A Soldier's Secret. RaeAnne Thayne

silence dragged on but he held his ground. Finally she heaved a long-suffering sigh and surrendered.

      “What have you found?” she asked. “Have those women gutted the house and sold everything in it?”

      He gazed around at the apartment with its new coat of paint and kitchen cabinets and he thought of the downstairs apartment, with its spacious new floor plan.

      “I wouldn’t exactly say that.”

      “Brambleberry House was filled with priceless antiques. Some of them were family heirlooms that should have gone to you. I can’t believe Abigail didn’t do a better job of preserving them for you. You’re her only living relative and those family items should be yours.”

      Since she had backed down first, he let her ramble on about the injustice of it all—as if Meredith cared about anyone’s history beyond her own.

      “I was apparently mistaken to let you visit her all those summers. When I think of the expense and time involved in sending you there, I just get furious all over again.”