Page 59 of A Dangerous Heart
Drew’s eyebrows rose as though he liked the idea.
“No,” Isaac said again, his voice a little louder, urgent. “Tomorrow, we ride for the marshal. Get the help we need.”
His eyes cut to Clare. She sent him a slight nod.
“Danna will help,” he said. “She’ll have a plan.”
Hopefully one that didn’t get his brothers killed.
Chapter 15
The familiar rush of the river greeted Clare as the wagon pulled into the clearing in front of Isaac’s cabin. The warm autumn sun filtered through the now bare branches, reminding her that winter was not far off. She’d once found the modest log cabin and lean-to comforting, but knowing Victor was in the area had destroyed her sense of peace and contentment even here. An unsettled feeling churned in her stomach.
Eli rode in the back of the wagon. When Isaac reined in, her nephew frowned at the cabin and the lean-to.
“Why’d you have to bring me here?” he complained.
“You know why we’re here. To pick up some clothes and the supplies we have stored here and take them back to the main homestead.” Isaac also wanted to make sure no one had been sniffing around his property.
And Clare needed to have a serious talk with Eli before they returned to the homestead and Ben. A part of Clare feared Eli had unintentionally been privy to too many conversations among the adults. He was thriving working with the men on the homestead, but occasionally, like now, his old attitude resurfaced.
“I should have stayed back,” Eli muttered. “David will have to wrangle that stubborn calf by himself and muck the stalls and feed the horses without me to help.”
He scrambled down from the wagon and headed to the stoop.
Isaac called to him. “Fetch some water from the river, and give the horse a drink, son.”
Clare was stepping off the wagon when she saw Eli go still and whirl round. Red bloomed on his cheeks, and his dark eyes narrowed.
“You can’t tell me what to do. You ain’t my pa.” He stomped to the step and sat down.
Tension strung tight through her shoulders as she looked over the wagon to Isaac, whose gaze was shuttered.
“I’ll talk to him.”
Isaac frowned but nodded. Exhaustion lined his handsome face. He had worked part of the day helping his brothers catch up on more preparations for the winter. The work had to be done. While they’d waited for Nick and the marshal to return to the homestead, he’d offered to take the late-night watch.
Clare met him at the threshold. “Thank you,” she said. He nodded, grabbed a bucket, and headed down to the river.
The air was stale inside the cabin, but everything else was neat and tidy. She left the door cracked open to let some fresh air in, then motioned for Eli to sit on the stoop while she lit a fire inside. Once finished, she steeled herself and returned to sit beside Eli.
He dropped his gaze down, stubbornly avoiding her eyes.
“Isaac is not your father. I’m not your mother either. But this is the plan your mother made for you. She believed it was God’s providence.”
How could she reach the stubborn boy?
How did one explain a thought like that to a young boy? A boy who’d lost his mother and had been taken from the only life he’d known.
His frown twisted into a more hopeful expression. “Is Pa really here?” The hunger in his question made Clare’s heart skip a beat.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Isaac and I saw Lyle Mueller in town earlier. But not your pa.”
His eyes lit. “Do ya think Pa came for me?”
Clare stared at him. Her heart hurt for the boy who so desperately wanted his father’s love.
“I want to go back to Pa,” Eli pushed.
