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ashamed of you or Aaron, Jen."
     
    Jenny smiled, all traces of her earlier impatience with Veronica gone. "I know. He just wasn't interested."
     
    Maybe. And maybe, giving Marcus the benefit of the doubt, she had to admit to herself that she had hesitated to tell him about Jenny, not because he lacked interest, but because she feared his reaction to finding out the heavy load of responsibility she carried. She hadn't wanted to lose him. Coming to an inner decision, she squared her shoulders.
     
    "I'm going to tell him who you are." Jenny looked up from drying the baby, her expression somber. "I think that would be a good idea."
     
    Veronica nodded and then went into the living room, where Jenny had left the cordless phone lying on the oak sofa table behind the couch.
     
    She picked it up. "Hello?"
     
    "What in the hell do you mean leaving me to cool my heels while you take an hour to come to the phone ?"
     
    Jenny had been right. Marcus didn't like waiting, but Veronica had already known that. "I'm sorry, Marcus. I was busy."
     
    "Too busy to come to the phone in a timely manner? You were never that lacking in courtesy at CIS."
     
    "I'm at home, not at the office and, yes, I was too busy to come to the phone immediately. Did you call just to harangue me about telephone manners?" she asked with exasperation.
     
    He acted like waiting a few extra minutes for her was on par with a world energy crisis.
     
    Heavy silence met her sarcasm. She waited it out. She knew this trick. She'd seen Marcus and Alex both use it to gain the upper hand in a conversation and she wasn't falling for it. She needed all the advantages she could get in dealing with him and knowing his foibles was one she intended to utilize to the max.
     
    "Am I calling at a bad time, Ronnie?" he finally asked.
     
    She wished he wouldn't call her that. It reminded her too forcibly of an intimacy that they would never share again. But she'd already asked him not to, pleaded even, and he had ignored her. She wouldn't ask again.
     
    "No, I can talk now."
     
    "Are you sure you don't need to go back to who-ever it was who answered the phone? If you've got company, I can call back later."
     
    She didn't fall for the polite routine either. She recognized a fishing expedition for information when she saw one. "She's not company. Jenny is my sister and she lives with me."
     
    "You have a sister?"
     
    He made it sound like she'd just claimed familial ties to an alien. "Yes."
     
    "How long?"
     
    "How long have I had a sister? Since she was born about seventeen and a half years ago." She knew that wasn't what he'd asked, but she couldn't help baiting him.
     
    "I meant how long has she lived with you?" he asked, with barely checked impatience.
     
    "Almost five years."
     
    Marcus sucked in his breath. He must realize the implication. She'd had full responsibility for a teenage sister during the time they'd been together.
     
    "Impossible. You never said anything."
     
    "You never asked," she pointed out.
     
    He was silent again. This time she sensed it was more out of consternation than any attempt at manipulating her. "Where are your parents?"
     
    Where was this inquisition leading? She didn't really understand his curiosity. He'd never asked personal questions like this before, when their relationship had been a great deal more intimate.
     
    "They're dead."
     
    Ronnie's parents were dead? She had custody of a teenage sister?
     
    "She never answered your phone before." It was a stupid thing to say, but it was the first thing that came to his befuddled mind.
     
    "She was sick."
     
    "For the whole time we were dating?" he asked, his voice registering the disbelief he felt.
     
    "Yes."
     
    He didn't like her short responses. He wanted to know more and she could damn well tell him. "What do you mean she was sick the whole time?"
     
    Ronnie's voice came across the phone lines clear and soft. "She was diagnosed with a potentially fatal blood disease when