The Unknown Daughter

He cleared the corner to see Tony grab Carrinne as she flew by. His brother held her arms to her side, subduing her struggles with textbook ease. Carrinne thanked him for his efforts by squealing and fighting even harder to get away.

“Take it easy.” Eric raced up to the pair. “She’s—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Carrinne went limp and slid to the ground.

“CARRINNE?” came the voice again. “Carrinne. Wake up, darlin’.”

A hand patted Carrinne’s cheek. Pushed the cap from her head. Moaning, she fought to open her eyes. Where was she? Where was Maggie?

“Who’s Maggie?” asked the masculine voice that had called her darlin’.

A voice from her past.

Reality crashed over her in a dizzying wave. After searching the attic as long as she’d dared and finding no sign of her mother’s trunk, afraid of waking Oliver if she kept digging, she’d been struggling back out of the solarium window when…

Jerking to full consciousness, she blinked until her vision cleared. She was lying on a carpet of soggy Bermuda grass, and leaning over her was the one man she wanted to see less than her grandfather.

“What…what are you doing here, Eric?” She struggled to sit, flinching when his hand moved to steady her.

With a raised eyebrow, he stepped away. “I could ask you the same question.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” She stood on rubbery legs.

“What are you doing here after all these years?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She inched another few feet away, a nervous cough slipping out before she could stop it. “I’m visiting my grandfather.”

“Through the solarium window?”

“It’s late,” she mumbled, then winced at the feeble excuse. There were so many reasons why this conversation shouldn’t be happening. Her gaze fixed on his badge. “You’re in uniform.”

“It comes with the job.”

“You’re a cop?”

“He’s the new sheriff,” a third voice said.

Her attention jumped to the officer who’d stopped her. Something about the younger man made her take a closer look.

T. Rivers, his badge read.

“Tony?” She wrapped her arms around herself, stifling the reflex to give him a hug. Eric’s kid brother had been six the last time she’d seen him. “Heavens, you’ve grown.”

Then Tony’s words registered. She swung back to Eric. The rebellious teenage boy she’d known was now a severe, responsible-looking man.

“You’re the sheriff?”

His level stare made her squirm. “Why were you breaking into the solarium, Carrinne?”

To find what I need to protect our daughter.

She bit her lip, bit back the truth she’d never planned to be close enough to tell him or anyone else in this town. Not after he’d dumped her, telling her she’d been nothing more than a mindless distraction. Not after her grandfather had ordered her to have an abortion or get the hell out of his house. A wave of curls fell into her eyes. She pushed them back and reached deep for the nerve she needed to pull this off.

“I wasn’t supposed to arrive until the morning,” she lied. “And I didn’t want to wake Oliver in the middle of the night. All the doors were locked, so I figured I’d give the solarium a try.”

“But, Ms. Wilmington—” Tony started to say.

“If your grandfather’s expecting you, why was the silent alarm on?” Eric’s eyes narrowed. “Are you sure he knows you’re coming?”

“Of course.” She brushed the dirt from her arms and gave bravado her best shot. “Why don’t I just find a motel for the night and come back in the morning?”

“Better yet—” Eric turned toward the front of the house “—why don’t we ring the bell and straighten this all out now?”

“No!” She grabbed his arm, then instantly let go. Her fingers tingled from the strong, solid feel of him. “I mean… Can’t we wait until morning? Oliver’s getting older. He needs his rest.”

Eric let out a harsh breath, biting back a curse. He had no idea what Carrinne was up to, but he knew “guilty as hell” when he heard it.

“Your grandfather’s in the hospital,” he said, watching her closely. “He had a stroke six weeks ago.”

“Oh…I…I haven’t spoken with him in over a month.” Her face grew paler, even as she squared her shoulders. “We made tentative plans for my visit, and I’ve been too busy to call him since.”

“It’s odd that his lawyer didn’t contact you about the stroke.”

“I’ve been away on business.”

“You don’t have an answering machine?”

“I told you, I’ve been busy. I haven’t had time to check my—”

“Lying’s only making this worse.” They’d be out here all night at this rate. “Are you going to tell me what’s really going on, or do I have to take you in?”

“Take me in?” The alarmed expression on her face was the real deal. Not like the casual innocence she’d done such a lousy job of faking a few minutes before.

“Give me one good reason why you were breaking in, and maybe we can end this here.”

“I wasn’t breaking in. I grew up in this house.”

“A technicality that might keep you out of jail. But if you want to avoid coming with me to the station, you’ll have to do better than that. Just trust me, okay?”

A battle raged in her green eyes. Then they hardened with a determination that was a chilly reflection of the man who’d raised her.

“The only person I’m talking to is Oliver,” she said.

Running a hand through his hair, Eric sighed and turned to Tony. “Radio in. Have Wilmington’s lawyer meet us at the station.”

When he glanced back, Carrinne was staring at the cypress tree he hadn’t realized they’d stopped beneath. Blond and petite, a heart-shaped face he could cup in the palms of his hands. Painfully familiar in so many ways, she was a complete stranger to him.

And why shouldn’t she be? He’d cut her out of his life after his father’s death. Then she’d left town without saying another word to him. Seventeen years of nothing lay between them.