Page 30 of A Steadfast Heart
“Quade is a snake.” Drew’s voice was sharp. “Most of his hands are even worse.”
Kaitlyn searched his face for a long moment. He believed what he was saying.
That didn’t mean he was right. “Surely one visit can’t hurt.”
“Probably only took one visit for them to burn down the Robbinses’ barn.” Ed reached across the table to refill his bowl.
Tillie tugged on Kaitlyn’s sleeve. “Is theys gonna burn our barn?”
Kaitlyn looked around the table. All the expressions were stern. Except Jo’s. Her smirk had widened and her eyes gleamed. She had brought up this subject. How had she even known one of Quade’s hands had been here?
The rustle in the bushes. Jo must have been spying, gathering information to create this hornet’s nest for Kaitlyn to stumble into.
“Don’t worry, Tillie. Our barn will be fine,” Nick told the little girl.
Kaitlyn couldn’t force herself to meet any of their gazes. “He can’t be that bad.”
Drew snorted. “Yes, he can. He held a gun on our pa. Tried to bully us into selling after—” Drew glanced around the table, his gaze resting on Tillie’s pale face the longest. “Never mind.”
The rest of the meal was quiet. Kaitlyn thought through every moment of her time with Quade. The man Drew and his brothers had described sounded a lot like Michael. Was she really that bad a judge of character?
Or could Quade hide his motives as well as her brother?
Kaitlyn pushed the food around on her plate. Her face burned all the way to her ears. Would Drew raise his hand to her after everyone left them alone?
She didn’t know him well enough. Maybe she never should’ve entered this marriage. When everyone had finished eating, they left the table. Except Drew. Kaitlyn got up to clear the dishes.
Drew stacked some of the dishes and followed her to the kitchen. “The kids can handle the rest.”
She nodded and crossed the room to stand in front of him. Her throat seized and knotted. She pulled the telegram from her pocket and handed it to him. “Here. You can read it. I wasn’t keeping anything from you.”
She moved to the front porch. Here was another hurdle to receiving her money. Things weren’t going well with the kids. What she knew about cattle could be written on a postage stamp.
Did Drew regret the marriage? If things didn’t get better, would he make her leave? Her brother had never troubled himself for her, but she’d always had a roof over her head. Then again, he had needed her allowance. If she didn’t hold up her side of the deal, help with the children, Drew would have every reason to kick her out.
Where would she go? She’d be on her own in Wyoming, not knowing a soul or having a friend.
Easy pickings for her brother.
Chapter7
He had a short-term solution for his money woes.
Drew clicked his tongue, and Phantom increased his pace to a lope on the lunging line, following the oval corral fence. Instant response, flowing movements, complete trust in his handler, all the result of a week of intense training. Drew had hoped to keep this blue roan stallion, dreamed of one day starting a side business selling his colts and fillies.
But if he sold the horse, he could afford the lumber they needed.
Urgency spurred him on with breaking the three-year-old. They couldn’t delay building the cabins. Not with the news Ed had brought from town yesterday.
Ernie Duff was the new land office manager. He never should have gotten the promotion. Not when he’d been behind the town almost losing the lot the school stood on.
Now he was in charge of inspecting the improvements on homesteads. The Fogelsons had wintered in town after their cabin had burned, or been burned, and Duff had denied an extension for rebuilding. He’d taken back the claim when it was only one week past the deadline. No grace for extenuating circumstances, and only two days for packing.
The lunge line bit into his hand, and he relaxed his too-tight grip. They only had a little over a month to finish Ed’s claim. Six weeks to put up his cabin, and they didn’t even have the lumber. Isaac’s and Nick’s claims wouldn’t be due for six months after that, which would give them a little breathing space, but they had to get that land. The one claim they owned outright couldn’t support all his brothers. Plus, he’d expanded, counting on the new claims for grazing land. If they lost those homesteads, they might even lose Pa’s land.
Phantom’s body stiffened and his ears flicked back. Drew yanked his mind back to its proper place, slowly exhaling the fear that had built in his stomach. He had to sell this horse. The McGraw legacy would not end with him.
The colt rounded the western edge of the oval, and Drew pivoted in concert just as Kaitlyn came into view in the distance. She and Tillie paced out the area that he would need to plow for the family garden, Kaitlyn’s movements graceful despite the uneven ground she covered. She seemed excited at the idea of tackling a new project. Tillie giggled, and Kaitlyn tweaked the little girl’s braid, her smile bright. His gaze lingered.
