Alan steered the car carefully through the narrow streets of Medea. He had managed another week's leave — a week, he had informed her on the way, that would be quite enough to persuade her.

Susan shifted nervously in her seat.

"Alan, we mustn't rush this! Let's wait at least a few more days before telling them about us!" she pleaded, yet again.

His silence only wound her tighter. She wanted an answer — and was not at all sure she wanted the true one! Alan pulled over and stopped in front of her grandfather's house.

"Fine! If you want to lie to Grandpa Max, that's your affair!"

"Lying, am I?" Susan gasped, stung. "I would never lie to him! Why are you being like this? I'm asking for something perfectly natural. How am I supposed to marry you if we can't understand each other even now? You've changed, Alan — and honestly, I don't think it's for the better!"

He looked at her. Deep in his black eyes glimmered something like sadness.

"There comes a moment when a person grows up, Sue! If life isn't fair, why should I be? Once, you were my true little friend — a princess in your big white house, and I worshipped you! But from the woman you've become, the woman carrying my child, I want much more. I want that woman to be my wife! Is that so much to ask?"

She bowed her head and licked her dry lips. She could not hold his gaze.

"Yes," she whispered, after a long silence. "Maybe it is. You do want a great deal..."

Alan drew a sharp breath and got out of the car, fuming. Susan closed her eyes, trying to still her fluttering heart. Why couldn't she simply make the right decision — for both of them? He opened her door. Susan swallowed hard and got out without looking at him. Within a minute, she had her composure back.

"I intend to be your husband, Sue — and soon!" Alan said quietly as they walked up to her grandfather's house.

"Is that a threat?" She bristled.

"Take it as a promise!"

She stopped dead and turned slowly to face him.

"If you think that—"

The front door swung open, cutting her off.

"There you are, children — both of you!" cried Grandpa Max. "What a lovely surprise!"

The old man came toward them with arms flung wide. Susan's face cleared into a warm smile.

"Hello, Grandpa!" She hugged him. "Will you take me in as a guest for another week?"

"What a question, my girl! With the greatest of pleasure! Alan, my boy, don't just stand there! You've driven my girl all this way, and now you loiter on the doorstep! Come in! There's coffee, and sweets."

"I've never once refused your invitation, Grandpa Max!" said Alan, following Susan into the living room.

"And you never should! We're like family — aren't we, Suzie?"

Susan paled a little at that. She shot a dark look at Alan, who was smiling at her grandfather.

"Thank you!" he said.

"More like family than I'd wish, Grandpa! But surely Alan is in a hurry to greet his mother?" she suggested pointedly. His smile twisted.

"I have plenty of time!"

"Quite right!" the old man seconded. "Let her rest a little first! Come, sit!"

"All right, Grandpa!" Susan shrugged in resignation. "I'll go say hello to Mom, and I can bring the coffee!"

She slipped adroitly out of the room, greeted her mother — who was resting with a book on the back terrace — then went to the kitchen and collected the fresh coffee from the machine. Her stomach was knotted tight. She wanted to be far away from Alan; at the same time, she didn't dare leave him alone with her grandfather. She didn't trust him. What if he said something about the two of them?

When she came back into the living room with her mother, Alan and her grandfather were sitting side by side on the sofa, laughing. Alan sprang up to hug her mother in greeting. Oh God, thought Susan — how natural it all looked!

"Here's the coffee!" she said, setting the pot on the table.

"Suzie, Alan tells me you two went out this week. I'm glad you're friends again!" the old man declared.

"Many things bind us, Grandpa Max!" Alan added, with irony. "And I'm glad that lately we've... rediscovered each other!"

Susan settled stiffly into the armchair, her heart hammering.

"Alan, thank you for bringing her! Left to herself she'd have found some chore to bury herself in — that girl simply cannot rest!" her mother laughed.

"She needs to!" He nodded. Susan shot him a warning look.

"That's quite enough about me!" she chided them. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"You'll rest here, Suzie, my girl! It's always quiet at my house! Except around my birthday, of course!" the old man declared. Alan choked on his coffee.

"Are you all right?" Her mother patted him on the back anxiously. He nodded, clearing his throat.

Susan closed her eyes and let her head fall against the armrest. It was all too much!

"Tired, Sue?" The note of worry in Alan's voice made her sit up sharply. She knew perfectly well what that question was really about — her pregnancy!

"I'm perfectly fine! Truly, I've never traveled so comfortably, thank you!" she said. "Which reminds me..." She turned to her grandfather. "It's high time I bought a car! I'll talk to Dad about it. That way I could come here more often!"

Alan and her mother frowned in disapproval; her grandfather's face lit up.

"Quite right, my girl! I've told you so before!"

"Dad!" her mother protested. "Driving in the capital is dangerous!"

"It would be useful for her work, and for visiting!"

"Suzie, there are so many accidents..."

"Mom, we'll discuss it when Dad gets back, all right? Right now I want to go lie down in the shade of the garden. Excuse me!"

"Yes — and I must be going!" Alan put in quickly, rising with her. "Sue, will I see you tonight?"

"I don't know. I may go to bed early, Alan!"

"All right. Tomorrow, then. Goodbye, everyone!"

With a somewhat stiff smile, he took his leave.

"Goodbye, my boy! Give your mother my regards!" Grandpa Max called after him. Then: "That was a little rude, Suzie!"

