Thinking of the murderer made her glance around her again, but only the brown grasses waved in the wind, and a few yellow leaves floated by, cut loose from a single, nearly bare tree.
What if the man sneaking around the house last nightwasthe murderer? It was more likely that Cade was right, and the fellow was a drifter, since he didn’t have a horse. But after seeing that horse and rider a while back, Jolie wasn’t entirely certain.
She forced herself to move more quickly, and she reached the house out of breath.
Inside, the lunch she’d left out had been eaten, and she smiled in gratitude. He wasn’t so angry that he was willing to avoid anything she did for him. She set to work sweeping the entire house and then started a hearty stew for supper. In the middle of the afternoon, she made coffee and brought cups of the steaming brew out to the men.
“Thank you, Mrs. Harris,” Neil said as he took his cup. “It’s a cold one out here today.”
Horace breathed in the scent of his coffee and smiled before taking a sip. “This is good. Thank you, ma’am.”
Cade took his with a curt, “Thanks.”
Well, that was better than nothing at all. Jolie chatted with Horace and Neil while they drank their coffee. They attempted to include Cade, but all he did was nod and avoid looking at her.
That evening, when he finally came in for supper, he ate it standing, and then excused himself to see to Old Brown. Jolie sighed in frustration as she cleaned up the dishes. He couldn’t be like this forever, and that was her only consolation. And perhaps, when he did forgive her, he’d also realize that what she’d been doing was right.
The minutes ticked by. She tried to read the newspaper, but found her attention wandering. Finally, just as she was about to get ready to go to sleep, Cade came back inside. She waited expectantly for something—anything—while he hung up his hat and coat. She swallowed as she realized he’d been wearing his pistol on his hip. The stranger lurking on their property had shaken him too.
Finally, he turned around. “Sawyer came by earlier. He asked us to dinner again on Friday.”
It was the most he’d spoken to her all day. “That’s very nice of him. I’d love to visit again.”
He gave her a curt nod. “Good night, then.”
She wanted to sigh and scream and throw up her hands in frustration. But instead she gave him a courtesygood nightin return and went to the bedroom.
“It can’t be like this forever,” she whispered to the ceiling as she pulled the quilt up to her neck to keep out the chill.
It couldn’t. Or else she might lose her mind.
Chapter Twenty
Thenexttwodaysdragged on, and Cade’s only consolation was that the barn was nearly finished. His heart ached every time Jolie was nearby, and he’d have the urge to reach for her hand and apologize for acting the way he did.
Except that desire was quickly replaced each time by a burning indignation. Lucas had been his brother—what gave Jolie the right to pursue an investigation behind his back? It wasn’t her decision to make.
And so, he said nothing to her. Every night, he lay on his pallet in their parlor—where he hoped that one day they’d have a settee or a pair of armchairs—and stared at the ceiling as a hundred different emotions swirled inside.
They couldn’t go on like this. He would have to forgive her, or she’d have to apologize, or . . . He didn’t want to consider the alternative.
She looked particularly lovely when he helped her into the wagon for their ride to Sawyer’s place on Friday. The blue dress she wore beneath her coat made her eyes seem even brighter than usual, and her blonde hair was caught up in a soft style that begged for him to catch a tendril in his hand.
But he didn’t. He helped her in without a word, and then climbed into his own seat and took up the lines. They were quiet as he drove them to Sawyer’s. He wanted to remark on so many things—the brilliant hues of the aspens glowing on the mountainsides, the warmth of the sun, how he planned to have the barn finished next week. But his mouth remained stubbornly closed.
He had a reprieve during dinner. Sawyer and Lawrence Yount carried the conversation, and it was easy to fall into talk about cattle and weather. He kept his attention on them, yet he was acutely aware of Jolie sitting beside him.
After they’d finished dessert, Jolie jumped up to assist Hannah Bennett, leaving Cade, Sawyer, Yount, and Josiah Bennett to continue their conversation.
“Are you planning to purchase cattle in the spring?” Sawyer asked as he sat back in his chair.
“I’ll have to. I wish there was some way to track down the missing cattle from Lucas’s herd,” Cade said, ignoring the pinch in his heart when he spoke his brother’s name. He could grudgingly admit that Jolie had been right about that. He needed to ask about the cattle.
“I imagine if they ended up in the wrong hands, they’ve been rebranded by now,” Yount said. He rested his hands on his round stomach.
Cade nodded. The man was most likely right. He’d be starting from scratch, and he’d better get used to the idea.
“How do you plan to keep that from happening again?” Bennett asked.
