SAMPLE THE STORY BY READING CHAPTER ONE

She was the happiest girl in the world.

Meg Prentice wanted to hug herself, but she didn’t dare, not with all the people in the church staring at her, not with the Reverend Jacob Haverstraw beaming at her and her groom, Todd Prentice, gazing down at her with adoration in his blue eyes. She had just been married. No longer was she Meg Aldritch, she was now Mrs. Todd Prentice.

Tears formed in her eyes, tears of delight and happiness.

Todd put his arms about her, drew her in against him for their first kiss as a married couple. His lips were cool and firm, they clung to her mouth, even as his arms tightened about her. Meg thought she might faint, but that feeling soon passed.

She was too happy to faint. She wanted to sample every second of this wonderful day. She kissed him, she hugged him, then she felt Todd turning her so they could walk together back up the aisle between the people in the pews— smiling and nodding at her, some of the women wiping tears from their eyes—and out to the car that was waiting to carry them to the Prentice home, where there was to be a little celebration before they left Warwick on their honeymoon.

“I’m so happy, Todd, so happy,” she whispered.

“I’m the happy one,” he murmured at her. “You’ve made me the luckiest guy in the whole world.”

Her feet almost danced as they moved along the aisle, it seemed she floated on air. She had no right to be this happy, nobody did. Yet she was, she had never known this ecstasy. All her life—what she could remember of it, that is—seemed to have been pointed toward this very moment.

Meg pushed away all thoughts of her past, a past she knew nothing of. The past three years, yes. Ever since Dr. Hunter had found her wandering about, not knowing who she was or where she had come from, she had responded to the name Meg Aldritch. It was a name that Dr. Hunter himself had given her. Ah, but before that...

No! I won’t think about it. I won’t! I won’t!

“Darling, is everything ready?” she asked as he held open the limousine door for her.

“You ought to know. We stayed up most of last night making sure.”

Meg slipped onto the seat, reached for him. Todd put his arms around her, held her tightly as the big car slid away from the curb. She nestled close to him, knowing a security that had been absent from her for the past three years. Todd was strong, he was a full professor at the university in Warwick, he had money and he loved her. He could protect her from that shadow out of her past, of which she knew nothing.

Her palms reached out to touch his cheeks, to cling to them. Her eyes met his, swimming in the love she had for this man. She was a lucky girl; perhaps only she knew how lucky she was. She pursed her lips, kissed him hungrily, then nestled even closer as the big car whisked them down familiar streets.

“I feel almost sorry for Pia and Ada,” she whispered.

“There’s no need for that.” He chuckled. “They didn’t stand a chance, once I’d met you.”

“They thought they did. Did you see them in church, glaring at me?”

“Honey, I had eyes only for you.”

Meg smiled, cuddling against him. Eyes half-closed, she asked, “Did you really fall in love with me the first time you saw me?”

“You know I did. I’ve told you often enough how I saw this pair of legs walking ahead of me on the sidewalk and how I couldn’t take my eyes off them and then the legs stopped walking and I bumped into you.”

Meg giggled. “You almost knocked me down.”

“But I grabbed and held you so you didn’t fall.”

“And squeezed me unmercifully.”

Todd kissed the tip of her upturned nose. “That was to make sure that you didn’t fall down and hurt yourself.”

“Everyone stared.”

“That’s because nobody had ever seen such a beautiful girl before.”

“Hmmm. I’m surprised, now I know you better, that you didn’t kiss me right then and there.”

“I thought about it.”

“You could kiss me now.”

Todd kissed her, holding her tightly. Meg thought wildly that nobody should be this ecstatic. Todd loved her, she loved Todd, and they had their whole lives before them in which to prove their love. She felt the car slow as the driver applied his brakes, and she pushed away from him.

“We’re here, Todd,” she whispered.

“Not me. I’m still up there on cloud nine.”

“You’d better come down off it fast. Our guests will be arriving and we have to be on hand to welcome them.”

Todd sighed, and as the car stopped, slid out and reached back to help Meg from the back seat. He saw the glint of late-morning sunlight on the diamonds of her engagement ring and wedding ring. Then she was picking up her long skirt and fleeing up the path toward the house.

She burst into the big living room, seeing the chairs neatly arranged, the serving tables with the punch bowls, ice cubes floating in the punch, and her eyes took everything in. The two women whom Todd had hired to serve sandwiches and drinks were smiling at her, bobbing their heads.