"Grandpa, it's mid-afternoon and the heat out there is dreadful. I'll take my things up to my room. After a shower I'll be right as rain!"

She picked up her bag and climbed the stairs to her room.

By evening Susan's mood had genuinely improved — above all because Alan wasn't there to press her. She let herself unwind, and realized with surprise that for more than a week she hadn't given her mind or body a moment's rest. All thanks to Alan, naturally! Now, calm and surrounded by family, Susan almost forgot her pregnancy, the choice awaiting her, the future. She pushed the thoughts deliberately away and sank into the comfort of a family dinner. That night she slept deeply and dreamlessly, as she hadn't slept in weeks.

The next day passed just as peacefully. Pleading her father's presence and her wish to help him, she turned down Alan's invitation to walk around town. He left without a word, jaw clenched. Susan discovered she rather enjoyed needling him.

After dinner she sat a long while with her grandfather on the front veranda, talking of the old days that had slipped past like a dream. Around midnight she went up to her room. In her nightshirt, she opened the terrace door wide to let in the cool night air, then lay down and switched off the lamp. She sighed softly and closed her eyes.

Five minutes later, a soft noise pulled her from the first embrace of Morpheus. She opened her eyes and peered around the room. A dark silhouette was slipping through the open terrace door. Susan's stomach clenched with fear. Her hand shot to the lamp switch and pressed it. She was halfway to bolting for the corridor when the pale light filled the room and fell on the face of...

"Alan!" she cried, sitting bolt upright in bed.

"Hello, dear!"

"What are you doing here?" Susan exclaimed furiously. She threw off the blanket and sprang to her feet. He had frightened her half to death!

"I came to see you! And now that I have..."

She tugged her nightshirt down and cast about for something to put on.

"How did you get in?"

"Climbed the oak growing next to your balcony."

His black eyes traveled, as if mesmerized, up her long bare legs to her breasts.

"Are you out of your mind?" She crossed her arms over her chest to block his brazen stare. Alan leaned in slightly.

"Sweetheart, you've been avoiding me for two days — and we agreed to live together! You play the ice queen and expect me to say nothing? I've kept my end of the bargain, but everything has its limits!"

"Alan, I really do need rest. I don't want—" He took another step and caught her around the waist.

"You look fresh — good enough to eat," he murmured, breathing her in.

"Don't even think about it!" Susan gasped, squirming in his arms. From the hallway came the sound of a door opening. Susan froze, breath held, listening. Soft footsteps were approaching her room. She stared at Alan, wide-eyed with horror.

"Someone's coming!" she whispered in fright.

Alan only raised his eyebrows.

"So I hear!"

"Disappear!"

"We're not finished!"

"Alan!" Panic rang in her voice. He rolled his eyes.

"Hide me, then!"

She glanced wildly around and pointed at the bed.

"Underneath!"

He gave her a murderous look — then dropped to the floor in one motion and rolled under the bed. Susan leapt frantically onto the mattress and switched on the TV, propping herself on the pillow and hooking the blanket up with her foot. A moment later there was a knock, and the door opened quietly.

"Not asleep yet, Suzie?" Her mother's head appeared around the door.

"Mom?" she exclaimed. "Is something wrong?"

"I thought I heard voices from your room."

"Probably the TV, Mom! I turned it on a while ago, but I'm about to go to sleep now."

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night, Mom!" Susan managed, with a strained smile.

When the door closed, she sagged back against the pillow. Her mother's footsteps receded quickly down the corridor. A deep sigh escaped her chest. Alan's head appeared over the far side of the bed, merry sparks dancing in his eyes.

"I'm getting old for this sort of thing — out of practice, clearly. But it was fun!"

Susan gave him a withering look.

"It is not funny!"

"On the contrary! You're a marvelous actress, Sue!" Alan sat down beside her on the bed. She tossed the remote onto the nightstand.

"What do you want, Alan?"

Desire flared suddenly in his eyes.

"Don't you know?" he asked hoarsely.

"Alan — we can't!"

"Explain to me why not?" His fingers slid along her tense thigh.

"My mother... Stop it, Alan!" She clamped her hand down over his. "Stop!"

He leaned in and whispered against her lips:

"What if I promise to be very, very quiet?"

Susan turned her head a fraction, evading his mouth.

"Don't. Please!"

"Then what am I permitted to do, in your opinion?"

"Alan!" She pushed at his chest with both hands.

"All right. I'll go — on one condition!"

"What condition?"

"Come out with me tomorrow! Just the two of us — and I choose where!"

"Fine!" Susan agreed instantly. He raised a finger.

"Promise me — no tricks!"

"Yes, I'll go out with you! Tomorrow!"

"On the other hand — I'm starting to like your room more and more!" He grinned. Susan glared.

"Shall I just hand it over to you, then? I quite understand..."

He slid his fingers behind her neck and drew her head down into a long kiss.

"I want you in my life, Sue! I want to be with you always, and raise our baby together!"

"Alan, I need time to get used to my situation!"

"It's not getting used to it you need — it's accepting me, and the baby!" he answered with emphasis, then sighed. "Good night, my dear!" he said gently, and rose from the bed in one motion. She watched him cross to the terrace door.

"You're going out that way?" she asked in surprise.

"Don't worry about me. I'll do my best to stay alive — so I can pester you longer!"

"You devil!" she gasped after him. But he had already vanished.