Shane walked into the library carrying the wrapped box and looked around in surprise. There were several grocery bags on the floor, but nothing had been set up. That's not like Kim, he thought.

"Simmons," Shane called, and waited until the butler appeared in the doorway. When Simmons arrived, Shane asked, "Have you seen Kim? I figured she would have everything set up for the party tonight."

"Madame Brady had to remain at the hospital for an emergency, Sir," Simmons explained. "She said she would call if she was delayed and needed assistance with the party."

Shane understood. Kim would want to take charge of setting things up personally so they were exactly right. He knew his ex-wife well. "Thank you, Simmons."

Simmons started to walk out, but then stopped. "I do have all the food prepared, Sir."

"So no one will go hungry, I'm sure." Shane smiled. There were some things that even Kim could not control. Not with Simmons around.

Once the butler left, Shane walked over to the bags and saw that they were filled with streamers and balloons. He glanced at the clock and saw it was only a little after 4 p.m. There was still plenty of time for Kim to get everything in order.

Leaving the bags in place, Shane set his present down on the desk. He stared at it for a moment before turning and walking over to the wall panel that hid his safe. He slid the panel open, turned the dial in the right sequence, and opened the metal door. Shane took a minute to survey the contents and then removed a small brown box.

"Shane?"

The voice startled him. Instinctively, he shoved the door of the safe closed and slid the wall panel back into place. Then, he spun around.

Kayla stood in the doorway and Shane felt silly that he had reacted with such surprise. "Kayla . . . what are you doing here?"

"Simmons let me in." she said. "Kim got stuck at the hospital with something, so she asked me to come over and start getting things ready for the party. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not. Please go ahead." He walked back over to his desk and sat down, feeling her eyes on him. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Kayla look at the bags and then back at him.

"I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine, Kayla," he said. "I just overreacted; I usually don't have the safe open when anyone's around." At that moment, he realized he was still holding the little box. He had only meant to take it out momentarily to look at its contents before returning it to the safe.

Kayla did not respond, but began rooting through the bags and pulling out brightly colored balloons and streamers. From his seat behind his desk, Shane thought he spotted a printed banner. Of course, Kim would go all out. A child only has her first birthday once.

With a sigh, Shane glanced again at the little box and opened it. Inside, the broach looked the same as it always did. The white carving of the woman stood out against the reddish-brown background.

In his mind's eye, he pictured his mother attaching the broach to the high-collar on her dress. It had been the night of the annual ball at Donovan Manor, and Shane had probably been about five-years-old. He was watching her, while Drew was pestering their father and demanding to know why he and Shane could not attend. Of course, when the time came, Shane and Drew would sneak away from Simmons and watch the partygoers from the top of the stairs, but their parents did not need to know that.

Even at Shane's young age, he knew the broach was particularly special to his mother. He could tell just from the way she handled it and the way she looked at it in the mirror. She had seen him watching her and had told him the story of the broach for the first time - how it had been in the Donovan family for generations; how Shane's father had given it to her the night before he left to fight the war; how she had worn it every day of the years that he was gone; and how, on his return, he had given her the matching bracelet that he had carried with him through battles in France, Italy and the Balkans. Then she had ruffled his hair and said, "When you fall in love, Shane, you'll give her this cameo and your hearts will be connected forever. It won't matter how far apart you are or why. Just like your father and me. Not even war could keep us apart."

Something about what she had said made the cameo broach the most treasured possession he had received from his parents. It was not as valuable as other jewelry she had left behind and some of those pieces, like the emerald ring he had given Kayla, had their own stories. But the cameo remained particularly special to him - even if his mother's words had not held true when it came to him and Kimberly.

"Kimberly always loved that." Kayla's voice startled him, and he jerked his head around. She had walked beside the desk carrying some streamers. "I'm sorry," Kayla said. "You seemed lost in thought."

"I was," Shane said, as he closed the little box. He pulled open the center drawer in his desk and set the box inside. "I was just thinking."

Kayla smiled. "Care to talk about it?"

"Not really," he said, standing up. "Here, let me help you with that." He pointed to the streamers and began helping her hang them. They worked in silence for awhile, but Shane could feel Kayla's eyes on him.

"I know you, Shane. Something's bothering you."

She did know him, he thought. "I don't know. . . . I was thinking earlier about Stephanie's birthday." He knew Kayla probably thought he meant the kiss they shared after the party, so he corrected that impression. "I mean the party itself, and how I knew exactly what to get for her."

"The music box." Kayla smiled again. "It was perfect. She always loved that song."

Stephanie had - just like Shane's mother. He had never told Kayla that the song had been one of his mother's favorites. He even remembered how she had played it over and over when she taught Shane and Drew how to dance before the first ball they were allowed to attend.

Somehow, Kayla seemed to know what he was thinking. "Kim said it was very personal to you."

Shane taped the streamer he was hanging into place, and then looked at the gift-wrapped box on his desk. "I spent almost two hours at the store this afternoon trying to find something for Jeannie. I had no idea what to get, no idea what she likes."

"It's no big deal," Kayla said. "She's just a baby. It's not like she'll know who gives her what."

"We both know that's not the point." Shane heaved a sigh. "Stephanie filled such a void in my life and it was so easy for me to care for her. And then there's Jeannie, who's even named after my mother - and even looks like her a bit - and I know nothing about her."

"You could change that, Shane. All you have to do is spend some time with her."

"But that's the problem, isn't it?" He set down the balloons he had just picked up. "I just can't. Every time I'm around her, I can't stop myself from thinking about Cal - and Kim and Cal." He looked at Kayla. "You don't have to tell me it's foolish. It's not like Jeannie's responsible for who her father is." No, but Kim is responsible, isn't she? Shane tried to set that thought aside, as he felt the bitterness rising inside him. Why does it keep coming back?Earlier that morning, he had been able to set the thoughts aside briefly when he talked with Kim in the kitchen. But the thoughts just kept coming back. "No matter how hard I try to convince myself," he said. "I just can't help how I feel."

He knew what Kayla was thinking. He was being unfair and unreasonable. It was nothing he had not already told himself.

Shane glanced at the wrapped package on his desk. "When I was at the store, I passed the jewelry counter and they had a necklace with a small cameo. I thought about getting it for Jeannie, so she would have a cameo like her namesake did." He turned back toward Kayla and winced inwardly as he saw her expression. It was full of obvious pity. Shane quickly looked away. "Then I thought she could have a cameo like her mother. . . ."

"Only you remembered that Kim had returned the cameo." Kayla at least understood enough so Shane did not have to explain. When he had remembered how Kim had returned the cameo to him, he had walked away from the jewelry section. Eventually, he had settled on a dress. It was nice, but nothing more that what he might have bought for the daughter of a business acquaintance.

"So that's why you took it from the safe?" Kayla asked.

"I what?" Shane looked at her, confused.

"The cameo," she said. "That's why you took it out of the safe."

Shane nodded. "Yeah . . . I guess it was on my mind." He started to say that he should put it back in the safe, but he was interrupted as Kim came rushing into the room. She stopped when she saw Shane and Kayla together, and he could immediately feel the tension in the room increase.

"Oh . . . . I hope you don't mind us setting up now," Kim said to Shane.

"No, not at all." He glanced at Kayla, hoping she would not tell Kim what he had told her, and then back at Kim. "I guess, I'll be going. You still have a lot to do, and I . . . I have some work I need to finish."