The Ties That Bind

strangers."
    "You were the only stranger I was ever really reckless with," she protested.
    "Maybe. But you did seem a little unworldly at times. A little naive. I wanted to protect you. But there was a selfish side to that protection. I'm just beginning to understand it. The truth was, I didn't want you to see my working world. I think, deep down, I was afraid you would hate it and, sooner or later, come to hate me. My world is so different from yours, so much harsher. How could a soft, sweet, gentle artist from the coast ever approve of either me or my other life? I was protecting myself rather than you."
    "I think," Shannon said slowly, "that the reason you were afraid I'd hate your world was because you, yourself, have come to hate it."
    There was a stillness in Garth that alarmed Shannon. She lifted her head from his shoulder to meet his eyes.
    Garth's fingers moved in slow circles on Shannon's shoulders as he gazed down at her. "You may be right," he finally said. "McIntyre really is quite shrewd in some ways, you know. What he said earlier about my having lost the taste for the kind of infighting it takes to survive and flourish in Silicon Valley was damn close to the truth. One of the reasons I wanted that Carstairs job so badly was to prove to myself that I could still hold my own. But during the past few days I've realized getting that job will do something much more important. It will make Sherilectronics look very, very good to a potential buyer. And I'm going to start looking for a buyer right away, Shannon."
    "Why?"
    "For the past six or eight months I've been realizing I wanted to make a change. Now I know just what kind of change. I want to sell out."
    "Sell out! But, Garth, you've built that company up from scratch. It's a huge chunk of your life."
    "My past life. Shannon, everything crystallized for me this morning when I found out Wes had called Bailey and pretended he was me so he could get Walters taken off guard duty. I felt so damn helpless when I realized how far away I was and that you had no one to protect you. Just as helpless as I felt when I learned an intruder had gotten into your cottage. In both cases the reason you were in jeopardy was because of me. Weekend lovers aren't very useful. Weekend husbands wouldn't be much better. Annie was right. I couldn't even protect you from the dangers I had brought into your life, let alone fix the plumbing, make hot soup for you when you get sick or keep your car in good working condition. I want to be with you on a full-time basis. I want a real marriage, not a weekend retreat. And I want to get out of a world I don't much like anymore."
    "What will you do, Garth?" Shannon smiled mistily. "Write poetry, after all? Maybe the great American novel?"
    He grinned faintly. "No amount of imagination on your part is going to make me into a poet or a writer, honey. But I do know something about business, specifically the electronics business. I intend to stay out of the rat race of Silicon Valley, but there are other ways to make a living with electronics. I've been thinking about starting up a small consulting firm. But I definitely wouldn't establish it in San Jose."
    Shannon hugged him. "Where would you establish it?"
    "That's something you and I will have to discuss." Garth's eyes became more serious for a moment. "This part of the coast is a little too isolated for even a small company such as the one I'm planning. Would you mind very much if we moved to Santa Barbara or Ventura? I know you've made your home here and you have friends and I know I have no right to ask you to change your life for me."
    "You're changing your life for me, aren't you?"
    "For both of us," he said firmly.
    "Well, I'm more than willing to make a change for both of us, too. No, Garth, I don't mind moving. Santa Barbara or Ventura sounds wonderful."
    "Shannon, I love you." He cradled her face between his hands. "I've never loved like this before in my life. Maybe that's why I was so cautious with you. I knew I had something special, and I was terrified of losing it."
    "You won't lose me by loving me," Shannon assured him as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "And I appreciate your desire to protect me. After all, I feel the same way about you. But I do wish you wouldn't think of me as so unsophisticated and unworldly that I need to be shielded as if were a silly, scatterbrained artist. I'm an adult and I'm not helpless, despite current evidence to the contrary. I don't need