“I knew it!” she exclaimed then. “I’ve always suspected him of something shady! Especially since he’d moved into my father’s ranch. He never asked me if I wanted him there; he just took over and brought a whole bunch of men with him. They were everywhere. And Phineas even sleeps in my parents’ old bedroom now, and he’s wearing my father’s clothes!” Luke saw her eyes fill with tears when she talked about her parents.
“That’s terrible. I remember you mentioning the men. Do you remember any names that they exchanged? Anybody in particular who stood out, maybe?”
Madelaine paused for a moment, and Luke allowed her to think. She bit her lower lip and frowned slightly as she seemed to concentrate on remembering things. Luke couldn’t help but think how cute it was. Sitting in their room, alone and so close to her, was tantalizing.
“Phineas was always surrounded by so many,” she finally said. “Their faces changed almost daily… but there was one man, very tall and scrawny looking…” Luke raised an eyebrow at that.
“Did he look like a trapper, wearing a patchy fur coat and a raccoon hat?” he asked, and Madelaine's eyes lit up.
“Yes! He also had this nasty habit of chewing tobacco and spitting it everywhere!” she exclaimed with a disgusted face. “I think his name was Lucas,” she added. When she saw Luke make a face—because of the similarities between their names—she couldn’t hide her smile.
“He’s not as handsome as you are, though!”
The second she said those words, she put both of her hands over her mouth. Then Luke watched as Madelaine’s face turned bright red. He couldn’t deny it; he enjoyed it when she blushed like that.
Luke leaned back into his chair and let that sink in. His face split into a wide grin. “Thank the Lord I’m not that ugly,” he supplied, which earned him a pointed look from his wife.
“Youshouldthank Him, because He gifted you with an exceptional wife!” she exclaimed with a raised chin, but then she broke out in a giggle. “Please, God, forgive me! I would never really think that!” she said to the ceiling.
Luke couldn’t hide his smile. He more than enjoyed this side of Madelaine. “I do thank God every day that He sent you to me. I’m just not saying it out loud,” he admitted.
Madelaine gasped when she heard that, and she held his gaze for a long time. So long, in fact, it almost made Luke uncomfortable because his thoughts began to wander to a place he hadn’t visited yet.
“And Ezra!” Madelaine suddenly yelled with wide eyes, slapping her hand onto his knee, squeezing it tightly. It startled Luke so much he sat up straight again, snapping out of his reverie. “Ezra Blackthorn! He came to my house once. Phineas had brought him there because he said he was interested in buying the place. Obviously, I told him no!”
“Interesting,” Luke said, stroking his beard. “He was there last night. I heard him talk to Phineas.” He omitted the fact that the men had talked about Alvarez. “At first, Caleb and I assumed that Phineas was the leader of this group, but we saw last night that this Ezra definitely had the upper hand.”
Madelaine nodded. “I do remember how Phineas kissed the floor that man walked on. It was absurd,” she supplied. “Apparently, he is some rich man from a larger city, and I think that Phineas wanted to get into his good graces, because nobody wants to work with him. Truthfully, I didn’t pay much attention to Mr. Blackthorn because I thought he was just a random buyer.But now that I think about it, he was overly interested in the stables and how we conducted our horse-breeding business.”
“He was? After seeing him there last night, I am not surprised,” Luke said.
“And when I told him no to his offers—he made several—he seemed very angry that he couldn’t buy our ranch. I thought I heard him say that it would have consequences, but I didn’t pay much mind. I only saw him once, so I didn’t think that he was serious when he’d said that.”
Both fell silent for a little while as they processed everything. Then it was Madelaine who said the words Luke was thinking out loud.
”So, hang on!” Madelaine said, deep in thought. “If Ezra is indeed the leader of the horse thieving gang, then of course he’d be interested in buying a ranch that has a successful horse-breeding business, because if he were the owner, he’d be able to sell off random stolen horses for big money, all under the guise of them being high-quality stock!”
The more Luke thought about it all, the more the puzzle pieces fell into place like tumbling rocks into a riverbed. When he looked down at Madelaine’s hand on his knee, she followed his gaze and tried to pull it away, but Luke’s reaction was much faster. He snatched her hand and brought it to his lips, where he gently kissed the back of it. Madelaine froze.
“You are a genius!” he said, as he planted another kiss on her soft skin. “I am so glad I spoke to you.” Another kiss. “And I promise you, I will never again exclude you from any of my plans.” Luke twisted her hand around and kissed the inside of her palm. “And you truly are an exceptional wife, Madelaine. I mean that most sincerely.”
Madelaine swallowed hard when he looked deep into her eyes. Then he lowered his hand and kissed the inside of her wrist.
Chapter Thirty
Timothy’s Ranch — Early afternoon
Luke couldn’t stop smiling. Madelaine’s reaction after that dainty kiss on her wrist had been so chaotic, every time he thought about it, he chuckled.
He knew that Madelaine had never been touched like that before—let alone kissed. He knew this because the squealing that followed and the screaming and running out the door shortly thereafter gave it away.
Unfortunately, these happy moments wouldn’t last very long, because he suddenly heard his wife scream once again—but this one sounded entirely different.
She’d just gone back to their room to put Belle down for a nap while the men had gathered in the living room again, this time openly discussing their plans for tonight. The horse auction was supposed to take place tomorrow, so tonight was the best night for them to capture this gang. As of their last meeting, they had been able to raise an entire army. Half the town was ready to take action.
Luke jumped up from his chair, and mere seconds later, Madelaine stormed toward him, holding up a slightly damp,folded piece of paper with one hand while holding Belle with the other.
“I just found this! It was stuck to my window!” she yelled, visibly shaken, clinging to a crying Belle as if her life depended on it.
