"Very much," Bethanne told him. The highlight for her had been prom night, when she'd felt so close to Grant.

"That was a lovely thing you did for my mother," Grant said. "You and Annie. It meant the world to Mom."

Grant had played no small part, although he was eager to give her the credit.

"I had a great time, too." Annie leaned forward from the backseat. "Even in Branson."

"Ah, yes, you and Andy Williams," Bethanne said, teasing her.

"Mom, promise you won't tell anyone about that, okay?"

Bethanne tried not to smile. "Don't worry, my lips are sealed."

"Thank you."

"I hope you'll let me drive you home," Grant said as they took the exit to the airport off the Bee Line Expressway.

"Andrew said he'd pick us up," Bethanne told him. "We planned that before we left." She'd missed her son and there seemed to be a hundred things she needed to discuss with him. Now that the wedding was just a few weeks away, they had to go over all the details for the rehearsal dinner.

"We can call him from the airport," Grant said. "There's no need for him to go out of his way when I have a car arranged."

Bethanne shrugged. She didn't want to make an issue of this, although she'd looked forward to reconnecting with their son. They'd talked while she was on the road, but nothing compared with a face-to-face conversation.

"Well, what do you think?" Grant pressed.

"It's fine, if that's what you want." She made an effort to disguise her lack of enthusiasm.

Grant didn't speak for several minutes. "I guess what I'm saying is that I want to be with you for as long as I can. If you'd rather ride home with Andrew, I understand."

Bethanne offered him a brief smile. "I'm happy to spend time with you, too."

He smiled and held her look. "Are you, Bethanne?"

"What do you mean?" she asked. She noticed that his hands tightened around the steering wheel.

"Annie and I had a short conversation earlier. She wanted my opinion of Vance and whether she should forgive him. I more or less told her to ditch him. Any man who'd treat my daughter the way he did isn't worthy of dating her."

"Daddy," Annie protested from the backseat.

"Then she reminded me that I was asking you you to forgive to forgive me. me."

"I forgave you a long time ago," Bethanne said.

"But do you trust me?"

She hesitated. "I think so."

"I don't want there to be a single doubt in your mind. I told Annie and I'm telling you that there'll never be a repeat of what happened with Tiffany. I give you my word."

Bethanne looked straight ahead. He'd given his word before, standing in front of the minister at her family church; he'd promised to love and protect her, to remain faithful until death. She wished she could block out the doubt and tell him what he wanted to hear. It would be so easy to claim she trusted Grant. So easy to a.s.sure him that the thought of his cheating again had never entered her mind. Only, she'd be lying.

"Do you believe me?" he asked.

"I believe you're sincere," she said, not quite answering his question.

"You can trust me, Bethanne."

She smiled, hoping that would provide him with the rea.s.surance he seemed to need.

She tried to concentrate on their relationship, on giving them another chance. Yet she couldn't dismiss her feelings for Max. She wanted to be with him. But she was with Grant, who so clearly loved her.

Grant placed his hand on her knee and Bethanne smiled over at him again, a noncommittal smile. He was trying so hard. But she couldn't give him the answer he was asking for, not now and maybe not ever. As she kept telling him, she was very different from the woman he'd once loved; the changes in her life had been dramatic. One thing was sure-she'd meet this challenge the way she'd met every other one in the past six years.

When they boarded the plane without Ruth, Bethanne was afraid her mother-in-law would miss the flight. Ruth was the last person to walk on, having waited outside security as long as she could in order to be with Royce. When she settled into her seat next to Bethanne, her face glowed with happiness.

"Royce is booking his flight to Seattle right this minute," she said, fastening her seat belt.

"So you'll be together again soon."

Ruth nodded. "Bethanne," she whispered, "am I an old fool? Is it possible to fall in love again at my age?"

"Ruth, good grief, you're not old! Besides, age shouldn't matter. Does Royce make you happy?"

"Oh, yes, but, well, there are complications. His family's in Florida and mine is in Washington."

"Your family's grown," Bethanne continued. "You can come for visits and vice versa."

"My friends are in Seattle."

"Same goes for them. Plus you'll make new friends and reconnect with old ones." Bethanne leaned over and squeezed her arm. "Do you love Royce?"

"With all my heart, and he loves me."

"Then you'll work something out."

Ruth went very still. "I wish it was that simple. I think these weeks apart will be good for us. They'll give us time to mull over some decisions."

"They will," Bethanne agreed, although she hoped Ruth would be more successful at reaching a conclusion than she'd been.

Grant sat with Annie across the aisle, and they had their heads close together almost the entire flight. More than once Grant laughed out loud at something Annie said, and she basked in her father's approval. There was no sign of the angry, rebellious girl Annie had been at sixteen.

Bethanne took the opportunity to knit, while Ruth watched a movie. When they landed in Seattle, Andrew was waiting in baggage claim. Bethanne's spirits rose the instant she saw her son.

"Andrew," she said, rushing forward. Her six-foot-tall son threw his arms around her and lifted her from the ground.

"Welcome home," he said.

"It's good to be back." Bethanne felt as though she'd been away far longer than eighteen days. She wanted to unpack her suitcase the minute she stepped into the house and start a load of laundry. And then she'd walk from room to room in a small private ritual she had, something she did whenever she'd been traveling. She'd touch all the things she loved the most, the objects and pictures and mementos that made this house her home, home, the one place on earth where she truly belonged and that belonged to her. the one place on earth where she truly belonged and that belonged to her.

