Timothy and Mary entertained everyone with some funny stories about how they’d met, and how he had originally hired her as a housekeeper, keeping up the ruse until they both admitted their love for each other. Evelyn and Madelaine exchanged several glances, grinning from ear to ear. Luke gathered that women had to have a sixth sense for this kind of thing.
He wished he had that, because it would have helped him navigate this marriage with Madelaine, who indeed wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever met. Not only was she beautiful and pure, she was also a fighter and did everything she could to protect her young siblings. He respected that, and he admired her for it. He also wanted her to see that he was trying, so he even joined them for the prayer before breakfast, but she never looked at him, so he couldn’t be sure if she’d even noticed it.
After the women had retreated to the kitchen, the men went to the living room, where they sat down to talk about their plan tonight.
“Madelaine followed us last night,” Luke said to Caleb as soon as they sat down in front of the fireplace. Caleb’s eyes went wide.
“What do you mean? Followed us where?” he asked.
“She followed us to the gang’s house in the woods when we went to scout them out,” Luke said. Timothy and Caleb both seemed dumbfounded.
“How did we not notice it?” Caleb asked, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline. “This is insane! What in the world made her do that?”
“That’s very irresponsible of her. It’s dangerous to be out there alone at night, even without the threat of being killed by these criminals!” Timothy added.
Luke nodded. “I have no idea what got into her head to do such a thing. She told me this morning because she was angry that I didn’t tell her what we were up to.”
Timothy laughed a raspy laugh. “She’s a feisty one. Just like her father, John,” he said with a distant smile. “He was agood man. Had a bit of a stubborn streak in him, but let me tell you, if he set his mind on something, he would move mountains to get it done. He was very smart.”
That gave Luke pause. “She complained about the fact that I didn’t include her in the investigation because she knows Phineas better than anybody else,” he said.
“Well, she does have a point. She lived with that man,” Caleb affirmed. “But to put herself in danger like that…”
Luke stared into the fire. His body was tired from not sleeping, but his mind was racing.
“Maybe you should have asked her for some insights,” Caleb finally said, “about how Phineas ticks. That man is a strange character. The more we know about him, the better. Especially before tonight!”
“Maybe you should talk to her now, find out what she knows, before we have to go get ready,” Timothy added.
Luke agreed. It couldn’t harm anything if he spoke to her before the men put the plan into action. Maybe she did know something that could be valuable to them.
When Luke walked toward the kitchen, he stopped in the doorway and knocked on the frame to garner the women’s attention. They were all laughing together, but the second theysaw him, Madelaine’s face went slack, and she turned her back to him.
“I would like to speak to my wife,” Luke announced, and when he saw Mary quirk her eyebrow with a grin, he felt a little embarrassed. He wasn’t used to these kinds of situations. “I mean… Madelaine, can I please talk to you?” he tried again.
“I’ll watch the little ones,” Evelyn offered with a smile, picking Belle up.
She surprised him when she turned around immediately and walked straight past him, all the way toward their room. He followed her like a kicked puppy while his mind raced as he thought about the best possible way to handle their conversation.
Madelaine marched into their room and sat down on the foot of the bed without saying a word or sparing him a glance. She straightened her posture and stared straight ahead, waiting. Luke closed the door and walked toward the fireplace, stoking the flames and putting another log on the fire.
“About this morning…” he started, but stopped. “I’m sorry that I yelled at you,” he tried again, but there was no reaction from her. “I should have told you, I guess…?”
Madelaine shook her head. “I appreciate your apology, but no, that’s not what I meant,” she said with a big sigh. Then she gifted him with a faint smile.
Luke was confused. “Then why were you mad?” he asked, slightly baffled.
“I was mad because you don’t include me in your plans,” she said quietly. “You don’t talk to me to tell me what is going on with Phineas, or if you’ve found out anything else, or what you’re up to. I don’t want to be out there in the middle of it all, but I want to know what’s going on. It makes me sad that you don’t seem to value my opinion or my knowledge, and I don’t appreciate you telling me what I can and can’t do.”
Luke listened carefully because he didn’t want to mess it up again. He pulled one of the chairs in front of the fireplace closer so that he could sit opposite her.
“Truthfully, I didn’t think you’d be interested in knowing. Women aren’t usually involved in these kinds of things,” he said. He attempted a tentative smile, but it fell flat. Her face remained stoic. He skidded the chair a little closer so their knees were almost touching, then he took one of her hands and held it between both of his. She didn’t pull away.
“We’ve been following this group of men for several days now,” he started anew. “A ranch was attacked last week, all the horses were stolen, and the criminals tried to burn the housedown—pretty much the same pattern they always follow.” He looked up at her face to see if she was paying attention and realized that her bright green eyes were entirely focused on his face. He cleared his throat.
“Well, when we followed those tracks in the snow,” he continued, “they led us directly to the compound we went to last night. We’ve been scouting it out for a couple of days, and we have actually seen Phineas there.”
Madelaine gasped. “You did? He was there? At that place?” she asked with wide eyes. Luke nodded.
