Free The Housekeeper's Daughter by Laurie Paige Page B

and closed the door, he’d roamed the house, unable to settle for thinking about her remarks out on the cliff stairs.
    Find his soul? How? Where did a person begin looking?
    He thought of the darkness deep within. Was that where his soul resided? If so, it was a place he didn’twant to disturb. It brought nothing but memories and pain.
    Haunted by her advice and rejection, he’d fled his room at midnight and drove to town.
    After a couple of beers—okay, maybe three or four—at the local bar, he’d run into Thaddeus Law at the door. The lawman had insisted on taking him home, thinking he’d had one too many.
    It occurred to Drake that Maya knew of the incident and that was why every glance was filled with disapproval.
    â€œI was in town last night for an hour or so,” he said, watching for a reaction. “I needed to get away and…think about things.”
    â€œI heard,” Inez told him when her daughter failed to acknowledge his statement. “Heather said Thaddeus brought you home. That’s how I knew you’d be wanting to pick up the truck this morning.”
    Maya had already heard Heather, Thaddeus Law’s bride and Joe Colton’s personal assistant, teasing Drake about his big night out on the town while she set the table for breakfast that morning. What he did was his business, she’d reminded herself, ignoring the jab of worry.
    â€œI stumbled coming out the door, so ol’ Thaddeus decided I’d had one too many,” Drake said on a note of exasperation and amusement. “He was determined, and it was easier to go along with him than fight.”
    â€œThaddeus is a naturally protective man,” Inez said. “Since he married Heather he’s been even more concerned with solving the mysteries involving the Colton family.” She paused. “Especially Emily’swhereabouts. I have to admit to worrying about her, a child off on her own like that.”
    Maya felt the quick tightening of Drake’s muscles, then the deliberate way he relaxed as he agreed with her mother about the detective’s attitude and the concern over Emily. She stole a glance at him.
    His gaze met hers, but absently, as if he were lost in thought. He didn’t seem too worried about his sister, which wasn’t like him. Drake was also a protective person, and Emily was only twenty. She’d left the ranch with only the clothes on her back and not much else.
    â€œYou know something,” she said on a sudden hunch.
    â€œI know Emily is okay. I talked to Rand yesterday.”
    Maya gasped. “Has she been in contact with Rand?”
    Drake didn’t answer right away. Maya felt the hurt of his distrust in sharing information with her and her mother for an instant before he decided to tell them the truth.
    â€œShe called him,” Drake admitted. “Rand asked Austin McGrath to check into things.”
    â€œThen…then you believe Emily’s story about the two Merediths?” Inez asked, her manner also hesitant.
    â€œDo you?” he challenged.
    Maya glanced from one to the other, aware that both knew more than she did about the strange events on the ranch during the past few months. She’d beencaught up in her own troubles, not to mention the shock of being pregnant.
    Her mother thought carefully before answering. “A person can change over time, I suppose, but…” She didn’t continue, but looked troubled by her musings.
    â€œBut Mother changed too much,” he concluded.
    â€œPerhaps, but who knows another’s heart?”
    Maya considered the implications of his questions and Emily’s belief she’d seen two Merediths for a brief spell after the car accident years ago. Finally she said, “This person…she would have to be a twin to successfully take another’s place for so long, wouldn’t she? I mean, how could she fool everyone, including her own husband and children,