disappearance of her son, a baby boy their mother had sold to keep scandal away from their doorstep. The baby boy Thea had failed to retrieve, breaking her promise to her sister for the first time in her life—leaving her too ashamed to come home for eight long years.
Thea pushed away the awful memory. No. No matter how much Mack thought he understood her family’s situation, he couldn’t.
Not in a million years.
* * *
Finding Thea here at the hospital hadn’t been what Mack had expected when he’d agreed to meet Beau for lunch. But these few moments he’d spent with her had given him time to get a read on her, to try to figure out what had brought her home after an eight-year absence. Only her reaction to his questions had confused him more. The woman held secrets close to the chest but her blue eyes revealed a storm of emotions that unsettled him, made him want to protect her from the pain and regret he’d found hidden in their depths. Why he felt this way, after the mess she’d left behind when she’d hopped that train out of town, after the damage she’d caused him, the loss of everything he’d ever hoped for, he couldn’t explain.
No, she wasn’t directly responsible for the car accident that had had such devastating consequences in his life. But he wouldn’t have been out in his car that night—driving too fast to get home after dropping her off at the train station, trying to beat the curfew the coach insisted on so he’d be able to play in that weekend’s big game—if she hadn’t come to him, desperate, needing a ride.
If it hadn’t been for her, he’d have been safely at home rather than out on the road. He’d have played in the big game instead of spending that weekend in the hospital. He’d have gone on to college, instead of losing his scholarship after the doctors said the partial deafness in one ear was permanent. He’d have lived the life he’d always planned instead of giving up his dreams.
He’d lost everything, all because he’d chosen to do a favor for a girl he’d thought was his friend. But what kind of friend would have left him behind so completely? He hadn’t heard from her the entire time she was gone, even though she must have known about his accident. Not one call, or card, or even apology in eight years. Those years of silence should have been more than long enough for him to harden his heart against her.
But he couldn’t deny that he still had a soft spot for Thea, maybe because he knew how tough she’d always had it at home. Probably just being overprotective, the same way he felt when he’d sworn to protect the citizens of Marietta.
And maybe President Truman plans to dance a jig in Marietta Square!
Mack stood and paced to the opposite side of the waiting room, needing to put some distance between them. Hadn’t Thea taken enough from him? He touched the puckered skin just under the hairline at his ear. Nobody wanted a man who could barely hear, not even the armed services during the war, and they’d been desperate.
And now Thea was back, and this time she might cost him his child. The woman owed him a straight answer as to why she’d come home, and this time she couldn’t run away.
Before he could get the question out, Thea spoke. “I’m sorry I snapped at you like that.” She gave him a watery smile. “It’s just...with finding out about Eileen, and well, everything, it’s been a lot to deal with this last week.”
Mack felt himself weaken. Poor woman. No doubt this was not quite the homecoming she’d hoped for. This situation with Eileen’s baby couldn’t be easy for her, either. “It’s understandable. This whole thing with Sarah has got me walking around on pins and needles. I’m as grouchy as an old black bear.”
“Well, maybe not that bad.” Her lips twitched into a slight grin. “But almost.”
He snorted out a short chuckle. That’s one thing he could say for the woman. She always knew how to stop him from taking himself so seriously. But this was a serious situation. All his hopes for the future, a future that included raising Sarah, were at stake. “I love that little girl, you know.”
“I know. You feel like she’s your daughter.”
Mack drew in a deep breath and waited. Surely she’d remind him that Sarah might be her niece and Thea intended to raise her as her own. But Thea remained quiet, as if acknowledging his love for the baby had taken what little energy she had left. He shouldn’t be surprised. Thea had always been sensitive to everyone’s feelings, especially her family’s.
And now to his feelings, it seemed. It was a pity she couldn’t have been bothered to show more care eight years ago, when he really could have used a friend. He watched her as she fidgeted with the clasp on her purse. The dark blue suit dress she wore gave her an air of dependability and professionalism while the black velvet hat turned her skin a luminous pink that matched the tiny pearls at her ears. Her brownish-blond hair had been pulled back into a loose knot at her nape, tiny tendrils caressed the smooth skin of her neck making his fingertips tingle. Would the silky strands feel as soft they looked?
Mack shook off the feeling. This was Thea, his old friend, the girl who’d robbed him of his future, and who had run away without a single glance back to the people who might need her. The woman who planned to steal his daughter.
“Why did you come back?”
Clutching tight to her purse, Thea lifted her head. “Excuse me?”
Mack took a step toward her, then stopped. He’d get no answers out of her if he intimidated her. “You’ve been gone for eight years, Thea. In all that time, you never came home, not once. So why now? What brought you back here after all this time?”
She gave a quick glance at her wristwatch as she bit her lower lip, pushed a tiny strand of hair behind her ear. Signs he took to mean Thea was nervous. She stood. “I must have misunderstood the head nurse about my appointment time. Or maybe she wanted to meet me in her office. That would make more sense.”
The woman was going to make a run for it. How typical. Mack blocked her path to the exit. “Why is it so difficult for you to answer my question?”
“Why is it so important that you know?”
Why was it so important to him? For the sake of the baby, of course, but he knew that wasn’t the entire reason he’d pushed her for an answer. Maybe if he opened up a little, Thea would feel comfortable enough to answer in return. “You left without a word to anyone except for maybe Eileen, and if she knew where you’d gone she didn’t stick around long enough to tell anyone. I was surprised not to hear from you. I guess I thought we were friends back then.”
He’d said too much, but once he’d started, the words had seemed to flow out of him before he could call a stop to them. What would Thea do now? Turn and walk away, or was she brave enough to answer his honesty with her own?
“I missed my family.”
“After eight years?” All right, so that had been kind of mean, throwing that fact out there, but if Thea had wanted to see her family, why had she waited all this time to come back home? “You could have come to Marietta anytime.”
“No, I couldn’t,” she snapped, then she jerked back as if the words had stung her. “I didn’t mean...”
The guilt in her expression tugged at him. What had he expected? Even puppies snarl when you back them into a corner. But her answer had intrigued him. What was this great sin she had committed that made her think she wouldn’t be welcomed back home?
The door behind Mack opened. “Miss, have you seen...” The man paused. “There you are, Mack. I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Beau. Sparring with Thea had made Mack forget all about his lunch plans. “You must not have been looking too hard.”
The man had the decency to smile at the good-humored ribbing. Beau turned to Thea. “I’m sorry about that, Miss. Mack here is a great sheriff but he’s no Bob Hope.”
“I don’t know.” Thea lifted her chin a notch higher, their gazes tangling as her