She was right.
“In truth,” Willa continued, “I often find you exasperating because you don’t always do what I expect.”
“I can appreciate the feeling.”
That comment caught her attention. He held out his hands as if to declare his innocence. “You jilted me, Willa. With a snap of your fingers.”
A light came to her eyes. “I did, didn’t I?”
“It woke me up.” He took a step toward her. “Everything you do makes me more aware of what I’m saying and how I’m acting.”
Willa nodded. “Yes, like that. I understand. Love is quieter than I thought it would be, Matt. I read your poems—no, don’t scoff. They are lovely.”
“Willa—”
“They are meaningful to me,” she revised, “because they say something about you. And I admire how you are kind to people. No arrogance. No airs.”
“Thank you.”
Her lips twisted in self-deprecation before she said, “And then you married me even though you didn’t truly want me. But you have been thoughtful and giving.”
“Willa, I want you.”
She shook her head as if to deny him. She crossed over to the desk and sat in the chair. She looked out the window, and he could feel a chasm forming between them. She was right; in protecting her, he was shutting her out.
He wouldn’t have liked that, either.
Matt spoke. “I believe my cousin George is Hardesty.”
Her expressive eyes widening, she faced him. “The lawyer?”
Matt nodded.
She frowned. “I have trouble connecting the fastidious George with the blood in Ross’s room.”
“I know, and yet, Hardesty knows things that only someone in the family would know.”
“What possible reason could he have? He is a successful man. Even my father admires him.”
“The oldest in the world—jealousy.” He walked over to the desk and sat in the chair opposite hers, eager to share his theory. “George’s father and my grandfather were twins. It has always been a bit of a family jest that George’s father should have been quicker. Well, it was a jest for Henry. George seemed good-humored.”
“But if he wasn’t?”
He leaned on the desk. “Exactly. George has been kind to me, but in ways that my grandparents would have disapproved.”
“For example?”
“He came to my father’s funeral when Henry had declared no one should attend. He defied Henry, but not in an overt way. And to be honest, Henry probably didn’t care. He used George’s services, but I never heard him give the man any consideration.”
“But could George slit Ross’s throat?”
“Could he hire men to kill us? Grandmother is convinced Hardesty had a hand in William’s riding accident.”
Willa chewed on the thought a moment. “George hired men for you to catch Hardesty.”
“He did for Grandfather as well.”
“Have you met these men?”
