Mother's face transformed from cold disdain to mocking humor. "You've set your cap for the Halstead heir. Darling girl, you're a fool to think that a worldly man like him will be interested in ever settling down. Look around you. There's no place for you here. As soon as you leave, things will return to normal and they won't miss you one little bit." The candles were to blame-twenty-five flames dancing wildly, their wax dripping and marring the perfect white frosting on a birthday cake that whispered, "Grace, you want more than this. . . ." So Grace had packed her bags and gone to a place where her past life could never hurt her again-or so it seemed. . . . But some things never change. Why did her mother have to follow her? Grace had not gone to Lavender Island to seek out Lucas. He hadn't even been on the list of reasons for her to run away. She had fallen in love with him, and he loved her back-didn't he? Yet her mother's words made sense in a bizarre way. Grace was left to struggle with a broken heart filled with doubt and the fear that for once in her life, her mother was right. And now it all depended on Lucas. Did he love her enough to insist on her staying, or would he watch and do nothing as she was forced to leave, never to return?