Chapter One

Monday, 10:56 p.m.

"So. Are we lost?" Taking her eyes off the dark road, Jillian Sorensen glanced over at her sister.

They'd left Cincinnati at eight that morning amid snow flurries, but as they'd traveled south through North Carolina the temperature had climbed into the lower seventies—balmy by Ohio standards—and they'd lowered the convertible top.

Megan studied the road map a bit too intently. "Well?" Jillian prompted.

"That depends."

Jillian tried to capture the strand of hair that had worked loose from her ponytail. Taking a deep breath, she spoke again. "Megan? What's the map say?"

Without looking up, Megan rotated the map beneath the flashlight beam. "Say? Were you expecting it to talk?"

"I figure the chance of it speaking is roughly the same as your being able to read it."

The beginnings of a frown formed on Megan's face. "Keep it up…"

"Come on." Jillian felt her already depleted patience hit rock bottom. "After thirteen hours behind the wheel, I want out of this car for more than the few minutes it takes to eat a meal or fill up the gas tank. Getting lost in a national forest isn't on my agenda."

"Then you're not going to like hearing this." Megan gave a slight shrug. A bad sign. "We're on US 17A instead of US 17."

"How—"

"Doesn't matter," Megan cut her off. "It's no biggie. There should be a shortcut coming up here pretty quickly." In an effort to read the small print, she held the map closer to her face. "It looks like County Road 45."

"Looks like?" Jillian slowed. "Show me."

Just as Megan thrust the map forward, the flashlight flickered and then died. Dropping the map and the light, Megan pointed at the road ahead instead. "There's a sign. Highway 45. Do you see it on the left?"

Jillian made the turn, but then glanced over at her sister. "You're absolutely sure about this?"

"Trust me."

"You said that the last time you got us lost."

To keep it from being blown away, Megan shoved the folded map down between her seat and the center console. "We weren't lost."

"That's not what you told that military cop when we ended up in a restricted area."

"That was different." Megan grinned. "He was really cute. And big, tough military types like defenseless women. I got a date out of it, didn't I?"

Jillian wordlessly adjusted her hands on the steering wheel as she tried to think of a good comeback. The guy really had been cute, though. And nice.

"Stop worrying." Megan fumbled with the earbuds for her iPod. "This road takes us back to US 17." She rested her head against the seat and closed her eyes. "We'll be in Charleston by midnight. You'll get plenty of sleep before the big job interview."

For the briefest of moments, as Jillian glanced over at her adoptive sister, she didn't see the graceful twenty-one-year-old woman sitting beside her now. Instead she saw the eleven-year-old child Megan had been the year Jillian had gotten her driver's license. She recalled how Megan's blond pigtails had bounced in a summer breeze, the way her smile had spread wide, the way her eyes had looked at Jillian with trust and certainty.

Megan had been the first person to trust Jillian, to really trust her. And after nearly seven years in foster care, Jillian had been desperate for approval—even from a child.

The Sorensens, her adopted family, had given Jillian something she'd never expected to have. A sense of safety. Of love. Of being part of something bigger than herself. For the first time in her life, she had felt lucky.

"You're doing it again." Opening one eye, Megan looked at Jillian.

"I'm doing what again?"

"Watching me. As if you think I'm going to fall apart again."

Five weeks ago, less than forty-eight hours after their father's funeral, Megan had come home drunk for what she'd sworn was the first time in her life. Three nights later Jillian had found her passed out on the bathroom floor.

With both parents now dead and no other family, it had been up to Jillian to confront her sister about the drinking.

She'd said some really harsh things that had left their relationship somewhat strained.

"I was not watching you."

Megan turned in her seat. "Yes. You were. And I'm fairly certain that's why you're interviewing with Burroughs, Alderson & Bailey. Because you think I need looking after."

"That's not true. It's a great opportunity."

"Maybe for someone who is interested in practicing corporate law." Megan gave her a sharp look.

Jillian met her gaze briefly. "And your point is?"

"For the past year, all you've talked about is going into a family law practice. Helping women and children." Megan straightened in her seat again. "You've been playing big sister for a lot of years, Jilly. Maybe it's time to give it a rest."

"That's not what I'm doing."

"Sure it is. The only reason you're even considering this job is because it's in Charleston. Where I'll be going to medical school."

"Yeah," Jillian agreed dryly. "That's my only incentive for taking a position with a really prestigious firm at a starting salary nearly double what the others are offering." She held a hand up in the air. "And it also has nothing to do with how much I hate Ohio winters."

Copyright © 2007 by Lori L. Harris.