McKettrick's Choice - Linda Lael Miller [39]
The muscles in Raul’s shoulders quivered, but he stood his ground.
Angelina, meanwhile, took the judge’s arm. “Come,” she said. “Sit down. We’ll discuss the matter calmly—”
He shook her off, and the look in his eyes was so full of hatred that Lorelei, standing beside Raul now, recoiled when her father’s gaze sliced to her.
“You’ve been a trial to me from the day of your birth,” he snarled. “Well, I wash my hands of you, do you hear me? I am through.”
Inwardly, Lorelei winced, but if Raul could face down a tiger, so could she.
Angelina whispered some sad imprecation in Spanish.
“Your mother,” the judge went on ruthlessly, “was a madwoman and a slut. You’re no better.”
“Why do you keep saying that?” Lorelei asked, feeling as though she’d been lashed.
The judge indulged in an ugly little smile. “Ask Angelina,” he said. “She’ll tell you about it. Won’t you, Angelina?”
Out of the corner of her eye, Lorelei saw Angelina lower her head.
“Angelina?” Lorelei whispered.
But Angelina shook her head. “Not now,” she said weakly. “Not now.”
The judge came to stand directly in front of Lorelei, leaning in so close that she could feel his breath on her face, hot as the winds of hell itself. “You’ll fail, Lorelei,” he told her softly. “You’ll run through that money you filched from my bank account in no time at all. You’ll have Templeton trying to drive you out from one side, and John Cavanagh’s ‘son’ from the other. Do not think for one blessed moment that I’ll take you in after this.”
Lorelei didn’t dare speak, or even move. If she broke down and cried, she might never be able to stop.
Her father turned, walked unsteadily back toward the buggy. Once he’d gotten in and taken up the reins, he turned to deliver one last salvo.
“From this day forward,” he said, “you are no longer my daughter.”
Angelina put an arm around Lorelei, holding her up.
She watched mutely as the judge drove away.
“Come, Chiquita,” Angelina said presently. “You must sit down. I’ll make you a cup of tea.”
Lorelei watched her father out of sight, his words echoing in her head.
From this day forward, you are no longer my daughter.
Angelina patted her hand. “Come,” she repeated, and when Lorelei looked at her face, she saw that Angelina was weeping.
“Tell me what you know about my mother,” Lorelei said, digging in her heels. She would not take another step until she got an answer, and Angelina must have known that, because she exchanged a sorrowful look with Raul. He touched Lorelei’s shoulder, lightly, briefly, and walked away, leaving the two women alone.
“She did not go to a hospital, Chiquita. She went to an asylum. She’s not in that grave behind St. Ambrose’s.”
Lorelei’s knees nearly buckled. She’d been visiting an empty grave all these years? “That’s impossible—all if it is impossible!”
“I knew Selma very well,” Angelina said calmly, her face wet with the memories. “I raised her, just as I raised you.”
Lorelei reeled. Had her mother been a madwoman?
CHAPTER 16
THERE WAS STILL no word from the governor.
Holt resigned himself to a trip to Austin, even though he couldn’t spare the time, and proceeded to hunt down a lawyer. He had bad luck with that, too. None of the three candidates for the job were willing to say so outright, but they were all afraid of Judge Fellows, Isaac Templeton or both.
He went to see Gabe, bringing the dog along with him.
Gabe wouldn’t so much as glance his way, let alone talk. He just sat there on his cot, hands clasped, staring at the wall. Playing the stoic savage.
“I told you,” Holt said miserably, “that Melina wouldn’t stay in Waco, once she knew you were behind bars.”
Gabe didn’t answer. Didn’t move.
“To hell with you, then,” Holt said. “Hang if you want to.”
He didn’t mean it, and Gabe knew that as well as Holt did, but