Page 41 of More Than Meets the Eye

And incredibly attractive.

She couldn’t help but lean a little closer to him. Handsome. Heroic. Handy in a crisis. And brilliant to boot. Her heart was in serious danger.

But that danger was nothing compared to what the young lady beside her had faced.

Zach nodded a grudging thanks to Logan, then turned his attention to their other guest. He kept his voice gentle and calm, like he had when he’d helped Seth with his breathing. “Who tried to hurt you, miss?”

She immediately ducked her head and shook it from side to side.

“You don’t know, or you don’t want to tell me?”

She made no response. Not even a shrug. Almost as if . . .

Evangeline pondered a moment, then slowly rose from the table. Logan’s hand slid away from its resting place on her chair as he turned to watch her. He raised a brow in question, but she gave him a quick smile of reassurance and continued on. She moved behind the table to the stove, where the large, metal roasting pan sat, filled midway with soapy water to soak the baked-on grit.

As Seth rubbed the girl’s hand and promised protection, Evangeline carried the pan to the dry sink and poured the dirty water into the empty washtub. Zach asked the girl a second time about the man who had dumped her in the river, and again she made no response.

Evangeline walked back to the stove, then a few steps past. Zach and Seth paid her no mind, their attention focused on the girl. Logan, on the other hand, caught her eye, his intrigued expression posing more questions.

He’d have his answers soon enough. And so would she.

When Evangeline was in position, directly behind the young woman, she lifted the roasting pan shoulder high and dropped it.

The crash was so loud when it hit the floor that all three men jumped. Even Logan. The girl startled, too, but a hair slower than the rest.

“For pity’s sake, Evie!” Zach yelled.

She was pretty sure he was glaring at her, but she didn’t look his way to confirm. She kept her gaze locked on the woman who was turning in her chair to see what had happened.

Evangeline bent to retrieve the pan, then mouthed an apology to the woman. I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t scare you too badly. She gave the words no actual voice, but it didn’t matter. Her new friend somehow read them in the shape of her lips. The girl smiled and shook her head as if to say everything was fine.

“You can’t hear me, can you?” Evangeline asked.

The girl’s eyes widened in horror, and she jumped from her seat, knocking her chair sideways in the process.

“It’s all right.” Worried that the girl would try to bolt, Evangeline dropped the roasting pan again and held up her empty hands in a placating manner. “I’m still your friend.” She slowed her words down and spoke in a louder voice. Then, realizing how silly speaking louder was, she grinned at herself and resumed her normal tone. She added a few hand motions, thinking they might aid communication. “You must be so smart,” she said, pointing to her head. “To figure out what people are saying without being able to hear.” She tapped her ear then pressed her palms to her own chest. “I’m so impressed.”

Tears glistened in the girl’s eyes. “I’m broken,” she said, her voice a little muddy, the ends of her words indistinct, yet Evangeline understood them. Understood but didn’t accept. She couldn’t allow this amazing woman to believe herself inferior.

Pointing one finger to her blue eye, then moving it to her brown one, Evangeline said, “So am I.” Then she gestured to the others in the room. “We all are.”

The young woman turned to look at each person around the table. First to Seth—no doubt remembering his asthma attack—then to Zach, and finally to Logan. Each of the men nodded as she glanced his way, confirming that they, too, recognized their own imperfections and flaws.

Logan nodded to the girl, but he also raised his eyes and speared Evangeline with a piercing look, as if he were trying to communicate a message. Something important. Something about flaws and imperfections, perhaps? She longed to delve and explore, yet even as her pulse sped at the lure of unraveling a piece of the mystery surrounding her new neighbor, she forced down the desire. Logan’s secrets would have to wait. She had more pressing matters at hand.

Drawing the girl’s attention back to herself by stepping close and touching her shoulder, Evangeline spoke the words on her heart. “People might try to hide their broken places and pretend to be whole, but the truth is that we all have failings. That is why we need each other.” She gestured to Seth and Zach. “My brothers make me stronger. They shore up my broken places with their love and support. And I do the same for them.” She reached for the girl’s hands and clasped them firmly. “Let us do the same for you. Please. We can help you. We can be your family.”

The girl’s arms trembled. Her chin quivered. Her focus darted to each occupant of the room, uncertainty and hope vying for supremacy in her eyes. Then she turned back to Evangeline, straightened her spine, and with a nod of her head, chose hope.

16

The woman was amazing. Well, both of them, really. After all, it wasn’t every day a man encountered a deaf person who could speak and understand what was spoken to her. Yet it wasn’t the girl from the river who astounded Logan. It was Eva.

We’re all broken, she had declared. Without shame. Wanting only to bond with a frightened girl who feared her secret would cause her to be cast out.

Who did that?

Society trained its members to hide their defects from an early age. Self-preservation demanded it. It was why he angled his hat to cover the scar slashing across his left eye. Why he concealed his last name. Why he bluffed in poker when he held weak cards. To be successful, one required an edge on the competition, even one built solely on perception.