Secret Admirer — Patricia Bourgeau

Laura Reed feels safe and happy in Cape Christian, a little jewel of Victorian architecture and quiet streets on New Jersey's southern tip. The children's books she writes are earning her modest fame; her husband Jimmy's art gallery is flourishing; and Cape Christian is the right kind of small town in which to raise their little boy, Michael. She never dreams that this New Year's Eve her nearly perfect life will end. That a man in a ski mask will break into her house, knock her out, and shoot her husband dead. That it will be nearly one hour before she revives and calls 911. That those missing minutes before her call will convince the police that she committed the crime. Although there is too little evidence to arrest her, Laura feels the eyes of the entire community - including her in-laws' - accusing her. Even her lawyer, Jimmy's business partner, doesn't seem to believe her. Her only ally is Gary, a young wheelchair-bound painter. His faithful devotion and the bouquets he sends brighten Laura's days. Then Ian Turner docks his sailboat in Cape Christian, and a chance meeting brings him into Laura's life. His marriage, too, has ended in tragedy, and he not only believes Laura, but falls in love with her. For the first time since Jimmy's murder, Laura dares to feel alive. Until she begins to sense that danger is near.