‘‘I think so.’’
She was shivering despite the fact that it was a warm night, and Seth guessed that she was suffering from shock. And no wonder. He felt pretty shocked himself, and he hadn’t endured anything near what she had. He had only endured the thought that he might lose her. But that, to him, would be the worst thing of all.
‘‘Hold still.’’ Reaching into his pocket, he found the Swiss Army knife that Big John had given him years ago and pulled it out. After that, it took just a few minutes and some judicious sawing to free her. Gingerly, he pulled the tape away from her skin, taking care not to hurt her. When it was off, he chafed her arms and legs to restore her circulation, then helped her to stand up. She leaned against him for support, resting her head against his chest, and he wrapped both arms around her, holding her tight.
‘‘You saved my life,’’ she said. ‘‘Thank you.’’
‘‘I saved my own life,’’ he corrected, pressing his mouth to the top of her bent head. ‘‘I couldn’t have lived if you’d died in there.’’
‘‘Seth, what we’ve got in there looks pretty bad.’’ Ira emerged from the crypt, shaking his head and looking pale. ‘‘You need to come take a look.’’
‘‘Charlie—he . . .’’ Olivia shuddered in his arms. ‘‘He murdered four little girls. Their bodies are in there. And he drowned my mother. He told me.’’
Seth looked at Ira, who nodded grimly.
‘‘Sit down here a minute,’’ Seth said to Olivia, and left her on the single step leading into the crypt, leaning against one of the marble angels.
When he emerged, he felt sick to his stomach.
Olivia cast a fleeting look up at him. ‘‘Charlie was going to do that to Sara. He was going to do that to me, when I was a little girl. That’s why he killed my mother. She saved me.’’
‘‘Jesus,’’ Seth said, and sat down beside her on the step as she told him everything that had happened.
In the distance, just faintly, came the wail of a siren. The ambulance itself arrived moments later.
When EMTs came bustling into the graveyard, Seth pulled Olivia to her feet.
‘‘Can you walk back to the house, do you think?’’ he asked.
She nodded.
‘‘Come on, then,’’ he said. ‘‘You don’t want to see this.’’
With his arm wrapped around her waist, they moved slowly out of the cemetery and started down the path. Seth was careful to set an easy pace, but Olivia seemed to gain strength as they went. In the places where she had to walk in front of him, Seth looked at her dark, bent head and sweetly curved form in the fluttering nightgown, and thanked God that he had her still.
He had thought there was plenty of time for the two of them. But tonight, time had almost run out.
They were in the woods now, under the sheltering darkness of the trees. The night was alive with sounds. The rustling canopy overhead blocked the moon, but moonlight filtered through, dappling the path. Barefoot when they had started out, Olivia was now wearing his socks to protect her feet. His shoes were so big she couldn’t keep them on.
‘‘Livvy?’’ They were walking arm in arm, with her leaning slightly against him, moving in the direction of the house. Ghost Lake glimmered off to the right. The stone steps that led up to the lawn were ahead of them.
‘‘Hmm?’’
Seth cleared his throat. He was clear about what he wanted to say, but sometimes it was hard to get the words out. ‘‘I love you.’’
‘‘I love you, too.’’
It was as simple as that.
When they reached the top of the steps, Chloe and Sara came running toward them, with Martha in hot pursuit. Seth wasn’t clear on the time, but it had to be about four A.M.
‘‘Mom!’’
‘‘Olivia!’’
Both girls flung themselves at Olivia. She hugged them, then wrapped an arm around each as they all headed toward the house, the girls chattering incessantly about their thoughts, feelings, and actions during the night’s adventures as they went. Seth didn’t really listen, and he didn’t think Olivia was listening, either, because all she did was nod and smile.
When they reached the house, Chloe stopped suddenly, which halted the whole group, and looked around, waving.
‘‘What are you doing?’’ Sara asked, looking around, too.
‘‘Waving to my nana,’’ Chloe said. ‘‘See? She’s that blinky star there.’’
Sara squinted up into the star-studded sky. ‘‘There’s two of them, blinking together.’’
Seth looked, and Sara was right. There was a binary star winking and blinking at them from high in the western sky.
Olivia was looking, too. ‘‘Wave, Sara,’’ she instructed with a smile. ‘‘I think one of those stars is Chloe’s grandmother, and the other one is yours.’’
Both little girls waved madly.
‘‘Is it okay to wish on Nana-star?’’ Chloe asked Seth, a slight frown wrinkling her brow.
‘‘Sure,’’ Seth said. He figured if his mother was now a star, she wouldn’t mind being wished on.
‘‘Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.’’ Then Chloe closed her eyes and scrunched up her face, apparently wishing very hard.
‘‘What did you wish for?’’ Seth asked curiously when she opened her eyes again.
‘‘I wished that the four of us could be a real family,’’ Chloe said, taking his hand. ‘‘Could we, Daddy?’’
Seth looked at Olivia over the children’s heads. ‘‘We could,’’ he said slowly. ‘‘If Sara’s mom will marry me. Will you, Livvy?’’
Olivia met his gaze. Her expression was very solemn for a moment, and Seth wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Then her face broke into a wide smile.
‘‘I will absolutely marry you,’’ she said, and walked right into his outstretched arms. As he kissed her, his daughter, and hers, danced around them, cheering. And two bright stars, bound together for eternity, winked and blinked in the night-dark sky.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KAREN ROBARDS is the author of more than twenty-three historical and contemporary romances, including the national best-sellers The Midnight Hour, The Senator’s Wife, Heartbreaker, and Hunter’s Moon. She lives in Louisville, Kentucky, with her husband and their three sons.
Books by Karen Robards
GHOST MOON
THE MIDNIGHT HOUR
THE SENATOR’S WIFE
HEARTBREAKER
HUNTER’S MOON
WALKING AFTER MIDNIGHT
MAGGY’S CHILD
ONE SUMMER
NOBODY’S ANGEL
THIS SIDE OF HEAVEN
FORBIDDEN LOVE
SEA FIRE
ISLAND FLAME
Published by
Dell Publishing
a division of
Random House, Inc.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead,
events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without the written permission of the
Publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address:
Delacorte Press, New York, N.Y.
Dell® is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the
colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 99-047420
October 2001
www.randomhouse.com
eISBN: 978-0-307-42296-5
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