Isabel patted her hair in place and took a shaky step up the stairs to her home. How would her parents react to seeing her face to face? Would they reconsider and be willing to help her? Just the sight of the huge house where she'd once lived revived a tempest of emotionsrelief and comfort, confusion, heartache.
Home.
If her parents had been so anxious to see her, why hadn't they met her in town? Could they truly have had a change of heart? With Sawkins' information and one of her father's ships, she'd have no further need of Captain Carlton. She glanced at him as he came up on her left. His brown eyes swung to hers, and he seemed to smile at her without even a lift of his lips. No, this was a man who would not be so easily put aside.
The front door swung open, and in a swish of silk and lace, her mother glided toward her. "Oh, my darling."