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Steffie suppressed the urge to laugh at the irony of this statement, considering her ludicrous performance in front of Charles. She reached up to run her fingers along the smooth bark of a branch. “What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s making the biggest mistake of her life,” Norah said dramatically. It wasn’t often that her sister sounded so distraught. Unfortunately Steffie was hardly the ideal person to advise Valerie on romance.

“I told you before that Valerie and Dr. Winston are in love,” Norah continued. “Everyone around them can see it. And whenever Valerie and Colby are together, they can’t keep their eyes off each other.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“They aren’t seeing each other anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“They’re avoiding each other. I don’t think they’ve talked in days.”

Norah’s words struck a chord in Steffie. She knew exactly what Valerie was doing, because she was guilty of the same thing herself. She hadn’t seen Charles since the day he’d driven her home from the hospital. They were obviously taking pains to avoid each other—just like Valerie and Dr. Winston.

“I don’t see what I can do,” Steffie muttered.

“Talk to Val,” Norah argued. “She might listen to you.”

“What am I supposed to say?”

Norah hesitated, frowning. “I don’t know, but you’ll think of something. I’ve given it my best shot and I just wasn’t getting through to her. Maybe you can.”

“I’m glad you have so much faith in my abilities,” Steffie said lightly.

“I do have faith in you,” Norah said, her blue eyes serious. “You’re different now than before you left.”

“Three years in Italy will do that to a girl.” As she had with Charles, Steffie strived to seem flippant and worldly.

“I don’t mean that. You’re more thoughtful. More—I don’t know—mature, I guess. Before you left Orchard Valley you acted like you had to prove yourself to the world, but it isn’t like that now. I can’t see you doing some of the crazy things you used to do.”

Just as well that Norah didn’t know about some of her “mature” behavior these past few days. And thank heaven no one in the family had any idea of the embarrassing stunts she’d pulled trying to attract Charles’s attention three years ago.

“I remember the time you stood on Princess bareback and rode around the yard. You were lucky you didn’t break your neck.”

Steffie remembered the incident well. It had been shortly before their mother died. She’d been grieving so terribly, and doing something utterly dangerous had helped vent some of her pain and grief. But Norah was completely right. She shouldn’t have done it.

“Okay, I’ll talk to Valerie,” Steffie promised, “but I don’t know how much good it’ll do.”

* * *

Steffie tried. But the conversation with her sister hadn’t gone as planned. One look at Valerie told her how much her sister was suffering. Valerie tried to hide it, but Steffie knew the signs from her own limited experience with love.

They’d become involved in a lengthy discussion about love, then decided neither one of them was qualified to advise the other. They’d thought of bringing Norah in on the conversation but that suggestion had resulted in a bout of unexpected giggles. They couldn’t ask Norah about falling in love because she was too busy dating.

One interesting detail that emerged from their talk was something Valerie mentioned almost casually. While Steffie was struggling to find a way home, Charles had seemed very concerned about her. He’d even pulled a few strings in an effort to help when she didn’t arrive on schedule.

Although they’d never openly discussed her relationship with Charles, Valerie seemed to know how Steffie felt. It wasn’t that Steffie had tried to conceal it; with one breath, she admitted she’d made a fool of herself over the newspaper article and with the next, she’d asked her sister about falling in love. Valerie was certainly astute enough to figure out Steffie’s feelings for Charles.

* * *

David Bloomfield was now recuperating at home and doing well. Steffie still hadn’t seen Charles. She’d thought maybe he’d be stopping by the house to visit her father, whose release from the hospital had been a festive event.

Steffie was pleased to see that Valerie and Colby were able to steal a few moments alone that afternoon, but she didn’t think their time together had gone well. They’d gone for a walk in the orchard; Valerie had looked pale and sad when they returned, and Colby had remained silent throughout the celebration dinner that followed.

Knowing it was inevitable that she’d see Charles again, Steffie tried to mentally brace herself for their next meeting.

She couldn’t have guessed it would be at the local gas station.