The Ties That Bind

natural, was a cloud of wild curls that framed the thin, elfin features of her face. She was fifty going on thirty, and she had indulged herself in a fair amount of champagne.
    "A firm hand on the reins is what it takes to settle a man down," she declared in ringing tones. "Handle him the way Kate handled Petruchio , Shannon, and you'll do fine. Good move getting him to marry you, by the way. Enormously clever. But it's only a first step. You can't let up now or he's liable to run loose again."
    Garth looked at the woman. "Do we know this lady, Shannon?"
    "This," Shannon announced, "is Verna Montana."
    "The perpetrator of that fiasco masquerading as a modem-day version of The Taming of the Shrew?"
    "One and the same," Shannon admitted, wondering if Garth was about to revert to his antisocial ways.
    "My Shrew was a brilliant departure from the usual male-biased version," Verna said grandly.
    "Your Shrew was an abomination. A total hash. Absolutely idiotic."
    Shannon groaned and looked to Dan for support, Dan lifted one shoulder helplessly.
    "You obviously have no understanding of the art of the theater or the importance of interpretation when dealing with the classics," Verna informed Garth.
    "That's probably true," he agreed. "But as it happens, I owe you a profound debt of gratitude, Ms Montana."
    Verna blinked in astonishment, clearly halted at the beginning of the lecture she had been about to deliver. "You do?"
    Garth reached out and took Shannon's arm, folding it possessively against his side. "The night I saw your version of the Shrew was the night I first-"
    Shannon rushed to cut him off, remembering in horror what had actually happened that night after the play. "Garth, don't you dare say it. Not in public. I would never forgive you!"
    "It was the night," he continued relentlessly, "that I first realized I was falling in love with Shannon."
    Shannon lifted her eyes skyward in relief. She had been afraid he was about to say something far more embarrassing. From the look in his eyes, she could tell he was definitely thinking of that night in far more earthy terms.
    "Ready to leave, sweetheart?" he asked blandly as Verna beamed.
    "Definitely."
    "Then let's get going. I think it's time we were on our way."
    "Before you say something you shouldn't?" she whispered as they began saying goodbye to their guests.
    "I'm reformed," he told her. "The perfect party guest."
    "Fat chance."
    "You're looking at a new me."
    "Pity. There were several things about the old you that I rather liked."
    "Well, you're in luck. Some things never change." He swept her out the door, laughter and passion and love in his eyes.
    Shannon's expression echoed his. They would build their future together, a future that would bind them as inextricably as the letters S and G on the framed silk-screen print that was waiting back in Shannon's cottage.