Free A Time to Forgive and Promise Forever by Marta Perry

didn’t care what it meant to us.”
    Contempt filled Adam’s voice, and her heart contracted. She’d wanted the dolphin story, and he’d given it to her. But she’d gotten something she hadn’t bargained for.
    He blamed her mother. She struggled with that unpalatable truth. He apparently didn’t know who the rich girl was, but he held her responsible. She should have realized that would be the case. Probably the whole Caldwell clan felt the same way about her mother.
    The brief thought she’d had of telling Adam the truth about herself suddenly seemed very foolish. She couldn’t. He resented her presence because of the memorial window. If he knew who she was, he wouldn’t tolerate her for another instant.
    That knowledge hurt more than it had any right to.
    Â 
    He was spending too much time watching Tory, Adam decided. Maybe it was Miz Becky’s fault for seating her directly across from him at the dinner table that Sunday evening. How could he help noticing the way the candlelight reflected in Tory’s dark eyes and the sheen of her hair against the white dress she wore?
    All right, he was drawn to her. He’d already admitted that to himself. And it wasn’t just the way she looked. He’d seen the passion in her eyes when she talked about her work and he’d glimpsed her caring heart in the drawing she’d done of Jenny.
    Unfortunately the bottom line was that he hated her reason for being here. He’d stop her if he could.
    With a spurt of determination, he focused on his father, seated as always at the head of the oval mahogany table. Dad had been talking for the last ten minutes about his latest business trip. A trip that had, as always, been extended so he didn’t get back in time for the Sunday service.
    Had Tory wondered about his father’s absence from worship this morning? Probably not. She hadn’t been around long enough to know it was habitual.
    He fingered the heavy silver knife, letting it clink against the china plate. Tory also didn’t know he hadn’t told her the whole truth about the dolphin’s disappearance. He hadn’t told her the most significant part—that his father had taken it.
    Miz Becky’s pecan pie turned tasteless in his mouth. Matt had been the one to learn about Jefferson’s involvement. According to Matt, Dad claimed he’d borrowed the dolphin to impress a girl. The party they’d been attending was raided, and when all the confusion cleared, he’d never seen either the girl or the dolphin again.
    Too many questions remained unanswered about that night—questions Adam had never asked. He’d accepted what his brother told him. He hadn’t ever so much as brought it up with his father. Maybe it was time he did.
    Adam slanted a glance at his father. Jefferson was being charming to Tory at the moment. The courtly Southern gentleman was a role he liked to play, as if it canceled out the ambitious businessman he really was.
    Jefferson picked up his coffee cup. “If you’ll excuse me, there are some contracts in the study I must put away.”
    â€œI’ll join you.” Adam’s chair scraped as he shoved it back. For a moment he wondered what he was doing. He was the family peacemaker, wasn’t he? He was about to stir up trouble. “I need to discuss something with you.”
    His father lifted an eyebrow slightly, then nodded.With a murmured excuse to Tory, Adam followed him next door to the study.
    The book-lined room was dim and still. His father crossed to the desk where a single brass lamp cast a circle of light. He started shuffling together the papers that littered the surface.
    He glanced at Adam. “What is it, son? Something about the boatyard?”
    â€œNo.” As always, his father’s first concern was business. “I’ve come about the dolphin.”
    Jefferson’s manicured hands froze on the papers, and his