Siren

Twenty-four

Twenty-four

 

James stormed up the drive of the Corsair castle more than a little shocked that he hadn’t caught up with Phoebe on the way over. She hadn’t had more than an eight minute head start—ten at the most. After about two minutes of consideration he’d decided to follow Phoebe after all.

The front door of the stone keep opened and none other than Edward Landon emerged. His expression turned stony the instant he spied James on his property. “What the hell are you doing here, Witherspoon?”

“I’m here to see my wife,” he replied in a tone edged with steel.

Edward stilled on the stone steps. “What are you about, Witherspoon? Phoebe isn’t here.”

“Don’t lie to me, Corsair. There is nowhere else for her to go. She must be here.”

Edward stared at him hard before descending the stairs with slow deliberate steps. “What happened? Did my sister come to her senses and leave you?”

James hesitated, ignoring the insult, far more concerned with finding Phoebe as quickly as possible. He’d assumed she would run straight to her brother, but… “She really isn’t here?”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why are you looking for her?”

“That is between my wife and me.” James forced his tone to remain steady. “Where would she go if she was upset?”

“You’re asking me?” Edward appeared thoroughly incredulous. “”She’s your wife as you’ve seen fit to point out twice since your arrival on my property. Now see here you no good—”

“Enough,” James interrupted, beginning to lose his cool demeanor. “I know damn well what you think of me and I don’t bloody care. Believe what you will, but the truth is I love her, and I would never intentionally hurt her the way you did.”

Fury burned in Edward’s dark eyes, and his hands clenched into fists.

James widened his stance, preparing for another raucous fistfight.

After a moment Edward’s angry expression faltered. Suddenly the austere duke faded and the face of a young, uncertain man stared back at him. “If she left you I wouldn’t turn her away,” Edward stated. “Not ever. She is my sister. But… I can tell you honestly that she isn’t here.”

Frustrated James released a weighty breath and glanced over his shoulder. If she hadn’t run home where could she be? Sarah and Nick Collins weren’t in residence at the moment, and Phoebe was far too concerned with people discovering her pregnancy to be lingering in the town.

“She may be at the beachfront,” Edward offered.

“The beach?” A vision of Phoebe the first day they’d met seared his mind.

“She goes there to think.”

“Thank you!” James pivoted and set off at a jog in the direction of the ocean.

“Wait!” Edward called after him. “I’m going with you. If Phoebe is leaving you she needs to know I’m there for her.”

A flood of retorts flowed readily to James’s tongue, but he bit them back. It wasn’t worth rising to his brother-in-laws jibes. After all that had happened that morning Phoebe may very well choose to go back with her brother. James could only pray that he could convince Phoebe of his sincerity, and for peace between the Landon’s and the Witherspoons. A glimmer of hope fueled his determination. Was it possible that the truth of Patrick’s death could mean the beginning of healing between the families?