She shook her head through the tears.
“Then why are you crying like this?” Thomas drew her into his arms and held her until she stopped crying.
Rosaline buried her face in his chest as her breathing eased and she stopped sobbing. The warmth of his embrace soothed her and calmed her racing thoughts.
Gently letting her go, Thomas wiped her face with the sleeve of his shirt and guided her to his chair and made her sit. “I’m going to get you a drink of water and then you can tell me what happened. He disappeared out into the hall and returned a few moments later with a glass of water.
Placing it in front of her he sat on the desk and waited for her to take a sip.
Rosaline gulped back her tears ad looked up at him. “I ran into Diedrick Voss in town.”
Thomas’ face paled and his jaw clenched. “Did he hurt you?”
“Not very much,” She looked at the red marks that encircled her wrist.
Thomas gently took her hand and examined her wrist, his fingers gently tracing the marks that were quickly turning into bruises.
“He said that if I didn’t return with him that he would sink the ranch and expose me as a thief.”
Thomas’ eyes were dark. “How could he possibly sink the ranch? I’ve never met the man before in my life.”
“Elroy Higgs is working for him. The money he gave us to fix the ranch comes from Diedrick.”
Thomas let go of her hand in shock as he stared open-mouthed at her. Pushing himself up from the desk he walked to the door and ran his hands through his hair.
“I’m so sorry Thomas,” Rosaline began to cry again. “You wouldn’t be in this situation now if it wasn’t for me.” She hung her head and sobbed.
Thomas stopped pacing and walked over to her. He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. “None of this is your fault, Rosaline. This is all part of an evil scheme, and you aren’t to blame yourself for any of this. I’m angry because of him, not you.”
Rosaline closed her eyes as he leant forward and brushed his lips against her forehead.
“First we need to tell my father and then we can figure a way out of this mess.”
“If I just go back with him, there won’t be any of this mess, and he will leave you alone to repay your debt.”
“Stop right there,” he scolded, then said more gently. “You aren’t going anywhere unless we all go with you.”
“Is everything all right? I thought I saw Rosaline running past the window earlier? I was just settling Robbie.” Arthur frowned as he came into the study and saw Rosaline’s tear-stained face.
“It seems we have been steered by an expert hand,” Thomas said before explaining everything about Diedrick Voss and Elroy Higgs.
Arthur had to grip the wall as the gravity of their situation became clear to him. “Oh Lord help us,” he breathed.
“I’ve told Rosaline that we will come up with a plan together. She is under no circumstances whatsoever to go and meet this scoundrel tomorrow morning.”
Arthur straightened and regained his composure. “Of course not, that is completely out of the question,” He waved the idea of Rosaline leaving away as if it were a fly. “But of course, this would explain Ian’s behavior this morning.”
“What do you mean?” Thomas and asked and looked from his father to Rosaline.
“Oh, I completely forgot about him. He was sent here with references from Higgs. I wonder if he knew of anything.”
Arthur crossed his arms over his chest. “Shortly after Rosaline left to go on her errands this morning, Ian came into the kitchen and said that he needed to tell me something. Robbie was fussing so I left him alone in the kitchen while I went to the nursery. When I came back he was gone. I sent the lads to go and look for him but he doesn’t seem to be anywhere on the ranch.”
“I spoke to him before I left,” Rosaline added. “He was asking about the layout of the house.”
“What did you tell him?” Thomas asked.
“I explained to him about all the rooms,” she frowned. “But I can’t see how any of that can help Diedrick.”
