Page 8 of A Secret Heart
Rebekah cleared her throat. “How did you get started?”
“Am I being interviewed for the paper?”
She let out a soft snort before turning up her little nose, all speckled with freckles.
Rebekah let it go, and he maintained the silence as they rolled along the trail.
If only he had a way to speed this trip along. Dealing with Rebekah and her questions left the skin under his shirt with a burning itch like he had a bad case of poison ivy, all blistered and festering.
She’d been a thorn in his side since she’d come to live with her aunt while in school. Tattling to his ma that he’d made all the other boys laugh at her. He’d gotten a fine lickin’ over that one. Now she sat trying to scribble away on a piece of paper, shielding it from his view when the wagon swayed him toward her. As if he cared what Rebekah wrote, then or now. He let himself drift into his thoughts as they traveled the familiar path home.
At the last turn on the road home, his shoulders lost some of the tension he’d worn for too long that day. He directed the horses past the trees by the road into the well-worn path to the porch of the Boutwells’ one-story house, only to have all the tension return the instant he spied Heath Quade sitting atop his steed.
The sight of Quade waiting sent all of Ed’s plans for a fast exit packing. What did that dirty snake want? Ed would never leave Rebekah alone with Quade, especially not after his promise to Vess.
“You expectin’ company?” Prickles inched up Ed’s neck, and he kept his voice low as the wagon approached the house. He scanned the area for any of Quade’s hired men. His foot shifted to rest against the rifle on the floorboard.
“No.” Rebekah stuffed papers in her satchel but glanced up.
“Fine day, isn’t it?” Quade called out, aiming his remark at Rebekah as he shot a look between them, his eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing here?” Ed pulled up on the reins.
Quade tipped his hat. “I was in the area and wanted to check on Rebekah.”
“As you can see, I’m quite well.” Rebekah put her hand on the buckboard as if to exit from the wagon, but if she did, Quade might beg an invitation inside. What excuse would Ed have to stay then? He eased off the brake just enough for the wagon’s slight roll to halt her quick exit without being too obvious.
She wobbled and gripped the back of the seat, sending a searing glance at Ed.
“No need to worry about Rebekah. I’ll be around helping with the chores.” He settled a hard look on Quade. “Vess asked me to look after things.”
Rebekah huffed.
Quade kept his focus on her. “Vess never did give me a final answer about selling the place. Rather left things open-ended. You could sign the papers for him.”
“My uncle will return soon.”
The stiffening of her shoulders released a bit of protectiveness inside Ed.
“This can be a hard country for a little lady all alone at night.” Quade shifted in his saddle, eyeing the fields behind the barn. “When the wolves howl.”
Quade’s veiled threat had Ed thinking about Kaitlyn’s face, pale and frightened, when they’d found her tussling with her brother Michael, who’d had a gun. Michael had kidnapped her in the moments that Quade’s cowhands had caused a scuffle—the perfect distraction.
Some instinct in Ed had his mouth moving before he’d thought the words through. “Rebekah isn’t alone. She’s got a whole pack of McGraws watching over her day and night.”
Quade’s eyes left Rebekah’s face to glare at Ed. “That so?”
Ed heard Rebekah’s intake of air, felt her bristle at his words. He put out a hand, hoping to keep her quiet.
“That’s so,” Ed said. He held Quade’s stare for a moment that stretched long.
But the tension was broken when Quade reined his horse forward. He looked right at Rebekah, ignoring Ed completely. “Mind you be careful out here all on your own.”
Rebekah opened her mouth as if to retort, but Quade spurred his horse and was gone before she could respond.
She turned on Ed with fire in her eyes. “Why did you do that?”
She was spitting mad, and her show of temper sparked his own. Couldn’t she be grateful for once? “Why’d I stand up for you against a dangerous criminal?”
