Delia raced to the top of the steps, just in time to hear the front door close.
She sank down on the top step, laying the papers beside her. She’d expected him to be upset, to be angry with her, but she’d hoped he would read what she had written.
Because then he would know how she really felt.
He would know that she loved him.
Chapter Sixteen
“FOSTER? THAT YOU?”
Max pushed himself away from the wall outside the darkened and closed hardware store to see Marshal James Wright standing nearby.
He went to pull out his pocket watch, but it was at home, on the night table where he’d left it. “Marshal,” he said in greeting. “Do you have the time?”
“It’s gone past one o’clock.” Wright ran a hand over his tired face. “Allen called me over to the Starlight to remove a couple men causing trouble. What are you doing out this late?”
“Had an argument with my wife.” There was no point in being dishonest, and Max was too tired to think of any other way to say it.
Wright nodded, as if he understood.
“She told me something she ought to have said right away. She’s not who I thought she was.” He didn’t know why he was saying all of this to the marshal. It was late, and his mind was only half-functioning, and maybe he just needed someone to listen.
Wright sighed and glanced down the road, his gaze tracing the few people who were out at this hour. “Believe it or not, I’ve been in that position. All I can say is to hear her out. Then it’s up to you to forgive her—or not.”
Max stared at him, wondering what kind of secret Mrs. Wright had kept from him.
“You headed home?” Wright asked, his eyes back on Max.
Max nodded. The marshal slapped him on the back and wished him luck, and they parted.
Back at home, he crept in the door and stood there for a moment. There was no noise at all from upstairs. Anna’s soft breathing sounded from the corner of the parlor. Max felt his way to the kitchen and found a lamp. Once the light flickered warmly across the room, he went looking for the newspapers he’d brought home for Delia.
He found them in a basket in the parlor and brought the entire thing into the kitchen. Settling himself into a chair, he pulled out the paper on the top and opened it. He turned the pages slowly until he found what he was looking for.
The Ladies’ Corner by Miss E.
Miss E. That had to be Cordelia Elliott.
His spine stiffened just looking at her name. He’d trusted her. He believed she married him because she wantedhim, not a subject to write about.
Max took a breath as Marshal Wright’s words ran through his head again. What happened next was his decision, and he owed it to himself to learn as much as he could before he made it.
So, he started reading.
