Irritation licked a flame inside of Cade. He ran a hand through his hair and let out a frustrated breath. “Why did you ask for this list? I thought I told you I had no interest in pursuing this.”
“I thought . . . Since he came back—”
“You don’t know that!” The words burst out of him like an animal that had been caged for too long. “That person you saw could have been anyone. Who knows how many men on white horses pass through this valley over the course of a year? The sheriff made his investigation, he found nothing, and we need tolet it go.”
She took a tiny step backward, and somewhere in all the anger and sadness, a bloom of guilt burst inside Cade.
“You’re the only one who’s saying that,” she said quietly. “The sheriff wants to meet with you, but you—”
“I’m not going to waste the man’s time.” His words were harsh, but he couldn’t stop them. It was like everything he’d kept carefully contained was boiling up, and he couldn’t stop it. “It won’t bring Lucas back.Nothingwill. All I can do is build up this ranch the way he wanted it, and so that’s what I’ll do.”
“But itisn’tall you can do! Don’t you believe Lucas deserves justice? Do you want this man to remain free to do this to someone else?” Her voice was plaintive, but all he heard was how much she’d positioned herself against him.
Cade pressed his lips together as the full extent of what she’d done clarified itself. “It doesn’t matter,” he said flatly. “But what does matter is that you went behind my back. You got that list and what—are you planning to visit each person and ask if they own a white horse? All without me knowing?”
“I hadn’t yet decided,” she said in a small voice.
“So, you were going to continue to lie to me until you figured it out?”
Her face pinched. His words were harsh, and he knew it, but he’d never felt so betrayed by anyone.
“That isn’t fair,” Jolie said. “I didn’t lie—”
“Youtoldme that paper was a sketch when I asked! I don’t know how you were raised, but that’s a lie where I’m concerned.”
She frowned at him, a line forming on her forehead. He’d made her angry, and he was glad for it. It felt like everyone should be angry—not just him.
“That was unnecessary,” she said, her words thick with emotion. “I am sorry I wasn’t truthful with you about the paper, or about asking for it from Edie. But I won’t apologize for doing the work thatyoushould be doing.” And with that, she turned and disappeared back into the bedroom.
She left Cade fuming alone in the kitchen. He had so much more he wanted to say, so much anger that was coursing through him.
But it was good she’d left. He knew that, somewhere in the recesses of his mind where he could still think straight. She didn’t deserve most of what was going through his head, but that didn’t mean what she’d done was all right. It wasn’t, at all. He’d made his thoughts clear about putting Lucas’s death in the past where it belonged, and she’d gone directly against that, doing whatever she saw fit to do without a single thought for him.
The bedroom door flew back open, and Jolie dropped the blankets he’d set up for himself on the floor. It was a not-so-subtle indication that he ought to sleep out here.
Well, that was just fine by him.
Chapter Nineteen
Thewalktothecreek for water didn’t feel the same.
Between her argument with Cade and the lingering fear that someone might be lurking behind the trees or just over the nearest hill, Jolie’s thoughts were on edge.
A bird flew up from the grasses, and she jumped in response, her heart beating wildly. Somehow she made it to the creek and filled the bucket, despite constantly looking around and startling at every brush of wind against a leaf.
She walked back slowly, the weight of the water forcing her to resist the urge to run. Despite the wild fear thatanyonecould be hiding out here and waiting for her, she also dreaded going back to the house.
Cade was already outside when she’d woken up that morning. She’d made breakfast, but he didn’t come in to eat, and when she peeked out the door, she found him already hard at work with Neil and Horace. She set out a lunch before she left, just some cold meat and cheese with bread, in case they grew hungry before she returned.
But she didn’t want to go back and find it untouched. And she wasn’t certain she could handle Cade’s silence for the rest of the day. Perhaps that was preferable, though, to his angry words.
He’d madeherangry too. Just thinking about it now made her want to scream. Yes, she hadn’t been truthful with him when he first asked her what she was looking at when she’d held Mrs. Gilbert’s list. That was wrong, and she’d apologized for it.
And maybe he was right when he extended that to her investigation. She hadn’t been truthful about that either, but then again, he hadn’t asked. It wasn’t a lie, but more like a carefully omitted truth.
Of course he’s upset, she thought. She knew he would be, which was why she hadn’t told him. But she wouldn’t apologize for doing it. It was the right course of action, even if he couldn’t see that.
He would, though, once the murderer was caught. Of that, Jolie was absolutely certain.
