Return to Tomorrow

Free Return to Tomorrow by Marisa Carroll

Book: Return to Tomorrow by Marisa Carroll Read Free Book Online
Authors: Marisa Carroll
for his eyes; for the space of a heartbeat they were haunted by sorrow for a homeless people and a ravaged land.
    â€œWe all do the best we can. It’s never enough, is it?” His voice was as hard as ever; the fleeting moment of shared commitment, however unintentional it had been, was gone like a puff of thistledown on the wind.
    â€œIs that what you believe? That one person, no matter how hard he tries, can’t make a difference?”
    â€œI’d say that’s what about ninety-nine percent of the people in this world believe,” he responded, answering obliquely but meeting her questioning gaze head-on. It might have been her imagination but it seemed to Rachel as if his expression had softened slightly. “You’re one of those very few dreamers who are willing to back up their beliefs with damned hard work.”
    â€œI’m not a saint.”
    â€œNo. You’re a woman.”
    â€œWhy are you here?” She couldn’t let the conversation get any more personal.
    Brett continued to watch her, his expression noncommittal, any emotion in his eyes hidden by shadows cast by his thick, dark lashes.
    â€œWe’re on our way to Chiang Rai to arrange for a final shipment of teak to be brought out before the rainy season.”
    â€œOnly teak?”
    His frown was back, darker, angrier than before. “Do you think I’d tell you if there was more?” The expression in his eyes was easy enough to read now. It was contempt. Rachel felt the chill of it all the way to her bones.
    â€œI didn’t mean…”
    â€œYes, you did. Surely, your brother…at the Census Bureau…warned you not to ask too many questions of a man in my profession?”
    â€œActually, he told me to stay the hell away from you. Period.”
    To her surprise he laughed. “He’s smarter than I thought. You should stay away from a man of my reputation, if you value your own.”
    â€œBullsh…feathers.” Rachel had the satisfaction of seeing Brett Jackson blink in surprise. “Don’t you think I can make my own decisions about people? And why didn’t you ask me Micah’s opinion of your trustworthiness. He’s supposed to be your friend.”
    â€œI didn’t have to ask about Micah.” His voice was lower, less rough.
    â€œHe said I could trust you with my life.”
    â€œYes.” Brett said softly.
    Rachel couldn’t believe they were having this conversation, in the middle of the main camp thoroughfare, with people all around. She felt as if they were alone, the last man and woman on earth. She didn’t know what to do with her hands. She stuck them in the pockets of her gray cotton shorts. She didn’t know what to do with her eyes. She looked down at her worn, dusty canvas shoes.
    â€œAnd which of your brothers do you believe?” There was an extraordinary, intimate note of challenge in his voice. Awareness raced across her nerve endings, as though he had touched her with his words. The sun dropped below the horizon and the light grew dim and hazy around them, sealing them more tightly into a world of their own.
    She looked up, directly into his eyes, daring her demons, risking what little composure she had left in their hard blue depths. “Both of them.”
    â€œSo, there’s bedrock common sense beneath the missionary meekness.”
    â€œI’m not meek. And I’m not a missionary. Look, I apologize if I offended you. Although, with your reputation, I’d imagine you’d be used to others being suspicious of your motives by now.” To her utter amazement he smiled, then laughed, a deep, rich laugh that warmed her heart.
    â€œYou don’t back down, do you, Rachel McKendrick Phillips? You know what is right and what is wrong and anyone in the middle be damned.”
    â€œThat’s not true. I’m very open-minded. And I never pretend.”
    â€œNo,” he said thoughtfully.

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