KMD0107 suggests that a cliffhanger like the last chapter warrants a replay of the last few moments of the hanging chapter, so if it seems like you've read the beginning before, it's because you have…

PREVIOUSLY, ON THE CASABLANCAS LEGACY:

"I am so sorry," he said to Veronica and bolted for the door. Veronica watched him go, then glanced at Mac and Casey, who were now staring at her. They still looked shocked, but the hint of understanding that she thought she saw on their faces drove her into action.

"I'm going with him. Talk to you later," she said as she fled after Wallace.

Mac stared at the spot where Veronica had been standing a moment before. What the hell just happened?

"Geez, Dick, I never put it together before, but the drink you made for Madison, Veronica got it. That's why she was so out of it that night." Casey reached down to offer Dick a hand up. Dick grabbed the offered hand and rose to his feet.

"What night?" Mac asked. "And why was it a big enough deal that you remember it more than a decade later?"

"She came around asking about what happened more than a year later," Casey said. "It was a few weeks before my graduation. I told her how messed up she was but I just thought it was from drinking. She really didn't remember anything. I don't know why it never dawned on me that she'd been drugged."

"Did you drug her, Dick?" Mac asked.

"No!" Dick insisted. "Not on purpose at least. But...yeah, it looks like I did. And then..." He covered his mouth and stood looking up at the ceiling. "I didn't mean...I never thought...I..." He suddenly bolted out of the room, heading toward his bedroom. After a moment, Mac could hear the sounds of him retching from down the hall.

"Shit," Casey said, looking at Mac. "I wish I hadn't said anything. I was just yanking Dick's chain about being an asshole in high school. I didn't realize it would turn into this."

"Why would you? I would never have expected Wallace to react that way," Mac said.

"He wasn't even in Neptune yet, was he? If he wasn't here, that means he only knows about that party because Veronica told him that something happened. Presumably to her. Shit." Casey looked at Mac. "I just let her wander around like that. I know I was an asshole back then too, but geez. I'd like to think that I wouldn't just ignore a drugged girl. God, I hope this is just about getting drugged. If something else happened to her, I'm gonna feel like shit."

"I don't know anything, she's never mentioned it to me. But I do know that Wallace is not someone who just hits other people."

"Yeah. Look, maybe we should get out of here. Give Dick some space."

Mac shook her head. "You go. I'm gonna check on him first. Make sure he's okay. I'm fine here with him. He'll probably talk if it's just me."

Casey frowned at her. "I'm not sure I should leave you alone with him."

"I'll be fine. Go ahead and go." She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arm around his waist, giving him a quick hug before taking a step toward Dick's room. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"You're sure?" Casey asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah, just go." She walked down the hallway to Dick's bedroom, hearing the front door open and close as Casey took her advice and left. She stopped outside Dick's room, gathering her thoughts before trying to talk to him.

A moment later, the door opened and Dick stood in his doorway looking down at her. "What are you still doing here, Mackie?" he asked, his voice ragged and eyes red-rimmed. "I thought you guys left. I heard the door." He brushed past her and walked to the front room where he slumped onto the couch.

"Casey left. I wanted to make sure you were okay," Mac said as she followed him.

"Oh, I'm just peachy. I already knew I was a dirtbag who tried to drug his girlfriend in high school but I always thought nothing came of that. Wally didn't seem to think that was true."

"No, he didn't." Mac sat down next to him on the couch. "What do you think that was about?"

"If you don't already know, I'm not telling you. This is not my secret. Ronnie's wanted to keep that night to herself all this time; I'm not going to ruin that for her too." He paused and ran his hands through his hair. "You need to get away from me. If you knew...what I did that night...you'd never speak to me again. I just can't believe he'd actually..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Please don't ask me that," Dick pleaded. "If I'm right, you don't want to know, and I can't be the one to tell you."

Mac drew in a deep breath. "Okay, let's talk about you then. You tried drugging Madison? So she'd have sex with you?"

"I'd probably have taken a hand job and called it a win, but yeah, some kind of sexual favor was what I was going for."

"That's sexual assault, Dick."

"I realize that now. I didn't think about it like that back then."

"And what are you teaching your teenage son, Dick?" Mac asked. "How is he thinking about it?"

"The right way. Both Veronica and I talked to him when things were heating up at school. I didn't get why she was so angry at the time but now..." He blanched. "I just thought it was about Mercer. Turns out it was about me."

