Page 33 of Inventions of the Heart

Michelle let him in.

Zane didn’t speak for a long moment. He studied them as he stepped in, quietly closing the door. “You knew the name Benteen.”

It wasn’t a question. Michelle considered herself smarter than most everyone she met. But she needed to admit that there were different kinds of smart. She doubted Zane could beat her in a test about advanced mathematics. But he might outthink her and read her expressions like the written word.

Hesitating, she looked at Jilly, who said, “There’s no way we can keep this from him.”

Zane’s eyes narrowed, and his arms crossed. He seemed annoyed that they even had to decide.

That’s when Michelle realized something.

She trusted him. She even counted on him. Zane’s knowing about this was the very best thing that could happen.

“We told you our stepfather—”

“Edgar Beaumont, the man you ran from,” Zane interjected.

“Yes. He had plans to marry us to men of his choosing. We have a lot of connections that would be very valuable. Edgar has profited greatly from marrying Mama. So these men paid Edgar a high price to marry the Stiles sisters. Horace Benteen was one of the men. I’ve seen him at social gatherings in San Francisco, but I don’t really know him. Mama called him lecherous and cruel. She said he and the other men Edgar chose for us, well, marriage to them would be a living death. A nightmare. She said the risk of riding down that flume and floating down a river, hiding somehow until we were safely married, was safer than marriage to the men Edgar chose.”

“We took that risk,” Jilly said quietly. “And now it sounds like a trial for Jarvis Benteen will reveal us to a man who will immediately betray us to Edgar. And whether Jarvis is here for us or Annie, we will probably never know. I think, based on him not seeming to know us, he must have come for Annie, which makes his coming here an attempt at premeditated murder. But to stop him with our testimony puts us in deadly danger. We’re pretty sure Horace Benteen killed his wife a year ago. Possibly he’s killed three wives now. He was meant for Michelle.”

“I wouldn’t let him take you, Michelle. Nor you, Jilly.”

Michelle shook her head. “A father—even a stepfather—has rights over his daughters. Legally, you couldn’t stop him.”

Michelle looked at Jilly. “If we testify, and I believe we have to, we’ll need to run again.”

Jilly nodded her head with a terse little movement. “So be it. We do have to testify.”

“Both of you stop.” Zane began pacing through the sitting room of the housekeeper’s apartment. It wasn’t large, but it was big enough he could pick up some speed.

He made it through the room, then wheeled back to face them. “A simple solution is for Michelle to marry me.”

Michelle froze. Her eyes locked on his. No words came to mind.

“Jilly, can you leave us alone for just a moment?” Zane asked.

Jilly stepped into the bedroom she slept in rather than go out into the main part of the house. Her door clicked shut. Michelle wished she’d gone a bit farther away. At the same time, some small part of her wanted Jilly to still be close.

Zane walked up to face Michelle. “I’m not giving up my ranch. If we marry, we live here.”

“I-I ... um...”

“But you’ll be safe. And as I understand it, you and Laura will hold majority ownership of the company. You can kick Edgar out. You can stay here with me, and Jilly can stay here or go back to your home, whichever she chooses. We’ll make sure she gets there safely. Caleb and Nick can then look out for her. Under her mother’s care, with Caleb and Nick close, Edgar won’t be able to take her. With your permission as one-third owner, she and Laura can get on with building and blasting. Maybe you can be involved through the mail, do bookwork, work on your inventions, and do other organizing, but I won’t give up my ranch.”

His hands came up to grip her shoulders. “I can’t, Michelle. I don’t belong up there on your mountain.” His hands moved on her shoulders. He was offering to save her. “Can you live with that?”

Michelle was glad he talked for a while. It gave her a chance to organize her thoughts. “Can I go visit? Canwego visit?”

Zane nodded. “There are slow spells on the ranch. I’ll put Shad in charge, and we can go spend a month with your family, maybe a couple of times a year.”

Michelle thought of Benteen and shuddered. She could tell Zane felt it.

“Do you dread being married to me? Do you hate the idea of giving up on your lumber company dream?”

“I was thinking of what Horace might do to me.” She turned her thoughts from that vile man. “But you don’t deserve to have me thinking of him when you propose. You’re an honorable man, Zane.”

“Our life might be complicated,” Zane warned her.

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