Anthony calmly walked back inside and watched as a heartbroken Nadine tried to comfort Christy. They were sitting on the couch, and Nadine had her right arm draped around Christy’s shoulders.

“I’m so sorry he did this to you, Nadine. If I had any idea that he was capable of being this despicable I would’ve warned you. I honestly thought you were the miracle that he needed. Can you ever forgive me?” she cried, her face buried in her hands. She suddenly felt weak and tired. Whatever had made her so sick with fever was apparently still lingering.

They were interrupted when an elderly woman appeared. “The baby is finally sleeping. Come, let us all eat.”

Anthony had wanted to leave, but for some reason he couldn’t identify, he was drawn to the old woman. After he was again introduced as Christy’s friend, the four adults and Cody sat down to Nana’s home-cooked meal. Christy had lost her appetite and picked at her food, not because of her recent illness, but because of what had transpired with her good-for-nothing brother. Nadine and Nana respectfully refrained from asking the quiet yet imposing visitor any personal questions and they were surprised when he opened up about his Native American heritage.

“You’re Cherokee and Seminole?” Nadine remarked. “We’re Seminole.”

Her grandmother's expression turned wistful, and when Nadine saw that Anthony noticed, she offered up a quick explanation.

"Nana's oldest daughter, my aunt, left to marry a Cherokee man. She used to keep in touch, but one day she stopped calling."

Anthony was going to ask the name of the woman or the man she ran off with, but he knew it would be a long shot to think they could've been his parents. Besides, he could've visited the Seminole reservation years ago and made inquiries, but he had no interest in making any possible family connections. That was a different lifetime. One he'd rather forget. Nadine quickly turned the conversation around to Nana's colorful childhood and before they knew it, the old woman came to life as she regaled Anthony with tales of her youth. Nobody seemed to mind when Christy excused herself to have some time with Cody who had finished eating and was getting antsy.

“I’ll take him back to his room and play with him while you three finish up. And I’m going to peek in on Zachary. I promise I won’t wake him up or go near him,” she told Nadine as she scooted her chair away from the table. "I think I had some kind of twelve-hour bug and it's mostly gone, but I don't want to take any chances." Anthony looked like he was going to object, but said nothing.

Taking little Cody by the hand, Christy led him to the hallway, telling him to stay quiet so he didn’t wake the baby. Once out of sight and earshot of the other adults, Christy crouched low and whispered to him, “Cody, if I let you pick out some toys from your room, will you play quietly by yourself in Mommy’s room while I talk on the phone?”

He nodded enthusiastically.

After taking a peek at Zachary and making a pit stop in Cody’s room to grab some toys, Christy headed for the master bedroom. She set Cody up on the bed with his favorite play things and pulled the phone book from the nightstand. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she picked up the telephone and dialed it.

Less than twenty minutes later, Christy laid down the telephone at almost the same time she heard the chairs in the kitchen scraping across the floor. Anthony, Nadine, and Nana were obviously finished eating. She turned to the little boy who she loved more than life itself and pulled him in for a hug.

“You know how much I love you, don’t you, Cody?” she asked, nuzzling the top of his head with her chin.

“I love you too, Aunt Chrithsy,” he replied with his adorable lisp.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t play with you today, but I promise I will next time. Okay?” she asked pulling back so she could look into his big, chocolate-colored eyes.

He nodded and smiled. She took him by the hand and walked him down the long hallway. They almost bumped into Anthony who must’ve been on his way to find her.

After giving Nana a hug and thanking her for the meal, Christy asked Nadine to please follow her into the living room. Anthony, who’d said little during the entire visit, stood behind Christy listening to the women discuss what came next.

“Nadine, I know that you’re hurting. I know that you’re raw right now. But can I please ask you a favor?” Christy begged.

“Of course,” Nadine answered, nodding stoically.

“Can you promise me that you won’t take him back? I know that’s a lot to ask. Everybody deserves a second chance, right? Before you answer me, let me tell you what’s going to happen. He’s going to run out of money and Marcia will dump him and he’ll show up at your front door. He’ll be changed. He’ll promise you the moon and he’ll probably do his best to prove to you that you made the right decision to take him back.” She paused then and tucked her short hair behind her ear. Looking away for a second, her eyes returned to Nadine. “But he’ll do it again. I know he’ll do it again. I didn’t warn you before. I’m warning you now. You don’t need him. I know you have a good job, but I also know you don't make enough to stay in a neighborhood like this one.” She swallowed then and said, “And that’s where I need to beg for a second favor.”

Nadine’s eyes were filled with tears, and her chin started to tremble. She nodded.

“Do you like it here? Do you like Naples? Can you see yourself staying here or do you think you’ll go back to the east coast or possibly somewhere else?”