"It was you a long time ago, Dick. I'm not excusing it but I think you've changed. I think Veronica thinks you have too."

"She said that earlier today. I wonder if she still feels that way."

"Why wouldn't she? I don't think she learned anything new today. This was about Wallace finding out. He's probably going to need some time." An unpleasant thought flitted into her head. "Does Logan know?"

Dick moaned and dropped his head into his hands. "I don't think so. If he'd known I hurt Ronnie, he'd have been done with me a long time ago." He bent over further, his head almost resting on his knees and his hands clutching the back of his head. "Oh shit, no, no, no," he repeated in a plaintive voice as he rocked back and forth.

Mac stared at him with no idea how to respond to his display of grief. Whatever he wouldn't tell her, he was sure it was enough that Logan would not be able to forgive him. She wondered if she would be able to, if anyone would ever tell her what needed forgiveness. "Dick?" she said gently, patting his back. She was pretty sure that it must have been something bad if he was reacting this strongly but she still felt the need to comfort him. "Dick, try to calm down. Veronica's been tolerating you for a long time and lately, it's seemed like more than just tolerance. Whatever this is, if she can get past it, I'm sure Logan will be able to also. You guys have been friends for a long time."

"He won't. Even if she has. He won't be able to forgive me. Logan's the only person left who cares about me, other than Cole, but that's just a default thing, once he found out he was my kid. And once Logan hears about this, I'm alone. Like I deserve to be." He jumped up and began to pace around the room.

"Hey!" Mac said, a little irritated by his words. "More people than Logan care about you. What about me? Don't I count for anything?"

Dick stopped and looked at her sadly. "You count for a lot. But you're gonna hate me too." He stepped closer to her. "Please don't shut out Cole. He really likes you. Maybe you can still do stuff with him once in a while?"

"Dick, you've gotta stop."

"No, I can't. I have to be ready for what comes next. Don't make promises to make me feel better right now when you don't know if you'll want to keep them later." He turned away from her, resting his hands against the abandoned poker table and leaning heavily on them. "Go home, Mackie. Please. Just go home."

"Dick, I just want—"

"Mac, once you know what's going on, if you want to come back, I'll be happy to see you. Hell, I'll be thrilled. But right now, please, I need you to go. Please."

Mac stood up. "All right, I'll do what you want. Tell Cole I'll call him next week and we'll have dinner. Okay?"

Dick nodded, still not looking at her as she headed for the door. "Thanks, Mac. I'll tell him."

Veronica ran down the porch stairs, not wanting Wallace to get away before she could talk to him. She slowed when she saw his car still parked next to hers, with him sitting inside with his head leaning against the steering wheel.

She walked to the passenger door and rapped lightly on the window. Wallace sat up quickly, glancing toward her before hitting the automatic lock button. She opened the door and slid into the car.

"You okay?" she asked, already knowing the answer from the tears on his face.

"I'm so sorry, Vee. I know I just told a bunch of people something that you didn't want anyone to know. I just started putting together what I was hearing with what you told me before, and I...oh God, I lost it." He hid his face again, leaning in to the steering wheel. "I am so sorry."

"I know, Papa Bear, don't beat yourself up." She reached over and rubbed his upper arm. "The only thing you really spilled was me getting that drink that Dick meant for Madison. Anything else that happened that night is still in limited distribution and I'd like it to stay that way as much as possible. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Wallace sat up again and looked at her. "You're all worried about me. What about you? Are you all right?"

"I knew this information already, Wallace. It's not a huge shock the way it is for you. For me, the issue is other people knowing something about me that I don't really want known. I'm just glad this didn't happen while Rob and Tracy were there. Or Cole, either. He doesn't need to know that about his dad, or about me."

"I can't believe you're thinking about Cole right now. How do you even deal with Dick Casablancas, knowing what you do about him? And Logan, how is he still best friends with that guy? I'm not sure how I'm even going to look at him again, let alone hang around with him."

"Logan doesn't know about Dick's involvement."

Wallace's eyebrows flew up as his mouth fell open. "You never told him that Dick drugged you? Why not? You let him be best buddies with the guy who set you up to be raped?" He shook his head. "He's gonna lose his mind when he hears about this." He looked at her suspiciously. "You know you have to tell him now, right?"

"Of course, I do," she replied, indignant at his rebuke. "Now that this is no longer my personal private business—"

"Because of me, I get it. I'm sorry. For outing your private business and for lecturing you. I had no right." He hung his head again.

"You're forgiven. Now let's get out of here. I need to think."

