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She couldn't do this She couldn't sit and talk with the feel and delicious ss weak and her pulse race She had put soarden the night before; now she used the fact some crumbs had fallen on to the floor as an excuse to ments of cake, she scattered them on the bird table and then seated herself on the tub of flowers she had sat on when they had been in the garden together once before It was only then she said, 'Harvey was a gift from o He was just a little puppy then'

Travis glanced at the powerful jahich wereshort work of the bone 'Not so little now Do you take him with you when you work?'

Beth nodded 'Any time I can't, Catherine has hientle as a la before and it would never have occurred to et one but I don't knohat I'd do without hi, he's' She stopped, wondering if he would think she was silly

'A friend?' Travis said softly

Beth nodded again 'My best friend,' she said a little defi¬antly 'He helped rateful to hi it It wasn't the way to keep things light and casual But it was too late now

'Unconditional love' He finished his coffee in one gulp 'Animals have it in abundance but it's a rare quality in Hohtly and every nerve in her body responded 'It h,' he said quietly, 'and I'h no fault of your own Life sucks sometimes'

She looked back at hih her briefly 'When I look back it was losing my parents the way I did that hurts most' Her voice was so low he had to lean further forward to hear her 'They on¬derful people, the best parents in the world Funny, but ht he was lovely; Keith had a omen—' her voice held a note of bit¬terness for a moment'—but my dad was always very wary of hiot ed 'Love's blind'

'Beth, anyone can be fooled by soh It was no reflection on your judge¬ood people'

She stared at hie and shadowed; she was bewildered at how much she" had opened up to hiullible than others' The little catch in her voice told hi very important 'I didn't think I was like that but I must be How else could I have married someone, lived with him, loved him, and not have a clue what he was really like? I wouldn't have believed it was possible if it hadn't happened to me'

'It's possible' He reached out and touched her er, his voice deep and sullible in your case Keith was so that crawled out froave hih to have your life touched by hi about it He won't prosper, Beth Not in the long run His kids won't respect hi to do with hiets involved ill see him for what he is He'll die a lonely bitter old man one day'

'You don't know that' She shook her head, her voice shaking 'And how do you know I'ullible? Why is my case different from lots of others where woain?'

'I know you' His voice was firm and warm

'But you don't We only ht be a serial victim'

Travis gave her a crooked s to do with time It happens like that sometimes You're no more a victim than I am'

She was very pale, her haunted eyes warning him that he

had taken her to the limit of her endurance for the h they had just been discussing the weather, when he said, 'I' to choose for yourself?'

'Youyou go and help yourself I'll come in a minute when I've finished my coffee'

When he disappeared into the house Beth went li She hoped Travis hadn't noticed How had he made her say all that? And what had he meant by that last comment—that he knew her? She pressed her hand to her heart as it pounded against her chest She didn't want anyeach other was a bad one—she had to tell hiet involved with anyone, least of all a ht for a word to describe Travis and failed, she compromised on—unusual as Travis