Leave it for the Rain: A Love She Couldn't Remember—A Woman He Couldn't Forget (Grayson Brothers Book 6) Read Free Page B

Adam. He’d simply pulled the man’s son out of the bay. “Your gratitude is more than enough,” Adam said, grossly uncomfortable. In Adam’s mind, Elias Crane was of Grayson caliber—a man of deep integrity and high moral fiber. To be courted by such a man was an immense honor that Adam didn’t take lightly. But his heart was in Fredonia with Rebecca and his Grayson family. “I appreciate your consideration, but I must decline on all fronts. Please, consider Micah’s retrieval nothing more than the decent act it was.”
    “I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Elias said. “Without your help our son would be dead.”
    “That’s right,” Mrs. Crane said, her voice wobbling with emotion. “You have no idea what you gave us today, but we know.” She handed him an intricately carved wooden box. “We thought you would choose to return to Fredonia and therefore have no need of a house here, but we wanted to offer you that choice. Since you won’t be staying, we want you to have this in lieu of the house. She pushed the box into Adam’s hands. “This was made for a princess who possessed amazing courage,” she said. “To thank you for risking your life to save our son’s life, we feel it fitting to recognize your courage with this symbolic gift. It’s one of our family heirlooms and we are honored to pass it on to you.”
    Dumbfounded, Adam opened the box and stared at the jewel-bedecked mirror inside. Elias Crane explained what Adam held in his shaking hands. It was a relic of great worth and rich history. The frame was crafted from rare tiger striped wood that came from an ancient forest in the Cayman Islands. Embedded into the wood were gems of immense value. Pure molten silver had been poured into a ribbon shaped channel around the mirror, connecting the stones to amplify their power, Elias told him. On the back of the mirror, embossed in pure silver and set in the wooden back, was a royal crest with a blue sapphire set in the crest.
    “That is the royal crest of Princess Cecily who once owned the mirror—the princess who was forced to leave her homeland and come to America with Captain Gabriel Crane,” Elias said.
    The sparkling six-rayed star sapphire winked in the lantern light as if beckoning Adam to listen to its story. Uncomfortable with whatever it was he’d felt emanating from the sapphire, Adam placed it back in the box. The small oval mirror reflected his entranced gaze back at him. Gently but firmly, he pressed the ornate box into Mrs. Crane’s delicate hands. “I’m deeply honored by your generosity, but I cannot accept payment for a simple act of decency that any man could have performed.”
    The Crane’s exchanged a knowing look as if they had expected Adam’s refusal, but Leo looked on with interest.
    “Well, it wasn’t just any man, Adam.” Elias nudged the box back into Adam’s hand. “ You are the man who saved my son. You are the man who nearly sacrificed your own future to give my son a future. Thanks to you my boy will celebrate his eighteenth birthday this fall. You’ll understand this when you have your own children, Adam. Nothing in life—not one thing—means more to a parent than his child. If you can’t accept this heirloom as a symbol of our gratitude and as a testament to your courage, then please accept it as a wedding gift for you and your future bride.”
    The gift was too much and unnecessary and almost offensive to Adam’s sense of integrity. To be rewarded for an act of common decency seemed... wrong. But he saw their desperate need to express their gratitude, to try in some way to thank him for giving them back the only thing that mattered to them—their son.
    With a quiet sigh of acceptance, Adam gave a small nod. “Rebecca and I will treasure this and share the history of the heirloom with our children.”
    Mrs. Crane gave him a relieved smile. “Perhaps you could bring your bride to Crane Landing so we can tell you both the story of the