by Etta Foster
He pressed his heels gently into Apollo's sides to spur him forward, guiding him in the direction of the pen where the herd was currently grazing. Pride filled him as he took in the scope of his herd, recalling all the tribulations he'd been forced to undergo to make it happen. The loans in his name, the backbreaking hours; this would be what made it all worth it. He set about the laborious task of counting cows, grateful that the herd seemed to be in a very sedentary mood that day. He got to two hundred and ninety and stopped, frowning as he craned his head to look around. By his math, he was missing ten cows.
Did they manage to get out along the fence somewhere? Gavin rode down along the wooden fence, checking for any signs of broken planks or footprints. He found what looked like hoof and bootprints near the southernmost end of the fence, though there were no signs that the wood itself had been compromised.
Whatever happened, it doesn't seem like the cows wandered off on their own. I can only imagine that this is the work of Virgil Gleason, but proving it would be another matter entirely.
Virgil always seemed to manage to strike at a time when Gavin was least suspecting it. If he were a betting man, he'd say that they were waiting until cover of darkness for their misdeeds. There were very few predatory animals in the woods that surrounded his land, so people could easily traipse about the woods unmolested at night if they so desired.
I need to let Harland know about this as soon as possible. He might have an idea on how we can deal with Virgil. His family dealt with similar issues from Virgil in the past, and they managed to hold onto their land.
Riding back toward the house a few hours later, Gavin returned Apollo to the stables just as the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon. He'd lost track of time while riding around the property to check for other possible issues. He found some more footprints and hoof marks near the edge of the lake, but he didn't think much of that. His neighbor tended to ride out with his herd every now and then, and they occupied the lake for days at a time. Gavin was used to finding hoofprints in the dirt, but while he was gazing intently at the muddy dirt, he realized that there were discarded pieces of fruit everywhere.
“What’s all this doing here? The closest fruit tree is Mr. Bernady's apple tree out in his front yard. This fruit doesn't look like apples, but none of my other horses have fallen ill, so they must not be apricots,” Gavin whispered to himself, dismounting and then stooping down to pluck one of the pieces of fruit from the ground so he could get a closer look at it.
“These are just regular apples,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Leftovers from some of the ranch hands, I'll bet.” He would need to have a word with them about not properly disposing of their food. If they kept it up, the lake would eventually be overgrown by trees. Not that he would still be around by the time that happened, so there was no real urgency about it. Not like the missing cows or Virgil's threats.
Virgil Gleason. What happened to him that turned him into such a jerk? There had been a time when Virgil was a beloved neighbor who was running a humble but profitable cattle ranch. When he inherited some additional land that was left to him by a well-known rancher friend who had passed away, Virgil suddenly seemed to be obsessed with expanding his ranch. He probably gambled himself into debt and is using the profits from his ranch to pay them off.
Still, no matter what his reasons, Virgil was proving to be a threat to Gavin's livelihood. That wasn't something that could just be left ignored. After giving Apollo a carrot and checking that each stable bay had fresh hay and water, Gavin slowly made his way toward the house. When he walked into the kitchen, he found his mother sitting alone with her sewing, a pair of glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.
“Is everyone in bed already?” Gavin asked, pulling out a chair and sinking into it wearily. “I know I was out a little later than usual, but I didn't think that everyone would have called it a night already.”
“Jessica said that she wasn't able to sleep well last night, and she was going to try and catch up on her rest tonight. Your father also had a rather difficult day; his sickness was acting up even more than usual. The poor man spent the better part of today coughing and wheezing. I gave him some warm tea and let him sit in a hot bath for a while, so I'm hoping that will help,” she replied, setting her sewing down and moving to get out of her chair. “Are you hungry? I can cook you up something quick.”
“No, I'm alright. I'm honestly too tired to do much of anything except turn in myself. I'll have to talk to Pop tomorrow,” he said, leaning forward to kiss his mother's cheek gently. “Try not to stay up too late, Ma.”
“Talk to your father about what? About what happened with Virgil today?” she asked softly, looking up at him.
“No, I'd rather not bother him with worries about that. I’m just going to talk to him about some changes I want to make to the property,” Gavin said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I also need to talk to him and Jude together.”
“The three of you together? Now I know that something bad is going on. You were going out of your way to avoid Jude before. What's happened, Gavin? Surely you won't try to keep me in the dark if there's trouble afoot?” His mother was looking up at him with concern, his heart sinking as he realized he was causing her unnecessary worry.
“I’m just worried about the possibility of something happening, and I want to take steps to prevent that. It isn't about anything that is currently going on, but something I suspect might happen in the future. I'm trying my best not to jump to conclusions, which is why I want to talk to them. Don't worry too much. I'll talk to you about it again when I know more for sure,” he promised, pushing back from the table. He wished her a good night and made his way up the stairs, waiting until he was in his room with his door closed before letting out a weary sigh.