“I love Naples, Christy. I love this home that you are so graciously letting me live in. I’ll stay here as long as you’ll have us. And you're right. I could never afford this house on my salary, but I can give you something toward rent.”

Ignoring Nadine's last admission, Christy let out a big sigh. “Oh, I’m so glad, Nadine!” she cried, pulling the woman in for a hug. After a moment, she pulled back and said, “I can’t imagine not having you and Nana and the boys in my life. I’m so relieved. So, you want to stay, then? You’re certain?” she asked.

“Yes, Christy. I’m certain,” Nadine said, with a small smile.

“Good. Because while Cody was playing, I called my attorney. He’s drawing up the papers to have the house put in your name. He’ll also take care of getting the title for the car transferred into your name as well. I didn’t have a lot of time to go into details with him so he’s calling you later today or tomorrow.”

Nadine was so overwhelmed she couldn’t say anything. Tears made their way down her smooth cheeks.

“Also, a locksmith will be here shortly to change all the locks, and an alarm company will be here later today to arm the house.”

"You...You're giving me this house?" Nadine asked with a look of total bewilderment.

Christy smiled and nodded. She then turned to Anthony who stood there expressionless. “Are you ready to go?” she asked him. He gave a quick nod. She hugged Nadine one more time and was almost out the front door when she turned back to address the woman.

“Oh, there is one more thing. I also called the police.”

She didn’t look up but she could feel Anthony’s stance change. “I talked to someone who said that based on Richard’s past and the trouble he’s been in before, he poses a potential threat. If you go down to the station tomorrow you can file a restraining order. It will keep him off the property. I don’t know if he’d ever do anything to physically hurt you, but he’s desperate and angry and I don’t think you should take that chance. Ask for Detective Kimberly Cochran. She’ll be expecting your call.”

They weren’t even out of the subdivision when Christy addressed Anthony. “I called the police. I could’ve told them about you, but I didn’t.”

“That was smart,” he replied in an even voice.

“Right. I know that, but don’t you see my point? You can trust me,” she told him.

Anthony couldn’t immediately respond. This woman was an enigma and he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he was a little intrigued by her. Every time he thought he’d figured her out, she tossed a wrench in the spokes of his train of thought and tripped him up. He was self-righteously smug when Christy turned down Nadine’s request to stay at her house. He was stunned when Christy chose Nadine and her small family over her own brother. He was impressed when she trashed the Camaro. He wasn’t expecting the older boyfriend revelation that Richard offered before driving away, but it didn’t surprise him. Anthony’s first thought had been that she did it to defy her parents. Running away to be with an older man would certainly have caused a stir in their upper-class sphere of establishment. He was surprised during lunch when Nadine confessed after Christy left the room that she was glad to see Christy had a friend. Especially a male. Nadine didn’t say it, but she didn’t have to. Anthony knew that Nadine thought Christy might be a lesbian. He could only guess that Richard had never shared Christy's older boyfriend revelation with Nadine. And as much as he hated to admit it, he was a little awed by how she deceptively manipulated the play session with Cody so she could fire off some phone calls right under his nose. Suddenly remembering how he’d been played by Van, Denny, and possibly his bookkeeper, his aggravation over the whole situation was suddenly reignited.

“I don’t trust anyone,” he snapped. That wasn’t entirely true. There were a few he trusted implicitly. Alexander, Nisha, Grizz. A spoiled blonde heiress would never fit in that small group. She could never belong.

“What do I have to do to prove myself?” she pleaded.

“You don’t have to do anything except for what I’ve already told you. You stay with me until I find Van.”

“You haven’t left my side. How are you even looking for him?” she asked incredulously, her frustration obvious.

“I have my people looking for him,” he answered, his tone one that she knew not to challenge.

Christy let out a resigned sigh and thought that quite possibly she was going about this all wrong. She tried to fight him in Vivian’s bedroom. She tried to pay Van’s debt and introduce a business proposition before they left the house. She tried to show him that she could be trusted by coming clean about her call to the police. Nothing worked. He was immovable, a brick wall. Maybe staying with him could benefit her in the end. After all, they both hated Van and maybe he was bad enough to do things to Van that she couldn’t or wouldn’t know how to. Then again, maybe he was bad enough to do things to her if he didn’t get what he wanted from Van. This man was a puzzle. He seemed motivated by money yet refused her offer to write a check. There was something else driving him. Maybe his dark eyes weren't void of emotion like she'd originally thought. Maybe there was a simmering wrath he managed to keep hidden. He must be mad about something and her gut told her it went deeper than Van's outstanding debt. She could only hope that if she was right and still went along with this charade that he would never aim that rage at her. A shudder she’d been repressing rolled over her.

