A Vow to Love by Sherryl Woods

sparked that kiss. He'd meant to prove only that he didn't dislike her. Instead he had a feeling he'd proven something a lot more dangerous and it would be better for both of them if she didn't guess what it was. Penny was the kind of woman who'd take that vulnerability and cling to it, turning it into an admission of love, into the forerunner of a commitment he was incapable of making.
    He shrugged. "Never mind. We're both soaked. I think we'd better get back inside. Besides, I'm sure everyone is wondering what happened to us."
    A smile tugged at her exceptionally kissable lips. "Do you really think they'll miss us? This is the most self-contained group of people I've ever known. I know I'm related to them, but sometimes I feel like such an outsider."
    Sam regarded her with a vague sense of astonishment. "You do?"
    "Of course I do. It's not like I grew up with them, except for Grandmother. The rest of them were sprung on me when Brandon tracked down Grandmother and then everyone found out that my mother was really his daughter, the product of their incredible love affair before he went off to war. I was a teenager and I guess I found it all pretty exciting and romantic in a lot of ways, but it's definitely required some adjustment on all our parts."
    "It happened a long time ago," Sam reminded her.
    "Still, I remember that it took months for my mom and my Aunt Kate to overcome the realization that they were only half sisters. It must have been terrible for Kevin, too. Sometimes even now I see the way he looks at me and I just know he must still be struggling to accept the fact that my mother is his half sister, that I'm his niece and he never even knew about us until I was half-grown."
    Sam recognized that what she said was true. Of all of the Hallorans, Kevin had had the most difficulty accepting the discovery that his father had another child. It hadn't helped that Brandon had bulldozed over his feelings as if they didn't matter. Kevin had seethed with resentment for months, until Lacey had finally interceded and smoothed things over.
    For Sam the drama had unfolded at a safe emotional distance. Now, though, he could see for himself how out of place Penny might feel. And he could certainly empathize with her yearning to fit in.
    "Is that why you decided to come to Boston to get your graduate degree, so you could get to know this side of your family better?"
    Penny hesitated in a way that he found faintly troubling. There was a vague hint of something that might have been guilt in her eyes before she looked away. He wondered what that was all about. Had she had some ulterior motive in coming East? He couldn't imagine it. She struck him as one of the most open and honest women he'd ever met, but then, how well did he really know her?
    "Penny," he prodded, "did you come here to get to know the rest of your family?"
    "That was one of the reasons," she said finally, still evading his eyes. "And, of course, there was the allure of an Ivy League school. It will open a lot of doors eventually."
    Sam sensed that she was leaving something important out of the explanation, but whatever it was she obviously didn't intend to reveal it to him. He felt the tug of some unspoken mystery pulling at him, but dismissed it as a cop's instinctive reaction to unanswered questions, nothing more dire than that.
    He held out his hand. "Come on, Ms. Hayden, let's go back and face the music."
    She regarded him quizzically, but she trustingly tucked her hand in his. "Face the music?"
    "Your grandmother's worried looks. My sister's speculative glances. Grandfather's smug satisfaction."
    She grinned. "I see what you mean."
    They had reached the back door by then. Oddly reluctant to end what had been begun on the beach, Sam said, "We could give them something to talk about."
    An impish gleam lit her eyes. "I could go slamming into the house swearing that I will never speak to you again as long as I live."
    "That's one possibility," Sam agreed. "It's not