Page 60 of From the Darkness

“Can I look through your album,” she asked.

“Yes.”

They were sitting on a sofa pushed against the wall. Yet Bree kept feeling like someone was behind her, watching as she turned the pages.

“You were a very cute baby,” Bree said, hearing the tightness in her own voice. “And you’ve turned into a very pretty little girl.”

“That’s what Daddy said.”

Bree nodded, then quietly asked. “How did your mom and dad get along?”

Dinah was silent for several moments, and Bree was afraid she wasn’t going to answer.

After long seconds, she said, “Sometimes I would hear them fighting, and it would make me sad—and afraid.”

“Yes. That would be upsetting—and scary.”

The child nodded.

Bree drew in a breath and let it out while considering her next words. Finally, she said, “I know your daddy was upset about your mom getting killed in that automobile accident. Do you know what happened? I mean, do you know who was driving the car?”

She kept her breath even, wondering what the child was going to say.

***

Bree wasn’t the only one who wanted to hear how Dinah would answer. From his hiding place, Troy focused on the little girl, waiting anxiously. He knew Dinah had heard the adults talking. What did she know? Truth or fiction?

He had been drawn here by the child. By the woman. Yet he realized that he wasn’t going to do either one of them any good. He would only pull them down to his level, and he couldn’t let that happen.

Last night he had fulfilled one of his most enduring fantasies—holding Bonnie Brennan—Bree—in his arms. He had wanted to give her pleasure. He had told himself that making love with her had been a good thing. Now he wasn’t so sure. She wanted to help him. But she couldn’t help. There was only one thing she could do for him—get the child away from Ravencrest.

But Bree had spent the early morning looking for him. She was talking to him as she walked around the house, for Lord’s sake. And searching for him wasn’t where she should be putting her energy.

Conflicting needs warred within him, and he thought about showing himself to them. He could step out of hiding, communicate directly. But that would only give them hope—that things were going to change. And as pieces of his memory had fitted themselves back into place, he had finally realized that nothing could change. Not for him. And not for them.

He had made some bad mistakes in the past. He wasn’t going to compound those mistakes now. Not with Dinah. And not with Bree. Which meant treading carefully—and making sure that neither one of them thought they were all going to live happily ever after with him.

So, he waited—listening, watching, and trying to figure out how he could make things come out right for the two people he had come to care about most in the world.

***

“I wasn’t supposed to be listening . . . “Dinah said, tentatively.

“It’s okay. I know kids listen in on adult conversations. I used to do it when I was little, too.”

Dinah nodded, but she lowered her voice as she said, “I heard my daddy talking to Mr. Alexander about it. He didn’t know I was spying on them.”

“Who is Mr. Alexander?”

“Our minister.”

“Oh. What did your daddy say to him?”

“It was private.”

She stroked her hand over the child’s slender shoulder. “But it would help me to understand, if you can tell me what your daddy said.”

“Why?”

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