Ginny stood at an open window overlooking the courtyard. Her green eyes focused on Laura and Franco, who were happy now, the memories of their recent nightmare slowly fading. They played with a puppy, though Laura still waited impatiently for the arrival of her own spaniel. The dog had been left in Galveston with most of their baggage, but was now en route to them.

While Ginny stood watching the children, unable to get enough of the sight of them, a warm presence behind her drew close and put a hand upon her shoulder, its voice a husky murmur against her ear.

“I feel the same way.”

She half-turned, smiling up at Steve. “How did you know what I was thinking?”

“It’s obvious. God, when I think of what might have happened—” He broke off, his tone grim.

“But it didn’t. We found them. Despite all of the odds against us, we found them. You found them. How did you know where they would be?”

“I didn’t. It was a calculated guess based on my suspicion of the senator. Seems I was wrong about how involved he was. But he is to blame for endangering them. He brought them here. Delgado just took advantage of it.”

“I think I believe the senator when he says that he would never have harmed them, that he only wanted them to distract you so you’d stop your determined pursuit of his business plans. He knew you were trying to ruin him, Steve.”

“I did ruin him. Those plans, anyway. It’s unlikely he would have been able to build a railroad through Copper Canyon any time soon, but I was damned if I was going to let him extract money from backers to try. I’m familiar with how that works, how prices are jacked up too high and the men who started the scheme get rich while those more honest get swindled out of their money.”

Leaning against Steve, Ginny put a hand on his chest. He wore a light leather vest over a dark blue shirt, snug-fitting trousers and familiar boots. In deference to his grandfather’s wishes, he’d removed his gunbelts.

“I’m glad he’s gone back to Louisiana,” she murmured, thinking of her father and how old and sick he had seemed. “I feel as if I never really knew him. When I was a child, I used to dream about him. When I finally joined him, I was so proud of him. He seemed to be everything wonderful—a rich, powerful man greatly respected by his peers.”

“Maybe he started out that way.” Steve’s shoulders lifted in a shrug. “He just got too confident, then too greedy.”