The vision shook her head, taking his hand in hers. "I'm not Meg, Daniel," she told him.
Realization hit Daniel like a bucket of cold water. "Maeve," he said, pulling his hand from hers as if her touch burned him. It wasn't a question. Of course it was Maeve. Meg was dead. She'd been dead for over thirty years.
"You never could tell us apart, could you, Daniel?" Maeve recalled sadly. "Being identical twins was never easy. I'm sure you and Nathan ran into the same problems."
"Nathan," Daniel repeated, frowning. "What- what are you doing here? In Nathan's house?"
She held out her left hand for him to see the plain gold band that resided there. "Where else would I be, now, but in my husband's house?" she asked.
"You and- Nate?" Daniel asked in reply, unable to hide his surprise. "I'm surprised you didn't tell him to leave me on the doorstep to die," he said bitterly. "Finish the job you started back in Ireland."
"Oh, Daniel," she sighed. "It turned out well, didn't it? You found the lad."
"Yes. After he was bounced from hither to yon and back again. After I went to hell and back, giving up on ever seeing my son-" he stopped as the pain began to return. The medication was wearing off. But now he welcomed the pain. It reminded him that he was still alive. For the time being, at least. Unable to look at Maeve, he turned his head to stare glumly out of the window, not seeing the scenery in the fading light outside, concentrating instead on his anger.
"I want t'apologize for what I did, Daniel. I truly believed it was the right thing t'do at the time. Meg was dead, you were in prison, and at the time, I wasn't capable of takin' care of the lad. Giving him up seemed the best option for all concerned. If I'd known that Meg had written you, told you about him, I would never have tried t'make you think I was Meg that day. And if I'd know as well that years later I'd meet your brother who would convince me t'try again to find him-"
Daniel looked at her. "Nate did that?"
She nodded. "When he first showed up, I thought he was you, come back to make my life hell for what I'd done. I'd tried t'find Meg's child after you left," she admitted, surprising Daniel further, "but that system was so filled with cracks. Thinkin' he was you, I refused t'speak with Nate for a month, out of a sense of guilt for what I'd done. Then one day there was an auto accident that happened right beside where we were standin', arguin', and he saved the life of the young man who was injured. I knew then he was tellin' me the truth, that he was your twin brother. I didn't even know y'had a brother."
"Meg knew. Meg knew everything about me. Knew me better than I knew myself."
"Meg was like that," Maeve recalled, and Daniel heard, for the first time, real regret in Maeve's voice. "She was special. I'm sorry, Daniel, for what I did. But losing Meg- it was like losing a part of myself. Maybe you can understand that- having lost touch with Nate- and losing the boy. But you've got another chance here. T'make things right. With Nate- and with your son. Don't let your anger with me cause you to toss that away."
"I might not have much choice in the matter," Daniel told her.
"Nonsense. Nathan's a good doctor. He patched you up good as new."
"For what?" Daniel asked. "So that the man who tried to kill me once can do it again? I'm a dead man, Maeve. I was from the moment Jason Harmon found out what I was trying to do."
"Then why did you fight so hard t'stay alive?" Maeve asked. "Why keep going even though you'd lost so blood that it would have killed a less determined man until you found Nathan? Why not just lay down and die, Daniel?"
"Maeve, -" he began, but she wasn't listening. Not at all like her sister would have done. She'd always been the stronger of the two, Daniel decided.
"We'll have no talk of your dying, Daniel Chalmers Martindale, and that's the end of it," she declared in a no-nonsense tone. "I'm sure that son of yours and his lady can come up with some way to see to it that Harmon gets his just rewards." Her voice softened. "He's a good lad, Daniel. Y'did well by him. Meg would be proud."
"Do you think so?"
"He's respected on two continents," she pointed out. "The great detective Himself."
"I wish I could take credit for that," Daniel said. "But its more Laura Holt's doing than mine. When I finally found him, he was a scrawny, dirty, angry little street urchin with a mixed accent and a chip on his shoulder the size if Ireland itself. I taught him how to talk, and dress, and behave like a gentleman, but-"
"Then y'gave him a good foundation to become the man he is now." She patted his shoulder. "You get some rest. I have supper to attend to."
