her grandmother’s earring behind in the hotel.
Every time Victoria thought about her friend, she wanted to weep for not only the loss of a friendship but also for what would become of Theresa once her crimes were made public. Her striving to improve herself had brought about her downfall instead of the elevation she’d sought.
The sad situation was all the more reason Victoria wanted to break free of the constraints of the world she’d grown up in. If the desire to climb higher led people in her social circles to consider kidnapping and murder, then clearly that world had too much control over them.
Victoria had tried to speak to her friend earlier in the morning when the sheriff had accompanied Theresa from the jail to the waiting steamer.
“I’m sorry for not being a better friend,” she’d said as she walked with Theresa up the gangplank. “If I hadn’t been so focused on myself, I would have seen that you cared for Nathaniel.”
Arch had tried to tell her that Nathaniel wouldn’t have cared for Theresa in return. Not even if Victoria had given him up much sooner. But Victoria still couldn’t absolve herself of the guilt. If she’d been more sensitive and less selfish, she might have seen Theresa’s hurt earlier and prevented all of the problems.
Arch’s heavy steps approached her and his gaze told her that it was time to go. “Ready for this?” He held out the item she’d decided to bring along.
Victoria let her fingers linger over the grainy wood. As she’d prepared to see Nathaniel off, she’d asked Arch for a suggestion of something to give Nathaniel to ease his pain, to let him know that even if she couldn’t marry him, she still cared about him.
Arch had nodded at her driftwood cross on the bedstead in her hotel room. Several years ago, she’d told Arch the story behind the cross, the same story her mother had written in a letter when she’d been separated from her father, not knowing what the future would bring, especially in relation to her blindness. During that time, her mother had learned not to place her hope in her circumstances or a man, both of which would change. But she’d learned instead to hope in the one Beacon that would always be there, no matter what darkness came her way.
It was finally time to pass the mementoes along to someone else who needed hope more than she did.
She traced the pattern of the cross one last time. Then she held out the treasure to Nathaniel. “I want you to have this.”
“Your cross of hope?” The surprise in his expression told her that he knew how much it meant to her.
“Read the letter that goes with it.”
“But the cross is your mother’s.”
“I know she’d approve of me giving it to you.”
Nathaniel studied the wood, which had cracked and lightened with age. The cross certainly wasn’t anything spectacular. Most men in Nathaniel’s position of wealth would have thought it a mere trifle.
When he looked at her again, his eyes were resigned but gentle. “I’ll take good care of it.”
“I know you will.”
It was his turn to reverently finger the wood that had weathered many wrecks. Victoria prayed it would help him through this new wreck she’d made for him. “I’m sorry, Nathaniel,” she said again, as she already had numerous times since he’d caught her kissing Tom yesterday. She wasn’t sorry for kissing Tom, but she was sad she’d hurt Nathaniel.
He lifted a gloved hand to her cheek. “You’re not entirely to blame, darling.” He tenderly stroked her skin. “I think I always knew that you weren’t mine, even though I tried hard to hold on to you and not let you get away.”
A light drizzle had begun to fall. The breathy whistle of the steamboat rising amidst a cloud of white vapor alerted them that the captain was ready for departure. Around them, the shore was nearly deserted. Any passengers leaving on the Blue Belle had already boarded.
Nathaniel drew his finger down her cheek one last time before dropping his hand. “Good-bye, Victoria.”
She rose on her toes and quickly kissed his cheek. Then she strode away before she made a fool of herself and began to cry. She wasn’t sure why she had the sudden surge of emotion at his departure. Perhaps because his leaving signified that she was cutting herself off from her old life. He had been her final link, and by turning him away, she was choosing a new