Caroline wasn’t sure how she could remain upright in her chair, why she didn’t pitch to the ground.

The harshness left Grady’s eyes as he looked at her. “As I said, I’m no longer tied to Richard or his troubles, so I can tell you how much I love you. Maggie, too.” The anger dissipated and his features softened with love. “I’m free to ask you to share my life, Caroline, if you’ll have me.”

He hesitated, and when she didn’t immediately respond, he said gently, “I’m asking you to marry me.”

The choking in her throat made it impossible to respond.

“Is the decision that difficult?” He sounded a little hurt.

“No…”

“I did it all wrong, didn’t I?” he muttered. He thrust a hand into his coat pocket and produced a velvet ring case. “Give me another chance to do this the way you deserve.”

“Grady—”

“No, don’t say anything. Not yet.” Then he opened the small velvet box. “It took me thirty-six years to find the woman I want to be with for the rest of my life, and that woman is you, Caroline Daniels.”

She pressed both hands over her mouth, her eyes filled with tears.

“Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

She tried to speak and found that she couldn’t.

“Just nod,” he suggested.

“I can’t,” she finally managed, her voice cracking.

“Can’t nod?”

“I can’t marry you…” She stood up, then walked to the sink and stared out the window. This was the most difficult thing she’d ever done, outside of burying her mother. Only now she felt as if it was her heart she was laying to rest. Her heart. And her future.

“You’re saying no?” He was clearly shocked.

“I can’t because…” She stopped, unable to continue.

“You can’t marry me?”

“No.”

“Is that your final answer?”

She dared not turn around and look at him. “That’s my final answer,” she said in a monotone.

She heard him retreat, his heavy steps taking him as far as the living room. Without warning, he rushed back into the kitchen.

“Just one damn minute,” he shouted. “I don’t accept that. You just finished telling me how much you love me!”

She couldn’t deny it and so she said nothing.

“If you’re going to reject my proposal, then at least have the decency to look me in the eye when you do it.”

Slowly, her heart breaking, she turned toward him.

“Tell me to my face that you don’t want to marry me,” he demanded.

Her chin came up. “I won’t marry you.”

Grady’s jaw was clenched. “Why not?” The two words were like knives.

“Because if you married me…” she began, gazing straight ahead. She couldn’t go on.

“I’m not good enough for you, is that it?”

“No!” This was said with all the conviction of her soul.

“Then say it,” he yelled. “Just say it.”

“Because if you married me,” she started again, “you’d be left to deal with yet another one of Richard’s mistakes.”

He frowned darkly. Then he understood, and a look of horrified disbelief came over him. “Are you saying that Richard is Maggie’s father?”

Caroline hung her head and nodded.

10

RICHARD WAS MAGGIE’S FATHER. NOTHING CAROLINE could have told him would have shocked Grady more. The news went through him like a bolt of lightning. He was speechless with surprise, then numb with disbelief. Richard? His no-good, cheating, irresponsible brother was the father of Caroline’s child? It was more than he could take in. More than he could accept.

Once his mind had cleared enough to let him respond, he asked the obvious questions. “When were you lovers? I don’t remember the two of you so much as dating.”

“We didn’t, not in the normal sense.” She reached for her wine. “I was in San Antonio in college, my senior year,” she said, her voice low. “It was finals week. Knowing how crucial it was for me to do well, my mother didn’t tell me what’d happened to your parents until after the exams. I felt horrible, sick to my stomach the moment she told me. I was furious with her for not letting me know. I’d always loved your mother. Your father, too.” She inhaled deeply.

“You weren’t at the funeral, were you?”

“No—because I didn’t hear about it in time.”

“Then how does Richard play into this?” He realized he sounded irritated; he couldn’t help it. Damn it all, he was furious. Exasperated, too. The numbness was wearing off, and in its stead, a slow-burning anger began to build. Once again his brother had found a way to cheat him. Nothing in his life, nothing, was untainted by that bastard and his fiascos.

“San Antonio was his first stop after he took the money,” Caroline continued.

Grady’s eyes narrowed. “So you know about that? The theft?”

She nodded. “Savannah told me,” she said. “Years later.”

Grady pulled out a chair and sat down. He didn’t think his knees would support him much longer.

“It was one of those flukes,” Caroline went on. “I was gassing up at a service station and Richard pulled in. He didn’t recognize me at first, but I told him how sorry I was about his parents.” She looked away and took another steadying breath. “He seemed broken up about it.”

“Broken up enough to walk away with the forty thousand dollars that was our inheritance,” Grady mumbled.

“We had coffee together and he told me how he’d found your mother’s and father’s bodies.”

“That’s a lie!” Grady cried, knotting his fists in outrage. “Frank Hennessey found them and came and told us.” How like Richard to seek all the sympathy!

“I know it’s a lie now,” she whispered, “but at the time I didn’t have any reason not to believe him.”

Grady vowed to stay quiet, seeing as every time he spoke, it interrupted the story, and this was one he very much wanted to hear.

“He broke into sobs and…and said he hadn’t been able to bear the pain and after the funeral had blindly driven off, not knowing where he was going or how he’d gotten to San Antonio. He said he hadn’t eaten or slept in days.”

“And you believed him?” Grady shouted.

“He’d suffered a terrible loss.” She raised her voice. “So, yes, I believed him.”

Grady wiped a hand down his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell.”

“I…I didn’t, either.”

Despite the apology, he struggled with his temper. “It’s something of a shock to learn that the woman I love has slept with my brother.”

She didn’t respond, but Grady could see that his words had hit their mark. He didn’t want to hurt her, but he felt a sick ache in every part of his being, and lashing out was a natural response. Even when he knew he was being cruel and unfair. He hated himself for it, but couldn’t seem to hold back.

To Caroline’s credit she didn’t retaliate or ask him to leave. He admired her restraint and wished his own response had been more generous, more forgiving. In time, perhaps, he could be, but not now. Definitely not now.

After a silence Caroline picked up her story. “He was an emotional mess and I took him home with me. We weren’t in the house five minutes when he fell asleep on the sofa. I phoned my home and my mother confirmed that Richard had disappeared the afternoon of the funeral. I…I didn’t tell her he was with me. I should have. I realized that too late, but my sympathies were with Richard. He’d received a terrible shock and—”

“No less terrible than what Savannah and I suffered.”

“I know, but he was with me and you were here in Promise.” She clenched her hands in her lap. “Don’t you think I’ve gone over this a million times since? Don’t you think I have my regrets, too?”

He nodded, hating himself for being angry and unable to keep his emotions under control. Every time he thought about Richard being Maggie’s father, a fierce kind of outrage gripped him.