"So Christopher was able to pry Samantha's hands away from yours for a few minutes Howie?" Cindy teased.

Howie chuckled. "He is a lot bigger than I am…" He replied raising his eyebrows. "Seriously though, I am glad he asked Samantha to dance because it gives me a chance to talk to all of you without Samantha around."

"What is on your mind Howie?" Jill inquired.

Howie took a deep breath. "How long as Samantha had an eating disorder?" he blurted out.

Cindy raised her eyebrows and looked at Jill. "We didn't think she had one anymore but since you have noticed and we did at dinner as well then we must have assumed incorrectly."

Howie nodded. "After dinner I had a feeling this wasn't something new." He looked around the table and then decided to explain why he was questioning them. "When I first met Samantha, I thought she was just a picky eater. She was very," he paused searching for the right word "selective in what she ate but she was eating. Brian, another member of my group was the first to point out a few weeks ago when Samantha was visiting me in Florida, that something was wrong but like I said, I just thought she was a picky eater."

"What happened to change your mind Howie?" Jill asked getting a little worried.

"Well…" Howie hesitated while deciding how to relay the events of the afternoon. 'Don't want to give away too much information.' He thought to himself. "Samantha met me at the airport this morning and told me about the change of plans. We boarded the plane and settled in. She asked me if I wanted anything to eat or drink but I had eaten on my previous flight so I wasn't hungry. I will admit I was a little nervous about meeting all of you so that deterred my appetite as well. Peter called and joked with me so, after that I relaxed a little." He licked his lips and glanced around the table, glad Samantha's brothers weren't around for this discussion, before finishing his story. "Samantha and I were kissing-that's all we were doing" he said as smirks spread across the faces of the girls " when all of the sudden she bolted out of my arms and ran into the bathroom! I thought she was airsick so I didn't follow her. When she didn't return in a couple of minutes I got worried and went after her. I pounded on the door for a good five minutes before she finally opened it. She was as white as ghost and shaking uncontrollably. I helped her back over to the couch, still thinking she was airsick. When I asked her though she denied it. It took a little prodding but I finally got out of her that she hadn't eaten in over 72 hours!"

"Oh God." Cindy said looking from Jill to Kait.

"I take it this has happened before?" Howie asked. No one answered him. "Samantha said she had been too busy to eat. She claimed she had several projects she needed to finish before she took a long weekend. I believed her at the time and made her promise she would make sure to eat in the future. I thought she was being truthful with me but after seeing her at dinner tonight…" he trailed off. "I am really worried about her."

Jill looked at Cindy who shrugged. Kait looked at both of them and shook her head. "Damn it! I thought Samantha was doing OK!" She turned to Howie "I am sure by now you have noticed the way my grandfather treats Samantha. This is another one of his influences!"

"Kait!" Cindy cautioned.

"No!" Kait continued her eyes narrowing in anger. "It is time he knew a little about why Samantha is such a mess on the inside and so perfect on the outside!"