Read Online Shades of Honor by Wendy Lindstrom - Free Book Online
Authors: Wendy Lindstrom
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Evelyn’s hand. “Rebecca adored Dorothy, and it crushed her when Dorothy married and moved away. I thought Gert , her second nanny, would love my daughter and mother her like Dorothy had. She abused Rebecca. By the time I came home from a trip to Virginia, Rebecca had quit speaking. It took her almost a month to start talking again.” Radford swallowed, then released a calming breath. “I’ve never come so close to hitting a woman as I did the afternoon I came home and found Gert asleep on the sofa, and Rebecca tied to the sofa leg with an abrasive string around her ankle.”
Blood surged to Evelyn’s face. “I hope you shot the woman.”
“I wanted to, especially when I saw bruises on Rebecca’s arms where Gert had pinched her, but I restrained myself and threw Gert out of my apartment before I forgot she was a woman.”
“You should have shot her,” Evelyn said, knowing she wouldn’t have been able to keep her hands off the woman.
“As I said, my actions with Rebecca have nothing to do with your influencing her. It’s just that being motherless makes Rebecca more susceptible to forming attachments that might fall apart later on. I don’t want her to lose another person she grows to love.”
“Isn’t she suffering as much without any feminine attachments? Without any friends she can play with?”
“She’ll have that when she warms up to my mother.”
Knowing Radford’s mind was closed on the subject, Evelyn shook her head. “I know you’re a loving father who’s trying to protect your daughter from the heartaches involved in growing up. There’s nothing wrong in that, but you’re keeping Rebecca from learning to depend on herself. Someday she’s going to want to leave the safe little square of her blanket. What if you’re not there when she does?”
“I’ll be there,” he said, his expression absolute.
Evelyn nodded in resignation. “I hope so, Radford. But I think Rebecca needs more than your protective love.”
His face blanched and he stood with his hands at his sides, eyes dark, his expression so concerned, Evelyn pitied him.
“She needs to laugh, Radford. Teach your daughter how to laugh.”
Chapter Six
Evelyn had been unusually quiet throughout the evening, her gaze escaping Radford’s each time he glanced in her direction. Had their earlier conversation about Rebecca upset her? Did she think she had offended him by showing concern for his daughter? The truth was, Radford found it touching and quite typical of the Evelyn he was coming to know. She was a caretaker to everybody: her father, her horses, and one motherless little girl.
Unfortunately, Rebecca was too young to understand the difference between a woman’s temporary kindness and a mother’s lifetime love. Radford wasn’t going to watch his daughter learn that heartbreaking lesson again.
Thrusting away memories that reminded him of his poor parenting, Radford retrieved the jug of chokecherry wine from the corner of the table and refilled his glass as Kyle dealt the cards.
“Pass that over,” Boyd said. He took the jug and filled the other glasses before topping off his own.
“Careful, Papa,” Evelyn warned. “That’s your third glass.”
“Well, I’m thirsty.”
Radford listened to the chuckles around the table. It had been like this years ago when his father was alive. William and Mary would come over and play cards with his parents, drinking wine and laughing late into the evening while he stood by his father’s knee as Rebecca was doing with him. To his surprise, the memory felt warm and welcome instead of burying him in melancholy because his father and Evelyn’s mother weren’t with them tonight.
Boyd filled William’s glass and ignored Evelyn’s frown. “My partner is just building his strength,” he said, with a wink at William.
“More like drowning his sorrows over your poor card playing,” Evelyn said, then grinned at Boyd.
Laughter filled the kitchen and Boyd glanced
Blood surged to Evelyn’s face. “I hope you shot the woman.”
“I wanted to, especially when I saw bruises on Rebecca’s arms where Gert had pinched her, but I restrained myself and threw Gert out of my apartment before I forgot she was a woman.”
“You should have shot her,” Evelyn said, knowing she wouldn’t have been able to keep her hands off the woman.
“As I said, my actions with Rebecca have nothing to do with your influencing her. It’s just that being motherless makes Rebecca more susceptible to forming attachments that might fall apart later on. I don’t want her to lose another person she grows to love.”
“Isn’t she suffering as much without any feminine attachments? Without any friends she can play with?”
“She’ll have that when she warms up to my mother.”
Knowing Radford’s mind was closed on the subject, Evelyn shook her head. “I know you’re a loving father who’s trying to protect your daughter from the heartaches involved in growing up. There’s nothing wrong in that, but you’re keeping Rebecca from learning to depend on herself. Someday she’s going to want to leave the safe little square of her blanket. What if you’re not there when she does?”
“I’ll be there,” he said, his expression absolute.
Evelyn nodded in resignation. “I hope so, Radford. But I think Rebecca needs more than your protective love.”
His face blanched and he stood with his hands at his sides, eyes dark, his expression so concerned, Evelyn pitied him.
“She needs to laugh, Radford. Teach your daughter how to laugh.”
Chapter Six
Evelyn had been unusually quiet throughout the evening, her gaze escaping Radford’s each time he glanced in her direction. Had their earlier conversation about Rebecca upset her? Did she think she had offended him by showing concern for his daughter? The truth was, Radford found it touching and quite typical of the Evelyn he was coming to know. She was a caretaker to everybody: her father, her horses, and one motherless little girl.
Unfortunately, Rebecca was too young to understand the difference between a woman’s temporary kindness and a mother’s lifetime love. Radford wasn’t going to watch his daughter learn that heartbreaking lesson again.
Thrusting away memories that reminded him of his poor parenting, Radford retrieved the jug of chokecherry wine from the corner of the table and refilled his glass as Kyle dealt the cards.
“Pass that over,” Boyd said. He took the jug and filled the other glasses before topping off his own.
“Careful, Papa,” Evelyn warned. “That’s your third glass.”
“Well, I’m thirsty.”
Radford listened to the chuckles around the table. It had been like this years ago when his father was alive. William and Mary would come over and play cards with his parents, drinking wine and laughing late into the evening while he stood by his father’s knee as Rebecca was doing with him. To his surprise, the memory felt warm and welcome instead of burying him in melancholy because his father and Evelyn’s mother weren’t with them tonight.
Boyd filled William’s glass and ignored Evelyn’s frown. “My partner is just building his strength,” he said, with a wink at William.
“More like drowning his sorrows over your poor card playing,” Evelyn said, then grinned at Boyd.
Laughter filled the kitchen and Boyd glanced
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