Find Alexander Prather and bring him to justice.
“Levi?”
Rebecca’s voice caught him off guard. He whipped around to find her standing in the doorway. “Is everything all right?”
He realized that she’d seen him staring off into the distance. And from their conversation earlier, she likely feared he was searching for wolves or armed men wandering the valley. A slice of guilt cut through him. He knew very well there was a dangerous man nearby, and he hadn’t spoken a word of it to her.
It was safer for her not to know about any of it, he reminded himself.
“Just enjoying the fresh air.” He moved toward her, and she relaxed. “It’s a clear night, but I wouldn’t be surprised if more snow moved in soon.”
She stepped back inside and held the door open for him. “The children would enjoy that. The little ones are asleep, and the others have turned in. It’s been a busy day.”
Inside, the light from a single lamp cast shadows about the large room. Levi could barely make out the shapes of the children sleeping on the floor beside the bed in the corner. It looked as if Rebecca had supplied them with plenty of blankets, and Levi hoped they’d stay warm enough. He’d need to get on with building that bed tomorrow.
“I believe I’ll turn in now,” Rebecca said. She didn’t meet his eyes as she spoke.
Levi shifted, more uncomfortable now than he’d been after supper. “I’ll read for a while. Take the lamp with you.”
She looked at him then, clearly confused. “But then how will you see to read?”
“Right.” He’d had no intention of reading. Maybe sitting down and busying himself with much of nothing at the small desk in the corner, but that required light too. “I keep another lamp in the barn.”
She nodded then. “All right. Good night, then.”
“Good night.”
He watched her move up the stairs, the first floor growing darker as she ascended. Levi hadn’t ever given much thought tomarriage, but he was certain he never thought it would be like this. But he didn’t know quite how to approach any of it. Now he stood alone, in the dark, wondering what to do with himself.
He dreaded going back out into the cold for the other lamp, so instead he took a seat the table and waited. He’d been so busy with work over the past few years that he’d barely had time to treat a woman to dinner, much less do anything that resembled courting. He knew nothing about how to win the heart of a woman like Rebecca.
Levi froze. Did hewantto win her heart? How was he supposed to know how he felt, considering they’d spent less than a day together? If he grew to care for her, beyond wanting to keep her safe, that would be a liability to his line of work. But what did he think would happen once they were married?
He hadn’t reallythoughtat all.
And he definitely hadn’t considered anything beyond what would happen once he accomplished his task here, being more concerned with picking up the farm work and ensuring that he did the right thing by his brother’s intended. And that was when he wasn’t letting the grief get to him. When he’d given it a second thought, he’d imagined hiring men to do the farming while Rebecca kept up the house and he went off to handle whatever assignment he received.
Somehow, now that he was actually married, he couldn’t imagine Rebecca taking to that idea at all.
He shook his head and pulled out his pocketwatch. He’d concern himself with all of that after his work was done here. And given how slow it was going, it would be a while before he’d be able to haul Alexander Prather in front of a judge.
The minutes ticked by as he squinted at the hands on the watch. He put the pocketwatch away and glanced up toward the loft where all he could see was the soft glow of the lamp. Therewas no way to tell if Rebecca was awake or if she’d gone to sleep and left the light burning for him.
At least by now she had to be finished changing into her nightclothes and doing whatever else it was that women did before they went to sleep. He crept up the stairs in the dark, cringing when one of the steps creaked under his weight.
He didn’t know what he hoped to find when he reached the loft room, and he didn’t dare think too much on the possibilities. When he crested the top of the stairs, he found the lamp burning on the wash stand and Rebecca fast asleep—and an unexpected sense of disappointment shot through him.
He changed silently, extinguished the lamp, and slid into bed. Staring at the wooden ceiling, he was acutely aware of every breath Rebecca exhaled. He tried to occupy his mind with something else—anythingelse—but neither counting the days left until Christmas nor running sums for the cost of feed and hay for the winter provided enough distraction.
If he kept up like this, he’d be asleep in the fields while Alexander Prather ran off with half the gold in the state.
