The Ties That Bind

shook off her hand, glanced down at the proposal and continued toward the door. "On the surface this all looks connected, doesn't it? Kenyon is my main opponent in the battle to get the Carstairs contract. Last night he was trying to get you into bed, and this morning I find that copy of the bid package in your purse. It should make for an interesting story. I can't wait to listen to it."
    He was gone before Shannon could think of a single word in her own defense. Stunned, she sat looking blindly at the damning document lying amid the tumbled sheets and blankets. Garth had found this terrible thing in her tote bag.
    It was more than she could handle this time. Numbly Shannon climbed out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. It was too much. She felt totally overwhelmed. Last night she had been prepared to argue her own case. She was not a coward. She was willing to fight for her love. But this morning the evidence was too awful, and the jury was already prejudiced against her. There would be nothing left for Garth to do except carry out the sentence.
    Shannon stood shakily in front of the sink, looking into the reflection of her own eyes. Her stomach was churning and she prayed she wouldn't get sick. She hardly recognized the desolate stranger standing in front of her. All hope had flown from that empty gaze. Her eyes were only mirroring the emptiness in her heart.
    "Oh, my dearest love," she whispered, "there's nothing I can say or do this time. It's gone too far. You will never trust me or love me now." Her eyes burned but she couldn't even find the release of tears.
    A faint sound from the kitchen reached her, jarring Shannon out of the numb contemplation of her own image. Garth was out there, waiting for the final confrontation. She knew in that moment she couldn't face him. He must hate her.
    Through the open bathroom door she saw her tote sitting on the floor beside the dressing table. Her keys would be inside and her little Fiat waited in Garth's driveway. Escape was the only goal now. She had to get out of Garth's house. She couldn't look again into the face of the man she had loved, knowing what he thought she had done.
    Shannon fumbled with the shower, turning on the water but not stepping into the stall. As long as the water was running Garth would assume she was in the bathroom. Moving awkwardly at first and then with increasing speed, Shannon dressed from the small suitcase she had brought with her. When she had fastened her jeans, pulled on one of her own silk-screened T-shirts and found her sandals, she picked up her things and headed for the sliding glass door of the bedroom.
    A moment later she was letting herself out of the garden through the gate that opened onto the common grounds shared by the condominium owners. Without giving herself a chance to think, she dug her keys out of the tote and raced toward the front of Garth's place. The Fiat was sitting where she had left it yesterday, after following Garth home from Sherilectronics . She was inside, her tote and suitcase tossed behind the seat in a matter of seconds.
    Shannon turned the key in the ignition. A moment later she was fleeing out onto the street, racing away from the doom she couldn't face.
    Inside the condo, Garth heard the Fiat's engine and realized too late what was happening. He wrenched open the front door in time to see the little red car disappear down the street. He stared after it, his hand curling into a fist as he braced himself in the doorway.
    "Damn you, Shannon. You weren't supposed to run."

* * *
    THE TRIP BACK UP THE COAST seemed endless. At one point Shannon grimly pointed out to herself that the long drive would have eventually come between herself and Garth, even if she'd played the meek little mistress and stayed on the coast. How many weekends would a man want to drive this far just to go to bed with a woman? There were women living much more conveniently near San Jose.
    By the time she turned off Highway 101 and found the narrow two-lane road that led toward home, Shannon thought she had come to terms with the situation.
    She had made a terrible mistake the day she had first approached Garth Sheridan. In his own way he had tried to tell her that much. She had to give him credit. He hadn't exactly encouraged her in the beginning. It was as if, deep down, he knew his own emotional limitations.
    But she had been so sure of herself. So sure of him. From the first she had wanted to know what made Garth tick. She had