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them.”
    â€œDon’t you worry about that. I’ve taken care of everything, but if you want to send a note, I’ll pass it on for you.”
    Regina nodded. “Would my stepmother welcome me if I returned?”
    Rick frowned. “Susan remarried six months after George died. Since you returned from London last month you were her guest, and I doubt she was very happy about it. She’s not so much older than you and you’re too damn attractive. I don’t thinkshe’d be very happy to have you move in with her now.”
    Regina said nothing. She wasn’t surprised. It only made sense that a newly married woman would want privacy with her husband, and the fact that Susan wasn’t much older than she herself made her even more unwelcome. She had a headache now. Her glance finally did turn to Slade. Now he was sitting on the bureau and he was studying the contents of her breakfast tray as if he found them fascinating. She wanted to catch his eye, but he seemed determined to avoid her. If she did not return home to San Luis Obispo, where would she go?
    â€œYou can stay here for a while. With my family. At Miramar,” Rick said.
    â€œThat’s very kind of you! Too kind!” She thought she heard Slade snort, but wasn’t sure. “Why would you take me in?” Regina asked. “Why would you do something like this? It might be a long time before I regain my memory.” Or never , she thought with a touch of panic.
    â€œBecause I believe in family,” Rick said. “James loved you. He was my son. As far as I’m concerned, you are family. Your place is with us, at Miramar. We’ll take care of you there until you get well.”
    Regina gripped her hands hard. He was offering her a sanctuary in her time of need. She was grateful. And Slade was there. She couldn’t help thinking of that, too. “Thank you,” she whispered. She dared to glance at Slade.
    â€œYou have every choice.” He spoke stiffly. “You want to go to San Luis Obispo to your stepmother, I’ll take you. You want to go to London, I’ll find you a chaperone. You’re an heiress, Elizabeth, so you’re not without means.”
    She gasped. “You don’t want me to stay?”
    â€œI didn’t say that,” he said. “I’m only pointing out to you that you are a woman of substance.”
    He didn’t want her to stay. The fact practically blinded her. It nearly swept her from her chair. Not only didn’t he want her to stay, Slade was offering to help her leave. Shefelt betrayed. But most importantly, she was anguished, because she trusted him, needed him.
    â€œCan’t you be nice to your brother’s fiancée?” Rick shouted. “Can’t you see how upset you’ve made her?”
    Slade was rhythmically tapping one booted heel against the bureau now, an outlet for the hot flow of lava-like energy in his veins. There was something ominous about the steady thump-thump-thump. “Just how nice do you want me to be?” he said softly.
    Regina looked from one man to the other. Again she was witnessing an intimate and powerful conflict, one she had no right to even be aware of. “Stop it,” she said.
    They both looked at her in surprise.
    She gripped the edge of the table, not looking at Slade now, even though she knew he was staring at her. She refused to look at him after he had made himself so clear. “Let me at least learn all of the facts. Am I close to my stepmother? Or was I, before her remarriage, I mean?”
    â€œNo,” Rick said bluntly. “Susan was furious with the terms of the will. George knew you were going to marry James, and he’d left most of his fortune to you.”
    â€œWhy?”
    â€œGeorge and I grew up together. George was an orphan. He was raised at the mission at San Miguel. As kids we ran wild together and became friends. But let’s face it. George was