Perfect Partners

it’s going to rain?”
    “Looks like it.” Stephanie started washing lettuce under the faucet.
    Diana surveyed the pot of simmering soup. “I can make dumplings if anyone’s interested,” she offered hesitantly.
    Letty was surprised. Diana had seemed listless all day. “I didn’t think anyone out here on the West Coast would know how to make dumplings.”
    Diana shrugged, not returning Letty’s smile. “My mother taught me how a long time ago. I haven’t made them for years.” She went to the counter and opened the small sack of flour Letty had purchased when they stopped for groceries earlier.
    A curious harmony settled over the kitchen as the three of them went to work. It occurred to Letty that there was nothing like cooking a meal with other women to create an elemental bond. There was something primitive and female about the ritual. Or maybe that was just the old-fashioned Heartland pioneer woman in her, she decided wryly.
    “I was thinking about something you said in the car this morning, Letty.” Stephanie used a fork to combine vinegar and olive oil in a small bowl. “About each of us needing someone else to help us work through our private fears. It’s been bothering me.”
    It was Diana who responded to that. She glanced up, her eyes intense. “Why?”
    Stephanie’s mouth thinned. “I suppose because I have a hard time accepting that I might be the weak one in my relationship with Morgan. I’ve always taken care of myself. I’m incredibly grateful that he’s helped me create this baby, but a part of me is nervous about having to be rescued from my infertility. It’s made me realize that things aren’t really equal between us. I suppose what it really comes down to is that I wish he needed me as badly as I need him.”
    “You’ve got to be kidding.” Letty glanced at her in astonishment. “You don’t think my father needs you just as much as you need him?”
    Stephanie whipped the oil and vinegar fiercely. “I know he cares for me. But I doubt that he actually needs me.”
    “You’re wrong, you know.” Letty smiled. “You and the baby have given him a whole new lease on life. After Mother’s death, my father started turning into an old man before my very eyes. I was powerless to stop the process. You’ve made him young again, Steph. He told me so himself.”
    Stephanie stopped beating the salad dressing. Her eyes were very bright and a little anxious. “Did he really?”
    “Really.” Letty chuckled. “And even if he hadn’t said it aloud, I would have known it. I noticed the difference in him the minute I got off the plane. Your relationship is definitely working both ways.”
    “I wish mine were,” Diana said. “All I’ve done for Keith is make his life a living hell.”
    “Nonsense.” Letty removed the lid from the soup pot and stirred the contents again. “Keith is a born knight-errant. He needs a beautiful maiden to save and an opportunity to slay a couple of dragons. You’ve provided him with both. He’s just been waiting for his big chance, and now he’s got it.”
    Diana set down the measuring cup and stared at her. “Is that how you see him?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “Are you saying that because he took on Joel in that awful bar brawl?”
    Letty laughed. “Not only because of that. I’m also thinking about how quickly he produced that five-year plan to salvage Copeland Marine. He didn’t come up with that detailed scenario overnight. He had been working on it for a long time. Which means that he had just been waiting for his opportunity.”
    Diana grew thoughtful. “I remember how excited he was the night he came home and told me that Copeland Marine was in danger of a takeover.”
    “What Keith needs now is for you to believe in him, and you’re giving him that kind of backing. He’s on his way to saving the world. Or at least Echo Cove.” Letty stood aside while Diana ladled the dumpling batter onto the surface of the bubbling broth.
    “I hope so,” Diana said fervently. “God, I hope someone can control Daddy before it’s too late.”
    “They’ll find him and stop him,” Stephanie said soothingly. “He’s a very sick man. He needs treatment.”
    Diana put the lid on the pot and stared sightlessly at it. “I don’t think he’s sick. I think he’s evil. I’ve always wondered what really happened to Joel’s father. For years I’ve secretly wondered if Daddy had something to do with Hank Blackstone’s death.”
    Letty felt a