Slumping onto his bed, Gavin rested his head on his hands. He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling his compounded weariness starting to catch up with him. After being out of action for a couple weeks, he found that his typical workload was surprisingly stifling. Even if Jude did offer his portion of the land to Virgil, what say did Gavin have? He had no say over his brother's portion of the land, and he should have figured that his father would never write his brother out of his inheritance.
He cast a glance over to his writing desk, where the five letters from Jessica sat in a pile. He had pulled them out earlier in the morning to read through them again but hadn't gotten around to reading them yet. He feared if he were to read the letters again, he would say something that would ruin their chances of being together. That was an argument that he didn't want to have right now, especially with everything else going on. The mystery of Jessica's letters would have to wait until he solved the mystery of the missing cattle.
His dreams that night were haunted with the sound of Jessica's terrified scream. When he had first heard it sitting with Harland, he had felt all the blood in his veins run cold. It had been one of the most horrifying noises that he had ever heard in his life, and he hoped from the depths of his soul that he never heard another sound like it. He hadn't had a chance to really talk to Jessica in the aftermath of that situation with Virgil either, so he hadn't heard the full story from her. Every time his mother had tried to ask, she apparently got a very distant look on her face and never responded.
That was enough to make his mind run wild with any number of terrible scenarios, each one playing out as a vision in his head that he couldn't seem to deflect. Each time he would watch them attack her or violate her and he would seethe with rage, his jaw clenching tightly in his sleep.
He also had dreams when he was standing in front of Virgil Gleason and showed him exactly what he thought of him. He smiled in his sleep as he watched a dream version of himself punching Virgil repeatedly in the jaw, though the joy was short-lived as his insecurities warped his dreams into nightmares. When he awoke the next morning, Gavin found himself covered in an icy sheen of sweat. He cursed softly as he plucked the sweat-soaked linens from
his body and tugged them from the bed, dropping them into his laundry basket on his way out of his room. Boiling a pot of hot water on the stove, he used a cloth rag to wipe his body clean before slipping into one of his freshly laundered ranch outfits. First things first, I need to go find Harland. This is going to require his help.
Chapter 29
Coralee let out a soft grunt of effort as she tugged on the root of a stubborn weed, trying to drag it from the corner of the vegetable garden. Working in the garden had become her form of repentance. The satisfaction she felt at the end of the day after tending to the garden helped briefly overshadow the horrific guilt that hung over her like a constant specter.
The brand-new dress that hung in her closet made her feel like the most awful person in the world. What would Viola think of her if she discovered that Coralee had been lying about her identity for almost two months now? That the person she thought she knew was long dead and buried, and the reason she was there was that it was Jessica's dying wish.
In all honesty, she should have just admitted the truth from the beginning. She could have just arrived and acted as a messenger about Jessica's death. It might have come as a shock, but it would have enabled her to introduce herself and she could have gone from there. If she'd told the truth about why she'd left Boston, then surely they would not have turned her away, right?
She had no way of asking about where they stood now, either. Gavin had been preoccupied ever since the night they had shared their kiss, and the revelation Virgil had given him yesterday was no doubt weighing heavily on his mind. His brother had betrayed the family and agreed to sell his portion of the ranch. Not that she had much of an opinion about it.
However, she agreed that it didn't seem fair that Jude be entitled to half of something that he hadn't been around in years. She'd heard from Viola just how hard Gavin had worked to keep the ranch going, and it just seemed wrong for Jude to now profit from five years of his brother's hard work. Especially when it seemed obvious to her that Jude didn't appreciate the sacrifices his brother had made thus far.
Gavin would probably tell her to keep out of the family affairs if she tried to talk to him about it, so she'd contented herself to keep her distance. This constant cat and mouse game that she seemed to be trapped in with Gavin was beginning to lose its luster for her. The constant lying and trying to remember what she had read in Jessica's letters to Gavin was proving to be more than she could manage. Something is going to happen soon, and it's not going to be pretty when it does.
The sound of Viola ringing the dinner bell to summon everyone broke her from her thoughts, and she reluctantly rose from where she had been kneeling and brushed herself off fastidiously. Walking over to where she could wash her hands free of the dirt that had accumulated there, she dried her hands on the front of her apron. Her stomach let out a rumble of desire at the prospect of food, which caused Coralee to realize just how long it had been since she had last eaten.
After helping set the table and carrying the pork roast out to the table for Viola, Coralee took her seat beside Gavin. He offered her a small smile, but she found that she couldn't bring herself to return the gesture. Instead, she did her best to greet him cheerfully, making an excuse about exhaustion and feeling out of sorts. This seemed to satisfy Gavin, leaving Coralee free to stew in her own thoughts while Viola doled out food onto everyone's plates. The pork was tender enough that Coralee could cut through it with a fork, raising a forkful of meat and potatoes to her lips and letting out a sound of pleasure when the rich taste of the meat's gravy hit her tongue.
“This is fantastic,” Gavin said from beside her, looking over toward Viola and grinning widely at her. “Did you get a new recipe, or is this one of Grandmother's recipes?”
