Chapter 26
Everything Ronan saw was tinged with red.
Conrad had proposed to Cressida. He’d hauled her up in front of a crowd and proposed to her. He was trying to trap her, to force her to do what he wanted.
And there was Ambrose, standing off to the side and watching it all like a spectacle until Etta hit the ground.
His hands curled into fists at his side, nails biting into his skin.
Ronan wanted to go to them now, to tell them that he was going to be there with them. He wanted to help them. He needed to help them.
But the little voice in the back of his mind tried to tell him that it would be better to stay away.
He slipped his hand into his pocket, pulling out the watch. He ran his thumb over the surface, glancing up at Ambrose as he sent one of his men running.
What was so important about the watch that Ambrose needed to follow Ronan all the way to Blue Valley? That he needed to have him robbed, to watch his property? To try to intimidate him by being close to the ones he cared about.
Evander, what did you do?
The answers weren’t going to come to him there. At this point, and with all the fiddling he had done to the watch, he was beginning to think there was no clear answer about why Evander had left the watch to him or what Ambrose wanted with it.
All he could remember were the strings of accidents before Evander died. The way they had seen so much loss, seen so many people harmed.
Ronan had been sure Ambrose was at the heart of them, but he had never been able to prove it. The case had been built, and Evander was supposed to protect it.
And now Evander was dead, and Ronan was left still trying to pick up the pieces.
“Evander, I can’t believe you did this to me,” Ronan muttered, leaning against one of the buildings and crossing his arms, looking up to the stars.
Evander used to say that all of life’s problems could be solved by looking to the stars.
Ronan liked to think that Evander was living up there now.
“You always liked to play games, but I don’t think this is one of those games you should like playing. Do you know what you’ve done to me? Do you know the burdens I have to bear?”
If anyone were to hear him in that moment, they would surely think he was losing his mind.
Ronan sighed, glancing back at the chaos of the festival, Etta still surrounded by people, while Cressida kneeled in front of her. If anyone were watching close enough, they would see the tremble in Cressida’s hands.
Conrad would never watch her that closely. He barely cared that she didn’t want to marry him. No, he was too concerned with who would look good on his arm, what the town would like.
Ronan had to go over there to comfort Cressida the way she needed.
Cressida flinched when Conrad reached for her, looking at him over her shoulder. “I’m fine, but we need to get Etta back to the house soon. It really would be quicker to take our own buggy.”
“I insist.” Conrad smiled, but his eyes narrowed. “I can spare the buggy happily for you and your sister, and I’m sure you’ll need help getting her into the house.”
“I won’t need help.” Cressida smiled as she looked up at Etta, and all it did was send Ronan’s heart stuttering through his chest.
She did need help. She just didn’t need Conrad’s help.
Ronan sucked in a sharp breath as Conrad settled a hand on Cressida’s shoulder, clearly not listening to the words she was saying. She didn’t need him; she didn’t want him.
Conrad wasn’t going to get her to fall in love with him without listening to her.
The thought was a sharp knife to the gut.
Cressida falling in love with a man who wasn’t him would break Ronan.
He moved closer, knowing it was risky, knowing someone could see him. Still, he needed to see her and Etta. He needed to know that they were both going to get through this.
“Just look over here, and I’ll be by your side in a second,” Ronan whispered, knowing Cressida couldn’t hear the words.
He swallowed hard, pressing a fist to his mouth when he saw the tears trailing down her cheeks. That fist was the only thing keeping him from calling to her.
Ronan took another step toward the town square, the lights starting to dim the shadows, though he was sure he was still hidden.
Conrad sighed and shook his head, glancing between Cressida and Etta. “The two of you have been on your own for so long that you need someone to help take care of you.”
“I’ve got it,” Tobin snapped, glaring at Conrad.
If looks could kill, Conrad would be six feet deep by now.
Conrad continued as if he didn’t hear him at all. “And there is much to consider in the way of what will need to be done while Etta needs time to rest. I can hire some help from town.”
Ronan was prepared to march over there and tell Conrad that the sisters had all the help they were going to need.
