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"So, Sa Care to tell us about it?" Uncle Russ strove for a nonthreatening topic and Zoe was grateful

"It waswith the keys that always dangled around her neck

"Why, I don't think Faith would wear so his ood this time

The other wo those"

Saed "It's all they let lanced down, picked up the proper fork, and began to eat her salad

The rest of the faht, but Zoe's stomach was in co with these people on a daily basis

She glanced at Ryan's strong profile, the mask behind which he hid his pain Zoe knew he'd placed unspoken hope in his parents' ability to come around and they'd disappointed him Meanwhile she'd placed no faith in Ryan's ability to stand up to his parents If he knew that, he'd be disappointed in her, as well Heaven knew she was disappointed in herself She shouldn't have needed to see evidence of where his loyalties would lie

Ryan had proven hiive Zoe pure joy Instead she was forced to acknowledge that it brought her and her faood

Chapter Ten

IT WAS MIDNIGHT and Ryan lay in his bed, channel surfing because he couldn't sleep Couldn't forget the awful night in his stifling childhood ho women who he realized had come to mean more to him than the family who'd raised him

From the minute Ryan had walked into the house and seen the foro well Still, he'd tried to let both Sam and his parents be themselves and hoped that the adults would have learned from their past mistakes Clearly that hadn't been the case and there were only two reasons he hadn't ood on his threat to walk out— his uncle and Zoe

Zoe hated his family and all they stood for He'd seen it in her eyes, her expression and he'd heard it in her tone and hurt voice, when she'd defended her parents Yet she'd backed down and she'd done it for him

When he heard the soft knock on his bedrooain and the door sloide He supposed he should have been surprised to see Zoe standing there, but he wasn't Not when she was the answer to his dreams and prayers

He pushed hier her way

She shut the door behind her and leaned back against it "You don't ed "Sahts I've learned the kid sleeps like the dead"

Zoe laughed "Isn't that the truth I can't remember the last time I crashed that hard"

"You haven't slept well since you've been here, that much I know"