Page 40 of Her Gentle Protector
“What does that mean?” Josiah asked.
“Things that no one else should see.”
“We can’t read what it says anyway.” Ira slammed the lid and pushed the box aside.
“Give that to me. We’ll put it back under the bed and you’ll never look at Peter’s things again.”
“Who wants to look at a bunch of boring letters, anyway?”
Midge sat on the end of the bed and opened the box, intending to refold the papers and return the box to its rightful place under the bed. Her eyes opened wide when she saw envelope after envelope scribbled in her father’s handwriting.
Her fingers trembled as she unfolded the crumpled paper, her eyes quickly scanning the faded ink. The words before her seemed to burn into her very soul, each sentence igniting a firestorm of betrayal and heartache. Her father’s unmistakable scrawl revealed his secret manipulation of Peter, pushing him toward actions that could tear their family apart.
Midge took the letter and ran from the room. Petunia hadn’t moved from the settee. “Where did you say you saw Peter?”
“He was in the barn.”
Racing out of the house, she yelled for her brother. “Peter!” Her voice cracking with a mixture of anger and despair. She clutched the letter tightly in her hand as she stormed through the yard, the loose strands of her hair whipping around her face like an untamed storm. “Peter, where are you?”
“Here,” Peter replied, stepping out from behind the rickety barn door. His hazel eyes widened at the sight of his older sister; her cheeks flushed with fury. He noticed the paper in her hand and his eyes narrowed. “Where did you get that?”
“Explain this,” she demanded, thrusting the letter in his face. Her warm brown eyes bore into his, searching for any hint of deceit or guilt. “Tell me why Pa has been contacting you behind my back. Tell me why he’s been using you to undermine Baxter and threaten our home!” Midge clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white as she stared Peter down. The silence hung heavy between them, like a storm cloud ready to unleash its fury. “Tell me the truth,” she demanded, her voice quivering with barely contained anger.
“Alright!” Peter shouted, unable to withstand the pressure any longer. His hazel eyes flashed with defiance, yet his voice trembled. “Yes, he’s asked me to help him secure the ranch as collateral for his debts.”
“By undermining Baxter?” Midge’s heart raced, each beat echoing through her chest like thunder. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Y-yes.” Peter shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, his hands fidgeting at his sides as he looked away. “He said it would help our family in the long run. That we wouldn’t have to rely on Baxter anymore.”
“Do you know what this means, Peter?” Midge slapped her palm against her thigh, the loud smack reverberating through the barn. She closed her eyes, struggling to keep her emotions in check. But the betrayal and hurt swirled inside her like a whirlwind, threatening to consume her. “Someone will buy the property and then we won’t have anywhere to live. You know we can’t trust Pa. He left us to fend for ourselves and never looked back.”
“I know, Midge. I know!” Peter’s voice cracked, tears welling up in his eyes. “But when he reached out, I thought... I thought maybe he’d changed.”
“Changed?!” Midge scoffed; her disbelief clear in every syllable. “He’s only trying to save his own skin! And you will risk everything we’ve worked so hard for just because he asked you to?”
Peter’s shoulders slumped; defeat written across his face. “I’m sorry, Midge. I didn’t give it much thought. I just wanted to protect our family, too.”
“By going behind my back and siding with the man who abandoned us?” Midge’s voice cracked, the hurt she tried so hard to hide finally breaking through. She couldn’t fathom how Peter could betray her like this, how he could even entertain the idea of working with their father after all they’d been through.
“Please, Midge.” Peter’s gaze pleaded for forgiveness as his tears spilled over. “It was a mistake. I didn’t want to hurt you or our siblings.”
Midge stared at her brother, the raw pain in his eyes mirrored in her own. But she couldn’t bring herself to forgive him, not yet. The betrayal cut too deep, and trust wasn’t easily mended. “We’ll deal with this later,” she said, her voice distant. “Right now, we have bigger problems to face.”
She turned on her heel to head back to the house.
“Someone bought the property,” Peter called after her.
Stopping in her tracks, she turned and looked at him. “What did you say?”
“I heard Bass Pickett talk about it. That the bank sold the property to someone. Bass didn’t know if that person was going to make us move or not.”
“Move?” Her face twitched. “When did you find out about this?”
“Right after Baxter left and didn’t return.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Believe me, Midge. The person was only after the land. He didn’t care about any of us.”
