Read Online The Last Daughter (Tales of the Scrimshaw Doll) by Jessica Ferguson - Free Book Online Page B

next time he saw Louis...
    He wouldn’t mention his plans to Rayna. In fact, he’d suggest she take a few days off. Relax. Sightsee. That would get her out of the house. He rolled his eyes. Or play with Tiva. Obviously the ugly doll meant something to her; the way she clung to it was downright creepy.
    Now that he had a plan, he felt normal again. He turned back toward the house.
    ****
    Rayna didn’t look up or speak to him when he came through the door. She shuffled papers around in an attempt to appear busy. Tiva, propped in a chair, seemed to glare at him with her dark eyes. Yeah, creepy was the key word. And that put it mildly.
    He rubbed his brow, head suddenly pounding. He’d take something as soon as he talked with Rayna.
    “Rayna.” He wanted her to look at him. Her lips tightened and her movements became jerky, deliberate. This wasn’t going to be easy.
    “Rayna, I’m sorry. You took me by surprise. I was shocked speechless. And honestly, I still am.”
    She yanked open a drawer, crammed papers inside, slammed it shut.
    “I wish you’d told me sooner about—”
    She whirled. “Told you sooner? Why? Tell me how that would make a difference. Would your reaction have been any different? Explain it to me, Trent.”
    He backed up a step. He couldn’t help himself. This was a Rayna he didn’t know. For just an instant, she resembled her doll. He rubbed a hand across his face and took a second look before he spoke. “I’m sorry. I can’t make it any more honest and real than that. And I don’t know how I would have reacted, but I think I would have pulled you into my arms and—and—cried. That’s what I feel like doing now.”
    From the expression on her face, his words took her by surprise. She stopped her paper shuffling and looked at him. He probably resembled a man who had just been to hell and back. He prayed she recognized sincerity on his face, in his voice. For a moment, he thought she did, but then she turned her eyes to that blasted doll. Why?
    “I don’t understand that,” he said.
    “What?”
    “I don’t understand why you’d look at that doll as if asking permission to forgive me. What’s that all about? She’s just a doll.”
    Rayna stiffened. “She’s not just a doll. She’s my doll, from my childhood. She knows me and what I was like...and what happened to me when she owned...when I owned her. Can’t you understand how important that is to me?”
    He took a step forward, his right knee buckling unexpectedly. He caught himself on a chair.
    “Trent!” Rayna ran to his side. “Are you all right? What happened?”
    Slowly, he straightened. “I’m not sure. My knee just went out. All of a sudden, I feel weak.”
    “Let me help you to the sofa. You can stretch out, prop your leg up.”
    He glanced at the doll, searched her face. Had her expression changed? She looked happy all of a sudden. Or was it his imagination? He shook his head. “I think I’ll go upstairs and lay down for a while. You can take the day off if you like. And don’t worry about any lunch for me. I’ve lost my appetite.”
    He grabbed his laptop, gave Tiva one more look, and hobbled toward the stairs.
    “Trent, I’m sorry too.”
    He turned to look at her. “Believe me, Rayna. You have nothing to be sorry for.”
    ****
    He’d slept all evening and through the night. He had a vague memory of Rayna coming in to check on him. He never slept so much. He didn’t know if it was because of the doll or if it was stress. He’d never ventured into a deal such as this without the support of his family so he had a right to be stressed.
    Propped up against his headboard, Trent logged on to the Internet. He would search until he found something on the ugly doll named Tiva. Anything. First he searched “collectable dolls” and found hundreds of sites, all useless to him. He needed to be more specific. What was Tiva made out of and how old was she?
    “Pretty darn old from the looks of her,” he mumbled. He