were fine quality, the lace neatly done, even the chairs had been stitched in a flower pattern that had long ago lost its color.
Wes, with his years of military training, checked each exit as though preparing for battle. He listened carefully, trying to figure out the whispering sound. It wasn’t words exactly, more like years of lost conversations blending together, circling the room as though the past and present mixed somehow in this place.
With the door open wide, Wes could see both a wide staircase going up and the front door. Anyone sitting in the center of this room would know everything going on in the house.
Gideon brought in tea and hard white cookies, but no one ate. Wes noticed the china set looked yellowed with age and wear. The last plate in the set was chipped. For a fine house, he’d expected greater care.
The slow opening of a door and the slight rustle of skirts drew Wes’s attention. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected-a stately widow, a crazy woman, an older version of Allie.
The tiny woman in black who entered the room on the arm of another was none and all of those things wrapped together. She walked with the carriage of a woman who’d known of her beauty since birth. With hair combed high like a crown on her head, she was a queen in her world, a rare vision of perfection in aging, with pure white hair and thin skin feathered in wrinkles.
But first of all, and most of all, Victoria Catlin was blind.
Wes faced her as she held her head high and moved sightlessly through the room to what had to be her chair. The plainly dressed guide at her side stood next to her as Victoria, covered in black satin with layers of black lace, sat to hold court.
‘‘Gideon tells me you’ve come to visit me, Maxwell.’’ She spoke directly to the center of the room, unaware that the sheriff was to her right. ‘‘It has been far too long since I’ve had the pleasure of your company.’’
Max Hardy straightened, growing younger as he moved toward her without allowing his limp to show. ‘‘Hello, Victoria.’’ His voice was warm with years of unspoken words. ‘‘It’s good to see you again.’’
Victoria offered her hand, frail and blue-veined. Max’s massive leathered hand embraced hers in more of a caress than a handshake. For a moment, no one moved or spoke. For a moment, Maxwell and Victoria were the only two in the room.
Victoria broke the spell by pulling her hand away. ‘‘Maxwell,’’ she said, gesturing to her left, ‘‘you remember my sister, Katherine.’’
Max forced his gaze to leave Victoria and turned to the woman who’d acted as guide. Katherine seemed a too often washed, too heavily starched version of her sister. Her beauty had long ago faded to dull gray. Her face was smooth, void of both laugh lines and worry wrinkles. Void of having felt life at all. The thin lines that had once been lips didn’t move to speak, but she nodded slightly at the sheriff.
‘‘Katherine.’’ Max cleared his throat as he spoke. ‘‘I hope you’re doing well?’’ All emotions had vanished from his voice as he asked a question so dry it didn’t seem to need a reply.
Katherine hardened, unwilling to lower herself to even speak to the sheriff.
If Wes were guessing, he’d guess she was a woman who died on the vine without ever being touched by love or even passion. In her old age, she’d found reason to her life with Victoria’s blindness.
Max lowered to one knee beside Victoria’s chair. ‘‘I’ve come with good news, Victoria.’’
She rested her hand on his shoulder as if needing to feel where his voice was coming from. ‘‘I’m so glad. I was afraid something had happened to Michael. It’s been so long since I’ve heard from him.’’
‘‘Michael’s fine,’’ Maxwell answered. ‘‘I saw him in Austin less than a week ago.’’
Victoria raised her head slightly, showing no joy or pain at Maxwell’s announcement.
‘‘I’ve brought someone I think you will want to meet.’’ Max nodded for Allie to come closer. ‘‘I’ve never stopped looking for the child of James who might have survived. I always go to the Rangers office and check on any recovered captives that might fit. Finally, I’ve found her.’’
Victoria’s faced filled with hope.
‘‘Allie Catlin, I’d like you to meet your grandmother, Victoria.’’
Wes watched Allie closely as she moved toward the old woman. He could see that she still doubted the sheriff’s words, but he also saw an ounce of hope. She was shy, waiting for an invitation… outstretched hands, a welcoming word.
‘‘Are you sure?’’ Victoria didn’t even allow herself to breathe.
‘‘I wasn’t when I found the record. Thought it could just be coincidence that she was the right age and went by the name Allie. She was found hundreds of miles southwest of where she was captured. But when I saw her face, I knew. She’s the image of you fifty years ago.’’
Victoria raised her hand, touching the air only inches in front of Allie. ‘‘I’d given up,’’ she whispered. ‘‘Could it be true?’’
Just as Allie moved within the old woman’s reach, a sharp voice shattered the room.
‘‘He’s lying!’’ Katherine snapped.
Victoria pulled her hand away, drawing into her shell as if her sister were her eyes and she’d seen evil. Allie jumped back, reacting to the words like a slap.
‘‘He’s lying to you, sister. The girl looks nothing like you. He’s old and blind as you, if he sees a resemblance. I’d swear on our mother’s grave there is not a drop of Catlin blood in this woman.’’ Katherine’s voice cracked like dry wood in a fire. ‘‘He’s just another come to take your fortune.’’
Wes hardly noticed the anger that bubbled up in Maxwell, or the confusion in Victoria’s blind stare, or the decades-old hatred laced into Katherine’s words. All he cared about, all he saw, was Allie.
The flicker of hope she’d allowed herself to believe in now crumbled her from inside out. Allie had unlocked her heart, wanting to believe the sheriff, wanting a family again. She’d opened the armor to take a wound to a soul already fragile.
Wes ignored the sheriff’s denial and Katherine’s hateful words. Allie was shattering.
In one sudden movement, he swept her up and carried her from the room like a bandit stealing treasure. The others were so lost in their argument, they hardly noticed as he left and entered the hallway.
He glanced around, it didn’t matter where he went. Away was the only objective. He hurried across the opening and into the first room he saw. Dusted in slits of light from closed shutters, the room paused, quiet as a tomb.
Wes closed the door and set Allie on her feet. He had no idea what he’d say to her, but he had to protect her from the others. Katherine’s shrill voice still tightened his spine.
Allie erupted like gunpowder exploding in his face. All at once, she was crying and pounding on his chest with all the force she could gather.
He let her pound, ignoring the pain. She wasn’t fighting him, she was fighting the world.
She shook her head so violently that the ribbon fell to the floor and her hair went wild around her, reminding him of the first time he’d seen her and thought her more animal than human.
Great sobs came and gulps for air, but not a word. The hurt was beyond words.
Wes closed his eyes, wondering what good he’d done her. He’d taken her from the cage only to deliver her to a place where they might not hurt her body, but they’d broken her heart.
Finally she grew tired, the last few blows barely touching him. Her fist rested against his chest as she lowered her head.
Wes pulled her to him then, ignoring her tired efforts to fight free. He held her tightly against him, feeling her sobs pass through his body.
A little at a time, she relaxed, letting him hold her. Her tears wet his shoulder, and her heart pounded against his side. He couldn’t help but think of all she must have been through. How many times had she thought she’d be rescued, or dreamed of a family waiting somewhere to welcome her? How many times must hope die before tears were too deep to bear?
He rocked her in his arms. ‘‘Shhhh, Allie,’’ he whispered. ‘‘They don’t matter, none of them. They’re fools for not wanting you.’’
Her crying lessened. He felt her arms move around his waist.
‘‘You belong right here with me. I won’t let them hurt you anymore.’’
She moved her face against his shirt, wiping away her tears as she looked up at him. ‘‘Take me away from here,’’ she begged between gulps. ‘‘Now!’’
Wes couldn’t help but smile. She really had no idea how beautiful her eyes were when they sparkled with tears. She could probably talk any man in the world into doing her bidding if she looked at him the way she gazed at
