He was still holding the ring in his hand when he heard her footfalls. Instinctively, he dropped the ring into his pocket. He rose at once, turning to face her.

"Did you get everything situated in your room?"

He couldn't help but notice the way she turned her face away from him; her eyes cast downward as though avoiding his gaze. But it wasn't difficult to tell from the glance at her rim-red eyes that she'd been crying again. It broke his heart to think that she was hurting so badly, but he didn't intrude again. Her efforts to hide her pain and hurt from him were by all accounts impressive, but thankfully, albeit slowly, she began to relax.

She'd been relatively silent from the time they'd started on their journey until he'd left her to unpack, but he could tell that she was making an effort to be sociable. And now he eagerly waited for an answer to his question. "Daphne?"

She looked up sharply, as though he'd startled her. "What?" Their eyes met only briefly before she cast her glance away again.

"Your room?"

"Oh, yes, it's very nice. Thank you, Dr. Crane."

"If there's anything you need, Daphne. Anything at all..."

"Thank you."

Dinner was quiet but pleasant as they talked about mundane things such as the weather. But as soon as dinner was finished, she emerged like a butterfly coming out of a cocoon. She bombarded him with questions, barely giving him a chance to answer one before asking another. And those questions covered everything from the lake and the cabin to the history and geography of the area. He answered each and every question with as much detail as possible, although he couldn't help but wonder if the questions weren't a tactic similar to those used by some of his patients when they were trying to draw attention away from themselves. But he knew all too well that Daphne was worlds away from being one of his patients and it would be wise of him to respect her wishes in keeping whatever was bothering her inside. Ironically, by the time he'd answered all of her questions, he was certain that she'd become more knowledgeable than he when it came to the cabin and the area around it.

When the dishes were washed and put away, she followed him into his library where he settled onto the plush leather sofa, stealing glances at her. She moved about the library like a well-behaved child, her hands clasped in front of her. And then she turned to him.

"May I look at your books, Dr. Crane?"

The question surprised him. Normally he didn't like people touching his possessions. But this was Daphne. He considered her a friend; a good friend. And truth be told, he loved to think of the intimacy of her fingerprints on anything that belonged to him.

He smiled watching her pour over his collection of works by Middle Eastern poets. He knew that normally she'd never take interest in such subjects, which reminded him yet again of how very different they were. As though he needed a reminder.

She seemed to be struggling, trying to reach something from the top shelf, but for the first few seconds, his mind wasn't on helping her but on her physical presence. As she lifted her arm toward the ceiling, intent on reaching the mysterious object, he noticed the way her sweater raised just enough to reveal a sliver of bare flesh along her waist.

Dear God…

Suddenly his cheeks flushed and he had a flashback to that hot summer night when she'd stood in his living room, moving the hem of her white t-shirt up and down in front of his oscillating fan. Oh God, it was hot that night. It wasn't hot now, in the library of his cabin, but the feeling it brought… catching a glimpse of her bare skin, was exactly the same. Quickly he took a long drink of wine, ignoring the rush of alcohol as it went to his head.

As he watched her, he wished that he'd thought to be more selective in his purchases. He felt bad that he hadn't taken the time to invest in the kinds of books that he knew she liked, such as the romance novels that she was always reading. And then there was the abundance of classical music CD's that he owned. He could only imagine her surprise had he added some Billy Joel or Elton John CD's to the collection. The thought made him smile.

He returned his attention to the angel, standing by the bookshelves. She stood on her tiptoes, stretching her long, lean body even further. The effort defined her calves, her thighs….

Dear God…

He took another long drink of wine, wondering how he was going to get through the next few days.