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was what he’d asked of her. He struggled to want no more.
    â€œYou look very tired, Van. Your color could be better.”
    â€œIt’s been a hectic year.”
    â€œAre you sleeping all right?”
    Half-amused, she brushed his hand aside. “Don’t start playing doctor with me, Brady.”
    â€œAt the moment I can’t think of anything I’d enjoy more, but I’m serious. You’re run-down.”
    â€œI’m not run-down, just a little tired. Which is why I’m taking a break.”
    But he wasn’t satisfied. “Why don’t you come into the office for a physical?”
    â€œIs that your new line? It used to be ‘Let’s go parking down at Molly’s Hole.’”
    â€œI’ll get to that. Dad can take a look at you.”
    â€œI don’t need a doctor.” Kong came lumbering back, and she reached down for him. “I’m never sick. In almost ten years of concerts, I’ve never had to cancel one for health reasons.” She buried her face in the dog’s fur when her stomach clenched. “I’m not going to say it hasn’t been a strain coming back here, but I’m dealing with it.”
    She’d always been hardheaded, he thought. Maybe it would be best if he simply kept an eye—a medical eye—on her for a few days. “Dad would still like to see you—personally, if not professionally.”
    â€œI’m going to drop by.” Still bent over the dog, she turned her head. In the growing dark, he caught the familiar gleam in her eye. “Joanie says you’ve got your hands full with women patients. I imagine the same holds true of your father, if he’s as handsome as I remember.”
    â€œHe’s had a few…interesting offers. But they’ve eased off since he and your mother hooked up.”
    Dumbfounded, Vanessa sat up straight. “Hooked up? My mother? Your father?”
    â€œIt’s the hottest romance in town.” He flicked her hair behind her shoulder. “So far.”
    â€œMy mother?” she repeated.
    â€œShe’s an attractive woman in her prime, Van. Why shouldn’t she enjoy herself?”
    Pressing a hand against her stomach, she rose. “I’m going in.”
    â€œWhat’s the problem?”
    â€œNo problem. I’m going in. I’m cold.”
    He took her by the shoulders. It was another gesture that brought a flood of memories. “Why don’t you give her a break?” Brady asked. “God knows she’s been punished enough.”
    â€œYou don’t know anything about it.”
    â€œMore than you think.” He gave her a quick, impatient shake. “Let go, Van. These old resentments are going to eat you from the inside out.”
    â€œIt’s easy for you.” The bitterness poured out before she could control it. “It’s always been easy for you, with your nice happy family. You always knew they loved you, no matter what you did or didn’t do. No one ever sent you away.”
    â€œShe didn’t send you away, Van.”
    â€œShe let me go,” she said quietly. “What’s the difference?”
    â€œWhy don’t you ask her?”
    With a shake of her head, she pulled away. “I stopped being her little girl twelve years ago. I stopped being a lot of things.” She turned and walked into the house.

Chapter 3
    V anessa had slept only in snatches. There had been pain. But she was used to pain. She masked it by coating her stomach with liquid antacids, by downing the pills that had been prescribed for her occasional blinding headaches. But most of all, she masked it by using her will to ignore.
    Twice she had nearly walked down the hall to her mother’s room. A third time she had gotten as far as her mother’s door, with her hand raised to knock, before she had retreated to her own room and her own thoughts.
    She had no right to resent the fact that her