Chapter 1

      Shae Weitherspoon caught her bottom lip between her teeth while twisting a lock of her hair around her finger. This was her third attempt to reach her father.

      The voice mail kicked in and she heard the computer-generated voice stating that she should leave a message. Seconds later the message was interrupted by a breathless, “Hello? Hello?”

      Relieved, Shae said, “Hey, Mommie.”

      “Shae-Shae,” her mother responded. “Where are you?”

      She grinned at the use of her childhood nickname. “Airport.”

      From her seat, she studied the patrons hurrying up and down the hallway, dragging luggage behind them as they searched for their correct destination. Shae shifted in her seat and glanced out the ceiling-to-floor window, watching the Northwest Airlines employees prep the gray-and-red planes for their next trip. “I decided to try one more time to say good-bye before the plane took off. Pop didn’t pick up his cell phone and he wasn’t at the office, so I thought he might be at home. Is he there?”

      “No, honey. He left soon after you did. I don’t know when he’ll get back.”

      Shae swallowed her disappointment, blinking rapidly while fighting the urge to cry. Why wasn’t she surprised? As far back as she could remember, Prestige Computers had been her father’s obsession—his family, his life and his mistress. Albert Weitherspoon had started Prestige Computers in the basement of his Compton home; the company manufactured computers for consumers. At first, it wasn’t easy. Albert and Vivian Weitherspoon struggled for years, fighting to keep both their home and their business afloat. Then, the boom in personal computers hit. Computers became more affordable and Prestige rocketed into the major leagues and competed with the likes of Dell, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.

      Not satisfied with conquering the personal computer market, Albert had added a business division. The new division flourished and soon after Prestige went global with servers and software security systems. Now, Pop was at the top of his game. The computer company that had begun in the basement of their small town house had become a Fortune 500 company.

      In keeping with the Weitherspoon’s new financial and social status, they moved to a more affluent neighborhood. Their modest Compton town house was replaced by a ten-bedroom mansion with an inground pool located in exclusive Malibu. Shae’s parents concentrated on her future—enrolling her in the best schools and making sure she had the proper friends during her childhood and adolescence.

      She gained a wonderful education and lived the best life that money could provide, but…Shae lost her father in the process.

      As Prestige Computers grew, Albert Weitherspoon disconnected from his family. Board meetings, business trips and making money replaced birthdays, family outings and holidays.

      The Pop that taught her how to ride her first bike, read her bedtime stories and chased monsters from under her bed had disappeared. He was replaced by a stranger who put in cursory twenty-minute visits at family functions.

      Tired of the jaunt down memory lane, Shae returned to her present dilemma. “Mommie, I’m not dropping off the face of the earth. You know how to reach me. Chicago is just a phone call away.”

      “How long do you plan to stay there? When are you coming home? What about your father’s sixtieth birthday? Will you be back in July for that?”

      “Mommie, it’s April,” she sighed, crossing her legs. “There’s plenty of time to work things into my schedule. I’ll figure everything out once I’m settled.”

      “Shae, I don’t understand.”

      That line had become her mother’s latest buzz phrase. Sadly, Shae’s parents had never understood what drove her to complete her bachelor’s and master’s degrees and then accept the nurse practitioner and manager position in Chicago. No matter how many times Shae tried to reassure her parents, they balked and attempted to convince her to remain in Malibu.

      Dropping her free hand into her lap, Shae added, “Once the medical director and I have our first meeting, I’ll have a better idea of the timetable he’s recommending for the opening of the clinic.”

      Her mother’s long-suffering sigh reached Shae’s ear. She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling as a reaction to her mom’s dramatics.

      “Why do you have to do this?”

      “Because people need help, Mommie.”

      “But, Shae-Shae, why you? There are communities near Malibu that could benefit from your skills and knowledge.”

      “Why not me?” It was Shae’s turn to sigh. She needed to feel that her life meant more, that she had something to offer those who were struggling.

      Because Shae’s parents wanted to hand her the world, it came as a major shock to them to find that their sweet baby refused to comply with their wishes for her future. Shae had vetoed their plans to send her to an exclusive liberal arts college; instead, she opted to attend a university with an excellent nursing program. Once she completed her degree, her father offered Shae a position in his company, but Shae had accepted a traveling nurse position at a small community hospital in Montana.

      Shae’s parents continued their attempts to manipulate her life whenever she came home. The Weitherspoons, hinting it was time to think about marriage and a family, invited every bachelor they knew to dinner. Their daughter countered this blatant matchmaking with the fact that she was only twenty-six years old and far from an old maid; there was plenty of time for love and romance. For now, making a difference in the world burned brighter in her heart.

      “Honey,” Mommie’s voice turned soft and persuasive, “the position with Prestige is still available. Your dad has always tried to get you to come on board with him. This would be a wonderful opportunity for you both. You’d have your own department to run. Things would be done your way. The employees would love to have a good nurse on staff. Think about it. You could do so much good.”

      “That’s not for me, Mommie. I want to help people who need me and don’t have the same resources that the folks at Prestige have. Besides, if I worked for Pop, I would be his glorified office pet. I don’t want that,” she declared, glancing at the attendants manning the NWA station. “I’ve still got a little time before we board. If Pop comes home, have him call me.”

      “I will, baby. I will.”

      “Love you, Mommie. I’ll call after I’m settled.”

      “Love you, too, Shae-Shae.”

      Close to tears, Shae disconnected the call and slipped the phone inside her Emilio Pucci bag. Despair and loneliness threatened to engulf her.

      This decision had not been made lightly. Although Shae hadn’t lived at home in years, she shared holidays and vacations with her parents—well, actually, her mother. After weeks of soul-searching and listening to her parents’ insistence that she didn’t need to leave California, Shae had chosen the position in Chicago. It was hard leaving her mother and her home. Striking out alone hadn’t been easy. It frightened her. But this choice fulfilled the promises she made to herself.

      Shae shut her eyes and reached for calm. I need to get my mind off my family, she thought, rummaging through her bag for her Stephen King novel. Determinedly, she opened the book.