“It was actually one of my sister's favorite recipes that a storekeeper who lived next to us would always make. He owned a small restaurant that specialized in this dish, and the line that always formed in front of his shop was something to behold,” Viola replied, glancing over at Coralee. “How are you liking it?”
“It's very good, thank you,” Coralee admitted eagerly, raising another forkful to her lips. Every bite felt like it tasted even better than the last, and Coralee's plate sat empty before she realized it.
“Now that the three men of the house are together, there is something that I need to talk to you both about,” Gavin said gravely, his tone suddenly serious and hushed. “I've heard some unsavory things lately, and I would like to discover the answer for my own peace of mind.”
“What might that be?” Isaac glanced between the two brothers, tapping his fingertips on the top of the table. “Something to do with the inheritance?”
“Well, the first thing is that we seem to be missing ten cows from the herd. I counted them twice yesterday, so I know that I'm not mistaken. I checked most of the places that the cows might have wandered off to, but they were in none of those places. Not the valley down the road, not near the gorge. They just seem to have vanished.”
“Ten?” Jude looked genuinely shocked at the revelation, surprising Coralee. As wrong as it was of her, she had assumed that he had something to do with it.
“Do you think it was cattle rustlers?” Isaac asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do you have any idea who it might be?”
“You could say that,” Gavin said, his fingers lacing together as he rested his chin on top of his folded hands. “Virgil Gleason came onto our property the other day. He caught Jessica while she was taking a walk, and it was after she screamed that I ran to her and discovered he was there. And when I confronted him, you wouldn't believe what he told me.”
“What did he say?” Coralee asked, watching the temple in Gavin's forehead throb on the right-hand side.
“You were there, Jessica. You heard Virgil say that Jude had already agreed to sell his half of the land to Virgil and that he was there to check out his new property,” Gavin said coldly, his gaze still firmly rooted on Jude. He rose from his chair and pushed it into the table hard enough to cause the whole thing to shake, his eyes shooting accusatory daggers at his brother.
“Is that true, Jude?” Isaac asked softly, the look of betrayal on his face sending a pang of guilt through Coralee. Would he look at her the exact same way when he discovered her secret too?
“I told him that I was considering it,” Jude admitted, shooting an ugly glare at his brother while crossing his arms in front of his chest. “I even told him that I changed my mind shortly after that conversation, so I'm not going to sit here and listen to your accusations,” he snarled, looking over at his father. “I told him I was considering it because Claudia and I want to go to Boston and start our new life. We’ll need funds for that.”
“After all the years that we've had to deal with Virgil attempting to intimidate us into selling to him, you just go and hand it to him on a silver platter. What was the use of me struggling for these past five years if you are literally going to hand away the fruits of my labor?” Gavin snarled, glaring at Jude icily. Jude slammed his hands on the top of the table and rose to his feet as well, gesturing his finger toward Gavin.
“You are now and have always been a spoiled brat, Gavin. Pop always gave you everything that you asked for, and you still aren't satisfied. It probably just bothers you that I’m still entitled to my inheritance, because you disowned me the day Claudia and I left. Pop, however, did not. I am the eldest sibling, and yet your desires have always come ahead of mine. You didn't give a second thought to how I was going to live when I left here. It was your own hubris that convinced you that the ranch would become entirely yours when Pop passes away, and now you’re just mad because that isn't how things are playing out,” Jude snapped, glaring back just as intently at his brother.
“Now see here,” Gavin began, but Jude cut him off.
“No, you listen. It isn't my fault that you can't get over the past. Life throws obstacles at everyone, and you just have to climb over them. I'm the eldest, so I get my portion. C
laudia chose me over you, and there is nothing you can do to change that. Whether you like it or not, what I do with my portion is honestly none of your business,” Jude finished, his face red with anger. “The fact that you have the gall to try to sit here and guilt me about what I should do with my own property is laughable at best.”
“I'm only telling you that if you wanted to sell, there are a lot more honest people who you could have gone to. Instead, you go to the biggest serpent in the garden and are asking him outright to bite you. Do you not understand what a slap in the face it is that you would try to sell our land to Virgil Gleason? The man who single-handedly put many of our family friends out of business?”
Coralee had never seen the rage that now twisted Gavin's face into a scowl. He shook his head before centering his gaze back on Jude. “You just stay out of my way, Jude. You haven't cared about what happened to this ranch for the last five years, and even while you've been here, your help has been half-assed at best. It is obvious you are only staying here for your inheritance, and now we all know why,” Gavin said smugly.
“That's rich, coming from you,” Jude shot back, pointing toward Coralee. “You want to talk about me just taking advantage of my situation, but what about you? Apparently, you found out that you had to get married and sent for the first woman who talked to you nice in a letter. What about her? Would she even be here if Pop hadn't specifically required you to get married? You want to talk about using people, but at least I'm planning for my future with my wife. What promise does Jessica have that you won't leave her once you are in possession of your inheritance? You’re just using her because without her, you'd get nothing. You are just marrying her for your inheritance!”