Ransomed Dreams by Sally John Page B

“Sorry.”
    She pulled the blanket up to her elbows. In the dark cabin, most passengers were settled in for the middle-of-the-night flight, but she needed to talk. Sleeping was out of the question. Luke didn’t need it himself. He could function for days on little or none.
    She took a sip of tea and set the cup back on the tray. “Thirty years ago, Eliot and Noelle honeymooned in Topala.”
    His brows rose. Noelle was Eliot’s first wife, a fact he knew. “Really?”
    Ha! He did not know about the honeymoon. She gave in and smirked at him. “Really. They were booked into a Mazatlán resort. On their second day, they drove up to the village to sightsee and ended up staying there for something like ten days. Which probably explains that little lapse in your goody bag of information.”
    He ignored the jab. “Did you and Eliot ever visit there?”
    “Don’t you know that either?”
    “Uncle!”
    She couldn’t help but smile. “I win?”
    “It’s yours.”
    “All right.”
    It was a game they used to play, after his eyes changed color. Whenever she pestered hospital staff for things for her husband, at times totally obnoxious, Luke would whisper, “Inside, they’re crying uncle. You win.” It diffused her anxiety, gave her breathing space.
    “No,” she said now. “I never went to Topala with Eliot before. It was their place.”
    “Weird choice for you to move there?”
    She shrugged. “Not exactly. It’s not like I knew Noelle. When she was killed in a car accident, they had been married for ten years. I didn’t meet him until years later.”
    He nodded. Of course he would have known that tidbit.
    “We wanted a home that was not overtly connected with our past. Eliot thought Topala fit our needs. It was obscure and quiet. We stayed awhile in Mesa Aguamiel and met Mercedes there. Then we found the house, bought furnishings, added things to accommodate Eliot’s, uh, situation.” She heard the quotation marks around the word situation and felt a stab of guilt. Her pride was ridiculous, especially with Gabe the angel who could see right through her. “Handicapped. He’s handicapped. I can’t seem to say the word.”
    “It’s got to take some getting used to.”
    “Yeah. Anyway, you probably know that he was born in Mexico?”
    “Sure. The Montgomery family is legendary in some circles. They’ve made history with him, his father, and his grandfather being ambassadors.”
    “As you can imagine, he always felt at home in foreign countries, especially Mexico. Language and culture were not issues. Compared to the U.S., living expenses are cheap. Not that money was a major concern, but given his medical expenses, it weighed in on our decision.”
    “He’s old blue-blood money, right?”
    “The Montgomery pockets run deep.”
    Eliot’s family money seemed almost freakish in its supply. Great-grandfathers on both sides had invested wisely and taught their children, who taught their children well. Eliot was the only child and the only grandchild. His family—grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles—had been deceased for some time.
    “When I first learned how much money I was marrying into,” Sheridan said, “I was stunned. I figured Queen Elizabeth must be a distant relative. He’s never flaunted his wealth. He’s always been generous. I bet you would never know he was obnoxiously rich if you hadn’t been told.”
    “Probably not. So you chose Topala.”
    “Y-yeah.”
    Luke did his slow blink.
    “We did.” She paused, remembering how her protests made no impact on Eliot. In truth, Topala felt too remote, too much like a closet that had no back door.
    “It took me a while,” she admitted. “I thought we should stay in Mesa Aguamiel. It was bigger, offered more amenities. I should say it offered amenities, period. But Eliot was like a crazy man insisting on getting us as far off the map as possible. It was only about three months after the shooting when we started discussing. We were