QUOTE : Coming to his rescue? That’s what you think I’m doing?” Her face flushed crimson. “If that’s what you’re thinking, then apparently you’ve never loved someone. You’ve never cared for someone so deeply that you would give your very life if you could—” She swiped at the tears on her cheeks as if angry they’d fallen. “If you could just keep them from going through any more pain. If you could give them what they should’ve been given from the very start. I was nine years old when Robert was born. I gained a baby brother and lost a mother in the very same day. My father left everything about raising Robert to me. Do you have any idea how frightening that was? He not only didn’t hold Robert, after she died . . .” She took a halting breath. “He never held me again either. Never touched me. I used to stand close and pass him tools in the livery, just so our fingers would brush. I just wanted to touch him.” She licked her lips, and Wyatt could almost taste the salt of her tears on his own tongue. His throat ached with emotion. He stepped closer, but she retreated.