Prologue

      “Judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of five thousand dollars.” The striking of the gavel backed up the judge’s ruling. “Next time, madam, don’t choose a man who lies even when truth hits him in the face. And, sir, you are lucky you’re not in jail for the stunt you pulled.”

      “Yay, Ginna!” The cheers echoed in the room.

      Ginna Walker strolled to the center of the hair salon and dropped into a deep curtsy. No easy feat, considering her narrow short skirt.

      Now her voice echoed out of the speakers. “Naturally I am very happy with the judge’s decision. The judge could tell he was lying about the money being his. The account was in my name only. He lied to bank personnel and cost that teller her job as a result. I just wish he’d been punished, too.”

      A man’s surly voice was next. “I can’t believe the judge believed that bleep! lies. That money was supposed to be in a joint account. The only reason that bleep! did this was because I have a new life and she’s jealous.”

      Ginna laughed out loud.

      “The man never stops. A so-called joint account that only carried my name on it. I still can’t figure out how Denny duped that teller into letting him clean it out,” she told her friends and co-workers. “Could anyone remind me why I married such an idiot?”

      “Because he had a cute smile and he reminded you of a puppy,” Cheryl, one of the nail techs, said.

      “Because you said he actually listened to you,” Nora, one of the other hairdressers, put in.

      “Because he sent you three dozen red roses on Valentine’s Day,” was added.

      “Yes, but he used my credit card to pay for them,” Ginna said ruefully.

      “That was your first clue he was a total jerk,” Sonia, one of the masseurs, piped up.

      “I should have divorced him right there and then.” Ginna picked up the television remote control and switched it off. “It would have saved me a lot of trouble.”

      Her friends kept pity from their gazes as they looked at her. They all knew exactly why there had been a divorce, but those sorrowful facts were neatly tucked away. It had taken a while before her smiles were spontaneous again.

      CeCe, the elegant owner of the Steppin’ Out Salon and Day Spa, rose from her chair and walked over to Ginna. She rested her hands on the younger woman’s shoulders.

      “Do not worry, my little Ginna. You will find a man who will see you as the treasure you are,” she told her.

      Ginna looked at her boss, who everyone considered ageless. She could be thirty. She could be sixty. The woman’s beauty, Ginna thought, was the type that began from within. Anyone who worked for CeCe was considered a part of her family.

      “Then if you say so, it will come true,” she said lightly. “But you don’t mind if I wait awhile before the perfect man comes my way?”

      CeCe’s laughter was light and musical to the ear. “My dear, love doesn’t come at your beck and call. You answer its call.” She hugged her and stepped back. “Ladies, we have all this lovely champagne to finish,” she announced.

      Ginna walked over to the table laden with rich pastries, bottles of champagne and a lazy Susan holding various fresh vegetables with a dip nearby. She picked up a custard-filled éclair and bit into it.

      The lounge for the Steppin’ Out spa clients was a restful area with love seats and chairs that were designed for comfort, as well as looks. Exquisite paintings of European pastoral scenes hung on the walls. Many a woman enjoyed the plush feel of the mint-green carpet underfoot. The wide-screen television in one corner was encased in elegant walnut, used to play specially created videos showing the spa’s amenities.

      Since the spa was closed this evening, the employees took over the room to watch Ginna’s television debut on one of the popular courtroom programs.

      “Yes, but then you wouldn’t have had your twenty minutes of fame on television,” Phoebe, one of the spa’s estheticians said, and busied herself with a nail file. Cheryl clucked her tongue, muttering about proper shaping as she took the file out of Phoebe’s hand and finished the job herself. “Or gotten more than he owed you.”

      “If he hadn’t out and out lied in court, she probably would only have awarded me the money he took,” Ginna admitted. She dropped into one of the chairs in the salon and spun around. “He did it to himself.”

      “And what are we doing with the money?” Nora asked in a singsong voice.

      Ginna grinned broadly.

      “I am taking the vacation of my dreams.”

      “THIS IS A JOKE, right?” Zach Stone looked at the sheets of paper his sister had unceremoniously thrust into his hand.

      “Do I look like I’m kidding?” She tapped the top paper. “Happy birthday, big brother.”

      “Lucie, my birthday’s seven months away,” he said dryly.

      She shrugged off his statement. “Then think of it as two weeks in heaven. Sun, sand and surf. Maybe you’ll even go wild and have a hot island romance. It wouldn’t hurt you, you know.”

      “Romance?” He started laughing. “Lucie, I have two kids who will be starting kindergarten next year. My life consists of Big Bird and Elmo. Not spending my days on a tropical island beach.”

      “Then I suggest you start thinking about it, because you leave next week.” She held up a hand to forestall the arguments she expected to hear. “Emma and Trey will be staying with us.”

      “Terrific. While I’m gone, Nick will teach Trey how to hack into a government computer, and God knows what will happen to Emma while her brother is in prison,” Zach muttered in a dark voice.

      “He hasn’t done any of that for the last three months,” his sister reminded him.

      Zach thought about telling her he’d caught his eight-year-old nephew at his computer and the moment he was sighted the boy shut everything down. Zach had nightmares for a week about a member of a secret government agency coming knocking on his door.

      He was positive the boy would run the country one day.

      “Zach, you need to get away,” Lucie said softly but forcefully. “You haven’t done one thing for yourself since the twins were born. You need this.”

      “I took a vacation six months ago.”

      “Taking the twins to Disney World doesn’t count,” she argued. “As it was, you turned it into a working vacation by coming back with enough material for a few months’ worth of your column. Fine. You want more material? Go to Hawaii and write about a single dad at a singles resort.”

      “I’ll have plenty of time for myself when they graduate from college.” He feared he was losing the battle. Lucie was like a Gila monster. Once she sunk her teeth into something, she didn’t let go.

      She shook her head. “It doesn’t work that way. I planned this trip to give you everything you could ever want. Just pack up some casual clothes and suntan lotion and you’ll be all set.”

      Zach got up and walked over to the patio doors overlooking the backyard. He watched his son and daughter playing tag with their cousin outside.

      Since the day their mother died giving birth to them, he’d focused his life on giving them a rich full life in an attempt to make up for what they’d lost. By doing that, he’d pushed his own personal needs to one side. He couldn’t even remember when he’d