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Yes, Beth said She knew that

'I irl could want' Catherine speared a juicy praith her fork and chewed before she added slyly, 'And I bet I was right about the bed thing, wasn't I? He's dynamite, admit it'

Beth smiled weakly 'You know I don't kiss and tell'

'Make an exception Just this once?'

'Sorry' Beth filled her mouth with fillet steak

'I knoas right, anyway' Catherine grinned at her happily 'I've seen the way you look at him and he looks at you You two are hot'

Beth dug her sister in the ribs and they both laughed, but once the weekend was over and she was alone again Beth brooded on their conversation Catherine wouldn't have believed her if she'd told her sister she hadn't been in Travis's bed yet No one would believe her Everyone thought they were a couple in every sense of the word, that much had been obvious froone hoht after the main party

Not that anyone had actually said anything, of course They were far too polite and tactful for that, but she had seen their faces and had known exactly what they were thinking It had eauche and aard Not so Travis

Beth frowned to herself In fact, he had seeht Typical man Or should she say typical Travis? Because Travis was definitely, in to do him justice She couldn't think of a word that did

He was a very tactile individual and powerfully experi¬enced in the art oflove, that was for sure, but he always stopped before things progressed too far To her dis hi inch a desire that pride had flown out of theBut so had stopped her One little word Trust Because if he asked her—as she kneould—she couldn't give him the answer he wanted She didn't trust hiain Emotional suicide wasn't an option

She sighed so heavily that Harvey came and put his I They had just finished breakfast and nor hi But the weekend had been particularly unsettling, probably because it had enore for a feeeks now They couldn't go on the way they were It was ridiculous—the whole thing had grown more ridiculous week by week But they had reached stalemate

'Walk?' she suggested to Harvey

Theto the front door and despite her thoughts Beth had to smile at his exuberance How Harvey would settle back into the normal routine of activity when they had to leave this place she didn't know A drill settled on her for ahere when she had to She'd deal with leaving Travis when she had to Day at a time and all that

Stopping just long enough to fill her small backpack with a couple of bottles of water and a snack for lunch, Beth set cff, determined to walk the blues away It had alorked before and it would work today She'd make it

Only it didn't The bracken-covered hillsides, the odd cottage tucked between orchards and hedgerows, the shining rivers snaking a the trees and hills of every shape andwere just the saes, summits, dark with heather, and quiet fields, they passed theave her was absent

The scented warhtly coloured kingfisher Beth spotted on the way home much later failed to thrill

What was theand she still had a couple of hts but she sat down on the river bank, Harvey i the opportunity to have a drink fro in the tree tops and with the gurgle and splashing of the river it should have been a perfect su It was perfect except She was alone No, not alone Lonely That was different And she was lonely for just one person

'No' She said the word out loud as though it would help to deny what she was feeling She ht before but already sheand Friday, when she would see hier And it wasn't just the thrill of being in his arms she missed She ether, everything The whole package

'I don't want this' Again she spoke out loud but now she could hear the panic in her voice She didn't want to need hio there again This was supposed to have been a casual romantic in¬terlude, that was all She wasn't supposed to have fallen in love Fallen in Love? Where had that come from?