Chapters (77)
- Cover
- Endorsements
- Books by Elizabeth Goddard
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- A Preview of Book 2 in the ROCKY MOUNTAIN COURAGE Series
- Author’s Note
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Ads
- Back Cover
“You took me in and raised me. I can’t ever thank you enough.”
“There’s no need.”
“I didn’t want to be anything like my dad. An addict. He tried, I know, but he didn’t care enough about me to stay away from drugs. Even after Mom died. He was weak. I’ve always been so afraid that I’d be weak too, when it mattered most. I was so afraid I would end up being a loser just like him. That’s why I wanted to be in the FBI. I could prove myself that way. Prove myself to you, if not to myself.” Prove I was good enough for Terra. Except in the proving, I lost her.
“There’s something I should have told you a long time ago,” she said.
“No, wait, I need to get this off my chest. I’ve kept a horrible secret from you.”
“I’m listening, but nothing you tell me can be that bad.”
“I wanted to prove to you that I wasn’t like him. I wasn’t like your brother. And that I was a hero. I was so afraid I would disappoint you. Let you down. And as it turns out, I let you down, after all.”
“Jack, please calm down. Whatever it is—”
“Sarah.”
His aunt’s features twisted.
“What about Sarah?”
Sarah was Aunt Nadine’s granddaughter and Jack’s second cousin, but she’d been more like a sister to him. “I was like the older brother she was supposed to look up to. I should have protected her.”
“Jack, you weren’t around when she ran away with the love of her life. Or at least the man she thought she loved. There was nothing you could have done.”
The breath rushed from him. “I saw her. I was working undercover, and I saw her come through with a group of trafficked girls. I tried to get to her to save her, but I was too late, Aunt Nadine. Don’t you see? Sarah died on my watch. She died because of me.”
Aunt Nadine let go of his hand. She clasped her hands over her mouth.
Jack hung his head. There. He’d told her everything. And with the words, the deep ache of loss and failure racked through his body.
“I should have told you, but I didn’t know how.” And he struggled to live with himself—all his efforts seemed like they were for nothing.
Aunt Nadine composed herself. “You can’t carry that burden. You did your best. Sarah made the choice to leave with her no-good boyfriend. Her subsequent disappearance isn’t on you. It never was. I’ve come to terms with her death, and you need to do the same.”