“Is everything ready?” she gasped.

“We’ve been ready for the past hour, Mrs. Prentice.”

“Don’t worry your pretty head about things, everything’s under control.”

Then Todd was beside her, whispering that she might as well doff the veil she had worn during the ceremony, that their guests would be here shortly, and she must stand with him to receive them. Meg nodded and ran for the stairs.

In the bedroom that had belonged to Todd and which would now be hers as well, Meg paused to stand before the door mirror and remove her veil. She found herself staring into an oval face out of which gray eyes stared back at her. Her hair was long and golden, almost flaxen. It was parted in the middle and done in a coil on the nape of her neck.

Meg stood back and studied herself more carefully. She was not a tall girl, but she was fully rounded and her mouth parted in a delighted grin as she turned this way and that to survey herself. Oh! She made a lovely bride, all right. She could hold her own with Pia Negrini and Ada Fletcher. Her Todd would not be sorry he had chosen her.

She fussed with her face for a moment, touching her mouth with lipstick and making certain that her eye shadow was subtle enough. Cocking her head, she surveyed her face once more. Yes, she was ready now to join Todd in welcoming their guests.

She stepped toward the door, aware that her white lace wedding dress over white satin enhanced her natural coloring, that her throat rose in a gentle curve from the neckline. She would make Todd proud of her this day.

He was in the front hall, looking up worriedly as she came down the stairs. “They’re starting to arrive,” he told her.

Her hand went out to his. “Come along then, darling. We’ll stand over here to welcome our guests.”

They took their place before the big fireplace and it was here that the guests came to greet them, to shake Todd’s hand and to kiss his bride. Dr. Jim Hunter was among the early arrivals, and he paused a moment, holding Meg’s hands, smiling down into her eyes.

“You see?” he asked. “Three years ago I found you, and here you are, on your wedding day. It’s like something out of a book.”

“With a happy ending, of course,” Todd grinned.

Doctor Jim chuckled. “Of course, a happy ending. I wouldn’t be satisfied with anything else.”

Then Pia Negrini was there, talking to Todd, looking absolutely radiant in crushed brown velvet that set off her black hair and dark coloring to perfection. Meg blinked when she saw her, and wondered how Todd could ever have chosen her over this absolutely glamorous female.

Pia was saying, “I suppose I’ll forgive you, Todd—in time. But it will take some doing. Now, to put a seal of approval on it all...”

She leaned forward with her lips parted and kissed Todd. Meg felt anger surge up inside her. Trust Pia with her Latin nature to kiss Todd like that! If she hadn’t been standing here right alongside her new husband, there was no telling what the emotional Pia might do!

Then the girl was turning toward her, holding out her slim hand. “I hate you, darling, for stealing Todd right out from under my nose. That’s understood. But I wish you happiness, I guess.”

She leaned forward and touched her dusky cheek to Meg’s. Meg caught a trace of exotic perfume. Then Pia was sweeping past her to join other guests, to chat and nibble on sandwiches and sip the punch, which was being ladled out into cut-glass cups.

“Whew,” breathed Meg to herself.

There were other guests, neighbors who lived close by, and professors who, like Todd, taught at the university. Meg shook their hands, exchanged kisses, put a steady smile on her lips. It was then that she saw Ada Fletcher standing before Todd, leaning forward to kiss him.

Ada Fletcher was a brown-eyed redhead. She wore a dress that looked like a Ceil Chapman original and clung to her curves with disturbing candor. Meg narrowed her eyelids. Having Pia Negrini to face was bad enough, but there was also this redheaded beauty.

“Darling,” whispered Ada, turning to her.

“So good of you to come.” Meg smiled.

Ada opened her eyes wide. She had long lashes, lashes that seemed to heighten the beauty of her eyes.

“I would not think of missing this.” Ada laughed softly. “It is true that I would have liked to be standing where you are standing today, but”—and here her shoulders shrugged expressively—”but since it is not to be, I felt I must come and share in your happiness.”

The brown eyes seemed to glow at her, Meg thought. They challenged, they mocked. They seemed almost to . . . threaten. Meg knew she was a stranger in this university town of Warwick, she was a latecomer. The Negrinis and the Fletchers had lived here for many years, both Pia and Ada had grown up, in a manner of speaking, with Todd. It must have hurt to see her walk off with such an eligible bachelor.

