“What did you do with him?”
Gideon’s eyes broke.
“I buried him here.”
Mabel stared.
“Where?”
“North ridge. Beneath the cedar.”
She slapped him again.
Then she began hitting his chest.
“You knew!”
“I know.”
“You knew!”
“I know.”
“You let me mourn a lie!”
“I couldn’t find you!”
His voice finally cracked.
“I mailed letters. Men were watching the post. Every letter came back or disappeared. When I went to your town, your house was empty. Vane had already foreclosed. Nobody knew where you’d gone.”
“You recognized me when I knocked.”
“Yes.”
That answer hurt most.
Mabel stopped hitting him.
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
Gideon lowered his head.
“I was a coward.”
Her tears fell.
“No. Cowards run away.”
She stepped closer.
“You let me trust you.”
He looked at her.
“And that was worse.”
Mabel packed before dawn.
Lottie did not argue.
June cried.
Elsie refused to leave President the cat.
Mabel barely heard them.
All she could feel was betrayal.
Gideon stood outside while she tied their belongings.
“You can keep your wages,” he said.
“I earned them.”
“Yes.”
She faced him.
“I don’t want your guilt.”
“It was never guilt.”
“What was it?”
He struggled to answer.
“That first night, when I saw you divide that bread…”
His voice softened.
“I remembered Samuel talking about you.”
Mabel looked away.
“He said you could make one biscuit feel like supper for six. Said you could make a rented room feel like home.”
“Stop.”
“He loved you.”
“Stop.”
“And I knew I should tell you.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
Gideon swallowed.
“Because the first night I only wanted you safe.”
“And the second?”
“I wanted one more day.”
“The third?”
“One more.”
Mabel’s eyes filled.
“And after that?”
His answer was almost inaudible.
“After that, I was afraid you’d leave.”
For one terrible moment, she wanted to forgive him.
That frightened her enough to climb onto the wagon.
Gideon did not stop her.
Perhaps he understood that he had lost the right.
Then four riders appeared on the southern road.
Silas Vane rode in front.
Behind him came Deputy Marshal Cutter and two armed men.
Vane smiled.
“Morning, Cross.”
Gideon’s hand drifted toward his gun.
Cutter raised a rifle.
“Don’t.”
Mabel stepped from the wagon.
“What is this?”
Vane unfolded a paper.
“Gideon Cross is under arrest for cattle theft, fraud and the murder of Samuel Harlo.”
Mabel stared.
Gideon went pale.
Vane looked at her sympathetically.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Harlo. Apparently your benefactor had more secrets than you knew.”
By noon, all of Sorrow Creek knew.
Gideon was locked beneath the sheriff’s office.
Vane announced that the Cross ranch would be seized as property purchased through criminal proceeds.
Mabel understood then.
It had never been about Samuel’s supposed debt.
It was about the ranch.
Vane believed Gideon still had Samuel’s records.
Mabel returned to the house with Pike.
