Chasing the Sun by Kaki Warner Read Free Book Online Page A

he stopped trying to see me. That was close to three years ago. I have heard nothing from him since. I pray he is still alive. I pray that God will help him understand and forgive me.” She turned her head and looked directly at Brady. “I pray the same for you.”
    Brady forced a smile. “It’s not you I have to forgive, Elena. Never was.”
    A sad look came into her eyes. “My brother. Sancho.”
    “And myself.” Brady felt Jessica’s hand slip into his. As always, her touch calmed him, anchored him until the flood of terrible memories receded.
    Elena sank back into the upholstered leather cushions of her chair. “My brother was an evil man who did terrible things. He broke every law of God and died because of it.” Her gaze shifted to Jessica, whose grip on Brady’s hand tightened until her nails bit into his fingers. “Do not blame yourself, hermana de mi corazón— sister of my heart,” Elena said to her. “You were God’s instrument. Nothing more.”
    Before Jessica could respond, Elena turned back to Brady. “And you, querido , what you did for your little brother was an act of love, not evil intent. How can you blame yourself for that?”
    Brady didn’t answer. He didn’t want to talk about Sam’s death, or the agony his little brother had suffered at Sancho’s hands, or the soul-shattering act of mercy Brady had been compelled to perform to release him from the pain. All of that was thirteen years in the past. Today he had another brother to worry about.
    “Could Jack still be in San Francisco?” he asked, changing the subject.
    Elena gave a weary shrug. “He spoke of Australia. Perhaps he went there.”
    “I can see you’re tired, Elena.” Jessica stood, pulling Brady up with her and glaring Hank to his feet as well. She was a stickler for proper behavior. Probably her English upbringing. “We’ve kept you up too late after such a long journey. Perhaps we can talk more tomorrow after you’re rested.”
    “Gracias, amiga . ”
    Molly stood, offering assistance as Elena pushed awkwardly to her feet, trying to keep her weight off her damaged hip. Once upright, she paused to pass around a wide smile. “I am so happy to see all of you again. Thank you for your kind welcome.” After giving her goodnights to the brothers, she went with Jessica and Molly upstairs.
    When their footfalls faded, Brady turned to Hank. “My office or yours?”
    “Mine. Bob stinks too much.”
    The house had a rectangular design with a three-story center and two-story wings on either side. The entry, which also held the stairwell, was bisected by open hallways leading to the east and west wings. Across from the double-entry doors was the huge main room, the back wall of which held a twenty-foot-tall rock fireplace and bank of windows overlooking the hilltop cemetery and mountains beyond. At one end of the room was a reading area—Jessica called it a library—and at the other end was a dining area that led into a large kitchen in the west wing. Brady had stocked the kitchen well with the biggest cookstove he could buy and an abundance of cabinets and countertops. There was also a long family dining table in the middle of the room and access to a cool-room that held the boiler Hank had built to pipe hot water throughout the house. So far, it hadn’t exploded.
    Above the entry was a U-shaped mezzanine that overlooked the main room, with hallways leading off the arms of the U into his brothers’ bedroom wings. Brady’s section was over the entry in the center of the U. Hank had the east wing over the library and offices, while Jack’s rooms were over the dining room and kitchen—if he ever got his ass home to use them. After Abigail was born, Jessica converted the third-floor attic into a nursery for the kids and their keepers. The rambling house might seem a bit crowded sometimes, with six children and double that number of adults moving in and out of it, but Brady liked having his family close by so he could