Page 465 of Hidden Depths

Thomas smiled.

“He just thought you were too damned stubborn to tell her.”

The ambulance doors closed.

Nathan stared at them.

Mom wiped tears from her cheeks.

“James knew?”

Nathan looked toward her.

“Apparently everyone knew.”

“I didn’t.”

“Elanore.”

“All right. I knew.”

Nathan laughed.

Then Mom rose onto her toes and kissed his cheek.

It wasn’t a declaration.

It wasn’t a promise.

But Nathan touched the place her lips had been as though she had given him the world.

Maybe she had.

Ben’s ambulance waited beside Thomas’s.

Calle stood outside while a medic tried to convince Ben to climb inside.

“I can ride in the other vehicle,” Ben said.

“You were shot,” the medic answered.

“Grazed.”

Calle placed both hands against his chest and pushed.

Ben sat on the stretcher.

The medic blinked.

“How did you do that?”

“He’s tired,” Calle said.

“I am not tired.”

“You’re exhausted.”

“I’m fine.”