Page 294 of Taken Away

“I’m a mess.”

“I know.”

A laugh broke through her tears.

Small.

Broken.

Real.

Bennett smiled faintly.

“So am I.”

She looked down at the photograph in her hand.

Then at the Bible.

Then back at him.

“I don’t know what to do with all this.”

Bennett brushed his thumb beneath her eye.

“Yes, you do.”

She shook her head.

“You’re Aubrey,” he said. “Harold’s daughter. Mabel’s family. Anne’s daughter too, even if that hurts like hell tonight.”

His voice softened.

“And you’re the woman who came here thinking Blackwood was something she had to survive.”

Aubrey swallowed.

“But it wasn’t.”

“No.”

He looked around Harold’s study, at the photographs, the ledgers, the worn Bible, the window overlooking the darkening vineyard.

“It was waiting for you.”

Aubrey looked toward the window.

Beyond the glass, the last of the light lay across the vines.

The same vines Harold had watched.

The same land Mabel had protected.

The same place Anne had hated and loved and lost herself trying to possess.

Aubrey held the photograph to her heart.

She drew a steadying breath.