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“No, he isn’t.”
“He is, so it would be nice if you were in love with him, too.”
Regan was sure Spring was pulling her leg so she chuckled. “Don’t tease me this way.”
“I’m not teasing you, Regan. My illustrious doctor brother is so in love, he’s drowning in his feelings, and I’m enjoying knowing he can’t get back to shore and save himself.”
She scanned her sister-in-law’s dark eyes. “Truly?”
Spring nodded. “You’re good for him.”
Regan sat back against the porch chair and thought about the surprising revelation. Spring knew Colt far better than Regan. Did she want her assessment to be right? Her heart knew the answer. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want you to keep doing whatever you’re doing that’s making him change. I haven’t had dinner here in years, and I attribute today’s invitation to you.”
Regan dearly wanted to ask what caused the family breach. She knew it stemmed from Spring refusing an arranged marriage, but the details had yet to be shared. “Are we sisters enough yet for you to explain to me the story behind the estrangement?”
When Spring didn’t reply, Regan said apologetically, “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s okay. I’m trying to decide if you’ll think less of me after the telling. Many people here still do.”
“I can’t imagine anything that would put me in that camp.”
Spring gave a bitter chuckle. “Remember you said that.”
Regan waited.
“Ben tried to marry me off to an old codger he knew in Cheyenne. I refused. We argued about it for weeks. When I stuck to my guns he said either agree or leave. So, I left, but I had nowhere to go. Odell let me stay with him for a while, but I knew I couldn’t live there forever. Mitch Ketchum was a neighbor and a horse wrangler. When I was younger I’d sometimes ride over to his place and clean stalls, curry the mounts, do little odd jobs just to have some coins in my pocket, and to be able to ride. He had the most magnificent animals and I loved horses even then. I told Mitch about my blowup with Ben and asked if I could work for him, maybe keep his books and work with the horses when it was needed. He sort of smiled and asked what else was I willing to do.”
Regan’s heart stopped. Darkness had fallen and she couldn’t see Spring’s face but she didn’t need to.
“I was nineteen. Both my parents had passed away. Colt was in Washington. My grandfather didn’t want me. I had no place to live and nothing to offer but myself, so I followed him to his bedroom, gave him my innocence, and I went to work for him the next day.”
“Oh, Spring.”
“For the next few years I rode with him and his hands all over the Territory bringing in wild horses, and he rode me whenever he got the urge. To make myself feel better about being his whore, I drank, caroused in saloons, played poker, got in fights, and swaggered through town like I owned the place. I generally did everything a well-brought-up lady had no business doing. The gossips couldn’t stop talking. Ben was furious. Colt tried to get me to see reason, but when I pushed him away, he eventually threw up his hands. But I saved my money and when I had enough, I bought my place, told Mitch I was done, and have been free ever since.”
“Does he still live nearby?”
“No. He died in a rock slide five years ago.”
Silence followed.
Regan thought over Spring’s story and better understood why her family and the people in Paradise considered her a pariah, but Regan didn’t think less of her. “My mother, Corinne, was a whore.”
Spring stiffened and stared at her in the dark.
“When I was ten and Portia was twelve, Corinne met a man who offered her a chance at a different life. He didn’t want to raise children he hadn’t sired though, so she put us on a train to her sister in Virginia City. We never heard from her again.”
“Oh my goodness, Regan.”
“Portia and I survived, and so did you.” She looked over. “You have nothing to apologize for. I’m going to enjoy calling you sister.”
Spring took Regan’s hand in hers and squeezed it gently. “As will I. So, now, answer my question, sister. Are you in love with my brother?”
Regan laughed softly. “I’d hoped you’d forgotten about that. Okay, I confess. Yes.”
“Hallelujah!”
