The colonel’s chest swelled, and Amy feared he was going to blow. But after a moment, he sighed. “A decision I will always regret.”
“Then don’t make another.”
He held Amy’s gaze for a long moment, then nodded. “Ellen and I will see to the paperwork. Why don’t you have a few words with Gabe? Let him know he’s going home.”
Overcome with joy, Amy whispered a quick thank-you, then entered Gabe’s room. His eyes lit up when he saw her.
“Hi,” he said.
“How are you?”
“Anxious to get out of here. Except . . .”
“I just talked to your dad. He agreed that it was your decision. Where you wanted to go, I mean.”
“Are you telling me that you talked my dad into changing his mind about something?”
“Guess I did.”
“You are a sweet talker, aren’t you?”
Warmed by his teasing, Amy smiled. The arrowhead weighed heavy in her pocket, but this wasn’t the time to give it to him. Not when Colonel Kendall or Ellen could walk in at any moment.
“Please come back to Whisper Lane. If the memories aren’t too painful.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” he said.
“I won’t let you lose it. Not after all you’ve been through.”
“Then you might have to use those sweet-talking skills on Abbott.”
“Has he been here?”
“He thinks I set the fire. That I would do something like that.”
“I think it was Dylan Tapley.”
“You know Tapley?”
“I’ve worked with him before. He knew Tess didn’t want to sell so he’s been trying to ruin her. Think about it. The break-in. The poisoning. Then arson.” Her eyes grew round. “He’s framing you.”
Gabe’s jaw worked, and his eyes narrowed. “I’m calling Abbott. He left his card here.”
“I’m going to see Dylan. I should have confronted him days ago. Then maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” Amy stood, breathing deeply to calm her angry nerves. Dylan had the upper hand during their last argument. This time it was her turn.
“Amy,” Gabe called after her. But she didn’t stop. “Oh, great,” he muttered. The only thing he could do was go after her. Now.
He pressed the call button and pulled out his IV. “Find my dad. And hurry. It’s an emergency—it’s important.”
His dad had bought him new clothes, a light cotton shirt that wouldn’t irritate the burns on the back of his neck and khakis. By the time his dad arrived, Gabe was slipping his bare feet into boat shoes.
“What’s going on?” Steve asked.
“It’s Amy. She’s convinced Tapley set the fire and went to confront him.”
“Who’s Tapley?”
“I’ll explain on the way. We need to get there pronto.”
“You still have papers to sign.”
“For once in your life, Dad, will you forget the rules? I’m going after Amy. Are you going to help me or stand there and cite regulations?”
A slow easy smile crossed his dad’s face. “I’m going with you.”
His dad drove while Gabe used the car’s GPS to navigate to Tapley’s office. They illegally parked in front of the building, then Steve helped Gabe into the spacious lobby. Amy stood in front of the bank of elevators, obviously impatient as she waited for the doors to open.
“Amy,” Gabe called.
She turned and hurried toward him. “Why are you here?”
“You didn’t think I’d let you have all the fun, did you?”
“Just don’t pass out on me.”
The elevator door opened, and they ascended to Tapley’s floor. As they approached his office suite, Amy hesitated. “We’ll have to walk past the admins as if we know what we’re doing. Remember, appear confident. In charge.”
Gabe and his dad exchanged amused glances, and Amy gave an exaggerated sigh.
“Right. You’re military. You don’t need my coaching.”
As she led them toward the office doors, Steve whispered to Gabe, “She’s a keeper, son.”
“Don’t I know it.”
Logan stood at Tapley’s table in disbelief. The map and overlays he’d seen a few days before had been replaced by another one, a more detailed version of the Whisper Lane property. It showed a few of the current structures, including the horse barn that had burned, plus proposed new ones.
“What is this?” Logan said.
“My plans for Whisper Lane,” Dylan replied. “Just like I told Mrs. Marshall before she died.”
