity for her. As for the actors…they were doing their jobs, and she’d made the choice to do that job for many, many years. She took responsibility for her life, the way she’d lived it then and the way she hoped to live it now. She wasn’t going to put down anyone else.
    â€œI’d die if I could be a TV star,” Lindsey gushed.
    â€œI bet it’s so much fun, having all those people fussing all over you all the time, and making all that money just by pretending to be someone else.”
    â€œObviously, Ms. Dawson decided she’d rather do something else,” Toby interrupted, gently but firmly. He had rescued Susannah from his daughter’s inquisitiveness after all.
    She sent him a grateful look. His smile