“Promise.”
As he grabbed his bag and coat, he paused. “But I’m afraid I have some bad news to share about Martin.”
“Is he dying?” She followed him out the door.
“He might be ... yes. But there’s something else.” Once they were outside of the Roadhouse and out in the brisk air, he offered her his arm. “If I’m walking too fast let me know.”
“Of course. Just tell me what’s going on with Martin.”
“The day I went back into town for supplies? I found that Martin was sick. But before that, I found someone else running the store. Judastookit, Whitney. Apparently, Martin owed him a good deal of money and when he couldn’t pay, Judas took the store as payment.”
She’d never been so furious in her whole life. “I’ll meet you at Granny’s in a few minutes. There’s something I need to do.”
“Whitney—”
Holding up a hand, she shook her head at Peter. “No. Don’t try and stop me. This is something I have to do. Please. Go take care of Martin.”
She marched off down the street, letting every bit of anger within her boil to the surface. Was this how Judas reacted to her turning him down?
Storming into the Shipping and Freight offices, she waltzed right past the secretary and flung open Judas’s office door. “You took Martin’s store? Howcouldyou?”
He sat behind his desk, looking entirely too content. “Why, Whitney, what a lovely surprise.” He stood. “Please ... have a seat.”
Her hands fisted at her sides. “I don’t want to have a seat, Judas. I want to know why you took the mercantile from Martin!”
His hands came up, and he moved toward her. “It was just business. Calm down and we’ll talk about it.”
“No.” She squinted at him. “I willnotcalm down.”
“He owed me a great deal of money. And asked for extension after extension. Ultimately, he simply couldn’t make thepayments.” He went behind his desk and opened a drawer, then pulled out some papers. “See for yourself.”
“I don’t care what your papers say. How could you? Especially now when there’s an epidemic? Did you know that he’s sick?Reallysick?” That was when she saw it. Triumph. In his eyes. How had he fooled them all?
“It couldn’t be helped, Whitney. You must understand that I can’t allow for someone to go without paying for this length of time. Everyone else in town who owes me money would then think they could do the same as well, and then where would my business be? How would I get shipments in if I couldn’t pay? The town relies on me.”
His request for pity wouldn’t work. It was all fake. His seemingly heartfelt expression. The overly sincere tone of his voice. Awful man—he was playing a part! Right there, in front of her. After all these years, it didn’t make sense. “So you took the store?”
“I had to. Surely, you must understand.” He came around the desk and set the papers down. “Please, read them and see. Martin signed them himself.”
She snatched the papers up and perused them.
“You know...” Judas stepped closer to her.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up.
“There is a way I could give the mercantile back to Martin, and it wouldn’t damage my reputation in town. That is ... if you agreed to marry me, then Martin would essentially be family. I’m sure we could work out some sort of deal.”
A shiver went up her spine, and she tossed the papers to the floor. “Some sort ofdeal?” That’s how he saw her? A bargaining chip? To what end? She stared at the man she’d known for half her life. Or had she?
Had any of them really known him? Rage built inside herlike a tidal wave. Granddad ... oh, if he’d known ... he’d have sent Judas to jail.
“Of course. I would do anything for you.” He reached for her hand.
She moved it away. Searching his eyes, she couldn’t find anything of depth. It was like Judas hid behind a veil ... like he wasn’t even there. Instead of emotion, what she saw was ...
Darkness.
Father, protect me.She stepped back and shook her head. “You’re a fine actor, but no, Judas. I will not marry you. Not ever. Not for any reason. And it sickens me to think that you have done this to more people than Martin.”
