Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble

Author:Colleen Coble
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 1595547819
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2012-07-16T22:00:00+00:00

Libby was too restless to watch the movie playing in the living room. Bree was bathing the children and getting them to bed, so Libby slipped away from the group and went to the third floor again. Her interest in finding out how Nicole’s purse had ended up there had resurfaced.

She flipped on the light, then stood in the main living area of the third floor and glanced around. The stairs creaked behind her and she whirled to see Brent stepping into the space.

“What are you doing up here?” he demanded.

“Looking around.” She decided against reminding him that she owned the property and could go anywhere she pleased. She’d written in her journal that she hadn’t extended much grace after their last encounter.

He scowled at her. “These are Dad’s private quarters.”

“I know.” She gestured to the table. “Nicole’s bag is here. Do you have any idea how it got up here?”

“She was up here?”

“It appears so. Unless someone put her purse here.”

“Have you asked Delilah about it?”

She should have thought of that. “No. But you didn’t answer my question. Did you know about it?”

His gaze was steady. “You really think I had something to do with her disappearance, don’t you?”

She’d had enough of his evasiveness. “Why do you always answer a question with another one? Just answer me, yes or no. Did you see Nicole’s purse up here?”

“No. This is the first I’ve been up here since Dad died. Your turn. You think I’m guilty of something bad, don’t you?”

He looked so innocent, so hurt. Was any of it real? Libby wanted to believe him. He was her brother, after all. “I honestly don’t know. I’d like to believe you did nothing to hurt her, but you have to admit your lies look bad.”

“I didn’t do anything to her. It was an innocent outing.”

Libby reminded herself how young he was. Maybe she was overreacting. “I know you weren’t one of the men who took her. I saw them. But you could have hired the men.”

“I could have, but I didn’t.”

She wanted to know this brother, but she couldn’t seem to get through. “You’re hard to read, Brent. I want to believe you.” She decided that Jesus would lay it all out there, so she gathered her courage. “What do you want, Brent? Do you even care that you have another sister? We’re family, you know. We share our father’s blood. I want us to learn to love each other.”

His eyes flickered when she mentioned love, but then he folded his arms over his chest. “I’m sure you’re a very nice person, Libby, but I have one sister and that’s enough. You don’t belong here. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but you can’t show up here and announce you’re part of our family and expect it to be so. To us, you’re just a stranger.”

Though she agreed with the gist of what he’d said, his cold gaze cut her. Her eyes filled, and she turned away so he wouldn’t see. “I see.

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