Brian let out a raspy breath. “I’ll load up your trunks.”
Almost blinded by tears she was determined not to let fall, Ivy led him into the house and to her room. From the sound of the axe chopping, Torin had gone out the back door and was releasing his feelings on the logs.
After Brian loaded the second trunk, she put on her hat and coat and picked up her satchel. Moving to the back door, she reached for the knob and then pulled her hand back, not sure if she could bear to face more of Torin’s cold rejection.
“I wouldn’t, Ives,” Brian said, coming up from behind her. “Best you leave Torin be. Right now, he’s like a wounded bear. If you corner him, he’ll claw you. No sense letting him hurt you more.”
She kept her back to him and tiptoed into Jewel’s bedroom.Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
The girl slept sprawled on her back, one arm clutching her rag doll, the cat tucked against her side. “Bye, Brave,” she whispered, briefly scratching the cat’s head. “Take good care of our Jewel.” She bent and brushed the hair from Jewel’s forehead, leaning to kiss her. “Good-bye, dearest girl. I wish you knew how much I willalwayslove you.” Ivy forced back tears and left the room.
Brian awaited her in the hall. He gave her a sympathetic look.
Ivy was grateful he didn’t say anything, for she couldn’t speak. Once outside, she mustered all her strength to move forward and not turn around for a farewell glance. Torin wouldn’t be there waving good-bye like she was on a jaunt to town.
Brian helped her into the seat, and she stared at the lake, placid and blue from the sky’s reflection. She wished the water looked stormy and gray to portray her mood.
The swans glided by, the cygnets bigger now, a mottled gray-brown and white as their feathers began to show.I won’t see them grow into adults.
They drove in silence along the lake and then turned onto the mountain road. Brian let the horse mosey around the curves of the twisty dirt track. “All of us at Three Bend Lake, needed to escape our families in some way.”
His conversation starter surprised her. She’d expected Brian to ask what happened. Ivy turned toward him. “You formed your own family here.”
“Torin and Hank are like brothers to me. Jewel’s my niece.”
I’ve come between them.Guilt rose, followed by sadness that she wouldn’t be part of the Three Bend Lake family.
Brian slanted her a smile. “My sugar princess is pretty easy to love, isn’t she?”
Like she’s my own daughter.Too choked up to speak, Ivy could only nod.
“Cora loves you like a sister.”
“As I do her.” She spared a guilty thought for Katie. “We were always closer than I am with my own sister.”
“Well,” he drawled. “Since I’ll be marrying Cora, that makes youmysister, too. Regardless of the squabbles in our family, I have your back.”
She huffed.Squabbles. Squabbles? My heart is torn into tiny pieces, and he calls this a squabble?She wished she knew Brian well enough to really treat him like a brother and elbow him in the ribs.
Seeming not to notice her reaction, he rambled on. “Normally, Torin is the most amiable of men. I’ve never seen him act like he did today. Except in this one issue with Jewel, where he’s implacable.”
Implacable is a good description.
“We’ve seen what a difference you’ve made, and we’ve all hoped the outcome would be positive—that his heart would win the battle over his head. Or, perhaps I should say, thefearsin his head.”
“I had to leave. He blames me, and I couldn’t bear it.” She went on to tell him the story of the girls playing.
Brian paid attention to his driving but nodded and made an occasional noise to show he listened.
When she finished, Ivy slumped against the seat, as if unable to hold herself firmly erect.
He remained silent for a few moments, obviously thinking. “You’ve got him running scared, that’s for sure. If it makes a difference to you, I think you’re doing the right thing.”
Hearing him affirm her choice relaxed some of the tightness in her chest. She let out a long breath.
“It’ll take an explosion to bring down those walls of his,” Brian said in a wry tone, “and to move him out from the rubble. And you’ve certainly caused that.”
His words gave her heart a little lift.
