Loving Bella. Renee Ryan

back, another forward, then rushed across the kitchen floor and flung herself into his arms. “Oh, Beau. I’ve missed you.”

      Wrapping her tightly in his arms, he patted her back much like a parent would a child. “Ah, Bella,” he said. “It’s been too long.”

      She sniffed, buried her face against his shoulder.

      After countless seconds, Beau pulled back and very slowly, very carefully set her away from him. He studied her face a moment longer, then frowned. “What’s happened?”

      She gripped the pendant around her neck and tapped her collarbone lightly with her fist. “Nothing’s happened,” she said, her voice nonchalant. Too nonchalant.

      Beau folded his arms over his chest. “Try again, little sister.”

      She dropped her gaze to her toes and dug the tip of her boot into a slat in the wood floor. “Can’t a girl visit her brother and meet his new wife without there being a reason?”

      Shane sighed. Whatever had brought Bella O’Toole to Denver she wasn’t going to share the details with her brother anytime soon. Pity, that. Shane knew from personal experience the unholy tragedies that grew out of hidden secrets.

      “No, Bella.” Beau gently clutched his sister by the shoulders. “A woman does not travel halfway around the world to see her brother without a reason. Not when she’s on tour in Europe.” He placed a finger under her chin and applied pressure. “Not when she’s been given the role of a lifetime.”

      Chin up, she glanced desperately at Shane out of the corners of her eyes. He lifted a shoulder in a helpless gesture. In return, her face took on a look of feminine determination, the personification of “watch this.”

      Shane’s stomach did a fast roll.

      Unconsciously regal, she crossed the kitchen and stood next to Shane, shoulder to shoulder, in a show of solidarity. Take that big brother, her stance said. It’s us against you.

      Shane’s stomach did another, faster roll.

      Right. He was in the thick of it now, caught in the middle of a sibling squabble full of dynamics he didn’t fully understand.

      Miss O’Toole slid him a quicksilver grin, took a deep breath.

      Shane braced for impact.

      “As of today,” she said on a breezy whisper, turning those remarkable eyes onto her brother. “I no longer sing opera.”

      The dramatic lilt of her voice made Shane visibly cringe. A scene was in the making.

      Thankfully, as a member of a famous acting family, Beauregard O’Toole had seen his share of female theatrics. And like any big brother worth his salt, he didn’t seem overly impressed with his sister’s performance.

      “Just like that. No more opera.” His tone flattened. “One day in Denver and you quit your life’s calling.”

      With elegant movements, she reached out, took a deep breath and smoothed a loose strand of hair off her face. “Who said singing opera is my life’s calling?” she asked.

      Beau’s eyes narrowed to thin slits. “You did. In every letter you’ve written since you turned twelve years old.”

      Ah, the rare valid point in the midst of female illogic. A point, Shane noted, that Miss O’Toole completely disregarded with an unladylike sniff. “As of today,” she wrapped her arm through Shane’s, “I’m a nurse.”

      Beau sucked in a breath. “You’re a what?”

      “A. Nurse,” she said through clenched teeth.

      “Assistant, actually,” Shane muttered.

      Both O’Tooles glared at him.

      “There’s a difference,” Shane pointed out, his voice sounding defensive even to his own ears. “A rather large difference,” he added with more confidence as he untangled his arm from Miss O’Toole’s.

      “You hired Bella?” Beau’s gaze cut through Shane like a scalpel. “Have you gone mad?”

      Shane glanced at the woman standing beside him, noted the hidden desperation behind her false bravado. For whatever reason, she needed this job—he knew it as sure as he knew his own name—and Shane Bartlett was a fool for a woman in need.

      No matter what that meant to his friendship with Beau, no matter how ill-thought out the idea was, Shane was going to hire Bella O’Toole as his new assistant.

      “Apparently.” He blew out a frustrated hiss. “Insanity is indeed one of my more stellar traits.”

      Chapter Four

      Alone at last in her brother’s house, belongings long since stowed in the guest bedroom, Bella stood in the small, beautifully decorated parlor. Ignoring the lace curtains, the rose-print wallpaper and stylish furniture, she placed her hand on the windowpane, leaned her forehead on the cool glass and simply looked at the scenery beyond.

      The slow ticking from the clock on the mantel soothed her nerves. She found herself slowing her breathing to match the rhythmic cadence.

      She hadn’t expected to find Beau settled in the middle of a wealthy neighborhood. He’d written in great detail of his decision to build a church that would be directly connected to an orphanage for prostitutes’ mistakes. He’d told of his wife’s support, both financial and emotional, throughout the entire building project. But his letters had failed to do justice to the fairy-tale world in which they’d settled.

      And not just the large homes of expensive brick, manicured lawns and attention to detail.

      Bella had never seen a sky so blue. So clear.

      The mountains in the distance marched in a row, looking like sentinels on duty, safeguarding all who moved in their shadows. Puffy white clouds weaved along the top peaks, creating a sheer downy blanket of added beauty.

      Bringing her gaze closer to Beau’s home, she took in trees of all shapes and sizes lining the lane between the church and Charity House’s front door. The afternoon breeze swirled fallen leaves into a tapestry of shifting shapes and rich colors of autumn.

      Switching to the window on her right, Bella eyed the yard that connected the church to Charity House. The children were at play again. Now that the drama of Ethan’s injury was hours old, the fun had resumed.

      Some of the more active boys played a hearty game of tag. Others climbed trees. Some of the girls sat in a small group, tying miniature bonnets on their dolls’ heads. All in all, the children looked healthy, happy, and well-cared for.

      But Bella had seen the anguish in their eyes, the sense of aloneness that they all shared. She had seen the look that both connected them to one another and yet kept them painfully separate. There was an underlying sense of dishonor and disconnection that they didn’t think anyone else could understand.

      Oh, but Bella understood all too well. She knew the loneliness that was brought on by shame, the inability to connect to people she’d once adored. Even her brother seemed a foreigner to her now. He was too much a man of Christian integrity. Surely he would see through her facade if she allowed him to look too closely. So she wouldn’t allow him to look. Ever.

      The sound of approaching footsteps halted her thoughts. The hint of authority in the steps told her Beau had returned for round three of their argument.

      Bella took a fortifying pull of air into her lungs as her brother joined her.

      She pointed to his wrinkled forehead. “If you don’t watch out, that line will become permanent.”

      His scowl deepened. “You can’t seriously be considering Shane’s offer.”

      Bella scrunched her face in an identical expression and tried to ignore the fact that her brother looked well. The brute. Happy, too. The hint of contentment in his gold eyes belied his abrupt words