Night Winds Read Free

been first to curse Shae for her ridiculous notion of escape.
    “What sort of nonsense is this ? You told me you were looking forward to this marriage. Now that they’ve heard you weren’t so ‘indisposed’ after all, it’s ruined. You might have thought of us, young lady. It’s rather awkward to provide you with a lie and have you muck it up by getting caught.” With each word, the tugs at her bandage became a little harder. Knowing she deserved each one, Shae gritted her teeth and kept her peace.
    She couldn’t have known the only people to heed her cries for help would be guests leaving the Lowells’ failed engagement party . But she wouldn’t argue that small point after what she’d done. Especially not with Father stalking somewhere in the house. She flinched at the sound of a slammed door in another room.
    The kitchen door banged open, and King strode in . Everything about him set her to mind of a print she’d seen once of an old lion, from his muttonchop whiskers to the graying mane. And especially the ever-present roar. “Damn it, I have tried ! God knows I’ve done everything I could to give you this one chance. And you race off like some stupid slut. Destroyed the gig! Destroyed your life, as far as I’m concerned. Because the simple truth is you never deserved Ethan Lowell in the first place. You’re just like Her, Mary Shae! Just like Her after all.”
    Shae slid still lower in the straight-backed chair.
    Tears blurred her vision as he stormed out of the room. Up until now, she hadn’t cried. Not when she’d had to call out for help on the beach. Not even when Alberta pulled the shard of wood out of her foot. But Father’s words, as always, wounded deeply. And just like fishhooks, each point had a barb, so it would work its way into her and lodge inside her heart.
    Alone with Alberta, Shae could no longer dam the tears. Why hadn’t she simply gone through with this party, gone through with this marriage so she could leave this soulless house ? She had to escape somewhere, anywhere, where King’s demands could never follow.
    The thickset woman wrapped a fleshy arm around her niece . A spinster, Alberta had come to live with them several years before Shae’s mother’s disappearance.
    “My brother’s wrong, Shae, wrong . You’re not Her. You never have been.” Though she was fiercely loyal to King, Alberta always spoke her mind. As far as Shae knew, hers was the only criticism King tolerated. Perhaps he felt he needed it to round out the toadying he demanded from his employees and associates.
    “He’s right about one thing . No one thinks I deserve a Lowell,” Shae used the older woman’s offered kerchief to wipe away her tears. “That’s why I couldn’t go tonight. Cynthia tells me all the gossip —”
    “— Of course she does.” Alberta pulled away and picked a cloth off the pile of scraps she’d torn for bandages . After dipping it in the washbasin, she wiped blood spatters from the wood floor. Her face puckered as she spoke of Shae’s friend. “That girl’s had her cap set for Ethan Lowell since the moment someone first explained trust funds. Without all the big words, that is. I imagine your ‘good friend’ is consoling him even as we speak.”
    Shae wanted to argue, but she suspected that her aunt was right . She had always wondered at the edge of glee in Cynthia’s voice as her friend reported the latest set of snide remarks. Could Cynthia have exaggerated what she overheard to drive Shae from the man she wanted for herself?
    Shae imagined Cynthia marrying Ethan . Dressing in the finest frills purchased with all his ready cash. Planning menus with his stuffy mother and the household staff. Socializing with the ladies of the garden club. Listening to him report the latest cotton export figures or extol his sailing prowess.
    Though she knew how inappropriate it must look, she felt her lips twitch and then draw back in a smile . “I don’t think I deserve Ethan