Page 43 of Mail-Order Lady

Robert shrugged. “I don’t know. Might have been either.”

James came back from the stall and leaned against the wagon. “You’re sure it was her and not Reginald’s people?”

A question that had been bothering him. “I’m not sure. The timing aligns with her threats. But Reginald has sent men before, and we don’t expect him to stop.”

Silence settled over them again as each worked through the possible scenarios. He still needed to tell his brothers the nature of his and Clara’s union, but that would require circling the conversation back to that topic. Not a discussion he relished.

Thomas turned to lean on the side of the wagon across from James. His easy manner had returned, but it possessed a different feel now. This was the pretense he put on when he was thinking hard and didn’t want anyone to see it. “So this marriage.” He drew the words out with a deliberateness that meant he had been waiting to say them. “In name only, I assume. Being as it was a practical solution.” Thomas raised an eyebrow.

Robert held in a sigh. “Yes.”

Thomas was quiet for a beat, then nodded. “All right.”

The all right meant nothing of the kind.

Robert reached for the next crate and lifted it from the wagon. The barn had gone too quiet again, but he didn’t dare look at his brothers.

“All right.” Thomas repeated the words in the same voice. “So you and Clara are married, but it’s a practical arrangement. And you’ve spent the last ten days driving her across two hundred miles of mountain country while a hired man followed you out of Fort Benton, and you haven’t slept for four days. Because of the practical arrangement.”

“Because of the man on the trail.”

“Of course.” Thomas’s mouth pulled at the corner. “The man on the trail.”

Robert set the crate down on the workbench harder than he needed to. “Thomas.”

“What?”

“Whatever you’re about to say, don’t.”

“I haven’t said anything.”

“You’re about to.”

Thomas crossed his arms. The grin worked at the corners of his mouth without breaking through, which was worse than if it had.

“I was only going to observe.” That grin reached his voice now. “That I once told this family I was entering into a marriage of practical convenience, and you were all kind enough not to point out at the time how much of myself I had already given away.”

“That was different.”

“Was it?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Robert reached for the next crate and set it down with the others. “Kate wanted you. From the start, she wanted you.”

“And Clara doesn’t want you.”

The barn went still.

The words sat in the air like a slap. Robert kept his eyes on the row of boxes. His face would betray him if he looked up.

“I didn’t mean it that way.” Thomas’s voice had gentled. “Robert. I didn’t mean it that way.”

“I know what you meant.”

“What I meant was⁠—”