Free Love, Lies and High Heels by DEBBY CONRAD

dinner I bought her last night, and this morning she stuck her nose up at the food on the plane. She’s damned spoiled.
    “And because she hadn’t eaten anything substantial for two days, she got a little light-headed and then threw up her consommé,” he said, emphasizing the French term. Luke didn’t bother to tell him about the kiss they’d shared, or that she’d slapped him after he’d provoked her.
    “You’re sure it’s nothing serious?” Sam asked.
    Luke nodded and lowered himself into a chair. “You know, I’ve been thinking about taking some time off. I haven’t had a vacation in quite a while. I was thinking maybe I’d go up to Canada, do some ice fishing before the lake thaws.”
    “Now? You can’t go now,” Sam sputtered, and pushed his tray aside.
    “Why the hell not? Garvey can take care of things while I’m gone.” Hank Garvey was their foreman. “And Rusty can take care of you.”
    “You saw what she fixed me for dinner tonight. If that’s a sample of what I’m going to get to eat while she’s here, I’ll be dead in three days.”
    Sam was right about that. “I’ll ask Garvey to sneak food you some food while I’m gone. Or better yet, tell your daughter the truth. That you’re not sick, and you’re not dying. Then you can eat the way you like.”
    Shaking his head violently, Sam sat up and hung his bandaged feet over the edge of the bed. “I can’t do that. Not yet. Not until we’ve had a chance to get to know each other better. Once she trusts me—”
    “Trusts you? How the hell do you think she’s going to feel when she finds out we’ve lied to her? She’ll be on the first plane out of here.” Luke liked that idea. They didn’t need Rusty here. Well, maybe Sam thought he did, but Luke didn’t. The woman was driving him crazy. All he could think about was her.
    “Which is why I had to lie in the first place.” Sam hung his head, and sighed. “She wouldn’t have come, Luke. She as much as admitted it this afternoon.”
    “Well, if she doesn’t want to stay, you can’t keep her prisoner here.”
    “I’m not. It’s not like that. It’s just that she used to love this place as a child. If it weren’t for Natalie forbidding her to visit…”
    Luke had heard the story plenty of times over the years. Rusty had fallen from a horse and broken her arm when she was seven. Sam had promised Natalie not to let their daughter anywhere near the horses, but he’d lied. He’d been teaching Rusty to ride the summer the accident occurred. To punish him, Natalie had refused to let their daughter return to the farm, and instead had left the country, married the first man with money she’d found, and stuck Rusty in a boarding school in Switzerland. The woman had then somehow convinced Sam that he wasn’t a very good influence for a young girl, and that their daughter would be better off living abroad.
    Sam had regretted his decision not to fight his ex-wife all those years. But now that Natalie was dead, Sam wanted his daughter back. Luke was afraid it was too late, but didn’t have the heart to tell his friend that, because Sam was determined, above all else, to repair his relationship with her.
    “Luke, can’t you postpone your vacation a little longer? I need you to help me. You owe me.”
    Another guilt trip. Why did he always let Sam do that to him? “What can I do? I’ve already let you talk me into lying to her. It’s not easy, carrying on this charade of yours, you know.” He paused, ran his hands through his hair. “Besides, I don’t think she likes me very much.”
    “Sure she does.”
    Luke snorted. “Okay, then. I don’t like her.” Or the state she’d left him in earlier. The cold shower he’d taken had done nothing to free his mind of her.
    “Why not? When did you stop liking beautiful women?”
    Narrowing his eyes, Luke stood up and pointed his finger at Sam. “When they think they can order me out of my own house.”
    Sam waved a hand,