Alice snapped, “Don’t call my mother those things.”
Lisbeth cringed, both loving her daughter for her defense but also wishing she would, for once, not feel the need to speak up.
“Your mother is the worst sort of woman.”
Alice and Jeremy’s faces scrunched up with anger. Lisbeth pleaded, “How can I convince you?”
Miss Sanders turned back to her. “I don’t know.”
“There has to be some way,” Lisbeth insisted.
Jeremy and Alice moved closer to the tree line from which Lisbeth had emerged. Perhaps they could make a run for it. Noticing movement out of the corner of her eyes, she swung back towards them and aimed the gun. They froze, and Lisbeth threw herself in front of them. “I will not let you hurt them.”
Miss Sanders’s face became angry. She screamed, “You have no control. I decide everything.”
Lisbeth decided she would charge the woman and wrestle the pistol from her. She eyed her, trying to determine the best wayto do it, but then Thomas stepped out of the tree line. “I’m right here, Georgina.”
The woman’s eyes widened, and then her face filled with pure joy.
*
Thomas eyed MissSanders, who was looking at him as if he’d just confessed, he loved her. She sighed. “You came for me.”
He glanced at Lisbeth, Alice, and Jeremy, who were huddled together. Lisbeth frowned at him with worry, but happiness shone in Alice and Jeremy’s eyes. Yes, he was here for them. He would not allow them to be hurt. He tried to convey that to them silently. Thomas didn’t care what happened to him as long as they were safe.
“Georgina, I’m here for you.”
She scowled at him. “Don’t call me that. You know I only like Cadence. My uncle made me go by Georgina. What an awful name.”
Thomas smiled at her. “I agree, Cadence is beautiful.”
She blushed and said, “I knew you would eventually come for me. I’ve been waiting so long, Thomas. I’m ready to be your bride and to see the world with you.”
Alice wrinkled her nose in disgust, and for a mad moment, Thomas thought he might laugh. The entire situation was absurd, but his biggest worry right now was why his daughter seemed to have no idea how to hide her emotions.
He turned away from the family he loved more than anything and said, “Cadence, let them go. You don’t need them anymore. I’m here only for you.”
Happiness bloomed in her, and Thomas felt a sliver of compassion for this woman. It was apparent she desperatelywanted love and that she wasn’t well. Softly, he requested, “Please release them.”
Her gaze darted between him and his family. She frowned. “How do I know you won’t leave?”
“Because I’m here now. I could have not appeared.”
The pistol swung back in his direction. It wasn’t intentional, but the woman was careless with the weapon. It unnerved him, but he preferred for it to be pointed at him rather than Lisbeth, Alice, and Jeremy.
“We will have to leave right away. My uncle is likely looking for me. I locked my cousin in her room. She was going to tell my uncle that our love was unhealthy.”
He nodded. “We will deal with that after they are gone.”
She smiled at him one more time and then swung back towards Lisbeth, Alice, and Jeremy. “Leave.”
Lisbeth pushed Alice and Jeremy in front of her, but she glanced back at him. He shook his head. “Leave. Cadence and I have plans to make.”
He silently screamed at Lisbeth not to fight him on this. Thomas was grateful that in the darkness, Miss Sanders likely couldn’t see the stricken look on Lisbeth’s face. More firmly, he said, “Go.”
She rushed through the trees, and when he turned back, Miss Sanders smiled at him adoringly.
He forced himself to smile back at her. “Cadence, may I have the pistol?”
