Emily almost smiled.
“You promised not to frighten me.”
Daniel looked back at her.
“I didn’t promise not to frighten Jasper.”
That earned the first real laugh he had heard from her since their wedding.
It changed her entire face.
Daniel forgot Jasper existed.
Then Emily’s laughter faded.
Across the street, Reverend Hale was approaching them.
He carried his Bible beneath one arm.
His expression was grave.
“Daniel. Emily.”
“Reverend.”
“I heard.”
“Everyone has.”
Hale looked at Emily.
“I am sorry.”
“Are we married?”
The preacher hesitated.
Daniel hated him for the hesitation even though he knew it wasn’t the man’s fault.
“If Mr. Rusk was legally alive yesterday, then legally…”
He removed his hat.
“The ceremony could be considered void.”
Emily turned away.
Daniel spoke immediately.
“What would prove him dead?”
“A body. Reliable witnesses. A court declaration.”
“And what would prove the first marriage invalid?”
“Fraud. Bigamy on Rusk’s part. An improper license. Anything showing he lacked the legal right to marry her.”
Emily suddenly looked back.
“Bigamy?”
Hale nodded.
“If Caleb had a living legal wife before you, your marriage to him would never have been lawful.”
Daniel saw something flicker across Emily’s expression.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
“Emily.”
“Once,” she whispered, “when Caleb was drunk, he called me Rebecca.”
Daniel waited.
“He apologized the next morning. Said Rebecca was his sister.”
Hale frowned.
“You didn’t believe him?”
“I didn’t think much about it then.”
Daniel looked toward the road Voss had taken.
“Maybe we should.”
The county records office stood two days’ ride south.
Daniel wanted Emily to remain at the ranch.
Emily refused.
“I’m finished hiding while men decide what my life belongs to.”
So they rode together.
They slept the first night beneath a rocky overhang near the river.
Daniel built a small fire.
Emily sat opposite him with her knees drawn beneath her skirt.
For several hours, they spoke about anything except Caleb.
The horses.
Weather.
A calf Daniel suspected would never learn not to walk through fences.
Finally Emily said, “You’ve never asked me.”
“Asked what?”
“Whether I killed him.”
Daniel poked the fire.
“You said you hit him and ran.”
“What if I’m wrong?”
He looked up.
“What if part of me knew that lamp would spread the fire?”
“Did you lock the door behind you?”
“No.”
“Did you pour kerosene?”
“No.”
“Did you keep him from leaving?”
“No.”
Daniel leaned back.
“Then you survived.”
Emily stared into the flames.
“You make everything sound simple.”
“It isn’t simple.”
“No?”
“No.”
He held her gaze.
“It’s just not your guilt.”
For a moment she looked as though she might cry again.
Instead she whispered, “Do you know what frightened me most last night?”
Daniel waited.
“That you would be gentle.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
“Because if you were angry, I knew how to survive anger.”
Her voice shook.
“But kindness…”
She looked toward him.
“Kindness leaves you with something to lose.”
Daniel did not cross the fire.
He did not reach for her.
He simply said, “Then we’ll lose nothing tonight.”
Much later, Emily fell asleep beneath her blanket.
Daniel remained awake.
Not because he feared Caleb Rusk.
But because he finally understood how much courage it had taken for Emily to sleep within twenty feet of any man at all.
The Lincoln County courthouse smelled of dust, ink and old paper.
A clerk named Mr. Pritchard led them into the records room.
