“By betraying me?” He ground a withered vine beneath his boot. “I hope he comes down here to confront me. I’d like nothing better than to lay into him.”
“Now who has the temper?”
He narrowed his eyes. “Is that what this is about? Revenge.”
“Of course not. I’m trying to throw him off your trail.” She latched onto his arm. “I ran into him when I hurried back to the street, and he recognized me. I had to do something. I had to come up with an excuse for why I was dressed like a man.”
He shrugged off her hold. “What did you tell him?”
“That I was jealous and spying on you. That I thought there was a doctor’s daughter who’d caught your eye. I figured the closer it was to the truth, the better the lie.”
If she’d stayed put on the plantation today, there’d be no need for thinking up lies, but he swallowed the rebuke before it left his lips. “Did he believe you?”
“Yes. But then he said he’d sent an agent to your home county to investigate you. That he was waiting to hear back.” She gestured toward him, palms up. “I had to do something to throw him off track.”
He stilled, almost afraid to ask. “And what was that?”
Her voice sank. “I didn’t know what to say.” She fiddled with the fringe on her shawl. “All I wanted to do was to protect you, keep you safe. I remembered what you’d said about a backup lie. I told him you were here from Confederate headquarters and that you were investigating him.”
Devon blew out his cheeks and slid his hand down his face. “That wasn’t yours to tell.” Leave it to Morning Fawn to turn this mission into a wild horse with no reins. Maybe they’d win the race, or maybe they’d fall off and get trampled.
“You’re upset with me?”
“Not exactly.”
“I was afraid for you.” Her voice wobbled.
“You’ve upended so many parts of the plan, I don’t even know where to start.”
“I’m sorry.” Big, wet eyes gazed into his, penetrating his defenses.
His heart rolled over. He gulped a steadying breath and exhaled. “You did help.” In a wild horse type of way that would probably give him gray hairs before she was finished. “Hopefully, your story will divert his attention from the worst possibility and buy us time.”
“You don’t sound certain.” She swished her hand against her skirt folds.
“There aren’t any guarantees in this kind of work.” He caught her hand. His fingers curled around hers. She’d thrown herself right in the mix with him, putting her life in danger when he would have done everything he could, except for sacrificing the mission, in order to keep her safe. “It’s like a game of cards where the stakes are lives instead of money. You study your opponent, calculate, and take risks. Only today, while I was in the middle of a game with a good hand, you walked in after I’d made my bets, and you threw all the cards in the middle and said. ‘Let’s re-deal.’”
“Maybe your opponent had an even better hand and was about to take everything you had?” She bit her lip.
Or maybe she’d handed his opponent means to wipe him out. But as he gazed into her face, his shoulders unlocked. There’d be no scolding her. His rebuke would bounce off her like raindrops on a rubberized blanket. Either that, or she’d take it so much to heart she’d be wounded beyond hope. “We…I will have to revise the plan. Moyer is going to watch me like a hawk. And he’ll have men keep an eye on the Schramms too.”
“But he’ll be afraid to do anything or say much to anyone. Because he thinks he’s under suspicion. And the way he acted when I said it…maybe he really is a thief.”
“I hope he is. That would keep him looking over his shoulder.” The slime had put his hands on…his girl. Devon’s girl. “I’ve got to know. Did you let that man kiss you? Because I’d rather take my chances of being hung than for you to allow him such liberties.”
“No kisses.” She smiled. “I told him I’d let you kiss me before I found out about your skunky ways and that I wasn’t going to allow another man to kiss me until I was engaged.”
“I’veneverhad the pleasure of kissing you.”
“I had to say something to make him keep his lips to himself.”
He ground his molars. “I don’t want that man anywhere near you.”
“Then we’d better work on finishing your mission.”
“‘We’?” The change he’d agreed to was still a bit hard to swallow, but he didn’t want to talk about that right now. Didn’t want to talk about anything. He touched her cheek. Lightning sizzled up his arm. In the wake of it, every clear thought in his head evaporated. “It’s not just the mission. You’ve turned my whole world upside down.”
“Is that good or bad?”