"What about your car?"

"It's fine here. You'll take me home, right? Spend some time with me while I figure this out?"

"You got it, Supafly. I'm with you."

Veronica sat on her couch, watching Wallace pace. Pony sat beside her, head tracking with his movements. "Truly, Wallace, I know that what Dick did that night with the GHB, trying to get Madison to sleep with him, that was beyond wrong. How can you think I don't know that? What I'm trying to say is that Dick wasn't trying to hurt me when he did that."

"It doesn't matter what he intended to do." Wallace whirled at the end of the room, gesticulating hands emphasizing his outrage. "He did a stupid, illegal, immoral thing, and it didn't work out the way he planned, but that didn't keep you safe. I don't care what he planned; I care what ended up happening."

"I understand that."

Wallace stopped and glared at her. "Then why are you defending that stupid ass?"

"Because it was fourteen years ago, Wallace. I've had a long time to sort out my feelings about everything that happened that night and make decisions about my response. Dick did not care that he did something that could hurt Madison and he didn't care that someone else could get hurt too. I legitimately believe that he does care now and I also believe that he's serious about making sure that his kid knows what's right."

"And that's enough for you to let him off the hook?"

"That's not exactly what's happening here. I'm just not going to get down and start wallowing in this again. Well, I don't plan on it any more than I have to while I try to stop both you and Logan from doing anything stupid."

Wallace laughed bitterly. "I never thought I'd get to a point in my life where hit first, ask questions later, seemed like a good way to behave. But it was kinda nice taking a page from Logan's playbook. I'd love to go back to Dick's right now and make him sorry he was ever born."

"I'm pretty sure that he's already feeling that way. Did you notice that he didn't even try to hit you back?"

"I don't care. It's not enough." He walked to the couch and slumped next to her. "I just want him to pay for what he did to you."

Veronica put her arm around his shoulders and hugged him against her. "I really and truly believe that he is paying already. You aren't going to need to extract my pound of flesh."

Pony sat up from where she was sprawled on the other side of Veronica and stepped across Veronica's legs, trying to nose in on the hug. Wallace chuckled as he gently pushed her back.

"She's as needy and jealous of your attention as her father," he said.

"Nah, it's not about me. She just can't stand to not be involved. She's a busybody."

"Now she sounds like her mother," Wallace teased and she scoffed and socked him gently in the arm. They sat in good-natured silence for a few minutes before Wallace spoke again.

"What are you going to tell him?"

Veronica considered for moment. Wallace didn't know it, but she had more to tell Logan than he realized although there was no way in hell she was talking with Wallace about Dick's other actions that night. "I don't exactly know yet. Just the truth, I guess." She shook her head. "Who would have thought I'd end up glad to have him away for a few more days while I figure this out?"

Wallace shifted them around so his arm was around her shoulders and she was tucked into his side. "Well, I'm here for you, whatever you need. Just let me know."

She smiled up at him. "Thanks, lil brother."

Veronica didn't sleep well. Any brief periods of restful slumber were interrupted by dreams where Wallace and Logan took turns punching Dick. She kept trying to stop them but they either acted like she wasn't there or one would hold her back while the other punched. At about 5:30 AM, she gave up on trying to sleep and got up to make coffee.

Pony glared balefully at her from her bed when Veronica started turning lights on, then rolled over facing away from the light.

"Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, Pone," Veronica said with a smile.

Veronica was nearly finished with her second cup of coffee when the dog got up and moved to the table where she sat at Veronica's feet, looking up at her piteously.

"Food and then out?" Veronica asked and Pony's tail beat on the floor. "Okay then." She fed the dog and went back into the bedroom for shoes and a sweatshirt to wear over her pajama sweatpants and tank. When she came back out, Pony was sitting by the front door, her leash in her mouth.

"How'd you get that down?" she asked suspiciously. Pony dropped the leash at her feet. "Did Cole teach you that?"

Pony yipped.

"Hmm." Veronica picked up the leash and snapped it on the dog's collar, grateful that the slobbery part was more toward the middle of the leash length and not up at the top loop. She opened the door and they stepped out into the morning chill, but were brought to a halt by the presence of Dick sitting on the stairs.

"I don't think I've ever seen you out this early without a surfboard in your hands," Veronica said and Dick startled at her voice. As he twisted to look at her, she was struck by the look of exhaustion on his face.

"How long have you been sitting here? You look like death warmed over."

Dick shrugged. "I dunno. A while."

