Out of Control by Mary Connealy Read Free Book Online Page B

him twice. Of course she hadn’t been able to see him, either. What if he’d been sixty? She controlled a shudder of disgust.
    Standing, she gave him one more chance. “Please, will you help me? Help me get back to my father. Now—tonight. I know it’s a lot to ask. We can talk about going back down into that cavern later.”
    â€œYou’re not going down there.” Ethan’s voice turned Julia, so she finally got a better look at Rafe’s brother.
    She’d been crying when she’d seen him before. As a rule she never cried. But she’d had an extremely trying day.
    Ethan looked like Rafe in general ways. He was an inch or two above six feet, and so was Rafe. They both had broad shoulders and narrow hips. Rafe had close-cropped dark hair. Ethan’s was lighter brown and too long, the ends bleached by the sun. His eyes were different, bright blue where Rafe’s were the color of the blue sky seen through a cold fog.
    Ethan straightened from where he slouched in the doorway, and she tried to judge his reasons for being so adamant against that cavern. Fear or stubbornness—or maybe wisdom.
    â€œI can see you won’t come along.” Julia turned back to Rafe. “For now, I need to get home. Please. The way I walked isn’t so steep. We can handle it in the dark. I know the path very well.”
    â€œHow do you get across the creek?”
    â€œThere are rocks.”
    â€œI know that creek, and I’ve never seen any rocks.”
    â€œMaybe there was a landslide. I don’t know. But they seem solid and they stick up above the water and that’s how I walk across. I see no reason we can’t make it.”
    Since Ethan wasn’t willing, she didn’t even bother to look at him. “Please, Rafe.”
    His eyes held steady. Cool eyes. Strong. Almost cruel. Finally he looked over at Ethan. “I’m going to help her get home, and I’ll help her find what she wants in that cave.”
    â€œNo, Rafe.” Ethan’s voice had enough upset in it to earn him a look from Julia. His hands were fisted, his voice flashed with anger, but in his eyes she saw fear.
    â€œWhen you left,” Rafe said, “I quit going down. I saw what it had cost me. I’ve never been back.”
    â€œYou were out there today or you wouldn’t have found her.”
    Julia gasped to think of what would have become of her if Rafe hadn’t heard her cries. She’d been afraid to call out for help because the man in the dark might come. Then she’d been seized by a terrible fear and screamed for help regardless of the danger. She was near madness by the time Rafe arrived.
    Rafe moved up beside her, rested a strong hand on the small of her back, and turned to Ethan. “When I got your wire saying you were coming, I rode out there.”
    â€œWhy!” Ethan took a step forward, his jaw a tight line of anger.
    â€œI just needed to go one last time.”
    Silence reigned in the kitchen. No one moved. Finally Rafe added, “It was the last time. And I didn’t plan to go down. I just . . . I . . . Well, sometimes I go out there. That cavern, I go there and I remember that it cost me my whole family.”
    â€œThat cavern is dangerous. She doesn’t understand what she’s asking.”
    â€œI’ve been down there a dozen times,” Julia protested.
    â€œThen, you’re a fool!” Ethan’s blue eyes snapped with fire. The air crackled with tension.
    â€œFor tonight, let’s just get her home. We can talk about the cavern later.” Rafe’s words sounded as if they came from deep inside, from a place full of grief and love.
    Ethan looked away. “Sure, fine. Go help her. Go down in the cave if you want.” Ethan shoved his hands in his back pockets and went back to slouching in the doorway. “I’ll stay. Awhile.”
    Rafe was silent. He studied his brother as