The Adventurer

had hold of something important now. She started pacing the floor again. "Your wife betrayed you with your best friend. Very simple. Tragic, but simple. It explains everything, especially your inability to trust me."
    "What the hell are you talking about? Do you always leap to conclusions like this?"
    "Sometimes. Gideon, having your wife betray you with your best friend is not a minor event. Wars have been fought over less."
    "I'm not planning on starting any wars. Besides, I told you, the guy's dead and Leanna's remarried. There's nothing left to fight over even if I was so inclined."
    "Which you're not. A very hopeful sign. Okay, now I think I've finally got a handle on our relationship. This is the curse from your past that needs lifting, isn't it? Just like in the story of 'Beauty and the Beast.' "
    "What the hell are you talking about?"
    "Relax, Gideon. I was just using a familiar metaphor from the old fairy tale. Put in modern terms, the fact is, I was missing some of this information from the beginning. That's why I botched up our initial meeting. It was all my fault. I rushed things."
    Gideon was beginning to get that uneasy sense of being left behind in her dust again. "Sarah, don't go flying off on some new tangent, okay?"
    She ignored him as she paced faster and faster. A fresh sense of anticipation was radiating from her in waves of energy Gideon could almost feel.
    "I realize now you need plenty of time to get to know me so that you'll be able to see how totally different I am from both your best friend and your ex-wife," Sarah said.
    "You've never even met either of them."
    "That doesn't mean I can't figure out what their problems were."
    "What is this? Instant psychoanalysis?"
    "Common sense and a touch of intuition. I know a lot about you now, so I can make some good guesses about the other two people who were involved in this mess." Sarah spun around at the far end of the room and buzzed past Gideon, robe flying. "Let's take Leanna first: neurotic with problems of her own that she was trying to use a husband to resolve."
    Gideon blinked owlishly, taken back by the accuracy of that comment. "Of all the idiotic conclusions," he growled. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know any of the people involved, except me."
    "Knowing you is enough. Any woman who couldn't see what a terrific husband you'd make is immature, neurotic and probably trapped in her own emotional problems. I'm sorry to have to tell you that, Gideon, but I'm afraid it's the truth. How old was Leanna when you married her?"
    He propped himself up on one elbow, scowling at her as she went whizzing past the bed again. "Twenty-five, I think, why?"
    Sarah was nodding to herself. "Twenty-five going on seventeen. Some people, male and female, are still awfully immature at twenty-five. They often don't know what they really want. Some people go through their whole lives never knowing what they really want. Add to that immaturity a certain lack of brainpower or a lot of personal problems and you've got a powder keg of a marriage."
    "I've already told you my ex was not exactly a dummy."
    "I'm talking about common sense, not academic ability. There's a world of difference. It's common sense that makes people act intelligently, not education. All education does is give you a wider frame of reference to utilize when you're using your common sense to go over your options. A lot of people with Ph.D.'s make stupid decisions because they lack common sense. Now, then. Give me a minute to think this through."
    "Take your time." Gideon was exasperated. He wondered how he'd ever gotten involved in this crazy discussion.
    "Don't be sarcastic. This is important. Critical to our whole future together, in fact."
    He shook his head, watching her in disbelief as she went to stand at the window. He was suddenly out of patience. If she came waltzing by the sofa one more time he was going to grab her and pull her down beside him. "Sarah, I don't know what's going through that weird brain of yours, but I think it would be best if you went back to bed."
    She turned to face him. "Yes, you're probably right. I can finish thinking about this in my own room. No need to keep you awake while I go over all this information in detail. Good night, Gideon."
    Anger surged through him. How dared she presume to analyze and dissect him like this? He made a grab for her as she glided past him on her way back to the bedroom.
    He heard her soft gasp of surprise as his