Page 27 of A Forgotten Heart
“I will never walk away from you, El. I love you,” he whispered.
Chapter 6
The fire burning in Nick’s shoulder roused him from a restless sleep. He came to wakefulness slowly, head pounding.
He strained his ears before he opened his eyes. Snow lashed the outer wall, the storm still raging. Daylight leaked into the windowless room from the hall door, so it must be morning.
Clenching his jaw against the pain, he stretched his hand across the blankets for Elsie, looking to pull her close again, but the space was empty.
A chill ran through him as he realized she was gone. Where was she?
He pushed himself to a sitting position. Pain a little less, but head still throbbing. What he wouldn’t give for one of Ma’s medicinal teas.
Relief washed through him when he found Elsie standing at the potbelly stove, her back to him. She must’ve heard him, because she said, “You shouldn’t be up,” without looking his way.
Nick wanted to lie back down, but the pain lancing his shoulder kept him rigid for the time being. “I didn’t know where you’d gone.”
She bustled over and propped his pillow against the wall behind him, still not meeting his eyes. “If you want the coffee I made you, you’d better sit back, or you’ll scald yourself.”
He watched as she poured his coffee. Calm and quiet as if the middle-of-the-night conversation hadn’t happened. Had he dreamed it? No.
He accepted the cup of coffee she held out to him. “How’d you sleep?”
Her hands flitted to a towel hanging on a chair, her gaze averted. “Fine.”
Fine.The word sounded crisp on her lips, as if cutting off any other conversation.
The corner of Nick’s mouth dipped. After last night, he’d thought for sure the invisible barrier between them had started to crumble. But she acted as if she didn’t even remember their conversation.
The coffee turned bitter in his mouth.
“Do you want a biscuit?” Elsie asked from the stove.
He glanced up, but as he did, a leather case leaning against a chair snagged his attention. Several official-looking papers stuck out from the opening.
“Is that mine?” It looked like the satchel he used to carry books when he left for normal school, but it was so worn.
“It is.” Before he even had to ask, she brought it to his side.
He scooted himself higher against the pillow, hiding a wince at the fire in his shoulder, and opened the flap.
Inside there were two books.Around the World in Eighty Days,his favorite,andAmerican Cattle: Their History, Breeding, and Management. An odd choice. One he never would’ve chosen for himself. The book must be for a student or another family.
He set the books aside and pulled out the papers.
He unfolded them, his eyes scanning the text.
Deed papers?
They hadn’t been filed, but it looked like a land purchase. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled as he read the location. If he was right, it was a plot of land adjacent to his family’s homestead.
Pain surged into his head, and he closed his eyes.
Why would he be carrying land papers? Was Drew planning to expand the ranch?
Elsie hovered over him. He hadn’t even heard her approach. She held out a biscuit, and he took it absently.
He lifted the papers toward Elsie. “El, do you know what this is? Why I’ve got?—”
