Her Sister's Children. Roxanne Rustand

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      She couldn’t let him get away with that dig at her sister. “Women throughout the world can sigh with relief.”

      Logan threw back his head and laughed, his teeth gleaming white in the faint light. “Touché, Guin-evere.”

      The sound of his laughter and the ring of his old nickname for her sent memories cascading through her thoughts. She studied him once more. He’d aged well—his eyes crinkled with laugh lines when he smiled, while a surprising hint of early gray at his temples added a touch of dignity.

      “Look,” he continued. “It’s just the tourists I discourage. I don’t mind if you three wander on my land while you’re still up here.”

      “Still up here?” Claire’s mellow thoughts turned to dry ice. “I certainly was naive years ago. I always thought you were a more perceptive man.”

      A corner of his mouth tipped upward. “I am.”

      “Then you realize the kids and I aren’t going anywhere. We’ll be happy at Pine Cliff. It’s a perfect place to raise a family.”

      “You’ll get bored. Or scared, surrounded by these deep dark woods. Trust me.”

      Claire didn’t try to hide her look of astonishment. “Interesting choice of words there, Matthews. Trust. Brooke certainly discovered the value of trust, didn’t she?”

      “I’d say that lesson was mine. And it isn’t one I care to remember.” He pensively stared toward the meadow, a muscle working along his jaw. His gaze shifted back to Claire. “I do have a few good memories, though—of a sweet young girl in pigtails who told me her secrets, who said I was her Prince Charming. She said she would mar—”

      “I was barely a teenager.” Claire felt warmth rise in her cheeks. “A young girl’s imagination takes wild flights.”

      “I can imagine.” He winked at the twins, then looked up at Claire, his eyes grave. “I’ll give you a deal. Twenty-five percent above the market value for your half of Pine Cliff. You and your children can even stay in that house until spring, if you like.”

      She hid her surprise. “All that for a struggling resort?”

      “Not everyone has life handed to them on a silver platter,” he said softly. “This place means something to me. But I don’t expect you to understand.”

      “You think—” He was the one who didn’t understand. Claire cleared her throat and started over. “If you only knew.”

      His smile turned cold and cynical. “Choke on that silver spoon, did you?”

      Startled, she stared up at him, caught between irritation and hysterical laughter at his assumptions. “We were discussing the property. It won’t happen, but I’m curious. If you did have all of Pine Cliff, what then?”

      “The buildings will be bulldozed.”

      He spoke as if it were going to happen. Claire looked at him in disgust. “High-priced condos?”

      “Just wildlife and trees.”

      “Lovely idea, Matthews. But I’m not selling. This place provides my income. I left New York under rather hostile circumstances and I’m not going back.”

      “You could apologize—to your father, right?”

      He had changed. One easy smile and he could still turn her knees to aspic, but his youthful determination and charm had darkened to an unfortunate blend of stubborn and aggravating. “That’s not even a remote possibility.”

      He glared at her. She met his dark, cold gaze without flinching, and suddenly she saw beyond his anger. She saw old pain, coupled with remnants of grief. The emotions were gone so quickly she thought she might have imagined them.

      The world seemed to shift under her feet as she began to see the past in a different light. What really happened between Brooke and Logan all those years ago—could he have been as cruel as her sister had claimed?

      Endless boxes of Brooke’s possessions filled the attic of the Pine Cliff house. Perhaps they held clues to a truth far different than the version of the past she’d always heard. As soon as she could find the time, Claire would start looking for answers.

      Annie tugged at a belt loop on Claire’s jeans. “Gotta go,” she mouthed urgently. “Now.”

      “Come on, girls.” Claire gave them each a reassuring smile and turned to leave.

      “I’ll be back,” Logan said, his voice soft and low.

      From the corner of her eye, she watched his truck vanish down the road, leaving a faint haze of dust in the air. Leaving an odd sense of emptiness in her heart.

      The woods fell silent. Shadowy pines now loomed above like dark and dangerous creatures of the night.

      “Let’s get home and see if your brother has done his homework.” Claire gave each child’s hand a squeeze, keeping her stride calm and steady.

      All the way back, she wondered if she’d really seen that hint of pain in Logan Matthews’s eyes.

      

      JASON SCRAMBLED UP onto the rough shelf of granite jutting out into Lake Superior, and turned his face into the cold breeze coming across the water. Aunt Claire and the girls would soon be back from their walk. The smell of buttery popcorn might fill the kitchen. Gilbert would be at the door, begging for a walk. But Jason couldn’t go back. Not yet.

      Waves spanked the rock face beneath his feet, then were sucked back out into the lake with a squelching sound, like wet sneakers. Above, a dozen or more seagulls drew lazy circles in the evening sky.

      They were waiting for handouts—a piece of bread, a chunk of hot dog—but he hadn’t had time to raid the kitchen. He’d been in too much of a hurry. Escaping the house had been more important than bringing something for his birds. He’d simply had to get away; he couldn’t stand the feeling of being watched. The whole house seemed like a creature with a thousand eyes, watching. Waiting.

      With his whole heart, he wanted to believe that they hadn’t followed him up here and that he was safe. But it wasn’t true.

      He’d seen a familiar gray car cruising slowly through town, and the same car had pulled into the resort yesterday. It had stayed at the far end of the lane for a few minutes, then slowly drove away. Was that them?

      He’d heard strangers’ voices arguing that awful night last spring, but hadn’t seen the men’s faces. Ever since, he’d held his breath whenever he saw strangers.

      The sight of that car at Pine Cliff had made his heart stop.

      If you go to the police, these guys will come after you and your sisters. His father’s last words played through Jason’s thoughts once again, an endless litany of warning that still stole hours of sleep and kept Jason’s nerves on edge.

      If he’d been brave, he could have stopped what happened that night long ago. If he’d been stronger, he and the girls wouldn’t have lost everything that mattered.

      He СКАЧАТЬ