style="font-size:15px;"> “None of your business.”
The two went toe-to-toe again.
“Callie, step back.” Sighing, Garrett gently edged her aside then focused solely on Fanny.
Speaking slowly, calmly, as he would to a spooked horse, he whispered words of encouragement, all the while pressing for details. But no matter what he said, or how he said it, she refused to respond.
His voice dropped another octave. “Can’t you see I’m trying to help you?”
She promptly burst into tears.
Wincing, he glanced at Molly. A mix of resignation and uneasiness flickered in his eyes, a look that read utter masculine helplessness. Garrett had never been good with female tears, especially when the crying woman was someone he loved. It was another trait he shared with his brothers.
“Fanny, please. Don’t cry.” He pulled her into his arms, patted her back awkwardly. “Everything’s going to work out.”
She muttered something incomprehensible into his shoulder.
He closed his eyes a moment. “No, you’re not alone in this. You have your family, your friends and, of course, the Lord. You can lean on us.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“It can be, with a little trust on your part.” He set her away from him, but kept his hands on her shoulders. “Help me to understand what’s made you change your mind about Reese.”
“I already did. He’s—” she released a choking sob “—perfect.”
Garrett chuckled mildly. “We live in a fallen world. No man is perfect.”
“Reese is,” Fanny whispered glumly. “Even worse, he thinks I’m equally perfect.”
There was that word again, spoken in that same dismal tone. So telling, so illuminating.
Garrett captured Molly’s gaze over Fanny’s head. At his arched eyebrow she arched one of her own. Didn’t he understand what his sister was saying?
Molly certainly did. She understood what it meant to fall short of others’ expectations. And now, she knew what she had to do.
“I want to speak privately with Fanny,” she said, looking pointedly at Garrett then widening the arc of her gaze to include Callie.
Callie immediately started to protest, but Molly cut her off with a firm shake of her head. She expected Garrett to balk, as well. He simply stared at her in measured silence.
Memories settled over her, her mind returning to a time when he trusted her without reservation. What would it be like to have him rely on her again, if only a little?
“Perhaps that’s not a bad idea,” he acknowledged, setting Fanny away from him, “but only if that’s what you want.”
Fanny nodded. “Yes, I want to speak to Molly. Alone.”
Despite being dismissed, he was calm, stoic, full of uncompromising integrity and strength. “If you continue down this path—” he took his sister’s hands in his, held her stare “—others will have to be told of your decision.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
“All right, then.” He released her and settled his gaze on Molly. “Walk me out.”
Before she could respond, he hooked his arm through hers and ushered her onto the third-floor landing. “She’s hiding something from us, something important.”
Perhaps. Perhaps not. Molly would know more once she spoke with Fanny.
“If this is merely a matter of cold feet—”
“It’s more than that.”
“I’m afraid you’re right.” Garrett rubbed the back of his neck, shifted his gaze to meet hers. “Since she’s made it perfectly clear she doesn’t want to discuss this with me or Callie, I’m counting on you to uncover the truth.”
“I’ll get her to talk,” she promised.
“I believe you will.” He turned to go then swung back around. “I’ll expect a full report later this evening.”
“This evening?”
“We’re attending the opera together. With Mrs. Singletary.” He punctuated the statement with a frown.
At his gloomy expression, Molly bit back a smile. Garrett hated the opera. Actually, he disliked all forms of theater, while she reveled in the drama of any production that required a stage and a troupe of performers.
Their vastly different opinions had been the source of their first argument. And, if memory served, the provocation that led to their first kiss.
Refusing to dwell on that thought, she cleared her face of all expression and became graciousness itself. “You’ll get your report. I won’t leave out a single detail.”
His eyes widened.
Oh, honestly. Did he think her completely incapable of agreeable behavior? Even after their unspoken truce?
Insulted, she pivoted around and, without uttering another word, left him to stare after her retreating back.
Let him think whatever he wished about her abrupt departure. Molly had a friend in need. At the moment, nothing mattered more than that.
Chapter Five
Garrett grimaced at the look he caught on Molly’s face, right before she turned her back on him. He’d offended her, somehow, when that hadn’t been his intent.
Rather than demand an apology, as she would have done in the past, she simply walked away from their conversation. Head high, chin tilted at a jaunty angle, she showed no real signs of temper. Yet, when she shut the door behind her with a firm click, her message was unmistakable.
Garrett was dismissed.
Torn between exasperation and amusement, he tunneled his fingers through his hair.
The afternoon was turning out to be a strange one. Indeed, nothing was as expected. There was Fanny with her uncommon tears and drama, Molly with her lack of either. In a matter of hours, his well-ordered, predictable world had tilted slightly off-center.
As if matters weren’t confounding enough, Callie joined him on the landing, a frustrated scowl on her face. “I’ve been banished from my own home.”
“Don’t look so tragic, Cal.” Her annoyance sent a slow smile curving across his mouth. “You earned your dismissal.”
She visibly stiffened. “I most certainly did not!”
“No? You were unusually harsh with our sister. That’s not typical of you.”
With
