She closed in on Corey, ready to pull him over her knee and give him the whipping he should have gotten fifteen years ago.
Braddock slipped his arm fully around her waist, stopping her. “This isn’t doing either of you any good.”
She jerked out of his grip. He could have held her if he’d wanted to. Instead he hovered nearby, as if he thought she might collapse at any minute. But suddenly she felt stronger than she ever had in her life.
“How could you do this? How could you get yourself in so much trouble?”
“I guess you wish it was me instead of Devine that was killed. Or even Donnan. Both you and Ma wished I wasn’t the brother that was spared.”
Lorelei didn’t answer for a moment. The part of her that didn’t flinch at his accusation shamed her. Even in the darkness she could see how her hesitation hurt him. “You were just a child when they died. You didn’t understand.”
“I understood well enough that I was too much trouble.”
“If that were true, why did we hide you during the war, go without so you could have enough to eat?”
“I tried, Lori. But I wasn’t as strong as Devine. I couldn’t even make you laugh like Donnan. Don’t think I don’t know that Ma used to say I was just like our pa.”
Lorelei’s anger faded, leaving her with an unbearable throbbing behind her eyes. She massaged her forehead with the tips of her fingers. “He was a good man, Corey.”
Corey’s bitter laugh sounded stuck in his throat. “That’s why he was the dirty joke of Louisville. That’s why he went to jail for cheating in a horse race. That’s why we lost our home, even our chance to hold our heads up.”
“We held our heads up.”
“You did, Lorelei. ’Cause everyone liked you. They said, ‘That poor Lorelei, such a pretty thing, such a shame.’ Me, they said, ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Watch out for that little Sullivan boy.’ ”
Lorelei gazed up at the sky, looking for an answer as to how things had gone so wrong. The first star of the night winked at her foolish request. “Does it matter now, Corey? All those people who used to look down on us, most of them lost everything in the war. They were begging and scratching for food just like us. But you had the chance to leave. Make a new home for us. What happened? Why didn’t you just stick to training horses?”
“I wanted to. But I wanted things to be nicer for you.”
She shook her head. “You have to take responsibility for your own actions.”
“It’s the truth. I wanted to show you I was as good as Devine. I know you missed him the most. But I’m not as good as him.” Corey swallowed his shaky words and remained silent, his face averted.
Lorelei stepped toward her brother and took him in her arms. He hugged her so fiercely in return she knew what he ranger had done to him.
“I’m sorry, Lori,” he whispered, his voice husky with unshed tears.
Lorelei rubbed his back. She stopped herself from saying it was all right, because it was far from all right. “You have to tell me everything, Corey. No more lies.”
“Just don’t be mad at me anymore.”
She pulled away from him and held him at arm’s length. His hair had gotten redder since he’d been out west, like Donnan’s. But he wasn’t Donnan or Devine. He was Corey. He was all she had. “I can’t stay mad at you, though I should.”
“I didn’t mean to put you in danger. I should have known better. Braddock should have known better.” His jaw was set and his eyes glittered with anger instead of tears as he glanced over her shoulder.
Lorelei took a deep breath, not willing to put herself between Christopher and her brother again. “You’re not going to blame what happened in Coyote Pass on him. You could have told us you knew those men. I haven’t forgotten you were involved in the robbery, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I know. I’m just afraid he’s going to get us killed if he keeps on looking for Mulcahy.”
“If he doesn’t find Mulcahy first, Mulcahy will hunt you down anyway. But you don’t have to trust him, Corey. Trust me. I want him to help us. We need him.”
Corey folded his arms over his chest. “You need him.”
“I need him,” she agreed, still unsure of what that meant. She just knew Christopher would do what he could to keep them all safe. Somehow she had known that from the beginning. Even when she had ventured to his hotel room, she had sensed he could be trusted with her body. It was her heart that concerned her.
“What do you want me to do?”