“I want to apologize to the both of you,” Arthur said solemnly. “I insisted we take the deal without doing more research.”
Thomas walked over to his father and placed his hands on his father’s shoulders. “We were all steered by expert hands, and we deal with this as a family,” He looked at Rosaline and smiled. “All of us.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Thomas and Arthur sipped their coffee in silence. The atmosphere was tense as Rosaline cooked the breakfast, jumping at the slightest sounds while Robbie played with his blocks on the kitchen floor.
Two shotguns lay ready on the table by the door, just in case anyone needed to defend themselves. Thomas had made sure to stay close to the house and kept a close eye on Rosaline and Robbie over the past few days. Nevertheless, he had taught Rosaline how to fire the guns. Anything could happen at a moment's notice, and he didn’t want to take any chances.
They hadn’t heard or seen anything of Diedrick and Higgs after their encounter with Rosaline a few days prior. Even Ian’s lodgings in town were empty when they went to check in town. Everyone was walking on eggshells in anticipation of what was to come.
Rosaline’s hands froze over the pots as they heard the sound of hooves followed by what sounded like a carriage pulling into the yard. She quickly made her way over to Robbie and lifted him into her arms.
Thomas stood and placed himself directly in front of Rosaline and his son as Arthur brought the guns to the kitchen table and took up his place beside his son.
The horses came to a stop a few feet away from the door. They could hear the sound of doors opening and closing followed by heavy footsteps.
The sun was momentarily blocked out as a tall figure entered the doorway. Diederick Voss removed his top hat and placed it under his arm, his gold-tipped cane swinging from his arm.
Thomas felt Rosaline’s hand grip the back of his shirt as the atmosphere intensified.
Elroy Higgs entered the room behind him, all traces of kindness replaced by a nasty sneer. His eyes were cold and dark.
Thomas shivered as he looked at the man, and briefly wondered how they could have been taken in by him.
“I see you have prepared for a fight,” Diedrick glanced at the guns on the table. “No matter, no matter,” he said in a professional tone. “This is purely business Stratton, no need for violence. I’m just here for my money.” He clicked his fingers and held his hand out to Higgs.
Elroy opened the brown case he was carrying and pulled out the contracts.
Diedrick took the papers and checked them over. “Ah yes, here we go,” He smiled nastily at Thomas and Arthur. “I’m here to accept your payment in full plus the interest you have gathered.’’
“What interest?” Thomas asked coolly.
“My dear chap,” Diedrick laughed. “The interest you incurred when you failed to make your first payment two days ago.”
“We went into town, nobody was there. The failed payment is not our fault, we didn’t know how to get the money to Mr. Higgs.”
Diedrick laughed even harder and threw the contract onto the table, knocking some cups over in the process.
Rosaline tried to soothe Robbie as he began to cry.
“If you read your contract carefully, I am entitled to triple the payment should you miss even a single payment,” He held his hand up to silence Arthur before he could protest. “The responsibility of timely payments fall entirely onto the lender of the money. In plain language, that is entirely your problem, and not mine. So I’ll be taking my money.”
“We don’t have it, we used the money to pay for the new foals,” Thomas stood his ground.
“I fail to see how this is my problem,” Diedrick said and looked at Rosaline. “Of course, we can make this all go away. We can work out another contract for you to repay the money. You will never see me again.”
Thomas felt Rosaline take a step forward and gently lifted his hand to hold her back. “If Rosaline goes with you, you mean.”
“Ah,” Diedrick said happily. “We are all on the same page then.”
Thomas picked up the gun closest to him and loaded the barrel. “Let me make something perfectly clear, Mr. Voss,” he said as he kept the barrel pointing to the ground. “Rosaline is not some chattel that you can come and claim back when you feel like it. She is my wife and will not feature in any kind of deal. You will have to find somebody else to sing for you.”
“I see,” Diederick said coolly. “You leave me no choice then but to take action against Rosaline for the property she stole.”
“I didn’t steal anything from you,” Rosaline said hotly.
Thomas lifted his gun and pointed it at Diedrick. “You heard my wife, she said that she’s not a thief, so I suggest you remove yourself from my property. You will get your money when you get your money. Even if I have to give up the ranch, I will not be giving up Rosaline.”