“I’m so glad you did,” Meg murmured, pressing Ada’s soft hand. “It wouldn’t have been the same if you and Pia hadn’t come.”

Ada’s eyelids flickered. Score a hit for Meg Prentice.

Then the redhead moved on to join the rest of the guests and Meg turned to greet one of the university professors and his wife. It was good to stand here beside Todd and know that he loved her, that she loved him. Until now she had been a worried girl, unaware of her past, uncertain of her future.

Ah, but now! As Mrs. Todd Prentice, what could happen to her?

She moved with Todd’s hand holding hers, about the room, laughing and chatting, pausing to accept a glass of punch or a sandwich that someone pressed upon her. She was not hungry, of course, she was too excited for that. Yet she nibbled, she drank the punch, and told herself she was the happiest girl in the world.

Time became an endless series of conversations, of bright laughter. She moved easily, almost floating, between the men and women; her voice was bright and cheerful; she caught admiration in the eyes of the men and women who were there. It was with something like surprise that she saw the guests beginning to move toward the front door, saying their farewells.

Then they were alone, and Todd was putting his arms about her, hugging her, kissing her forehead, the lids of her closed eyes. “My wife,” he whispered. “I can hardly believe it.”

“You’d better believe it, Todd Prentice.” She laughed, squeezing herself against him. “You’re a married man now, and you’re married to me. Don’t ever forget it.”

“How could I?” he asked, kissing her gently.

After a time she stirred against him. “Darling, hadn’t I better go and change out of my wedding dress? We have a distance to travel tonight, you know.”

His arms relaxed, freeing her. “I suppose so.” He nodded. “But I don’t want to let you go.”

Her laughter rang out. “You’ll have plenty of time to hold and hug me in the years to come. You’ll probably get so tired of it, you’ll end up by pushing me away.”

“Never that.” He chuckled.

Meg turned and sped for the staircase, lifting her long skirts for better freedom of movement. Todd smiled gently watching her go. He loved this girl who had come out of nowhere three years before. She had had no name until Doc Hunter had christened her Meg Aldritch, yet she had always possessed a beauty that touched Todd Prentice so deeply.

His own bags were packed; they had been ready for the past three days, just waiting. Meg’s bags were also packed; he had brought them over for her only yesterday, placing them in the guest room. Meg was up there now, in that guest room, slipping out of her wedding dress and reaching for her traveling suit.

Todd drew a deep breath. He was married to her, right? She was his wife. It would only be perfectly natural if he were to go up those stairs and offer to help her get dressed.

He took the steps two at a time, but before the closed door, he hesitated. What did a new husband do in such a circumstance? Ought he to knock? Or ought he to walk right in?

Todd compromised by calling out. “Meg? You ready?”

“Not yet. And ... don’t come in.”

Todd Prentice grinned. “Why not? We’re married now.”

There was a little silence. Then: “Oh, all right. Come ahead.”

He opened the door. Meg stood before the mirror clad in her beige traveling suit. She turned and smiled at him, then went back to doing her face.

“Disappointed?” She giggled.

“I am, a little.” He grinned...

With a final touch of lipstick to her mouth, she turned and came across the room to him. She lifted her arms and put them about his neck.

“No, don’t kiss me. I’ll only have to do my lips up again.” She paused, then scowled. “Oh, Todd. That’s horrid of me. Come on, kiss me if you want to. The heck with my lipstick.”

He kissed her thoroughly, hungrily. When he let her go, her cheeks were red, and she seemed almost flustered. Gently she pushed away.

“Oughtn’t we be on our way?” she asked softly.

“Sure thing.” He grinned. “I’ll get your bags; my own are in the car trunk.”

They drove through the late-afternoon sunlight, northward toward the lakes country. They would not reach the lakes this day; they would stay overnight at a motel along the way. Tomorrow they would arrive at the lakes, where they had reservations for a suite of rooms. They would stay there two weeks, then drive homeward to set up housekeeping.

Todd drove with one eye on the road, one eye on this beautiful girl who was his wife. She sat there nestled close to him, though there were times when she threatened to move away if his right hand didn’t behave itself.

“There’ll be plenty of time for that,” she murmured as she caught his hand and held it between her own.

