Free Out of the Shadow by J. K. Winn Page A

when Julie broke away from Gail and joined them.
    After greeting Janet, Julie took Becca by the arm. "I don’t mean to interrupt you two, but Becca hasn’t had a thing to eat—I would guess the entire day. I hope you’ll excuse us while I do the motherly thing, and make sure she doesn’t fade from famine."
    Becca rolled her eyes at Janet, who smiled back at her. "Of course," Janet said. "But only if Becca promises to call me."
    Having gladly sealed the deal, Becca trailed after Julie, with a couple of short detours to say hello to a group of neighbors and a distant relative, to the buffet table, where Julie insisted they fill up their plates. Becca didn’t have much of an appetite after meeting with the police, but halfheartedly spooned food onto her plate to appease her mother.
    When she reached for a bagel smeared with lox, her hand grazed another. She looked up into the deep-set turquoise eyes of a stranger. "Excuse me."
    He grinned and shrugged, shaking his full head of sable-brown hair. "No problem. Why don’t you go first."
    Becca politely consented, noting his rugged good looks. Why hadn’t she met him at her parents’ house before?
    Julie stepped forward. "I bet you two don’t remember one another, do you? It’s been so many years." Before either could reply, she went on. "Drew, this is my daughter Becca. Drew is Sam and Lisa’s son. He left for college when you were still fairly young."
    "Drew?" Becca held out her hand, trying to remember this handsome stranger. "I can’t place the face, but your name sounds familiar."
    Julie beamed at Drew. "I’m glad you were able to come tonight! I can’t tell you how much it’s meant to your folks when you moved back into town. I don’t know if Lisa could have survived Sam’s diagnosis without you around. You’re a good son."
    "Only doing what any son should do for his parents."
    Julie sent Becca a smirk. "Not all children are as concerned about their parents as you are."
    Becca did her best not to react to Julie. She shook the hand Drew held out to her, which was as warm as his smile; but a mild feeling of revulsion passed through her. She couldn’t wait to withdraw her hand. Since the rape, every attractive man she met generated a similar reaction. She hoped she would get over it soon. "Where were you living before?"
    "In Washington. I was working as a Congressional Clerk. I just moved back here a couple of months ago to start my own law practice."
    "What type of practice do you have?" Becca asked.
    "I specialize in environmental issues."
    She should have guessed, noting his obvious counter-culture jeans and tweed jacket. "That’s a noble cause. How’s it going?"
    "I’ve only been in practice here a little over a month, and I already have two cases. It looks like I’ll be busy. But enough about me. I’d love to discover more about you. Let’s finish filling our plates and see if we can locate a couple of free seats."
    She turned back to the buffet and forked a slice of lox onto her plate. He handed her the salad spoon. When they were done piling it on, they excused themselves from Julie and made their way to the side of the room, where they cornered two black leather club chairs being vacated.
    "Whew, that was a close one," Drew joked as a couple glided by and eyed the chairs. "Where did we leave off?"
    "We were finding out about one another."
    "Right. Go on."
    In between bites of lox and bagel, she shared with him a retrospective of her career. She kept it light and frothy, but he seemed more interested than her description warranted, and peppered her with questions. Then he glanced down at her ring finger with the tan line and his expression changed.
    "I heard about what happened from my folks. I’m sorry to hear about your trauma. It’s quite a thing to go through."
    She followed his gaze to her naked finger and felt immediately overwhelmed with a powerful sense of sorrow. Remembering how she had carefully locked David’s ring away after the