“That was a ruse, Dylan. We both know it.”
“Perhaps at first. But I’d enjoy raising horses.”
“What happened to turning Sullivan’s land into a shopping mall? To making Amy pay for ruining your previous deal? Your uncle isn’t going to like it if you fail again.”
Dylan stuck his hands in his pockets and ambled to a nearby window. He stared at the street, three stories below him, then flashed a humorless smile. “My uncle has bigger problems. Apparently, he’s to be arrested for tax fraud any day now. Lucky for me, I was his least favorite nephew. Or I might be headed to prison too.”
Logan’s mind whirled. After everything he had done, all the planning and scheming, it couldn’t all fall apart. Not now.
Dylan returned to his desk but didn’t sit down. “We’re about to have company,” he said as he pulled an envelope from a drawer.
Logan faced the door as it opened.
Amy, his beautiful Amy, strode in, followed closely by Kendall and an older version of the ex-con. With false bravado, Logan glared at the men. With his bandaged fingers and slumped posture, Gabe didn’t seem much of a threat. But the other man, despite his age, looked formidable in his pressed Air Force uniform.
“Logan?” Amy said. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Before he could respond, Dylan gestured toward the chairs. “I saw you arrive from the window,” he said. “Please sit down.”
“I’d rather not,” Amy answered.
“You think I’m responsible for that fire.” Dylan focused on Amy, his voice quiet but firm. “It’s true I wanted Mrs. Marshall’s land, your cousin’s land. And I’m not above a little bribery when it’s worth my while. But I’d never resort to arson.” He faced Logan, and his eyes filled with loathing.
A cold chill ran up Logan’s spine, and his feet seemed frozen to the floor. He hadn’t confided this part of the plan to Dylan, so he could have no proof. Unless . . . he stared at the envelope on Dylan’s desk.
Amy pressed her hand against her stomach as she stared at Logan, trying to see beyond her handsome plus-one to the fiend who had caused such misery. “You?”
“No,” he said quickly.
But guilt filled his eyes with panic.
She took a step toward him, though she didn’t know why. Gabe’s bandaged fingers reached for her hand, giving her strength as hot tears stung her eyes.
“We should call the fire investigator,” he said.
Dylan spread his hand on the envelope. “The evidence he needs is in here. If I’d known what Logan was up to sooner, I’d have stopped him.”
“Stop me?” Logan huffed. “We’re partners. If I go down for this, so will you.”
“I wanted property. You’re the one who wanted Gabe back in prison.”
Amy startled, then her mind clicked the puzzle pieces into place as Logan’s intentions became clear. Hatred flared then inexplicably disappeared. The stories Gabe had told her—about Job surviving his miseries and the open arms of the prodigal son’s father—filled her heart instead. She refused to be consumed by anger. Not when Gabe’s strength could be hers.
“How could you, Logan?” She bit her lip and struggled to control her shaking voice. “How could you be so heartless? So cruel?”
“I’m cruel?” The hurt in his eyes pinched his features into a sad caricature. “It was our time, Amy. Yours and mine.” He glared at Gabe. “He was ruining every
thing. Don’t you see? I had to get rid of him.”
“So you set the fire,” Gabe said quietly. “Tried to make it look like I did it.”
“Yeah,” Logan retorted, his hurt replaced by hatred. “I did.”
Immediately, a man and woman entered from an anteroom and flashed their badges. After introducing themselves as homicide detectives, the man cuffed Logan and charged him with Tess’s murder and the arson. Dylan removed the wire he was wearing and handed it to the woman.
After they left, taking Logan with them, Amy turned to Dylan.
“What just happened?”
“It’s simple,” he said. “I helped the police solve a crime.”
“But why?”
“My lawyer advised me to. Otherwise I might have been charged as an accessory.”
“Did you know—”
“I didn’t. I promise you I didn’t.” Dylan eased his large frame into his desk chair. “But I knew other things. My testimony will keep Logan behind bars for a very long time.”
