Something else startled him. Ben was a Southern lawyer, a one-time judge, and had been for years involved in politics at the local and state levels; shaking hands with strangers was as natural to him as breathing, and sticking out his hand during an introduction was automatic. Yet somehow this woman not only managed to elude shaking hands with him, she did it so smoothly and with such perfect, practiced timing that there was nothing obvious in the avoidance of physical contact, and nothing at all awkward. He was not left with his hand hanging in the air, and was conscious of no slight.

She simply circumvented the gesture by moving promptly toward his visitor's chair and glancing casually around at his office. "Judge Ryan." Her voice was low and beautifully modulated, the accent not Carolina. "Thank you for seeing me."

When she looked at him doubtfully with another of those guarded, darting glances, he realized that she had probably expected him to be older. More… judgelike.

"My pleasure." He gestured to the chair, inviting her to sit, then looked toward the doorway with a lifted brow. "Thank you, Janice."

Janice took her gaze off the visitor finally and, still frowning slightly, backed out of the office and closed the door.

Ben returned to his chair and sat down. "We're pretty informal around here," he told her. "I'm Ben." His voice, he noted in some surprise, was still gentle.

A faint smile touched her lips. "I'm Cassie." Another quick glance at his face, and then she stared down at the hands clasped in her lap. Whatever she had come there to say, it was obviously not easy for her.

"What can I do for you, Cassie?"

She drew a breath and kept her gaze fixed on her hands. "As I told your secretary, I'm new in Ryan's Bluff. I've lived here a little less than six months. Even so, that's long enough to get a sense of who's respected in this town. Who is apt to be… listened to, even if what he says is unbelievable."