"Most people knock when they come to visit."

"It was too early. I didn't want to disturb you." He lumbered to his feet. "Do you mind? Talking to me?"

"No more than usual," she said, snarky with him as she normally would be before she realized that today would probably be easier without as much smartassery. "No, seriously, I'm fine talking to you. I've gotta take Pony out to do her thing though, so you can either come with us or wait here until we're back."

"I'll come with if you don't mind." He went down the steps ahead of them, then waited to let them set the direction and pace. They didn't speak as they worked their way down to the open space where Pony did her business and then further down to the small beach area.

Veronica was trying to figure out how to start this conversation herself when Dick finally spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me? Rain vengeance on my head? I drugged you and I'm pretty sure my little brother raped you because I told him to. I never thought in a million years that he would, but like you told me the last time we talked about this—I never would have pegged him as a mass murderer either but he was. So why didn't you ever try to get back at me?"

"What would it have helped?"

He looked at her like she'd gone crazy. "What kinda question is that? If you could've gotten some vengeance, the Ronnie Mars I know always would've gone for it. I just don't get this."

"I did run over your surfboard," she reminded him.

"Oh yeah, that sucked. Was that when you found out?"

She paused, considering her words. "No, actually, that was before. I did that just because you were being a dick." She rolled her eyes at her own inadvertent pun. "I figured out about Madison and the drugged drink later."

"So my question's the same. Why haven't you try to get back at me? And why haven't you told Logan?"

They reached a bench and Veronica sat down, then unhooked Pony's leash. The dog nosed at Dick, but when he dropped onto the bench next to Veronica, she turned toward the water, charging at the seagulls that darted through the foamy surf.

"There are a lot of different reasons I made the choices I did but I'm not all that anxious to hash them out with you."

"The only thing I can think of is that you didn't want Logan to ditch me. I just don't get why. If you told him everything, he'd have beaten the shit out of me and never spoken to me again." Dick looked at her, his face twisted in confusion. "That sounds like a great outcome for you.

"Yeah, but not so much for Logan. He was pretty isolated back then. Once Duncan took off, you were practically his only friend."

Dick leaned back on the bench. "Everyone wanted to be around him back then. He wouldn't have missed me."

"He would have. There were always plenty of people willing to hang around, but did he care about any of them? And did any of them actually care about him? It was more about what they could get from him. At least with you, you weren't trying to bleed him dry."

"That's a shitty reason, Veronica. You could have gotten back at me and you don't so your boyfriend has a friend? I never took you as the type to sacrifice your own interests like that."

"There's more, but like I said, I don't plan to discuss my every thought with you. Just take the win and stop hassling me." She sighed and shook her head. "Can you do that please?"

"I guess. Will you tell me though? Did Beav...actually...did he..." He ducked his head into his hand and his voice dropped to a whisper. "...rape you?"

"Yes." She wasn't capable of an outright lie at this point and any hesitation would tell the story anyway.

Dick groaned like he was in pain. "Oh God, I'm so sorry. I know I can't do anything to fix this, but I am so sorry."

"I believe that you're sorry, but you're right; you can't do anything about this." She looked at him sadly. "Look, I really don't want to spend a lot of time on this. You're going to have to figure out how to deal with this on your own, just like I did. And this time around, I'm gonna have to tell Logan. Too many other people know for me to try to keep this a secret. I don't know exactly what he's going to do. For my part, I've been pretty much okay with you lately and this doesn't really change that. But you know Logan. I'm going to try to do what I can to keep him from losing it, mainly because I don't want him doing something that could get him taken away from me, but I think you're gonna need to be prepared for whatever he decides to do. Got it?"

"I'm ready. Whatever he wants to do to me...I'm ready."

"You make it sound like he's going to strap you down and pull out your fingernails. He'll probably punch you for a while and then stop talking to you."

"Pretty sure I'd prefer the fingernails to the silent treatment."

"Pretty sure it's not up to you." She stood up and whistled for the dog. "Like I said, I don't want to talk this out. I know you're struggling but I can't really help you. Just keep pushing along and I think Logan will come around after a while. Not right away though. You've gotta give him some room to figure out his feelings. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

She nodded and fastened Pony's leash, then fixed him with a stern glare. "And you do not get to talk about me with anyone else. No one except you and Logan know about Beaver and I want it to stay that way. No explanations of anything to Mac or Casey or anyone else. This is my personal business. Please keep it that way."

