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Keith. Molly was born six months later.”
    “That
must have been difficult for you both.”
    “It
was, but we were determined to finish our degrees. Our parents were very
supportive and understanding. Both sets helped us as much as they could.”
    “So
Molly was young when she died.” His voice was gentle, and she was grateful for
that.
    “Yes. She had just turned a year
old.”
    “I can’t imagine what that was
like.”
    “Thank you,” she whispered.
    “Wasn’t
the university hit, too?”
    His
voice was so calm and soothing, and she marveled at how sensitive he could be.
She had trouble picturing him as a ruthless business owner, and remembered what
Stacie had said about suspecting the Weathermen only wanted people to think
they were ruthless. “Yes, it was hit.” You
can do this. “We had to evacuate to a shelter. I was gone for nearly two
weeks with no word. I didn’t know if my family had survived, and I couldn’t get
in touch with anyone. None of us could.”
    Emmett’s
face registered shock and empathy, and Liane was so
grateful for that she nearly started to cry. “I didn’t realize you’d had no
word for so long.”
    “The
entire town was gone. By the time we were allowed to leave the shelter, several
government agencies had been set up with lists, and everyone except my father
and maternal grandmother were on them. They were the only two still alive, but
they were badly hurt. It took a long time to get them moved to a place in the
same city underground with me.”
    His
gaze was sharp. He hadn’t missed the hesitation in her voice or the change she
was certain showed on her face. “What do you mean by that?”
    Could
she tell him this? She had to. She’d come this far, and she might as well get
the whole truth out. “There was a lot of red tape to deal with. I made plans to
move underground and wanted my father and grandmother with me, but I had to
hire an attorney to help me do that.”
    “Go
on.” The way he said it made the hair on the back of her neck prickle. Was he
also a mind reader in addition to his many other talents?
    “The
guy did help, but there were a lot of people who needed the same kinds of help
in those days. Everything was in chaos. I was twenty-two years old by then and
had lost my entire extended family, plus Keith’s family. They had all left
wills and life insurance policies, but I was clueless where to turn first.
There were so many of them to try to find and bury, and I didn’t have anyone to
help me. I had no choice but to trust all of it to a stranger.”
    Emmett
rose and sat next to her. Simply having him this close was a comfort, but her
emotions were all mixed up now. She hadn’t trusted anyone for six years. He
stroked her arm gently, and that helped a bit. His touch conveyed understanding
and a sincere desire to help, not take advantage of her situation. This man
wasn’t Connor, and he wasn’t using her. Seducing a woman you found attractive
wasn’t the same thing as forcing a young woman into your bed in exchange for
helping her bury her entire family, and her dead husband’s family.
    “What
happened, Liane ?”
    “An
attorney named Connor Fargo offered to help me, but the cost was enormous since
there were so many deceased people involved. I had already tried to contact too
many others, and he was the first one who wasn’t too busy or greedy to start
right away. Like I said, the town was in chaos, and I wasn’t going to move
underground and simply leave my father and grandmother in a hospital. We all
knew what was going on with the storms by then, and we also knew we barely had
weeks to get below ground, let alone months or years.”
    Emmett
nodded. “I remember those days. It was the same all over the world.”
    “Yes.
What little news reports we received said so. He told me he’d start right away.
He’d handle all the paperwork, make sure my relatives and Keith’s were buried,
and he’d ensure my father and grandmother would be placed in