"Maeve," Daniel asked, reaching out to grasp her hand and prevent her departure. "Where is Harry?"
"Harry? Oh, Daniel, y'didn't call him after-"
"Where is he, Maeve?"
"Outside with Miss Holt, according to Jarred." Daniel frowned. "Your nephew. Eighteen years old and can't wait t'see the world. Reminds Nathan of you, he says." She drew her hand from his and laid his on the bed. "I'll send him in when he comes back," she promised.
Carol smiled at him as she returned to the room and began taking his vital signs with a professional air. "Mother tells me that you know who we are now," she said, and Daniel was surprised to hear only a slight Irish accent in her voice. "So I suppose I should call you "Uncle"?"
"That's your decision, my dear. But I wouldn't be averse to it," he told her, and with a little start realized that it was the truth. Perhaps having a family wasn't such a bad thing after all. Too bad he wasn't going to be around long enough to enjoy it…
***
"Daniel's convinced that Jason Harmon is going to find
him and kill him," Laura said as she and Remington entered
the house.
"He could be right, Laura," Remington conceded. "From
what I heard before Nathan called, Harmon's not pleased that he
came so close to being taken. Wants to make an example out of
Daniel to stop it from happening again."
"And are y'goin' t'let him succeed, lad?" Maeve asked from the kitchen doorway. She smiled as Remington and Laura turned to look at her. "I didn't tell him about it when he and I spoke earlier, but- while I was in the village at the grocers, I ran into Mrs. Parton. She lives just down the road from us. She caught several men on her property this morning, and they claimed they were looking for a bit of 'rubbish' that one of them had tossed out a few days ago. They offered her fifty pounds if she were to hear anything about someone else finding it."
"Valuable rubbish," Laura noted.
"Sounds as though Harmon's on Daniel's trail," Nathan told them from the stairway.
"Apparently so," Remington agreed. "Nathan- I want to apologize for the way I acted earlier-"
Nathan Martindale studied him for a long moment. "No need. I wasn't myself either, truth be told."
"Well, that's what all this is about, isn't it? The truth?" Remington questioned.
"Speaking of which," Maeve said. "Daniel was asking for you awhile ago, Remington."
"He was?"
"When was this, Maeve?" Nathan asked his wife, and Laura wasn't certain what the look he sent her meant.
"I relieved Carol for a few minutes after I returned from town," she explained, not quite meeting her husband's gaze. "Daniel woke up and we- talked, Nathan. Settled a few things."
Nathan nodded. "Let me go in and check on him before you speak to him, Remington."
"I need to clean up," Remington told them.
"I'll show you to your room," Maeve offered, watching Nathan disappear down the corridor with troubled eyes. "I hope y'don't mind sharin'. There's only the one spare room upstairs. I suppose we could put one of you up down here, if you'd prefer, but I thought that-"
Laura felt Remington's' eyes on her, leaving the decision up to her. She smiled. "That's fine, Maeve," she assured the woman. "We've shared rooms before in the course of our work. We'll be fine."
He put an arm around her shoulders to show his gratitude for her decision. At the moment, he wasn't sure he could do this without knowing that Laura was within reaching distance. She was his rock, the only thing that was keeping him from flying the coop.
As soon as Maeve closed the door and left them in the bedroom with its twin beds, he pulled Laura into his embrace. "Thank you." He moved away, putting his suitcase on the bed to open it and pull out some clean clothes. "You still don't have any-"
"Maeve and Susan have offered to let me borrow a few things," she told him, indicating the small pile of clothing on the dresser. "I'll be fine. You go take a shower and get cleaned up so you can have that talk with Daniel."
"Any ideas about what we should do about Harmon?" he asked.
Laura placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him toward the door, which Maeve had told them led to the bath. "Shower. Shave. Now."
"I love it when you're domineering," he told her, and then closed the door quickly before she could toss anything at his smiling face.
***
Nathan found Carol and Daniel chattering away like old friends. "You're looking much better," he commented, causing Carol to fall silent and slip her air of professionalism back into place.
