LITMIR.BIZ

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to see that the bandage was already gone, and that Dr. Hardy was in the process of removing the stitches, his green-clad frame blocking Joe’s view of his daughter’s face.

      And then it was done, and Sophie was nervously asking for the mirror.

      “Maybe later, baby,” Joe said, only to be cut off by Dr. Hardy, who took a mirror from Alice and handed it to Sophie.

      “Just don’t get used to how you look, Sophie, because that’s going to change—not that it’s looking so bad right now, in my opinion. You’re young, your health is excellent, and I expect the final scar to be almost invisible.”

      Sophie held the mirror in front of her, slowly lifted her hand to tentatively touch the livid red wound that stretched from just below her ear, up and over her jawbone, then back down, so that it ran under her chin.

      “He—he didn’t make a very clean cut, did he?” she asked at last, putting down the mirror. “I could be marked with a big S, for Sophie. Or for Scarred,” she ended, biting her bottom lip between her teeth.

      Joe reached for her hand, but Dr. Hardy had already taken both of Sophie’s hands in his. “Look at me, Sophie,” he said, all traces of humor gone. “Look at me, sweetheart, and listen to me. It’s a scar. That’s all it is. And it will be gone soon, or as close to gone that you’ll forget it’s even there. But that scar, visible or not, isn’t you. Do you understand that? If that’s an S on your jaw right now, it stands for Survivor. Don’t forget that.”

      Sophie nodded, and Dr. Hardy and his nurse left the room.

      “Sophie? He’s right, you know,” Joe said. “You are a survivor. And you’re going to be fine. Five more weeks at your apartment with the nurse I’ve hired, until the orthopods take that brace off your leg, and then you’ll be with us, at the ranch. Six months from now, once Dr. Hardy is done with his magic, it will be as if this never happened.”

      “But it did happen, Dad,” Sophie told him, a huge tear slipping down her cheek. “Every night when I close my eyes I remember that it happened. Every day, now that the bandage is off, I won’t be able to forget that it happened.”

      She tugged her hand free of Joe’s and pulled the large diamond ring from her third finger, left hand. “Here,” she said, handing the ring to Joe. “Tell Chet I’ll see him in six months, not before then.”

      “Oh, honey, don’t do this,” Joe begged her, while inwardly he relaxed, with at least one problem being solved for him. “I’m sure Chet will be banging down the door to see you, to change your mind.”

      “Like he’s been banging down the door all week?” Sophie asked, her smile wry. “No, Dad. I just want to go home to my apartment, wait for this thing to come off my leg, and then come to the ranch. If you want me there?”

      “If I— Ah, baby,” Joe said, folding his daughter into his strong arms. “All I want out of life right now is to have you home with us again.”

      Three

       H ome. It had never looked so good.

      Sophie sat in the passenger seat as her father drove the car along the private roadway, past various ranch buildings, heading toward the huge, circular drive that fronted Hacienda del Alegria—the House of Joy.

      She gave a small, lopsided smile as she remembered the day River had told her about another House of Joy, somewhere in Nevada, that had been a topnotch “pleasure palace” in its heyday, years earlier. Sophie had been highly affronted, saying that wasn’t what her parents had in mind when they’d named the ranch, and then minutes later had retold the story to her oldest brother, Rand, giggling as he looked shocked that his little sister would even know about such things.

      River had gotten into big trouble over that one—which served him right, because Sophie had also been subjected to quite a lecture from Rand on what a lady isn’t supposed to let anyone know she knows, even if she knows it.

      Sophie held up a hand and squinted into the setting sun as the car entered the huge circular drive. Nothing had changed since her last visit. Nothing altered the physical beauty that was Hacienda del Alegria.

      There was still the central area of the house, a two-story, sand-color adobe structure sporting California’s version of a pillared porch, and a terra-cotta roof.

      The sun still rose against the front windows, and set behind the house, over the wonderfully blue Pacific Ocean that lay below a series of cliffs.

      Single-story wings wrapped back from either side of the house, affording every room a view of the ocean, of the marvelous gardens, of the courtyard, pool, and gardens that played such a large role in the everyday life of everyone who lived in the house.

      And so many, many people had lived in Hacienda del Alegria over the years. Her parents occupied a large suite in the south wing, Sophie’s and Amber’s bedrooms were also located there, with the north wing housing their brothers and foster siblings.

      A full house. A lovely house. Once a happy house.

      But not anymore.

      “Luckily you’ll have no stairs to navigate,” Joe Colton told his daughter as he stopped the car and turned off the ignition. “Even with the brace off, I think you’re going to have to get used to being called Gimpy for a while, at least by your brothers. Just remember, Sophie, it’s a measure of their affection. Everyone’s been worried sick about you. Boys just often don’t know how to say what’s really in their hearts.”

      Sophie smiled, shook her head at her father. “Senator, you know, you never cease to amaze me. How can you still be giving us all lessons? Did it ever occur to you that we might be grown up now?”

      “Never. Not in my wildest dreams,” Joe answered, reaching over to flick a fingertip against Sophie’s nose. She flinched at the near contact and turned her head, raising a hand to the scar on her left cheek.

      “Baby—”

      “Not now, Dad,” Sophie said tightly. She’d been nervous ever since they’d gotten within twenty miles of the ranch. Nervous about her welcome, who would be there to welcome her home, what they’d think when they saw her. “Let’s just get inside, okay?”

      Leaving the baggage in the trunk, Joe quickly came around and opened the car door for Sophie, then walked with her to the front door that stood open in welcome. Their housekeeper, Inez Ramirez, waited there, a broad smile on her wide, pleasant face. “Welcome home, Miss Sophie,” Inez said, holding out her arms, and Sophie gratefully walked into them, allowing the hug, needing the hug.

      Then it was time to pass into the large great room that made up the nerve center of the house, a huge room furnished well, but casually.

      The empty room.

      “Dad?” Sophie asked, turning to her father, who then pointed toward the wall of glass doors leading out to the courtyard. Following his gesture, Sophie could see Meredith Colton lounging on a chaise beside the pool, clad in a bra-like swim top and a long, filmy, patterned skirt, dark glasses shading her eyes.

      “I’ll go get her,” Joe offered, but Sophie shook her head and started for the doors. “Sophie, she couldn’t know the exact time we’d arrive,” he called after her, then swore under his breath and quickly turned his back on a scene he didn’t have the strength to witness.

      Sophie limped out onto the patio, slowly made her way down the steps and past the fountain. The beauty of the courtyard was lost to her, its sights, its sounds, its glorious smells. All she could see was her mother, the woman who had spoken to her on the telephone only a single time in the past six weeks, the woman who hadn’t had the time or the inclination to visit her in San Francisco.

      Sophie stood beside the chaise and looked down at the woman who had taught her how to tie her shoes, who had giggled with her when Sophie had tried on her very first training bra, who had put up her hair for her the night of the senior prom. The woman who had kissed her cuts and scrapes,

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