“I just wanted to—”

“I know what you wanted, Todd.” She giggled.

“Ha! I suppose you think you can read my mind.”

“When it comes to that, I certainly can.”

Todd grinned. “You may be right, at that.”

Meg chortled laughter and let her head rest on his shoulders, sliding closer. “I still can’t believe we’re married, honey. How come I got you and Pia and Ada didn’t?”

“I fell for you that time I bumped into you and you pressed yourself against me so invitingly and—”

“Todd Prentice!”

Todd grinned, putting his hand on her skirted thigh and fondling it. “Okay, okay. So you were standoffish and very regal and scared the dickens out of me.”

“I didn’t!”

“Sure you did. Do you know you have a way of looking right through a person? You looked right through me that day.”

“I never did!”

“Well, sort of.”

Meg smiled faintly. “That was because my heart was beating so loudly that I was afraid you’d hear it and know what you were doing to me.”

Todd drove through the dying sunlight, vaguely aware of the red barns and the pleasant farmhouses past which they moved. There were cows in the broad fields; behind stone fences he could see a few horses here and there. This was dairy country, rich and fertile. He saw that Meg was staring at the fields, too.

“Recognize anything?” he asked softly.

She looked at him, suddenly wary. “Ought I, Todd?”

“Just asking.”

She curled up closer to him. “Does it matter so much to you—my past?”

“Doesn’t mean a thing.”

“But it may, Todd. Sometimes I wake up in bed of a night, shaking all over. It’s as though something out of my past brushed my memory. Something—frightening.”

“Hey, now. Take it easy. You have nothing to be afraid of.”

“I hope not, Todd. Truly, I hope not.”

“You’re hungry,” he announced. “And so am I.”

“Pooh! Just like a man. His stomach controls his life.”

“It sure does, especially since I haven’t had anything to eat all day except a couple of those dainty sandwiches at our reception.”

Her eyelids widened as she turned her head to look at him. “I suppose you’ll want a big thick steak when we stop to eat.”

“I certainly will. The bigger, the thicker, the better.” “Smothered in onions and with a salad?”

“You’re just trying to take my mind off the fact that you’re my wife and I love you.”

“Somebody once said the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

“You’re quite the little philosopher, aren’t you?”

“I think I’m getting hungry too.”

“That settles it.”

“Settles what?”

“We’re going to turn off this highway very soon. I know a very posh motel that has a good restaurant attached to it. It’s just a few miles farther on. We’ll stay there overnight and leave in the morning, after a hearty breakfast.”

“You’ll make me fat.”

“There’ll just be more of you for me to love.”

“Oh, you.”

He came to the motel in the deep dusk of early evening. Meg came with him into the office and stood watching as he wrote “Mr. and Mrs. Todd Prentice” for the first time. Then they walked along the pathway that wound its way through a garden courtyard toward the suite Todd had taken.

He unlocked the door, ushered Meg inside the room. “I’ll get the car with our bags in it, honey. Then we’ll go eat.”

He went out and closed the door behind him.

Meg moved to the window, watching him for a moment Then she swung about and eyed the big double bed, smiling faintly. Soon now Todd would be back with the car and their clothes. She had bought a very pretty nightie for her wedding night; she would remove it from the bag and spread it across her side of the bed.

She frowned, staring at the bed. Which side did she want?

Meg began to giggle. It probably didn’t make any difference which side she wanted. Todd would be all over her, hugging her and holding her all through the night. Well, that was as it should be.

She moved across the room, pausing to switch on the electric lights.

Her reflection caught her eye and she paused to stare at herself. Hmmm. She did look rather like the cat who swallowed the canary. Her color was heightened, her eyes seemed to sparkle. Critically she turned and let her eyes run up and down her figure.

She thought of her nightgown and scowled. Would it show too much of herself? Would it be too revealing?

“Oh, come on, Meg. You’re a big girl now. You’re a married woman and you love your husband. You’re just hungry. A nice steak and salad, and maybe a gooey dessert, and you’ll be set for your wedding night.”

She turned from the mirror.

She did not see the crumpled rug at her feet. Her right foot hit it and as the rug seemed to catch at her foot, she lost her balance and plunged forward and downward.

Too late she saw the foot of the bedpost.

Her head banged into it, hard.

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