Page 348 of Hidden Depths

A strip of cloth covered her mouth.

Her eyes widened.

Nathan dropped beside her.

“Eleanor.”

The word broke from him.

Not like a name.

Like a prayer.

He pulled the cloth from her mouth.

Mom stared at him.

For the first time since I had entered the building...

She looked frightened.

Then Nathan touched her face.

And the fear disappeared.

“I knew you’d come,” she whispered.

Nathan closed his eyes.

Only for a second.

But I saw everything he had hidden for years.

Love.

Relief.

Pain.

A lifetime of waiting.

He cut the ropes from her wrists.

Mom lifted one trembling hand and rested it against his cheek.

“You took long enough.”

Nathan laughed.

A broken sound filled with too much emotion.

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be.”

Then she wrapped her arms around him.

Nathan held her as if he had waited his entire life to do it.