He was two parts. He felt sorry for her. But he was also exasperated. Her words had hurt him more than he cared to admit and he was exhausted.

But what else could he do? He sat beside her. "I never said I don't know how it feels to love, or to be heartbroken, or to grieve, or to be forced to make choices you don't want to make." And he had always felt things so strongly. When life's great waves had first crashed into him, they had completely swept him off his feet and tossed him about in every direction. In Pippa's defense, he had been quite insufferable as a teenager. The recollection of something his father had told him in those disoriented days melted the last of his anger towards Pippa.

At last propriety went out the window. He put a fatherly arm around her. "Just remember that you are good."