Travis frowned. He scratched his cheek and shook his head. “Maybe. We’ll figure that out later.” He pointed at them. “You two need to rest. You’re still recovering.”
Ella pushed back from her chair. “I’m fine.”
Cody stopped her. “Darlin’, if Travis says you need to rest, I trust his judgment. I’m guessing you’re pretty banged up from those falls.”
“And Cassie is staying to help care for the children. Take today, rest up, and we’ll regroup tomorrow,” Travis said.
“‘We’?” Ella asked, brows raised.
Travis chuckled. “I’ll be back to report my findings. And to spend time with my wife. If she’s here, I’m here.”
“We won’t object to that.” Cody stood, holding out a hand. “Thanks, Trav.”
The men shook hands, and Travis took his leave. Ella gripped her mug of coffee. It trembled as she brought it to her lips.
Cody sat beside her. “Darlin’, you’re going to crack that cup if you hold it any tighter.”
“What?” Ella looked down. Her fingers were white. She relaxed her grip. “I’m feeling a bit anxious.”
“I reckon so.” Cody covered her hand with his. “Whoever did this won’t get away with it.”
“You can’t promise that.”
His brows knit into a V. “You know I’ll do everything in my power to protect you.”
“I know.” Her throat tightened. “But look what happened to you—because of me.”
Cody’s voice lowered to a gravelly growl. “Not because of you. Because of someone else’s choice. This isn’t your fault, Ella.”
“It might have been someone else’s choice, but the fact remains you got hurt because of me being here. Isaiah might have been killed if you hadn’t protected him from those snakes.” She shivered. “And this person claims he’ll strike again if I don’t go back.”
“You’re not going back.”
“Of course not. But how are we going to keep our family safe?”
“One thing at a time.” He wrapped his arm around her. “We’ll see what Travis finds out and go from there. Now, come.”
She allowed him to lead her out of the kitchen into the parlor. Her body protested the movement. When they reached the sofa, she sank onto the cushions and closed her eyes. “What are we doing?”
The sofa squeaked as Cody sat beside her. “We follow orders. We rest.”
“I guess that doesn’t sound so bad.” She leaned her head on his shoulder, trying to banish the fear clutching her heart. Whatever the future held, she needed to trust that God had it under control.
Whatever that might look like.
Despite his outward calm, waves of anger pulsed through Cody. If only he knew who to direct it at, but their assailant was a mystery.
A fact he hoped to rectify sooner than later.
When he read the words on that paper, threatening his wife, Cody saw red. He thought he’d hid it well, but the more he considered it, the angrier he became. It was a wonder steam wasn’t escaping his ears as he sat beside Ella, wanting nothing more than her safety. She sat beside him, reading aloud from his mother’s book of poems, and all he could think about was how to protect her.
“Cody?”
He blinked. Ella had put the book down. She stared at him, brows knit in concern. He shook himself and pasted on a smile. “Yeah?”
She put a hand to his cheek, rubbing it gently. “You’re upset.”
“I’m fine.”
