“That’s a change in attitude. It looked like you wanted to rip Nathaniel’s head from his shoulders when they carted you in here.”

“Oh, I did!” he said, his irreverent grin back. “Then I had a few minutes to walk back from the ledge, pray, and see things in a bigger perspective. I was able to cut the head off the beast. Nathaniel and the others at the Secret Service can take over to track down the third man. Maybe they’ll get him, maybe not, but I can honestly say I did my best.”

She nodded, relieved that Luke seemed genuinely at peace with what had happened. “I need to wire Gray about everything. I wired him the day after you returned home but never got a response. I should send another. What shall I tell him?”

“Tell him to get that farm sold and get back to Washington. I miss him.”

She nodded and couldn’t help marveling that in the past year, her brothers had finally learned to accept each other despite their stark differences in personality, and despite the ignominy of Luke’s arrest.

Or maybe because of it. She wouldn’t want to relive the horror of this past year for anything in the world. Last month a few strands of gray hair had appeared at her temple. She’d yanked them out, but she knew who had caused them, and her name was Annabelle Larkin.

Or Annabelle Delacroix, now that Gray had married her. Whatever her name, it was Annabelle who had betrayed them all when she turned Luke in last summer.

Now that Luke was out, they would have to figure out how to cope with what had happened, for Caroline couldn’t imagine they could all share the townhouse, not with this much animosity between them.

“Gray is quite taken with Annabelle,” she began hesitantly.

“I should hope so, she being his wife and all.”

“We’re going to have to find a way to deal with her. If you’d prefer not to live under the same roof—”

“Stop right there,” Luke said, a spark of energy returning. “I don’t resent Annabelle. She’s a loyal American. She thought I was a spy and followed her conscience. How can I resent her for that?”

“Fifteen months in a Cuban jail didn’t teach you that?”

Luke managed a weak shrug. “I wasn’t making much progress before my arrest. I didn’t gain Mateo’s trust until we were locked up together. If not for Annabelle’s actions, I’d probably still be floundering. Those months in jail did me good, and I’m not just talking about figuring out Holland’s identity. I’m talking about the isolation and forced self-examination. I found pieces of my soul I didn’t know existed. I see God’s hand in that, and I’m grateful for it. I’ll never resent Annabelle for what she did.”