“Can we drive by my place so I can grab some clothes?” Christy asked.

“You left your bag and keys at my house,” Anthony answered, giving her a sidelong glance.

“My landlady can let us in,” she replied.

“You have a landlady?” he asked, mildly curious as to why someone with her wealth would rent.

Fifteen minutes later after agreeing to pass by her house, they pulled into Arrowmont Apartments, a small community of duplexes that were neatly arranged in rows. Christy pointed at hers, and Anthony pulled up, eyeballing the phone company truck that had pulled out of the driveway next door and driven away.

He hadn’t even turned off the truck when a woman wearing a tight spandex shirt and bright blue clamdiggers appeared. She hobbled on her high heels toward the truck while carrying a small dog on her hip.

“I could see your blonde hair from my window!” she yelled, traipsing toward Christy. “I paged you not more than ten minutes ago. I was worried after you didn’t come home last night.”

“Thank you, Evelyn, but you know you don’t need to watch out for me. I was with a friend,” Christy answered, motioning at Anthony. He’d just climbed out and slammed his door shut.

“Oh my!” Evelyn exclaimed, giving Anthony an admiring once-over. “I haven’t seen you with a man before. I guess you were holding out for the right one.”

Or keeping her older lover a secret, Anthony thought to himself.

Ignoring the comment, Christy told her, “I need my spare key.”

“Got it right here,” she said, pulling a little keyring that was clipped to her belt loop.

Christy thanked her and snatched the key from Evelyn’s hand a little too roughly. Anthony started to follow her when Evelyn told him, “I’ll be right back. Christy got a delivery yesterday afternoon.”

“We’ll be inside,” he told the woman.

He stood in the doorway and surveyed the small but clean apartment. Everything was white. White furniture, white walls, white throw rugs on a white tile floor. He started to walk toward the white kitchen when Evelyn called from behind him. “Yoo hoo!! I’m back.”

She click-clacked past Anthony and laid a bouquet of flowers on the white kitchen table. “Your flowers came yesterday, Christy. I didn’t want to leave them outside in the heat, so I brought them next door and watered them for you,” she called out.

She then turned to Anthony and said, “She is so wonderful. I don’t know what she does with all these flowers she gets. Every Tuesday a new bouquet shows up, and I see her get in her car and drive off with them. I think she must be taking them to a nursing home or hospital.”

Or she has a secret admirer, Anthony thought. And she's trying to get rid of the evidence before her older lover finds out.

Unexpectedly, Christy came out of the tiny hallway carrying a small suitcase. “Thanks, Evelyn,” she told the woman sincerely. “I’m going on a short trip.” She eyed Anthony. “I’ll call the florist and ask them not to make any future deliveries until I get back so you don’t need to look out for them. You know my pager number if anything pressing comes up.”

Anthony could tell that the woman was dying of curiosity about not just him but Christy’s short trip. She looked like she was going to ask a question when something occurred to her.

“You had some visitors. Do you want me to page you if they come back?” she asked, looking from Christy to Anthony.

“If who comes back?” Christy asked.

“The men that were looking for you yesterday. Two handsome men in suits. They didn’t say who they were, but they looked important.”

Without giving Christy a chance to answer, Anthony asked, “What’s wrong with the phone? Why was there a repairman here?”

This caught both Christy and Evelyn by surprise.

“Oh, nothing’s wrong with our phones,” Evelyn said, waving him off. “When I asked the man working, he said he was doing a routine check for faulty lines in our complex."

Anthony looked hard at Christy and grabbed the bag from her hand. “It’s time to go.”

Christy seemed stunned at his sense of urgency. She just stared.

“Now,” Anthony said.

Christy headed toward a small cabinet and grabbed a plastic bag from one of the shelves. She walked toward Evelyn, and, shoving the bag at her said, "Please do me a favor and put this seed out every morning." Without giving Evelyn a chance to reply she scooped up her flowers from the kitchen table and headed for the front door. She was almost outside when she heard Anthony say to Evelyn, “You haven’t seen or heard from Christy. As far as you know, she took a little vacation. And you definitely don’t mention to anyone that I was here.” He headed for the door.

“Why? Is something wrong?” Evelyn asked. Her voice sounded more curious than concerned.

Anthony turned around and started to approach her. He was only inches from her when he stopped and looked down. She was instantly trapped in his stare. She slowly placed her right hand over her chest and gasping, took a step back from him.

"Of cour...of course," she gulped. "Christy's on vacation and I've never seen you before in my life."

Anthony slowly nodded at her. "You're a smart lady, Evelyn. And you don't ever want to let me think otherwise."

And then he and Christy were gone.