He nodded. "Mac tried getting stuff out of me last night but I told her if there was anything that she didn't already know, then they weren't my secrets to tell. I'm not going to say anything."

"Good. Thank you." She turned toward where the dog was straining on the leash, then swiveled back to where he remained slumped on the bench. "Are you coming back with us?"

"No. I'm gonna hang out down here for a while. Thanks for talking to me. I wouldn't blame you if you'd never speak to me again."

She shrugged. "I pretty much did that for a while. I'm past that place now. You were a stupid jerk who didn't care about anyone but yourself and I paid the price. I don't think you're that guy anymore. And I believe that you're sorry. Plus, you're not the first person I've forgiven for things that happened that night. Just don't make me sorry. You understand, Dick?" He nodded again, head still down. "Okay, good. So, when you're done down here, come back to the apartment and knock this time. I need a ride back to your house to get my car."

He looked up at her, surprise on his face. "Sure. I won't be a long time."

"Thanks," she said as she turned to let the dog pull her back up the path to the apartment.

Veronica was in the office early on Monday morning. She'd dodged Mac's calls all day Sunday, finally sending her a text that just said they'd talk on Monday. She considered finding something to keep her out of the office but her dad had a mid-morning meeting out-of-town so she didn't think it would be right to abandon Mac in the office alone. Although she wasn't thrilled about the idea, she decided she might as well face the music.

"Hey, Bond." Mac stood in her doorway, looking hesitant. "How are you doing?"

"Eh, it's Monday. Expectations aren't usually that high." She smirked at Mac but did not get a similar response.

"Can we not do that?" Mac asked. "I've been going nuts since Saturday night, trying not to imagine the worst and not really succeeding. Dick was a basket case after you and Wallace took off but he wouldn't tell me anything. I know you've got a right to your privacy but..." Her voice trailed off and she looked away.

"I'm sorry I left you hanging yesterday. Dick was sitting outside my door first thing in the morning and after I dealt with him, I just needed to decompress."

"You don't have to apologize. I just want to know that you're okay."

"I'm fine, Q," Veronica answered. "All the stuff that happened, it was a really long time ago. As I've told Wallace and Dick, it's not like I'm over it, I'm just not letting it rule me."

"Dick drugged you. Accidentally, sorta, when he tried to drug Madison."

"Yeah, that's right." It wasn't too hard to just confirm things.

"And then, from the way Wallace reacted, I think something else happened to you. Maybe like happened to Parker?" Mac was still in the doorway, turned so she was facing the door jamb, one hand tracing along the molding, not meeting Veronica's gaze.

"Yeah, sorta. Not exactly like Parker but basically, yeah. I don't remember what happened to me but I know what happened. You know?"

"Uh huh. And Wallace knows?"

"Yes. I told him after I figured it out, junior year of high school." Veronica squirmed in her chair. "I needed someone and he was there for me. He helped me through a really hard time."

"I'm glad he could do that for you." Mac finally looked away from the wall. "Does Logan know?"

"Not about Dick's part. I'm gonna have to tell him, since other people know now."

"Dick's sure that Logan won't be able to forgive him," Mac said. "Is he right?"

"I don't know. Maybe. We'll have to wait and see. I hope not. Dick's a big part of Logan's life. I'd hate for that to be gone entirely. And I feel like we've all got roles to play in helping Dick with Cole. It takes a village, you know? Dick parenting completely by himself doesn't seem like the best idea."

"He wanted me to promise that I would still do stuff with Cole, even if I hated him—Dick, not Cole—now." She slipped into Veronica's client chair. "I told him I'd take him to dinner this week."

Veronica leaned heavily on her desk, the heel of her hand propping up her forehead. "Don't hate Dick. A few years ago, sure, I'd have been fine with that, suggested it even, but now? It's not worth it. Just keep on doing what you've been doing. That's the best thing. There's going to be enough upheaval with Logan."

"I don't know, Veronica," Mac said, shifting nervously in her chair. "Is it really fair for you to ask me to just go along like nothing happened when for everyone else he's persona non grata? If he did something bad enough to make Wallace hit him like he did, and bad enough that his best friend might not be friends with him anymore, is it right to make me act like nothing happened?"

"I'm not making you do anything. Just don't make any decisions trying to be loyal to me. I hope you'll still be his friend. I'm going to try to still be...whatever we've become in the last several weeks. I'll have to balance Logan's feelings in there too but I'm hoping their years of friendship will win out in the end."

