Fiona Regan sat down quietly in one of her father's leather office chairs and read the note she had found:

Dear Bill,

I know we said we were going to put this behind us, but I just can't stop thinking about what I saw that night in the restaurant. I think you're getting too close that girl, and not in a good way. Bill, you need to stop and think about what's going on! You're very vulnerable right now. She's obviously taking advantage of you being so sympathetic. You really should be more careful! She's just a kid!

And honestly, dear, it's not just because of that one time, either. So, your nephew asked you to take her to get something to eat. I understand that. But why were the two of you all over each other in the waiting room when Dan had that surgery to have his lymph node removed? I know it sounds like I'm jealous, and well, I guess I am, but you never break down like that with me. You never let me know how hard this is for you. Did you think I had fallen asleep like the others? Well, I didn't. I saw you. You were bawling like a baby in her arms. I'm sorry, I know this sounds childish. You just don't know what that made me feel like, to see you trust her with your emotions and know you won't do that with me. Why won't you do that with me?

Why won't you let me help you? I know I can be better for you than some teenager who doesn't even live here. Let me get you through this. Confide in me. Talk to me. You won't call me, but now you're suddenly on the phone with her whenever I come over? She calls you all the time, long distance, and you won't put her off. I just don't know how much longer I can take this, Bill. Just tell me. Is all of this because she's really worried about him, or is there something going on between you two?

You know what, never mind. I think maybe I need to give you some space. You won't let me help you, and I am obviously the one with the problem if I'm letting myself be jealous of a skinny little nobody from a hick town in Idaho. I've waited on you before, and you came right back to me. I'll be here for you. When you're ready to grow up and stop hanging out with those kids, I'll still be here waiting.

Love,

Joan

Fiona's anger surged within her. "Why that…OOOOHHHH, I'd love to claw her beady little eyes out!" She grabbed the edges of the paper, completely ready to rip up the letter, when a thought suddenly occurred to her. Did her mother know about this note? Was this really the final "Dear John" message that broke Joan's relationship with Bill Regan forever, or was there more to this story?

She decided to confront her father with this.

Holding the herb gardening book in one hand and the old girlfriend's letter in the other, Fiona stormed from the house, out across the yard of the Sleepy R Horse Ranch, and right into the main barn. Her father heard her coming and slowly rose up from where he was bending to inspect the shoes on a dapple grey mare. He could sense his daughter's hostility immediately.

"Whoa, there. What's wrong? What's that?" He pointed at the items in her hands.

"A love letter. From your ex-girlfriend!" Fiona spat. "Did you know this was in here? Does mom know about this?" She held up the letter and then the book.

"Wait…let me see that." Bill moved quickly to face his daughter and took the paper from her hand. He skimmed it briefly, gritted his teeth, and then crumpled it up with a look of disgust. With a shake of his head, he threw the wad violently across the barn. Horses in the paper's wake flinched and stamped uneasily at the instant disturbance to their quiet domicile.

"That's not even worth our time." Bill said, growling angrily. He turned around and went back to his work. "I didn't read past the first few lines the day she gave it to me, and I refuse to give it any more attention than that, now. I don't care if your mother wants to read it. Let her. She'll think it's hilarious. The idea of …" He let his words die out in frustration.

Fiona, seeing her father's response, was beginning to cool; she realized that her dad probably had that book with him one day while at the hospital with Dan, got the Cryobank packet and Joan's letter at the same time, absentmindedly stuck them both in the book, and then simply forgot about them. She was relieved Joan's pathetic attempt at an ultimatum had meant so little to him.

"Oh, Dadddy, I'm sorry…I just." Fiona felt stupid.

Bill stopped what he was doing and sighed. He stood up, led the pretty little horse that was in front of him back into her stall, and then turned to speak to his daughter with a tired look.

"Baby, what do you want to know? That I thought Joan's jealousy was completely ridiculous? I'm sorry, but at the time, it was. I had more important things to do than worry about keeping up with a girlfriend. I didn't care what she said in that note. I knew it meant that we were through, and that was all I needed. I really didn't ever even read it. Honestly, I was glad it was over. She was crazy."

Fiona thought about his last statement. "Maybe she was just very observant…" she mused aloud.

"Humph!" Bill snorted. "She thought I was running around with your mother behind Dan's back. How insane! He was so sick, he couldn't even hold his head up. We would've been some rotten people to even think of doing something so wrong. How dare she accuse us like that?"

Fiona couldn't help but laugh at her father's indignant outburst.

"Oh, you think that's funny, huh, Fi Fi?" Regan pulled the girl into a tight embrace and ruffled the top of her hair after jibing her with the hated nickname. He stood with her in a gentle hug for a minute and then held her at arm's length to look down into her small face. "You know I could never betray anyone I love. Not Dan, not your mother, and not you. You believe, that, right?"

"I know. I'm sorry. I just didn't want any more surprises. You did keep one really big secret from us kids for a pretty long time." Fiona bit her lip and her eyes pleaded for understanding.

"Yeah, I know. But, that was for your own good. It was kind of a grown up thing, and we had to wait until you were grown up enough to understand."

Fiona realized now that she did understand. Despite her father's adamant beliefs to the contrary, she could tell that her parents had, in fact, been subconsciously falling in love the entire time they were letting go of Dan. Joan's letter couldn't have made that any clearer. And, yet, she could see how much her mother's old boyfriend had meant to them. Now that her parents' relationship was finally secure in her eyes, she felt that Dan's role in fathering her brother Daniel was no longer a threat to her sense of family. She had found the peace she needed about that.

After sensing that her father had also returned to a state of peace, she decided to tease him about the other item she found in the book from his office. She pulled the Cryobank envelope from the back pages and held it up in front of him.

"So, I guess this was information for Dan and not for you, then, huh?" She giggled.

"Wow, that's…um…embarrassing." Bill reached to take the packet from her and immediately blushed when his eyes read the word sperm in passing in front of his fifteen year old daughter. He was instantly reminded of several similarly humiliating moments from the past and wondered which one had been the most awkward in comparison with this…

YES! It's that time again! Fun with Flashbacks! – I hope you are enjoying the chapter by chapter answers to my first story's questions. You must know, then, what's coming up!

By the way: I'm trying to finish editing my lengthy stash of stuff I've written for these stories before I have to go out of the country for a while – I NEED TO KNOW IF IT'S WORTH THE EFFORT – Drop me a review and let me know if I should continue – thanks.