Free Love's Sweet Surrender by Sandy Sullivan

reason he had stood up for her. He had even gone to a few of the townspeople and talked to them about letting her stay. He didn’t know why, but he wanted her to be here, needed her to be here.
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    52
    Sandy Sullivan
    Her voice interrupted his thoughts when she asked, “How do you take your coffee, Mr. Sanford?”
    “Just black, ma’am.”
    Lily returned a short minute later, carrying two cups of steaming coffee.
    “Please, have a seat.” She handed him the cup, and their fingers brushed, sending shivers down his back at the contact. The cup wobbled in her hand, almost splashing the hot liquid over the rim. “I’m sorry. Please, sit down.”
    She moved across the room and took a seat on the small settee near the window.
    “Thanks. Please, call me Seth. Mr. Sanford is too formal around here.”
    He moved toward a larger chair and took a seat.
    “All right then, Seth.” She sipped her coffee for a moment, and, returning her cup to the saucer, she said, “Have you thought about what I said earlier?”
    “You mean about the children?”
    “Yes.”
    “Yes, I have, and I do want to apologize for my behavior this afternoon.
    I was out of line, and I’m sorry, but my wife’s death is a very touchy subject with me and the children.” Seth sipped his coffee and watched her over the rim.
    “I realize it hasn’t been that long ago, and I’m sure it’s still a very fresh wound but…” Lily started, but he cut her off, raising his hand to silence her.
    “You have no idea, Mrs. Backman, what it’s been like.” Changing the subject back to her, he asked, “How did you lose your husband?”
    “I well, uh… he was killed in an accident at my father’s shipyard.” Her gaze shifted around the room a moment before it returned to her cup.
    “I’m going to tell you something that no one else knows, Mrs.
    Backman, so you can understand where this all stems from.”
    “Lily, please. Call me Lily.”
    “All right, Lily. I’m going to tell you how my wife died, so you can understand why it is extremely difficult for me to talk about and for my children to understand. You see, I told them that their mother had fallen from her horse and broken her neck, but that’s not the whole truth. She did fall from her horse, but only after she had been shot in the chest.”
    “Oh my!” Lily exclaimed and raised her hand to her throat.
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    Love’s Sweet Surrender
    53
    “I couldn’t let the children know she had been shot because I don’t want them harboring the same hatred burning in my soul for the men responsible.
    I can never tell them what really happened.”
    Seth placed his now empty cup on the table near him before he rose and walked to the nearby window.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Seth, I still really think you need to tell the children what happened.”
    “I can’t!” He spat before his fist connected with the wall next to the window. “Don’t you understand? If they were to know their mother was murdered, they would never be able to forgive the men responsible, just as I can’t. I don’t want it to consume their lives like it has mine for the last six months.”
    He swung around and met her gaze only to find sympathy and
    understanding shining brightly in her eyes.
    “Seth.” She stood and moved toward him “You have to let it go. This rage will kill you if you don’t.”
    “There is no way I can let it go. I have to find them and make them pay for what they’ve done to my family. My children will now grow up without a mother because these men have robbed them of her.” Not wanting to see the pity in her eyes, he swung back around to stare out the window again.
    He could feel her behind him as her warmth tried to penetrate the chill surrounding his heart. When her hand came to rest on his