Chapter Eleven #2
The words paused Amy’s rising frustration. Jonah had trusted this little boy with work that made him feel useful, and Noah still carried that trust, clinging to proof that what he did mattered. She knelt until she could look him in the eye, keeping her hand on his shoulder so he couldn't dart away.
"Your papa had you beside him," she said. "He didn't send you after a whole herd by yourself."
Noah swallowed, his eyes flicking back to the cattle. "I know how."
"I believe you do." Amy softened her tone without easing her grip. "You pay attention, and you've learned a great deal, but that doesn't make this your job."
His chin lifted. "You still think I'm little."
"I think you're brave enough to forget you don't have to prove yourself."
He looked back toward the wandering cattle longingly, though the fight seemed to leave his shoulders. Beside Amy, Maggie clung tightly to her skirt. "Are they lost?"
Amy studied the opening again. "They've wandered where they shouldn't. Caleb and Russ will gather them later."
Whoever had done this hadn't done it long ago. A quiet uneasiness settled over her. She looked toward Noah. "Has anything like this happened before?"
He hesitated before answering. "Papa always checked the fences."
"That isn't what I asked."
He scuffed the toe of his boot through the dirt. "I heard Russ say somebody cut Mr. Carter's fence yesterday."
The thought stayed with Amy as she took Maggie's hand and led the children toward the house.
Caleb had known this wasn't an ordinary ranch problem.
Every guarded answer, every wary look, suddenly carried a meaning she'd missed.
She understood his instinct to protect the children, but she'd been standing beside him every day while he'd quietly kept her unaware of danger.
The realization left her unsettled. If the threat had become serious enough for someone to cut the fence, she should've known about it, too.
The thunder of hoofbeats rolled across the pasture before she reached the first rise.
She turned to see Caleb and Russ racing toward them; Daisy stretched into a full gallop beneath Caleb while dust billowed behind the horses.
She breathed a sigh of relief. Caleb had found them.
She hadn't realized how desperately she'd wanted to see him until that instant, but the comfort lasted only until he drew closer and she saw the urgency etched across his face.
Caleb urged Daisy even faster once he saw them, swinging down from the saddle before the mare had even settled, as soon as he reached them. He strode straight toward the children, his eyes sweeping over Noah and Maggie with desperate urgency before shifting to Amy. "What are you doing out here?"
The sharpness in his voice made her flinch.
Shame washed through her as she looked at Noah and Maggie.
Caleb had trusted her to keep them safe, and she'd led them straight to the one place on the ranch she never should've found.
"We were going for a short walk to the cottonwood trees.
We found the cattle roaming free, then saw the fence. "
His gaze slid to the fence, still just visible, before returning to her. "You should've turned around the minute you saw the cattle."
Amy stared at him, still trying to catch her breath. "I was bringing them back. I didn't know danger had reached this close to the house. Or that there was any danger to begin with,” she said pointedly.
Caleb looked toward Noah, his anger vanishing beneath a quiet urgency. "Did you cross the creek? Or touch the fence?"
"No, sir." Noah shook his head. "I just looked."
A faint breath escaped Caleb, and he glanced at Russ. "Take the children back for me."
Russ tipped his hat toward Amy before resting a gentle hand on Noah's shoulder.
"Come on, partner. Let's get your sister back to the house.
" Noah looked ready to object until Russ added, "Besides, Maggie needs somebody brave to keep her company.
" That won a reluctant huff from the boy, who took Maggie's hand and walked away without another protest.
Amy waited until they were beyond hearing range before facing Caleb again. "Are you alright?"
"I was angry." His attention drifted to the damaged fence, scanning the pasture beyond it. Amy looked toward the cleanly severed wire, then back to Caleb. "Cattle didn’t do that. Someone cut that fence."
Caleb met her eyes, the strain in his face unchanged. "I know.”
The quiet admission unsettled Amy far more than another denial ever could have. She'd wanted him to tell her she'd misunderstood, that panic had led her to the wrong conclusion, yet the look he gave her stripped away the last of that hope. "You've known all along."
He glanced toward the fence again before looking back at her. "I've suspected for a while."
Amy drew a slow breath, trying to organize the questions crowding her mind. "Noah overheard Russ talking about Mr. Carter," she said, watching his expression carefully. "His fence was cut too, wasn't it?"
Caleb's mouth flattened into a grim line. "He wasn't meant to hear that."
"He did," Amy replied, holding his gaze. "Then I found the same thing here." She took a step closer, her frustration giving way to quiet resolve. "You asked me to keep your children safe, Caleb. I can't do that if I don't know what we're facing. Please... tell me what's happening."
His silence stretched until she understood he had no intention of answering.
"You trust me with the children," Amy said. "You have done ever since we married. Why can’t you trust me with this?"
His gaze finally settled on hers. "Keep them close to the house until I tell you otherwise."
"That's all you're willing to say?"
"It's all I can say until I know more."
Amy searched his face, having believed he'd explain now that Noah and Maggie were safe.
Instead, she found the same careful restraint he'd worn since the day she'd arrived. The realization he wouldn’t explain stung more than she expected.
She'd trusted him with her future, with the quiet hopes she'd barely admitted to herself, yet when the danger reached his own doorstep, he'd still chosen to deal with it alone instead of letting her stand beside him.
"You ask me to trust you," she said softly, "yet you won't trust me with the truth."
He closed his eyes briefly before drawing a weary breath. "Please go back to the house."
A cold certainty settled over her. The danger Caleb had tried so hard to keep from her had finally stepped into plain sight. Someone had come onto the ranch with purpose, and whatever Caleb knew about it remained locked behind the same guarded silence he refused to give up.