"Only temporarily, I'm sure," Daniel told is brother. "So are you. Got some rest, I assume?"
"A bit. How's he doing, Carol?"
"Much better," she said. "He's still got a long road to recovery, but-"
"Yes, well, I think your mother has your supper almost ready. I'll stay with him for awhile," Nathan told his daughter, his gaze on the clipboard in his hands.
"Yes, sir," she said in a more reserved tone, but Nathan saw the smile in her eyes when she winked at Daniel before leaving. "Apparently you've managed to win her over. Not an easy task, either. I always thought Carol immune to charming con men."
"She's a good girl," Daniel told him. "And an excellent nurse. She'll make an even better doctor."
"Carol told you about that?"
"Yes. Was there some reason why she shouldn't have done so?" Daniel questioned.
"No," Nathan said, but inside he was seething. Her dream of attending to medical school was something that Carol had, until now, only discussed with him. Her father. Not some stranger who just happened to be her Uncle. He moved over to verify the notes that Carol had made. "I hear you've met my wife."
"She dropped by for a visit, yes. I thought she was-"
"I thought you would. You thought she was Meg the night you arrived, too."
"Did I?" Daniel did recall thinking he saw Meg that night, just before he'd given in to the darkness that had been threatening to claim him for hours. "We had a nice chat."
"She regrets having done what she did, Daniel. I think, if she had it to do over again, things would have turned out differently."
"Meg would still be dead," Daniel reminded him. "She wasn't strong enough to have a child. And Maeve's had two. I'm looking forward to meeting my nephew. Jarred, isn't it?"
"You and he will get along famously, I'm sure. *Harry* will be in to see you soon," he said deliberately, and felt a sense of guilt as he saw Daniel pale slightly.
"I suppose it's time to face the music, hmm?"
"Why on earth do you call him Harry, Daniel? You hated our father."
"That's not true, Nate. I never hated him. I did everything I could for years to make him love me. But he couldn't. He blamed me-"
"For Mother's death," Nate recalled, sighing. "Yes, I've heard the story, Daniel. Over and over, time and time again. She could have survived my birth, but yours was too much for her, and Father never accepted you because you took her away from him."
"You're still as pigheaded as ever, Nate," Daniel said. "Refusing to open your eyes and see what's around you."
"Oh, I see, all right, Daniel. I saw Father's heart break when you got thrown out of school for the last time. I saw the way he watched as you walked away never to return. I was the one who was there when he took his last breath, asking for your forgiveness-" Nathan drew another deep breath. "And you weren't there to give it."
"He didn't want my forgiveness, Nate," Daniel insisted. "He wanted you to think well of him. To think that he regretted treating me like a poor relation while I was growing up. If he'd really had a change of heart, why didn't he change his will to include me instead of leaving everything to you?"
"I offered to share my inheritance with you -"
"Because somewhere in that hard head of yours, you knew that I was telling the truth," Daniel insisted. "I didn't *want* his money, Nate. I wanted much more than that from him. And it's something that you can never give me in his stead."
"Honestly, Daniel. You still have a penchant for over dramatization, don't you?"
Daniel sighed again. "You sounded just like him just then."
"I don't know how you had the nerve to call your son after Father."
"To tell you the truth, to this day, I've no idea how it happened. But I needed a name to call him, something other than the hatful he'd given me- and it just- came out. Stranger still, it suited the boy. It still does. Although I'm practically the only one he lets call him that anymore." He shook his head. "He prefers Remington these days. And it suits him even better than Harry. But he'll always be Harry to me. Perhaps, in my own way, I've made my peace with Father's memory by trying to raise my own son as best I could."
"And you did an excellent job," Remington said as he entered the room. "Except for the part about how important it is to tell the truth."
"Harry," Daniel said, not at all certain that he was ready for this confrontation.
"How's the patient doing, Nathan?" Remington asked.
"Remarkably well, actually," Nathan confirmed. "Don't over tax his strength," he cautioned. "You two have a lot to discuss. I'll be down the hall if you need me."
Remington nodded, remaining between the door and the bed, his eyes on Daniel as Nathan left father and son alone.