Page 40 of A Forgotten Heart
How had Ed and Rebekah gone from sniping at each other during their school days to marriage? And happiness. His head pounded.
Watching the two of them stirred a familiar yearning within him.
Rebekah’s gaze snagged on Nick’s, and her words drifted away. Ed twisted in his seat.
“Oh, good, you’re awake,” Ed said as he stood, his chair scraping against the floor. He strode toward Nick.
“Shhh…” Nick nodded toward Elsie.
Elsie shifted. Her nose wrinkled, but her breathing remained even. Still asleep.
When Nick tore his eyes away, Ed was standing at his side, watching him intently, brows drawn. Behind him, Rebekah stood from the table and moved to the bedroom.
“You need to be careful,” Ed said, voice low. “Not play with this gal’s affections. Not if you aren’t remembering everything.”
This gal? Nick bristled.
But Ed was quiet and serious when he said, “Few weeks ago, you told the family you’d asked Merritt for help making connections with eligible young women.”
Ed’s words hit and inspired a dissonance like a note being sung wildly off-key.
No. That couldn’t be right.
Nick threw off the quilt. Ed must’ve sensed his agitation, because he put a hand to Nick’s shoulder. “Maybe Elsie is one of the women you’ve been corresponding with.”
Nick was already shaking his head. Thought better of it when the throbbing increased. “I’ve known Elsie since my second year at normal school.”
Ed’s brows drew together even more. Then his expression smoothed, but his eyes were calculating. “Your second year, huh?”
“What?”
Ed gave a little shake of his head, dismissing the question. “Did you make it to the land office before the storm?”
Nick didn’t understand the sudden shift in conversation. He wasn’t finished talking about Elsie. And him seeking a mail-order bride? A sense of wrongness seeped over him.
“I don’t remember. I saw the papers in my satchel.”
Ed crossed the room to retrieve Nick’s satchel from where it’d been left by the stairs.
Nick closed his eyes and rested his forearm over his forehead, putting pressure where it pulsed. A mail-order bride?
He heard Ed rummaging through his satchel, then the sound of papers rustling. It was the change in Elsie’s breathing that opened Nick’s eyes.
“They haven’t been processed,” Ed said.
“Why is my name on those papers, anyway? Why not Drew, or you?”
Nick said the words without looking away from Elsie. She rubbed a sleepy hand over her face. Blushed when she realized he was watching.
Mail-order bride? No.
Ed’s movements rifling through the satchel became more agitated. “Nick, I can’t find the payment.”
“What payment?” Nick was distracted from watching Elsie as Ed strode to the table and dumped the contents.
Rebekah bustled out of the bedroom and joined Ed at the table.
“The money, Nick. For the land,” Ed said.
