The Circle Eight: Nicholas by Emma Lang Page B

him for that.
    “Nothing in my life shines the way you do. Even the color of your hair glows in any light. You are so damn brave and strong. I felt less than worthy to help you when you were shot. When I saw what you did, killed your father for his crimes against all and sundry, I was humbled.” His voice had grown thick with emotion and she resisted the urge to pat his arm or take his hand. He needed, not to mention deserved, to experience his feelings. “It almost hurt to look at you. There was nothing I could offer you that you couldn’t do on your own.”
    “Not true.” She couldn’t help it. The fact this big, strong man was intimidated by her independence was foolish.
    “Then you shared your story about Grace and how you lost her. I can’t be the man for you to share your life with, but perhaps I could give you a gift you would remember me for during that life.”
    Share her life? He wanted to share his life with her? Winnie digested that piece of information, or at least attempted to, and couldn’t stop her heart from thumping. She’d never met anyone who understood the struggles she endured, sometimes on a daily basis, until she met Nicholas Graham. His struggles were equal to if not greater than hers.
    “If I can find her, then maybe I can chase away some of my own darkness.” He flexed his hands and then fisted them. “God knows I haven’t been able to do it.”
    “Is that all? That is the only reason? To chase away your own shadows?” She punched his arm. “You are selfish.” Winnie’s disappointment washed over her. He was a good person who had helped her to survive the gunshot that nearly took her life. Now he was showing her he only thought of himself.
    “ I want to find your family,” he whispered. “Everyone needs family.”
    Her breath caught. “What did you say?”
    “Family.”
    She stared at him, heart in her throat. “I don’t understand.”
    “For all the complaining I do about my family, I know I wouldn’t be here without them.” His gaze met hers. Honesty. Truth. Desperation. “Please. Let me find her.”
    Winnie’s stomach turned in a circle once, then again. She tasted food from the previous day’s wedding feast. He knew what he offered her, what it meant to her and how much it hurt to even imagine such a thing. Yet he asked her to allow him to rip the scab off he biggest, deepest wound on her soul.
    She got to her feet and walked a few feet away, her arms around her middle. Nausea continued to assault her. And along with it was something she never expected…hope.
    Hope was such a dangerous thing. She had it bled o ut of her at the age of ten. Now the notion she could find Grace raced through her, followed quickly by the one thing she knew she might not survive.
    Hope.
    Before, Winnie endured pain and anger. Now, she shook from the possibility of what his request meant. She hadn’t allowed herself to open that door before. Now he was pushing it open, albeit in the guise of asking her permission.
    She should say no. She should climb back in the wagon and go home. To her safe boardinghouse and safe life. To never think about what might have been if she said yes to Nicholas Graham’s crazy plan. She opened her mouth to tell him no.
    Then she found she had lost her mind along with him.
    “Promise me you won’t break my heart. Promise me you will find her.”
    Nicholas’s expression spoke of surprise and determination. “I promise you I won’t stop until we find her.”
    “We?”
    “Yes, we. You’re smart and you know people in Houston. I have a gun and a bad attitude. Together we can do anything.”
    She couldn’t stop the snort that escaped. “ You can be formidable.”
    “And you are smarter than any woman I know.”
    “I doubt that is true. I’ve met your sisters and sisters-in-law. They all appear to be quite smart women.”
    He waved his hand. “I don’t consider them when I think of females.”
    This time Winnie smiled. “You have a certain charm,