"I thought your father phoned and told you he was giving me a ride." Bethanne slipped her arm around Andrew's waist.

"He did and I told him if he'd ordered a car, he should take care of Grandma and Annie. I said I'd drive you home. He didn't mention it?"

"No." But they'd barely spoken once they arrived at the Orlando airport. Bethanne had bought a Sudoku puzzle book and a couple of magazines after they'd checked their luggage and gone through security. She'd read the magazines while they waited at the gate, and on the plane he'd sat with Annie. As soon as they were airborne, Bethanne had taken out her knitting and finished her project.

Grant hugged his son, too, and although Andrew hugged him back, Bethanne noticed a decided coolness in her son's att.i.tude toward his father. Grant still had work to do if he hoped to repair that relationship.

Father and son collected the suitcases from the baggage carousel, while Annie sought out the driver Grant had arranged.

"Bethanne," Ruth said, clasping Bethanne's elbows. "I can't thank you enough. This was the trip of a lifetime for me."

"I'm grateful, too," Grant told Bethanne. He hugged her before they parted. "Would you like to go to dinner Tuesday night?"

After all the meals out, she'd prefer to stay in but hated to disappoint Grant. "That would be nice."

"We still have things to talk about."

She nodded. "I'll see you Tuesday, then."

"Perfect. I'll call first."

As Bethanne and Andrew started toward the parking garage, Annie found them. "Mom, I had a great time. Thanks so much."

"Thank your grandmother."

"I will. I'll see you Tuesday at the office, okay? Bye, Andrew. Talk soon."

Bethanne had decided they should take Monday off to deal with ch.o.r.es and relax before going back to work. She nodded, readjusted her purse strap across her shoulder. "Bye, sweetie."

Andrew was quiet on the way to the car. It wasn't until they'd driven out of the parking garage that he spoke. "Are you okay, Mom?"

"Of course."

He glanced at her. "Frankly, you don't look that good."

"Thanks a lot," she said humorously. Leave it to her son to be that blunt. "I'm fine... Oh, Andrew, I'm afraid I've met someone I...really like."

"Believe me, I've heard all about Max from Annie. Even Dad called me because he was worried. I'm glad. He could use a bit of compet.i.tion."

"Have I lost my mind?" she asked. "Just when it looks like everything's coming together for your dad and me, I meet Max." She valued her son's opinion; Andrew knew her better than anyone.

"You haven't lost your mind, Mom. You're too down-to-earth for that."

She immediately felt a sense of relief. "What seems to bother everyone is that I know so little about him. The crazy part is that it doesn't seem to matter. I know what's important-that he loved his wife and that he's a good person, a really good person with a big heart."

"Then that's enough for me, too."

"Thank you." She meant that in the most profound way. She was grateful for his kindness and his faith in her.

"So, what about you and Dad?" Andrew asked next.

If Bethanne had an answer, she wouldn't be in this emotional mess. "He was wonderful the whole time I spent with him. He realizes what he did was wrong. Now he wants to...start over again."

"Is that possible, Mom?"

For years she'd been convinced a reconciliation was completely out of the question. Yet over the course of the past week, Grant had proven that he was willing to do whatever it took.

"Is it?" Andrew repeated.

Bethanne couldn't be anything but honest. "I'm beginning to think it might be."

Her son exhaled slowly. "You can actually forgive Dad for what he did to you? To all of us?"

"I'll never be able to completely erase the pain he brought into our lives," she admitted, "but I think I can let go of the bitterness."

"What about your feelings for Max?"

She shrugged helplessly. "I wish I knew what to do. In some ways I wish I'd never met him."

"But you did."

"I know." Max had seriously complicated her life. But before she could give that any further thought, Andrew turned onto her street.

This was the home she loved, the one she'd been determined to keep after Grant left. It represented far more than a house in a nice neighborhood. It was a symbol of her determination to rise above what Grant had done. She felt its welcome the minute Andrew pulled into the driveway.

She unlocked the front door and walked inside while her son dealt with her luggage. As he carried her bags upstairs to the master bedroom, she scooped the mail off the floor.

"You need me to do anything else?" he asked, walking back downstairs where Bethanne was sorting through her mail. Other than bills and a letter from an elderly aunt, there didn't seem to be anything of importance.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for everything."

Andrew kissed her cheek, then headed for the front door.

"Can you and Courtney stop by on Thursday?" she called after him. "We should discuss the rehearsal dinner."

"Sure," he said, turning toward her. "What time?"

"How about six? I'll put something in the Crock-Pot."

"Courtney's got a bridesmaid thing, so she'll come later, but six works for me." He paused.

"Mom, I know you're troubled about this situation with Dad. I doubt I could give you any pearls of wisdom, but I'm sure you'll make the right decision."

"I'd appreciate hearing your opinion." She set the mail down and looked at her son.

"First, I want you to know that whatever you decide is fine by me. As far as I'm concerned, Dad doesn't deserve a second chance, but that's neither here nor there. All I really want to say is that you should go with your gut instinct. You did that when you started Parties and it's never failed you yet. It won't now."

"But I don't know what my instinct's saying," she muttered.