Beau’s brow furrowed. “Why do you say that? You sound as though you expected such a response.”
Ramie stared directly back at him, her voice calm. “Because I know. Because I saw everything. Because I’m the one person apart from her and her kidnapper who knows exactly what she went through. You and your brothers didn’t see. You know only what she’s told you or chosen to share. She’s embarrassed and ashamed because I saw her at her worst and I experienced it with her. You can hardly expect her to roll out the welcome mat for me. Because as long as I’m here, I’m a constant reminder of everything she’s tried so hard to forget. And she doesn’t get to console herself with the fact that I don’t know everything as is the case with you and her other brothers.”
“Jesus,” Caleb said, running a hand through his hair. “I never even considered?. . .”
“I should go,” Ramie said, rising abruptly from her perch on the couch. “It’s obvious I don’t need to be here. I’m doing her harm. I should have never called you. I’m sorry.”
“I disagree,” Beau said bluntly, surprising her with his response. From the way he’d been looking at her ever since Tori’s outburst, Ramie would have thought he couldn’t get rid of her quickly enough. “I think you being here is exactly what Tori needs. You’re right. We don’t know what all she went through. We can’t possibly understand. But you can and do. And no, she won’t like it, but we’ve babied and coddled her for the last year and I think we’ve done her a huge disservice even though our instincts are to do just that. Protect and coddle her. Maybe it’s time that the gloves come off.”
“This family has used Ramie enough,” Caleb said icily. “I won’t have her used anymore. Not as a crutch for Tori. Not for anything. I promised her protection and safety, so yes, she will remain here. But not because we’re going to use her as some kind of healing measure for Tori.”
Beau looked surprised by the vehemence in Caleb’s voice. His gaze narrowed as he glanced back and forth between Ramie and Caleb.
“She’ll hate me,” Ramie said softly. “She won’t be able to bear being in the same room with me. Because every time she looks at me, she’s going to know that I know. That I know things she’s tried to forget. Things she didn’t share with you—or anyone. And she’ll resent me with every breath.”
“Good,” Beau said savagely. “At least then she resembles something of a human. Right now I’d take any emotion from her. Even hatred or anger. Anything but this lifeless apathy that has taken over my sister’s soul for the last year. You don’t deserve her anger, Ramie. But this is the first time I’ve seen so much as a glimmer of life from her. She’s lived in a fog for the last year and me and my brothers have been helpless to do anything but watch her die a little more each day. If having you here makes her feel anything at all then I don’t want you going anywhere.”
Caleb shook his head, his frustration—and grief—palpable in the tension-filled room. “That’s not why I brought her here. We owe her. We all owe her. There’s some maniac out there who’s been stalking her for a year and a half. He almost got to her yesterday. She’s not here to be some punching bag for Tori, goddamn it. We owe her better than that. So you and Quinn keep Tori away from Ramie.”
Beau went silent, his lips stretched into a thin line. Caleb put his hand on Ramie’s shoulder and gently pushed her back down onto the couch. Then he turned back to Beau.
“Ramie doesn’t think it’s safe here. The seclusion worries her. The woods. She thinks we’d never know if someone was out there.”
Ramie could tell Beau was startled by Caleb’s words and then he glanced toward Ramie as if seeking confirmation of Caleb’s assessment.
“So before we show Ramie to her room, where she can get some much-needed rest,” Caleb continued, “you and I are going to show her why she has nothing to worry about.”
TWELVE
RAMIE’S head floated effortlessly down onto the pillow, her eyelids fluttering closed. She felt swallowed up by the bed, wrapped in its comforting embrace, and she purposely shut out everything but the sensation of safety and well-being.
Because if she allowed herself to think of anything else, she’d lose her tenuous grip on her sanity.
Caleb and Beau had taken her into a room on the main floor that housed all kinds of electronics and television monitors. Every angle of the house was displayed in real time. Remote sensors dotted the entire landscape and would sound a warning if anyone ventured near the house. For that matter if anyone entered the wooded area surrounding the house, alarms would be triggered.