An image of River flashed into her mind again—shirtless as he’d been that morning with a couple sets of dog tags nestled against his pecs. Her face heated and she stepped back.
“How did you know I needed help?” she asked.
“River,” Thorne replied. And he glanced around as if expecting his brother to be there.
Edith shrugged. “I don’t know where he went.” She hadn’t even known how he’d gotten there. When she’d arrived, the only vehicle parked outside had been hers. She hadn’t seen a horse, either—unless he’d put it inside the barn behind the house.
She sighed as she glanced toward the other structures on the property. She would have to inspect those buildings and inventory their contents, as well. She had a big job to do. Would it be more manageable with River’s help? Or would he just prove a distraction she didn’t need?
* * *
Thorne hadn’t seen his cousin since his wedding and he hadn’t had much of a chance to speak to her that day. There had been so many other guests but most of all there had been his bride, looking more beautiful than he’d ever seen her. And he hadn’t been able to focus on anything but her and how much he loved her and the family they were about to start together. Maggie was already carrying his baby.
Guilt flashed through him now, and he understood the guilt his father always felt about Edith. Just like Mac hadn’t been there for her when she’d needed him, Thorne felt like he hadn’t, either.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you’re going to be working here?” he asked.
“I wasn’t at liberty to say,” she replied.
“At liberty?” He snorted, and his guilt turned to frustration. He remembered why nobody helped Edith—because just as her mother had with Mac, she never asked for it, never admitted she needed it. “You work for a real estate development firm, not the CIA. Why the hell aren’t you at liberty to say?”
She glared at him. “I have a confidentiality agreement with my employer.”
“That agreement says you can’t even tell anyone who you work for?”
She nodded.
And he cursed. “Maybe you do work for the CIA, although I can’t imagine what the hell they’d want with this place.” He turned toward the house and shook his head. “I can’t imagine what anyone wants with this place.”
She said nothing but he wasn’t certain if that was because she wasn’t at liberty to say, or if it was because she didn’t know.
“There’s a hell of a lot of work to do here,” he continued. “You can’t handle all of this alone.” Was her employer going to send reinforcements or expect her to do everything herself?
She sighed and nodded. “That’s true. I can’t.”
He widened his eyes in astonishment. “I can’t believe you’re actually admitting you can’t do everything alone.”
She lifted her chin and bristled with pride. “I can do everything...but plumbing and fixing the AC. I need to hire someone to do that.”
“Rafferty Construction—”
“River offered to work here,” Edith said.
“River?” He glanced at the house again, surprised that his brother would consider working here. That he would even want to be around this place and its memories ever again. “He’s been working at the ranch.”
“He said you don’t really need him.”
“That’s not it.” Thorne sighed. “We’ve been taking it easy on him. We don’t know how badly he’s injured.”
She nodded. “He was right.”
“About what?”
“The pity,” she replied. “He thinks everybody pities him.”
They had several reasons for feeling that way. He’d been hurt in the line of duty, and he’d been hurt again when he’d returned home to find out the man he’d believed was his dad wasn’t. A DNA test had confirmed Wes Kingston’s suspicion that he wasn’t River’s father. But nobody knew who was. Maybe not even Livia herself. Poor River...
“Do you pity him?” Thorne asked. “Is that why you’d hire him?”
“I would hire him because I don’t think he’s going to bother me to find out who my boss is,” she said. “I don’t think he’s going to talk to the press, either.”
Thorne chuckled. “That’s the last thing he’d do.” He didn’t want any media attention. That was why they’d all promised to keep it secret that he didn’t know who his father was.
“Can I trust him?” Edith asked.
“I just said he won’t go to the press—”
“I’m not talking about that,” Edith said. “I just want to know that he’s a man I can trust. We’ll be working alone together in this house.”
“Of course,” Thorne said. “River’s a man of honor. A hero.”
“Thanks for being my hero right now,” Edith told him with a hug. But she pulled away from him and headed back toward the house.
Knowing he was being dismissed, Thorne headed toward his truck. As he drove away, he wondered about what he’d told her. He wondered if River could be trusted. His brother had been gone ten years. How well did any of them really know him?
After whatever he’d been through, how well did River even know himself?
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