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farthest sanctuary she knew, and she'd ended up here in South Carolina with Kathleen and Scott.
    Speaking of the minivan, she'd be lost without it. She hoped Xan could muster enough mechanical expertise to find and repair whatever was wrong with the motor.
    * * *
    Accelerating the Harley down the overgrown path toward the highway, Xan also wondered what was wrong with Maura's minivan. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. It didn't matter what was wrong. He was going to make absolutely sure that she didn't leave this place in it.
    In fact Maura would have been amazed to know that Xan had already decided that the only satisfactory mode of transportation for her tonight was his motorcycle, where she would ride behind him, her ample breasts pressed to his back, her long, tanned arms wrapped securely around his waist.

Chapter 3

    While Xan was gone, Maura washed herself, dipping her hands over and over into the sink. She splashed the water slowly over her face, her arms, her breasts, considering how it felt. She was used to washing her patients, but for herself this task had always been accomplished in the shortest possible time with absolutely no consideration of it as an exercise in creature comfort.
    The water trickled in cool rivulets down the sides of her face, gathered in the hollows above her shoulder blades, ran slickly between her breasts, hung in heavy droplets from the pink tips of her nipples. The crude towel with which she patted herself dry was stiff until the water softened it. But noticing the textures that touched her body was new to her, and it felt good to cool off.
    She did her best to keep Annie and the baby comfortable, and she taught Cindy a new variation of cat's cradle in order to pass the time. It seemed like forever before Xan returned. As soon as she heard the motorcycle thundering down the dirt road toward Annie's shack, Maura stopped folding clean cloths for the baby and hurried to the front door.
    "I've called a friend to tow your car to his garage," Xan told Maura when she stepped anxiously out on the porch, closing the screen door quietly behind her. "I don't have any idea what's wrong with it." This statement was accompanied by a shrug of his broad shoulders. His face, upturned toward her, picked up a glow from the dim light of the lamp inside.
    "Well, then," she said, her expression decidedly woebegone, "I suppose the next problem is getting home." Her sister and brother-in-law were out for the evening, or she would have called them.
    "Where do you live?"
    "I'm staying on Teoway Island."
    For a moment satisfaction flickered in his eyes. This was better than he'd hoped. "I live on the island," he told her. "I'll be glad to give you a lift. That is, if you don't mind riding on the back of my motorcycle."
    At this point, it felt good to let someone else take over. "I don't mind," she said. She'd be grateful for the lift.
    "How's Annie?" he asked quickly, as though it really mattered. By this time he had stepped up and joined her on the creaky front porch, placing himself only an arm's length away. Other than their voices, the only sound was that of crickets chirping in the bushes.
    "Annie's doing beautifully, and so is the baby. I could leave now, I suppose."
    "Why don't you get your things and say goodbye to everyone, and we'll get on the road? You look like you've had one very hard day."
    She nodded, too tired to do anything else. As she stepped inside the cabin, she caught a glimpse of herself in a cracked mirror hanging beside the door. She looked worn to a frazzle. Her back ached, her shoulders felt bunched into knots, and at the moment she longed for nothing so much as a decent meal followed by a leisurely bath in the sunken tub at Kathleen's beautiful, well-appointed and expensive house overlooking the Teoway marshes.
    Annie and Cindy and the baby were quickly settled for the night, and after a whispered goodbye to Annie and a promise to check on her again soon, Maura rejoined Xan on