Chapter Twenty-Nine
Breakfast was a jolly affair, with everyone present around a large table—including all the children and Buster, laying below it—and despite the all-out fight this morning, Madelaine was laughing and smiling at everyone apart from Luke.
He didn’t want to make a scene, so he didn’t show his frustration.
This wasn’t his house; he was only a guest here, and coupled with the fact that he had barely slept an hour or two, Luke was too worn out to be on anything but his best behavior.
Timothy and Mary entertained everyone with some funny stories about how they’d met, and how he had originally hired her as a housekeeper, keeping up the ruse until they both admitted their love for each other.
Evelyn and Madelaine exchanged several glances, grinning from ear to ear.
Luke gathered that women had to have a sixth sense for this kind of thing.
He wished he had that, because it would have helped him navigate this marriage with Madelaine, who indeed wasn’t like any other woman he’d ever met.
Not only was she beautiful and pure, she was also a fighter and did everything she could to protect her young siblings.
He respected that, and he admired her for it.
He also wanted her to see that he was trying, so he even joined them for the prayer before breakfast, but she never looked at him, so he couldn’t be sure if she’d even noticed it.
After the women had retreated to the kitchen, the men went to the living room, where they sat down to talk about their plan tonight.
“Madelaine followed us last night,” Luke said to Caleb as soon as they sat down in front of the fireplace. Caleb’s eyes went wide.
“What do you mean? Followed us where?” he asked.
“She followed us to the gang’s house in the woods when we went to scout them out,” Luke said. Timothy and Caleb both seemed dumbfounded.
“How did we not notice it?” Caleb asked, his eyebrows almost disappearing into his hairline. “This is insane! What in the world made her do that?”
“That’s very irresponsible of her. It’s dangerous to be out there alone at night, even without the threat of being killed by these criminals!” Timothy added.
Luke nodded. “I have no idea what got into her head to do such a thing. She told me this morning because she was angry that I didn’t tell her what we were up to.”
Timothy laughed a raspy laugh. “She’s a feisty one. Just like her father, John,” he said with a distant smile. “He was a good man. Had a bit of a stubborn streak in him, but let me tell you, if he set his mind on something, he would move mountains to get it done. He was very smart.”
That gave Luke pause. “She complained about the fact that I didn’t include her in the investigation because she knows Phineas better than anybody else,” he said.
“Well, she does have a point. She lived with that man,” Caleb affirmed. “But to put herself in danger like that…”
Luke stared into the fire. His body was tired from not sleeping, but his mind was racing.
“Maybe you should have asked her for some insights,” Caleb finally said, “about how Phineas ticks. That man is a strange character. The more we know about him, the better. Especially before tonight!”
“Maybe you should talk to her now, find out what she knows, before we have to go get ready,” Timothy added.
Luke agreed. It couldn’t harm anything if he spoke to her before the men put the plan into action. Maybe she did know something that could be valuable to them.
When Luke walked toward the kitchen, he stopped in the doorway and knocked on the frame to garner the women’s attention. They were all laughing together, but the second they saw him, Madelaine’s face went slack, and she turned her back to him.
“I would like to speak to my wife,” Luke announced, and when he saw Mary quirk her eyebrow with a grin, he felt a little embarrassed. He wasn’t used to these kinds of situations. “I mean… Madelaine, can I please talk to you?” he tried again.
“I’ll watch the little ones,” Evelyn offered with a smile, picking Belle up.
She surprised him when she turned around immediately and walked straight past him, all the way toward their room. He followed her like a kicked puppy while his mind raced as he thought about the best possible way to handle their conversation.
Madelaine marched into their room and sat down on the foot of the bed without saying a word or sparing him a glance. She straightened her posture and stared straight ahead, waiting. Luke closed the door and walked toward the fireplace, stoking the flames and putting another log on the fire.
“About this morning…” he started, but stopped. “I’m sorry that I yelled at you,” he tried again, but there was no reaction from her. “I should have told you, I guess…?”
Madelaine shook her head. “I appreciate your apology, but no, that’s not what I meant,” she said with a big sigh. Then she gifted him with a faint smile.
Luke was confused. “Then why were you mad?” he asked, slightly baffled.
“I was mad because you don’t include me in your plans,” she said quietly.
“You don’t talk to me to tell me what is going on with Phineas, or if you’ve found out anything else, or what you’re up to.
I don’t want to be out there in the middle of it all, but I want to know what’s going on.
It makes me sad that you don’t seem to value my opinion or my knowledge, and I don’t appreciate you telling me what I can and can’t do. ”
Luke listened carefully because he didn’t want to mess it up again. He pulled one of the chairs in front of the fireplace closer so that he could sit opposite her.
“Truthfully, I didn’t think you’d be interested in knowing.
Women aren’t usually involved in these kinds of things,” he said.
He attempted a tentative smile, but it fell flat.
Her face remained stoic. He skidded the chair a little closer so their knees were almost touching, then he took one of her hands and held it between both of his. She didn’t pull away.
“We’ve been following this group of men for several days now,” he started anew.
