SHOCK KEPT PRU IMMOBILE as Lydia Coogan left the room. There was probably something she should have said, but she had no idea what. There was no proper protocol for this situation, no Emily Post guide to the right way to handle being caught with your lover by your foster child's social worker. The only possible way it could have been worse would have been if she'd walked in on them in flagrante. Even that could have been explained. Maybe. It wasn't as if celibacy was a mandatory requirement for fostering and adoption. But this?As the front door shut, Pru found the strength to pull away and round on Flynn. "What the hell were you thinking? Engaged?"He ran a hand through his hair - still mussed from her fingers. Jesus. And Ari had seen her standing in his shirt."I panicked. I was trying to protect your reputation - sleeping with your fiancé certainly seemed better than sleeping with a guest."His panic response was to invent a proposal? Pru shoved up from the couch to pace. "Okay

AT THE END OF a long day, Pru was dumping used linens from her massage practice into the washer, when Abbey pounced on her."Pru Reynolds, how dare you keep this a secret!"Pru found herself pinned against the washing machine, her left hand held aloft, Abbey's own load of linens in a pile around their feet. "Jesus, girl, give me a heart attack, why don't you?""Heart attack my ass. Spill!" Abbey demanded.This wasn't how she'd planned on the news getting out. But if she'd really wanted to keep it a secret, she wouldn't have put the ring back on when she was done with massages for the day. She just...liked it there. Tugging free of her friend's grip, Pru bent to gather up the mess in the floor and add it to the load. "So, I'm engaged.""To who?""Flynn.""I knew there was something going on between you two. But engaged? Isn't that kinda fast?"She'd committed to the cover story now and found that it fell off her tongue with greater ease. "Two years isn't fast.""Say what? But I

THEY GOT THROUGH THE weekend, giving the Nashville girls a true pampering experience. When she'd mentioned the possibility of expanding to a full day spa, they'd been all over the idea, insisting on getting on the mailing list for when it happened. When Porter brought by the initial concept drawings Sunday night, it seemed like a sign. Or maybe Pru just wanted to cling to the idea that she could do something to distract Kennedy from the situation with Flynn.In the past few days, Kennedy had kept her distance. It had been under the guise of getting over jet lag and unpacking from their honeymoon, but the fact that Kennedy had been a world traveler for a decade made it feel like evasion and avoidance. Pru had felt her disapproval radiating from the house she shared with Xander three miles away. Standing on their front porch, she hesitated over the knocker. The police cruiser was gone, so Xander was on duty. Pru was grateful. One set of disapproving eyes was enough. Still, maybe it was

PRU FLATTENED HER PALMS against the door, shock and denial arcing through her. No. No, this couldn't be happening. She'd done everything right. She'd taken the classes, gotten the certifications, and picked up her mother's mantle without complaint. She'd been a goddamned rock since her mother died - for Ari and her sisters, because they needed her to be. Surely, all of that would outweigh her one indiscretion.A car cranked up outside. Pru's knees gave out, and she collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. Flynn caught her before she hit the floor. His arms came tight around her. He was saying something. She didn't know if it was English or Gaelic. Her ears weren't working. Her legs weren't working. Nothing was working in the face of the tearing grief. Nothing could touch the unspeakable horror of what had just happened. She curled in on herself, wrapping both arms around her middle, as if that could contain the horrific pain. Tears poured down her cheeks and she opened her mouth, but

BOTH HIS GIRLS WERE sleeping. Ari looked so small tucked up in their bed, with Pru curled around her. But she was safe. That was the important thing.Flynn slipped out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. The volunteers had been fed and sent home. Someone else had dealt with their two guests, who'd refused to allow their rooms to be comped. Xander was down at the Sheriff's Department, doing whatever it was he did at the end of a search. It was down to family in the house, and that meant it was time for him to face the music.Pru's sisters were gathered in the family room. They looked up as he strode in."They're sleeping, finally." He dropped heavily into a chair himself, as the past twenty-four hours caught up with him."You look like you ought to be sleeping, too," Kennedy observed."Probably. But there are things to discuss, and I'd as soon do it without Pru. She's been through enough."Athena poured him two fingers of whiskey from the bottle on the table and wal