"This is so weird." Mac shook her head. "All those years of barely tolerating him and now you're advocating for him."

"Trust me, I know," Veronica answered. "No one's more surprised than me. Except maybe for Dick. He's pretty surprised too."

"All right. I'll play this like you want." Mac stood up and walked to the door, then stopped and looked back at Veronica. "I presume that Daddy Mars is unaware of this entire situation."

"He is. That's another subject I need to think about. I don't want to tell him—I probably still won't tell him—but I am going to have to think about it. I'll probably talk to Logan about that, once he stops being mad at me that I never told him everything."

"He's back on Thursday?"

Veronica nodded. "Yeah, and he's got liberty until the following Monday so I'll probably take Thursday and Friday off and take him somewhere to welcome him home, and, once he's all relaxed and pliable, confess."

Mac chuckled. "You're probably going to have to relax him a lot."

"It's so different talking to you instead of Wallace. If I'd made that relaxed and pliable comment to him, he'd be covering his ears and going 'la la la la la'. You, on the other hand..."

"I'm a realist," Mac interrupted. "Wallace, he's an innocent."

"Yeah, it's true. Even though he's pretty sure he's a playa." They both laughed. "So, thanks, Q, for your concern, and even more for just taking the little bit of information I'm willing to share and being satisfied. I really appreciate that you get me."

"We're fairly similar in this area. If I were in your situation, I'd probably be responding in the same way you are. So yeah, I get you." She smirked at Veronica. "See, a lot of girls would be hugging and getting all teary right about now, but us? No way."

"That's us. Q and Bond, far too cool for pesky emotional displays." They smiled at each other for a moment, then Mac turned and walked out of the room.

Veronica stood next to Logan's car, watching people mill around in the parking lot, waiting for their returning loved ones. This had been a very short cruise so there was not the party atmosphere that she'd heard about when a carrier returned from a long deployment. Some of the returning sailors just walked out to cars they'd presumably parked on base two weeks earlier, and drove away, no welcoming party to greet them.

She spotted Logan come out of the long, low building that had swallowed him up as she watched two weeks ago. After the emotional week she'd had, the urge to run to him was strong but she managed to play it cool and wait for him, hoping she looked even half as enticing as he always did as she leaned against the car. When he was a few feet away from her, she straightened up and took a step toward him.

"Hey, flyboy, need a ride?"

He scooped her up and spun her around, laughing low in his throat as he nuzzled her neck. "Do I ever." He set her on her feet and leaned down for a long kiss. When they broke apart, he rested his forehead on hers, his hands cupped around the back of her neck.

"I missed you," they both said together, and laughed. Logan kissed the top of her head and picked up his bag that had dropped to the ground when he picked Veronica up.

"Are you going to take me home and show me how much you missed me?" he asked as he dropped his bag in the backseat. "Or do you have to go back to work?"

"Nope, no work. All yours until you have to go back to work. But we're not going home." Veronica walked around the car and got into the driver's seat. "Get in."

Logan scrunched up his face in mock displeasure. "I don't get to drive my own car?"

"You don't know where we're going."

"Maybe not, but I take direction extremely well," he responded but he was already climbing into the passenger seat.

"That's good. I have all kinds of directions to give you once we're safely locked away in our hotel room." She reached over to trail her finger up his thigh.

"I don't need directions for that," he said, grabbing her hand and lifting it to his mouth to kiss her palm. "I haven't been away that long."

She smiled as his lips moved from her palm to her wrist but her thoughts were a jumble. Maybe not that long but so much has happened. She was ecstatic that he was back with her but she felt sneaky. She'd kept this information from him for years and never felt bad about it but now deliberately avoiding the difficult topic until she could get him to the same cottage at the Hotel del Coronado where they'd stayed the last time he came home felt like bait and switch.

"Veronica?"

His voice snapped her away from the swirling in her brain. "Oh, sorry, you distracted me." She looked in his warm brown eyes and her resolve returned. "It seems like you've been away for so long."

"Well, then, let's get this show on the road. I've got a fiancée who hasn't been ravished in fourteen long days and I kinda feel like I'm obligated to make that up to her."

"I certainly wouldn't want to get in the way of your obligations. We're going now." She slid her hand from his, then reached up to stroke his cheek. "I have missed you so much."

"Glad to hear that. I'd hate to be the only one in that condition."

She smiled again, then turned away from him to turn the car on. Yes, she had some hard news to deliver but it had waited this long. It could wait a while longer until he'd had a proper welcome home.