“A ranch was attacked last week, all the horses were stolen, and the criminals tried to burn the house down—pretty much the same pattern they always follow.” He looked up at her face to see if she was paying attention and realized that her bright green eyes were entirely focused on his face. He cleared his throat.
“Well, when we followed those tracks in the snow,” he continued, “they led us directly to the compound we went to last night. We’ve been scouting it out for a couple of days, and we have actually seen Phineas there.”
Madelaine gasped. “You did? He was there? At that place?” she asked with wide eyes. Luke nodded.
“I knew it!” she exclaimed then. “I’ve always suspected him of something shady!
Especially since he’d moved into my father’s ranch.
He never asked me if I wanted him there; he just took over and brought a whole bunch of men with him.
They were everywhere. And Phineas even sleeps in my parents’ old bedroom now, and he’s wearing my father’s clothes!
” Luke saw her eyes fill with tears when she talked about her parents.
“That’s terrible. I remember you mentioning the men. Do you remember any names that they exchanged? Anybody in particular who stood out, maybe?”
Madelaine paused for a moment, and Luke allowed her to think. She bit her lower lip and frowned slightly as she seemed to concentrate on remembering things. Luke couldn’t help but think how cute it was. Sitting in their room, alone and so close to her, was tantalizing.
“Phineas was always surrounded by so many,” she finally said. “Their faces changed almost daily… but there was one man, very tall and scrawny looking…” Luke raised an eyebrow at that.
“Did he look like a trapper, wearing a patchy fur coat and a raccoon hat?” he asked, and Madelaine's eyes lit up.
“Yes! He also had this nasty habit of chewing tobacco and spitting it everywhere!” she exclaimed with a disgusted face. “I think his name was Lucas,” she added. When she saw Luke make a face—because of the similarities between their names—she couldn’t hide her smile.
“He’s not as handsome as you are, though!”
The second she said those words, she put both of her hands over her mouth. Then Luke watched as Madelaine’s face turned bright red. He couldn’t deny it; he enjoyed it when she blushed like that.
Luke leaned back into his chair and let that sink in. His face split into a wide grin. “Thank the Lord I’m not that ugly,” he supplied, which earned him a pointed look from his wife.
“You should thank Him, because He gifted you with an exceptional wife!” she exclaimed with a raised chin, but then she broke out in a giggle. “Please, God, forgive me! I would never really think that!” she said to the ceiling.
Luke couldn’t hide his smile. He more than enjoyed this side of Madelaine. “I do thank God every day that He sent you to me. I’m just not saying it out loud,” he admitted.
Madelaine gasped when she heard that, and she held his gaze for a long time. So long, in fact, it almost made Luke uncomfortable because his thoughts began to wander to a place he hadn’t visited yet.
“And Ezra!” Madelaine suddenly yelled with wide eyes, slapping her hand onto his knee, squeezing it tightly.
It startled Luke so much he sat up straight again, snapping out of his reverie.
“Ezra Blackthorn! He came to my house once. Phineas had brought him there because he said he was interested in buying the place. Obviously, I told him no!”
“Interesting,” Luke said, stroking his beard.
“He was there last night. I heard him talk to Phineas.” He omitted the fact that the men had talked about Alvarez.
“At first, Caleb and I assumed that Phineas was the leader of this group, but we saw last night that this Ezra definitely had the upper hand.”
Madelaine nodded. “I do remember how Phineas kissed the floor that man walked on. It was absurd,” she supplied.
“Apparently, he is some rich man from a larger city, and I think that Phineas wanted to get into his good graces, because nobody wants to work with him. Truthfully, I didn’t pay much attention to Mr. Blackthorn because I thought he was just a random buyer.
But now that I think about it, he was overly interested in the stables and how we conducted our horse-breeding business. ”
“He was? After seeing him there last night, I am not surprised,” Luke said.
“And when I told him no to his offers—he made several—he seemed very angry that he couldn’t buy our ranch. I thought I heard him say that it would have consequences, but I didn’t pay much mind. I only saw him once, so I didn’t think that he was serious when he’d said that.”
Both fell silent for a little while as they processed everything. Then it was Madelaine who said the words Luke was thinking out loud.
”So, hang on!” Madelaine said, deep in thought.
“If Ezra is indeed the leader of the horse thieving gang, then of course he’d be interested in buying a ranch that has a successful horse-breeding business, because if he were the owner, he’d be able to sell off random stolen horses for big money, all under the guise of them being high-quality stock! ”
The more Luke thought about it all, the more the puzzle pieces fell into place like tumbling rocks into a riverbed.
When he looked down at Madelaine’s hand on his knee, she followed his gaze and tried to pull it away, but Luke’s reaction was much faster.
He snatched her hand and brought it to his lips, where he gently kissed the back of it. Madelaine froze.
“You are a genius!” he said, as he planted another kiss on her soft skin.
“I am so glad I spoke to you.” Another kiss.
“And I promise you, I will never again exclude you from any of my plans.” Luke twisted her hand around and kissed the inside of her palm.
“And you truly are an exceptional wife, Madelaine. I mean that most sincerely.”
Madelaine swallowed hard when he looked deep into her eyes. Then he lowered his hand and kissed the inside of her wrist.