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could think of Ben now, without hurting. “What about you?”
    David laughed, but there was no amusement in the sound or in the ink-blue flash of his eyes. Holly knew before he spoke that he’d once been hurt, and very badly. “I got married during my second year of law school,” he said. “Marleen was a graduate student in Animal Sciences.”
    There was anger as well as pain in his voice. Holly deduced that Marleen had not died, as Ben had. “And?” she prompted.
    “And she’s now in Borneo studying chimps. She finds them endlessly fascinating and far less demanding, I would imagine, than a husband.”
    The bitterness in his tone stung Holly profoundly. David still loved Marleen despite his anger; she was sure of it. And for some reason, that hurt. “I’m sorry,” she said, getting up hastily to go to the coffeemaker and bring the decanter back to the table, where she refilled her own cup and then David’s.
    “Don’t be,” David replied succinctly. “Marleen is happy.”
    But what about you? Holly wanted to ask, though, of course, she didn’t dare. She put sugar into her coffee—something she never did—and kept her eyes averted.
    “You said you were almost married once. What happened, Holly?”
    Holly’s throat constricted again. “My fiancé was killed,” she managed to say. “He was working on a construction project in Alaska and…and he fell.”
    “You loved him a lot, didn’t you?”
    Holly nodded. “I wanted to die, too, at the time. And I was so angry.”
    There was a short, companionable silence. The coffeemaker made gurgling sounds and the fire crackled on the kitchen hearth. David’s hand came, strong and warm, across the tabletop, to shelter Holly’s hand.
    It was then that Toby shuffled into the kitchen, looking sleepy and rumpled in his cherished Spider-Man pajamas. “Is it time to go to school, Mom?” he asked, befuddled.
    Holly’s eyes darted involuntarily to David’s face, then shifted to her nephew. “No, sweetheart, it’s still night. Go back to bed.”
    Toby gave David a curious look. “Who’s that?” he demanded.
    “This is Mr. Goddard, Toby. He’s a friend of mine, a student in my cooking class.”
    Toby assessed David again. “You cook?” he wanted to know.
    David laughed and the odd tension Holly had felt was broken. “Not very well, slugger,” he retorted kindly, “but I’m learning.”
    “I’m not going to learn,” Toby said firmly, drawing just a bit nearer to David, sensing, as Holly did, that this was a man who liked children.
    “Oh, yeah? Why not?” David asked. And he soundedtruly interested, not patronizing. “Don’t you think men should cook?”
    Toby shrugged, not exactly sure what he thought. “Mom cooks enough stuff. Do you think men should cook?”
    David thought. “Yeah,” he answered presently.
    “Why?”
    “Because they get hungry.”
    Toby grinned. “Wanna see my airplane?”
    David looked to Holly for her permission; she liked him for doing that. She nodded.
    “Sounds interesting,” the man said to the boy, and then they were off to Toby’s room to inspect the radio-controlled Cessna. The sound of their retreating voices gave Holly an odd feeling of well-being. Which was immediately spoiled by the ringing of the telephone.
    She answered with a brisk and biting, “Yes?”
    “Who is that Goddard guy?” Skyler demanded without preamble.
    Holly drew a deep breath, then let it out again. Control, she must maintain her control. “David is a friend of mine, Skyler.” Sugary acid slipped past her resolve, dripping from every word. “I am allowed to have friends, aren’t I?”
    “Not men!”
    “Good night, Skyler,” Holly sang, and then she set the receiver firmly back in its cradle.
    Seconds later, the telephone rang again.
    “Hello?” Holly said sweetly.
    “Don’t you ever hang up on me again, Holly Llewellyn!” Skyler shouted.
    Of course, Holly had no choice but to do exactly that.She then adjusted her answering