“What kind of things?”
“Logan broke into Mrs. Marshall’s home. Printed copies of her financial information. He also made anonymous calls to animal welfare.”
“What’s in the envelope?” Gabe’s voice shook with controlled anger.
“Oh, that.” The hint of a smile flashed across Dylan’s features. He upended the envelope, and several photos spilled out. “A rundown strip mall and a derelict apartment complex in Tucson.”
“But Logan thought . . .” Amy suppressed a sudden urge to giggle.
“‘The wicked flee,’” Steve quoted, “‘when no one pursues.’” He rested his hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “‘But the righteous are as bold as a lion.’ Proverbs 28:1.”
“Thanks, Dad. But that isn’t me.” Gabe’s voice sounded ragged, and his shoulders slumped as if losing the fight to stay upright.
“We’ll talk about it later, son. Are you ready to go?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Amy turned to Dylan. “Thank you,” she said. “But you still can’t have Whisper Lane. Or any part of Misty Willow.”
“Didn’t expect I could.”
“There’s one more thing.”
“You want to know whose strings I’m pulling on the county commission.”
“I want his resignation.”
“You’ll make sure people know—Logan’s the murderer. Not me.”
“I’ll do what I can.” Amy flashed him a dimpled smile. “Unless you try to cheat me or my family or anyone else I care about ever again.”
Dylan gave a tight smile. “I wouldn’t dare.”
42
Gabe sat beside his father in the second pew at Tess’s church. The seat was cushioned but still uncomfortable. Throughout the service, a celebration of Tess’s life that honored her commitment to her faith, her community, and the horses that were placed in her care, Gabe sat as erect as his dad. His face was stoic, emotionless. He could not show vulnerability in front of these people who cared about his aunt or he would fall apart.
After singing the last song, Gabe and his father were escorted from the sanctuary by an usher. They stood in the foyer, the only relatives Tess had, and accepted the condolences of those who had been touched by her generous spirit.
Amy approached Gabe, gave him a watery smile, then gently hugged him. He returned the embrace, finding the comfort he desperately needed in her arms.
“You look so tired,” she said.
“I guess I’m not sleeping very well.”
“The pain?”
He bit the inside of his lip for a moment before answering. The physical pain he could handle. But the ache in his heart? He doubted it would ever go away. He wasn’t even sure he wanted it to.
He only wanted to return to Whisper Lane and mourn the aunt he loved in private.
“It hurts,” he said simply, trusting Amy to understand.
Hearing tires on gravel and the blare of a horn, Gabe stepped outside to greet Dr. Addison. He was bringing Casper and Daisy home, and Gabe was looking forward to a ride.
In the weeks since the fire, Gabe’s neighbors had devoted their spare time to cleaning out the barn where the stagecoach had been stored and building horse stalls. Gabe wasn’t able to do much at first, and he still wasn’t at 100 percent. But he’d returned to his routine, up at 5:45, in bed no earlier than 11:00, in hopes of calming the restlessness that had eaten at him since his discharge from the hospital.
Once he got in the saddle, he hoped that would change.
Flint parked his truck and got out. “Hey, Gabe,” he said. “How’re you doing?”
“I’ll be better now that Daisy and Casper are home.”
“I’m sure you will.” They walked to the end of the long trailer, and Flint opened the door. He entered the trailer, led Daisy down the ramp, and handed Gabe the reins.
“You’ve already got her saddled?”
“Thought you might want to take a ride once she got here.” Flint disappeared back into the trailer.
Gabe buried his face against her neck. She snuffed his shoulder and his hair.
“Hello to you too,” he said. “Ready to gallop?”
Flint reappeared leading another saddled buckskin. She could almost be Daisy’s twin except for their slightly different black markings.
“Who’s this?” Gabe asked in surprise.
“Her name is Wild Rose.”
Another flower name.
“Where did you get her?”
