Page 19 of A Secret Heart
His body shook as a full-blown cackle escaped while Rebekah tried to read on. And then the whole class erupted into a rippling mass of laughter. Rebekah wanted to hide, to run from the room and never return.
“Ed McGraw.” The teacher rapped the desk with her ruler to silence the class. “What do you find so amusing?”
“The words. Like the hero is so great.” Ed’s words had been barely audible for his choking laughter. “It’s just Isaac. Everybody knows that.”
Her horse blew, the sound jolting her out of the memory. School had never been the same after that. But what did Ed care? He’d never so much as breathed a hint of an apology. What rightwouldhe have to expect her forgiveness?
* * *
I’ll never forget this, Ed McGraw.
Ed’s stomach knotted. Was Rebekah really still that hurt about what had happened so long ago? She’d gone unusually quiet, but it hadn’t stopped her from insisting they go see the doctor, the injured man, and the marshal. A whole day lost trying to keep her out of trouble.
Ed had to give it to her—she’d been determined in her interviews, never backing off. If only the clues they’d garnered were actually valuable. He’d been mulling them over the whole ride back.
“A man with a straw-colored hat.” His saddle creaked as he shifted to avoid an overhanging branch. He thought better when he talked things out. Especially when he was dead tired after riding up to the little cabin last night to talk to Isaac about the letters only to find the cabin empty. Isaac must have been camping close to where he was riding herd on the cattle, especially with the threat of wolves.
Never mind Rebekah’s annoyed glance in his direction. She should remember from when he used to work his sums in class. He’d always worked them out loud, even if he had to mumble to keep from getting in trouble with the teacher.
“Face covered by a bandanna.” Ed hadn’t heard the marshal mention anything particular about the bandanna. The horse’s hooves clomped along the dirt road. Sure would be handy to have Isaac around right now. He had more experience with hunting down criminals. Not to mention how nice it’d be to pass the letter-writing business off to him. Maybe then Ed could focus on making his own dreams a reality.
Rebekah leaned farther to one side of Mabel, as if scanning the ground.
“Coulda been young or old.” Ed slowed Lightning to keep in step with Rebekah. Yep, it’d be nice to have his marshal of a brother around right now, but when Isaac didn’t want to be found, there was nothing to be done about it.
She leaned to the other side now, craning her neck all around, head down.
“Rode a brown horse.” He pulled up on the reins as he grasped to work it out. There’d been nothing specific. No motive he could see. “The bandit could have been anyone. Seems like he just beat up the man for what cash he had on him. Does that even make sense? For so little?”
“Mmmm.” Sunlight played with the curls around Rebekah’s profile, almost creating a sort of halo as she appeared to scour the ground.
“You aren’t really expecting to find any clues here, are you?” Ed nudged Lightning forward again. “The marshal said for you to stay out of it. I agree. Leave the investigating to law enforcement. It’s their job.”
“This is my job too. As a reporter.” She lifted her gaze, and her lashes caught the sun like her hair did. For one vulnerable moment, he didn’t want her in the middle of a criminal investigation for no other reason than he wanted to protect her. Without even a thought of the promise he’d made to Vess.
Her shoulders slumped. “There’s nothing here.”
“That’s what I told you.”
Half a glare met him, then she began to turn her horse in the direction of home. He only had to slacken the reins for Lightning to catch up to Mabel. He didn’t want to admit how much fun he’d had rounding up her horse this morning.
“Why is this so important to you, anyway?”
“I told you. It’s my job.”
“What does this have to do with mail-order bride ads? You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”
She shot him another one of her glares. Another reason not to be distracted by the sunlight playing tricks with her hair. If he thought about it, she’d been acting squirrelly all day. When they’d stopped by the newspaper office, she’d shuffled through letters, fidgeting around the office. Only after he’d stepped outside to check on the horses had she finished up, rushing out with a skip in her step. At least she’d emerged with another letter addressed to Isaac.
Curious thing, only having one response, but maybe the mail-order ad business was slower these days than Rebekah let on. He’d have to write back when he got done following her all over town. After that, well, maybe he’d finally have a chance to start on that display case.
Rebekah side-eyed him. “Mr. Sullivan has the list of men running for president of the Cattlemen’s Association.”
It didn’t answer why she’d been acting strange, but he’d take the bait. “And?”
“I saw it.”
“Isn’t it confidential or something?”
