"No, I told her she was a Listener. That was heavy enough for her to handle."

"It could be true that's all she is."

Grady hoped he was right. He had been able to keep any objectivity until he'd gone into that bedroom today. Through all the punishment he'd handed Megan, she had displayed a courage and stamina that had touched him in a way that had nothing to do with pity. He had hurt her but not brought her down. He had wanted to ease her pain, but it was pain that was going to goad her to do what he wanted her to do. "And I didn't tell her about Molino or the Ledger. She's having enough trouble accepting the truth about her mother." He glanced at Phillip. "And you."

"You told her about me? Thanks a lot, Grady. Couldn't it have waited? Dammit, I'm her best friend."

"No more lies. It's time to clear the slate."

"Even if it leaves her out there alone."

Grady nodded. "I put her in a cocoon and wrapped her in a tangle of lies for twelve years. She has to come out and face the truth." He headed for the door. "Now get in there and help her. She's hurting."

"Thanks to you."

"Do you expect me to deny it?" he asked roughly. "Of course, I did it. I'd do it again." He slammed the door behind him and ran down the porch steps. He needed to get away from Megan Blair and Phillip and all the pain he'd visited on both of them. It didn't matter that he thought it necessary. Sometimes doing what was necessary sucked big-time. He wanted to be the one to go back in that bedroom and give Megan comfort and hope. He wanted to hold her hand and tell her that he'd keep all her personal demons at bay.

He couldn't do it. A threat was also a goad and he might have to use it. Let Phillip save the princess in distress.

Grady was used to being the Black Knight.

"MAY I COME IN?" Phillip asked quietly. "If you like, I'll come back later."

"Why?" Megan sat up in bed. "Would it make what you're going to say any more palatable?"

"No." He closed the door. "Lies are always dirty and this one has been sticking in my throat for years. I'm glad it's out in the open." He sat down in the chair beside her bed. "You look like hell. Can I get you something?"

Her lips twisted. "Maybe another cozy, hot chocolate? Don't bother. You don't have to play that game any longer."

"It was no game," he said gently. "It was my pleasure. I treasured those times together."

She felt a melting inside her. No, she couldn't let herself soften toward him. He'd betrayed her. "He said he paid you. Is it true?"

"Yes, I had to live until I could get myself established here. But that wasn't why I did it. I wanted to help you, Megan."

"Yeah, sure."

"Look at me. I know you're feeling confused and hurt and alone." His hand closed on hers. "You're not alone. I'm here for you. I care for you. If I had a daughter, I couldn't love her more. I wish you were my daughter." He paused. "I know how much you're hurting. I'm hurting too."

He was telling the truth. She could feel his sorrow and pain. She tried to ignore it.

It was impossible. This was Phillip. She couldn't let him remain unhappy. But she also couldn't let what he had done slide. "It was wrong, Phillip. You shouldn't have done it."

"If I hadn't gone along with Grady, he would have gotten someone else. He gave me a chance to back out. He told me to go to the funeral and meet you. If I didn't feel I could help you, I could just walk away." He smiled. "But he knew he'd have me as soon as I saw you. You were standing there at the grave, bewildered, and hurt and trying to be brave. It wasn't a question of whether I wanted to help you, but how I could do it. But it turned out that was so easy. We meshed and became a family. So I let Grady do his slight of hand with forging documents and making me seem legitimate." His smile faded. "Don't back away. Don't take my family away from me, Megan."

She felt the tears well. "How do I know that you're not just doing what Grady would want you to do? He seems to be—I don't know what he seems to be. He told me—He said I'm some kind of freak."

"I'm sure he never used that word. That would be the pot calling the kettle black."

She stiffened. "But you're not arguing with the concept, are you? For heaven's sake, Phillip. I'm not—I've never done anything weird in my life. You know that's true."

"Not as long as I've known you." He paused. "And it's not what you've done, but what you are. Just being a Listener has made you a victim. Sometimes it happens that way."

She stared at him incredulously. "You actually believe that hog-wash?"

"I have to believe it. My wife, Nora, was a Listener."

"Your wife?"

"She died a few years before I came to you. That's why Grady knew I'd help you." He shook his head. "Though you've had it easy compared to Nora. Grady has been helping you. I couldn't help my wife. I didn't even know there were people who could ease her." His face lit with a luminous smile. "I wish you could have known my Nora. You're a lot alike. She always moved at the speed of light and was into everything. And loving... Lord, she was loving. She was the gentlest, sweetest woman on the face of the earth. We'd been married twelve years before she started hearing the voices and then it was very seldom. We could ignore it." His smile vanished. "Then the nightmares started and the voices surrounded her all the time. She thought she was going crazy. Therapy didn't help. She begged me to put her away someplace and leave her. I fought her for another three years before she made her first suicide attempt."

"Suicide," Megan repeated numbly.

He nodded. "She won. I committed her and she spent five years in a psychiatric hospital before Grady appeared on my doorstep. We took her out of the asylum and she was happy and normal for the last years of her life. I owe him."

"Asylum," she whispered. "I'm not crazy, Phillip."

"No, you're not. But you're terrified because that's what your mother hinted to you all your life."

"My mother loved me. She was my friend. She was wonderful, dammit."

"I'm not arguing. I didn't know her. Grady said she was... exceptional."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't be defensive with me. Take it up with Grady."

"I don't want to take it up with Grady. I'm not even sure he'd tell me the truth if I asked him." Her hand involuntarily clenched on Phillip's. "He was—I don't like what he did to me. Who the hell is he?"

"He didn't lie to you. His name is Neal Grady. He said you spent an entire summer with him so you probably know him better than I do."

Neal throwing back his dark head and laughing at something Sarah had said.

Neal sitting still on a dune, his arms linked around his knees, watching Megan as she waded in the surf.

"Good Lord, you can't keep your eyes off him, can you?" Her mothers voice teasing her. "I believe you have a crush on our Neal. Oh, don't worry, I won't tell him." Her smile faded. "Don't like him too much, baby. I know he's been a wonderful playmate this summer but he's not really young like you. He's been through too much. When I first met him, I was feeling very maternal toward him. Then, as we became friends, I felt as if he was like Merlin and aging backwards."