Doc glanced into the trailer, and Amy stepped to its edge.
“She belongs to me.”
“Same question,” Gabe said with a chuckle. Her unexpected appearance added another sparkle to the day. “Where did you get her?”
“She’s a daughter of a daughter of Marigold. Once I found her, I did a little wheeling and dealing, and now she’s mine.” Amy jumped off the trailer and tugged on the brim of Gabe’s beat-up Stetson. “You wanna go for a ride?”
“To the Hearth?”
She nodded slowly. “To the Hearth.”
Gabe tried not to read too much into her answer. But his heart raced faster the closer they got to the stone chimney.
When the woods got dense, they tied the horses to a low branch and followed the path on foot.
Gabe took her hand, thankful the bandages had finally been removed from his fingers. “When did you start riding again?” he asked.
“Tess gave me a lesson or two. I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“That it was.”
They reached the chimney, and Gabe knelt in front of it. “Do you remember what’s hidden in here?”
“What?” she asked with a glint of mischief in her cool blue eyes.
Instead of answering, he reached behind the stone and retrieved the tin box. He sat on a nearby log and held it toward Amy. “Would you like to do the honors?”
He eyed her closely, but her poker face gave no indication of having seen the box before.
“You open it,” she urged.
He pulled off the lid and blinked. It couldn’t be.
The box was empty.
Amy reached into her pocket and sat beside him. She placed his hand on his knee, palm up, then opened her palm against his. Something hard and rough pressed against his skin.
“Is this what you were looking for?”
He stared at the arrowhead then at her. “I knew you couldn’t have forgotten.”
“I’m sorry I lied to you, Gabe. I was so surprised to see you, and my life seemed such a mess that day. Then having told the lie, I felt like I was stuck with it.”
“The last time I saw this,” he said, hefting the arrowhead, “it was in the box. When did you take it out?”
“I hiked back here after the fire.” She wrapped her arms around her knees and swayed on the log. “I read your letters, Gabe.”
“Where are they?”
“At the cottage. Tucked away in a safe place.”
He pulled out his wallet
and retrieved a folded piece of paper. “Recognize this?”
Her gaze darted from the paper to him. “My letter to you? You still have it.”
“You know me, Amy. I hold on to the things I care about. Whether it’s a pickup truck I can’t get running or this old beat-up Stetson. I held on to this too, because it was the last connection I had with you.”
She placed her hand against his jaw and gazed into his eyes. “In your letters, you said you would always wait for me. Did you mean it?”
“I meant it. But now isn’t the right time for us, Amy. I have nothing. No idea what’s going to happen tomorrow. No plan for the future.”
“Why can’t we make one together? Tess and I had an idea about what to do with the stables. It’s not too late.”
“You mean the nonprofit for kids?”
“She told you?”
“I found a folder in her office where she’d been making notes, writing down questions and so forth. It looked like something she wanted to pursue.”
“We can do it, Gabe. You and me in Tess’s memory.”
She sounded so hopeful, confident and assured. But to him the idea seemed too risky. He needed something more permanent than a struggling nonprofit could offer. He needed a career he could count on to support a family someday.
He took her hand in both of his. “If I asked you to, how long would you wait for me?”
“A lifetime. But please don’t make me.”
“I need to get a job and I need to try to hold on to Whisper Lane before it goes into foreclosure. If I can’t do it, I won’t even have a place to live.” His shoulders sagged. “I’ve got nothing to offer you.”
“My ‘home’ belongs to my cousin.”
Gabe made a harrumphing noise. “You’re used to a different life, Amy. We can pretend it’s not true or that it doesn’t matter. But we both know our circumstances aren’t the same.”
“I don’t know that.”
“Come on. You drive around in a BMW. I’ve got a broken-down old Ford. My checking account is in the three-figure range. I can’t even imagine what you must have squirreled away. It may be old-fashioned or prideful, but I’m not going to live off my wife.”
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