Page 28 of A Dangerous Heart
Her thoughts drifted to the feelings she was developing for the man. Whatever his wounds were, something about the man resonated deeply with her. He’d offered her this uneasy truce. She needed to protect her heart from wanting more. But she was awake far too long into the night thinking about the way his eyes had looked in the shadowy firelight.
Chapter 7
“Igot one!”
Eli hooted. “That’s a big one! Swing it over here, and I’ll take it off the hook for you.”
Isaac heard the boys’ voices before he could see them.
“It’s the biggest one today. Bigger than yours.” No mistaking Ben’s enthusiasm.
“Might be.”
Their innocent laughter reminded him of his nephew and nieces. David, Jo, and Tillie were as innocent as they came. But they were still caught up in this mess with Quade and the land.
Isaac dismounted Bullet and led him to the riverbank. The two boys came into view, both knee-deep in the river—Ben gripping a slightly bent rod, and Eli holding the thin line at eye level, inspecting the foot-long trout.
Isaac had spent the morning on Drew’s homestead, patching and painting the big barn. It was a job that needed doing before winter set in, and it’d taken all the brothers, plus David, to accomplish it. Isaac had spent hours on the tallest rungs of the ladder, the only place he could keep his distance, but it hadn’t kept him from overhearing Nick grumbling. Nick had met with the attorney in town, and the news wasn’t good.
“It’s legal,” Nick had said. “At least in the way that slimy snake is going about it. He can move the dirt around on his land, reshaping it any way he sees fit. And if it just so happens the river is rerouted in the process, the legal precedent is that Quade isn’t breaking any laws.”
There’d been a heavy silence. In the process of dipping his paintbrush, Isaac had glimpsed Drew’s devastated look before he’d blanked his expression.
“There’s got to be some way to link that bandit who tried to kill Rebekah to Quade,” Ed muttered, his paintbrush forgotten at his side.
Isaac knew that Marshal O’Grady would’ve found it if there’d been any evidence. It was too big a coincidence that the bandit had been found dead in his cell after being arrested. Quade claimed he’d been fired from the spread months ago, and with the bandit dead, there was no one to argue with him.
Ed’s fingers tightened around his paintbrush until his knuckles turned white. “We have to do something.” He spoke with angry conviction. “An eye for an eye. Isn’t that in the Bible?”
Isaac knew better and so did Ed. But Ed hadn’t gotten over nearly losing Rebekah.
“Remember what happened in Johnson County?” Nick asked, the voice of reason. “Sheep herders and ranchers taking the law into their own hands. All that got them was bloody battles and lives lost.”
Isaac kept his eyes on the patch of wall in front of him as images of other lives snuffed out vied for his attention. Then he realized the section was done. Painted. He needed to move the ladder. He was on the second rung, almost to the ground, when Drew spoke in a quiet, resigned voice. “We may have to fight. We can’t lose the water.”
Desperation was a dangerous thing. It drove men to do unspeakable things. The McGraws owned the land that the riverflowed through. If Quade rerouted it, stole it…What would a desperate Drew do to protect and provide for his family?
“They can’t use their shovels and picks if we fire on ’em,” Ed said.
And Isaac lost his careful composure. “You want to put a rifle in David’s hand?” he demanded, voice too loud, out of control. “Put a target on him for Quade’s hired guns? Because it won’t just be you three that become the target when Quade’s men decide to shoot back. He’s got a dozen hired guns—money to pay for more. Those men will come for you—and your families.”
He’d stood there, red-faced and shaking, as seconds had ticked by. His brothers had stared at him, then he’d stormed off and spent a few minutes in the bunkhouse cooling off. When he’d returned and climbed the ladder again, they’d turned their quiet conversation to mundane things.
It hadn’t kept his mind from spinning the whole ride back up to his cabin. His brothers resorting to more violence wasn’t the answer. Quade’s men outnumbered the McGraws four to one. If it came to a shoot-out, his family didn’t stand a chance. Especially since Isaac couldn’t draw on a man. And couldn’t pull the trigger.
He couldn’t see a way forward.
“He’s a slippery one.” Eli’s words to Ben shook Isaac out of his dark thoughts. “I’ll take it off the hook for you,” Eli offered as the boys slogged back to the bank.
Ben spotted Isaac and waved to him excitedly. “Come see my fish. It’s a big one.”
Isaac dismounted, taking in the cutthroat trout and the pleased expressions of both boys. “That will be some good eating tonight. Either of you know how to fillet your catch?”
Ben’s chest puffed out with pride while Eli wrinkled his nose.
They shook their heads.
“I’ll show you when you’re done fishing.”
