[This exchange occurs shortly after the end of Guardian Knight: Best Laid Plans.]

Michael sauntered into Devon's office. "Sammy Philips and his kids say hi."

"You went for a visit?"

"Sort of. I took Melissa to see the show."

"Did she enjoy herself?"

"Yes. And it was something we could do that wasn't working on a case. Plus, Kitt had fun."

"Michael! You didn't participate in the show!"

"Kitt insisted. He even had Bonnie pack his stars. Who was I to say no?" Michael paused, then added thoughtfully, "You know, it's a good thing Garthe hated Melissa and wanted nothing to do with her. If he had just treated her like a big brother should, she would have done whatever he asked. Even against her father."

"She worshipped him, you know," said Devon with a pensive note in his voice.

Michael chuckled. "Definitely Daddy's little girl."

"Hmmm. Well, I wasn't referring to Wilton. I was referring to Garthe. Melissa worshipped him when she was a little girl."

"Wait . . . what? No, hold on." Michael walked over to the sideboard and grabbed a beer. Turning to Devon, he asked, "Want something?"

"I'll have a beer today, thank you."

Michael grabbed a second beer, then opened both bottles. He walked over to Devon and handed him one. He then sprawled on the sofa and took a long swig from his bottle.

"Right, now, where were we? Oh, yeah . . . what?"

"When she was a baby, Melissa worshipped Garthe. Her face lit up with joy whenever she saw him. As long as he was within her sight, she just gazed intently at him." Devon sighed and took a sip of his beer. "She was walking at nine months. I maintained – and still do – that she learned to walk just so she could follow him wherever he went."

"Garthe can't have liked that."

"No, not at all. He was 15 when she was born, 16 when she started walking. Even the most even-tempered teenager would have been annoyed by having a baby shadow him everywhere."

"And I doubt Garthe was an even-tempered teenager."

"Quite the opposite, of course."

"So, what happened?"

Devon smiled mirthlessly. "Garthe was . . . well, Garthe. He ignored Melissa when he could and was rude to her when he couldn't."

"How old was she when she figured out Garthe didn't love her like he was supposed to?"

"Eposta. She was not quite four and couldn't pronounce 'supposed to'. But she knew what it meant." Devon looked at his bottle sadly.

"What did Garthe do?"

"Oh, nothing. Or rather, nothing out of the ordinary. Melissa tried to get her big brother to play with her. He made some cutting remark and then walked away. But for some reason, that was the day she decided she had had enough."

"The straw that broke the camel's back, eh?"

"Yes. Wilton was in a private meeting. So I was the one that dealt with the fallout. Melissa and I had a . . . philosophical discussion about love."

"With a four-year-old? Really, Devon."

"Almost four-year-old," Devon corrected Michael. "She had finally realized that Garthe didn't love her like he was 'eposta' and asked if she still had to love him." Devon took a few sips of his beer before continuing, "I told her she didn't have to love anyone, that it was her choice who to love. She decided that it was too hard to love Garthe, and so she stopped. I doubt he even noticed; he was just happy she stopped following him all the time."

"Short-sighted of him."

"Yes, well, long range planning was never his strong suit. Everything with him was driven by emotion: he resented Melissa, so he made her life miserable."

"Saved Wilton from heartbreak, though."

Devon nodded his agreement as both men finished their beers.