He was likely just trying to win some favor for whatever it was he had planned, likely wanting to manipulate Cressida into telling him what she knew about Ronan.
It was better to leave.
Still, his feet moved of their own accord, carrying him to the edges of the shadows before the rest of the world fell away.
His foot slipped on something wet, his back colliding hard with the ground, the watch slipping from his hand and bouncing against a couple of rocks before there was a small pop. The watch fell into three pieces, though it should have only been in two—the back and the front piece.
Despite the ache in his body, Ronan scrambled over and picked up the watch, a hidden compartment open with a tiny strip of paper. The interior of the hidden compartment was marked with engravings in strange shapes, ones he didn’t understand.
Ronan knelt with the watch in his hands, tilting it and trying to catch some of the light from the lamps hanging around the town square.
Even with more light, the markings didn’t make sense.
Was that a Roman numeral? He couldn’t be sure in the low light.
He opened the strip of paper, but all that was written there was ‘underneath’ in Evander’s messy scrawl.
Evander did have something to hide after all. Too bad he couldn’t have left me a better clue.
Ronan looked up, slipping the watch back into his pocket. There wasn’t time to study it, not when the crowd was parting, and a buggy was being brought through.
“This is all really unnecessary,” Cressida said, her voice carrying over the silence. “We have our own buggy here, and Tobin is more than capable of taking us home. It would be out of the way for the rest of you.”
Conrad shook his head. “I won’t hear of it.
You need to get home safely, so you can take care of your sister, and if there’s one way I can help, it’s by offering you my buggy.
There’s more room and a second row of seating.
Etta will be perfectly comfortable in the back while you and I ride up front. ”
Ronan’s skin prickled. Why would Conrad push so hard to take her home? Everything he had seen of the man led him to believe that he would do what was in his best interest and seldom else.
And Ambrose…
Everything Ronan knew of Ambrose through his years of working as a lawman had indicated that Ambrose only made connections when there was something he wanted.
Tobin glanced around, almost like he was looking for Ronan. For a second, Ronan considered stepping out, talking to Tobin, seeing if he got the same bad feeling.
Cressida looked like she sighed as she took Conrad’s hand, allowing him to help her into the buggy, Etta already in the back. He got up beside her, sitting altogether too close for Ronan’s liking.
Tobin went to the sisters’ buggy as it was brought around, climbing up with a hard look in his eyes. Ambrose got up with Conrad and Cressida, looking too comfortable.
Ronan’s hands clenched as he kept to the shadows, making his way to the road that led out of town and to their homes.
His pulse was steady as he hung back, waiting until the buggies had passed him before crossing to the other side of the road. Slipping into the trees, he continued, behind them.
A chill wind blew through the night air like a warning.
If he stayed hidden, he could be sure of what Ambrose was doing. Perhaps he didn’t mean any harm to the sisters. After all, they were innocent bystanders in this entire mess. Ambrose was too close to Cressida. Conrad was too close to her.
And the sick feeling in his stomach told him to keep going, to follow them.
So, he did.
“We’ll revisit the proposal once your sister is checked over,” Conrad said, leaning over close to Cressida as he drove, making Ronan’s blood boil.
The buggies were rolling slow, likely trying not to jostle Etta too much and making it easy to keep up on foot.
Cressida’s shoulders stiffened. “I think it’s best that we consider that discussion closed. I’ve told you time and time before that, while I appreciate your kindness, I’m not looking to marry right now.”
Those words were nearly as hard to bear as the thought of Cressida marrying Conrad.
Conrad laughed, but there was a bitter note to it. “We’re all in shock. I’m going to give you some time to think about it. After all, what’s best right now is making sure Etta gets better.”
Etta scoffed in the back of the buggy. At least she was feeling well enough to be unimpressed by Conrad.
Ronan continued through the trees, watching the ground, picking his steps carefully. He made sure he didn’t step on any of the branches or bush littering the ground. One small crack would be enough to give him away.
Ronan would make sure the sisters were safe, and then he would decide what to do next.