Chapter Thirty-One
Travis sat in a chair watching Anna sleep. She was restless, even when she was in a deep slumber, tossing and turning as she dreamed fitfully. He wanted to lie beside her and hold her until she calmed down, but he didn’t. Even though he hated seeing her like this.
He didn’t want the woman he loved to suffer as she was right now.
And he did love her. After what happened with Clara, he hadn’t thought he’d be able to truly love again.
But now he understood that Clara hadn’t made him feel the strong, solid love that he felt for Anna.
She had been a fancy, a lustful desire, little more than a fantasy.
Anna was nothing like that. She was a better woman.
And she had Travis’s heart.
He shifted in his chair.
Did Anna feel the same?
Travis allowed himself to smile. That would certainly make him very happy, and it made his decision to accept her proposal and come to Vernon the best one in his life.
For the first time, he felt like he belonged.
It had been wild with the problems on the ranch, and him getting thrown into the middle of it, but he preferred it to being a lumberjack. He wouldn’t change it at all.
Certainly not if Anna was there.
A gentle tap at the door got his attention, and Travis stood up.
He tiptoed over to the bed and looked down at Anna, who slept with her face turned to him, a blanket up to her waist. With her face relaxed, she looked so much younger, but he could still feel the stress in her face.
He leaned over and gently kissed her forehead before easing away and treading carefully to the door.
Connor was outside, his expression grim.
“How is she?” he whispered as Travis shut the door.
“She finally fell asleep.”
“I can understand that. Edwin’s in the cottage now. He went straight for a bottle when we arrived, so I’m sure he’s getting drunk now.”
“When is he leaving?” Travis asked.
“I told him he’s got until tomorrow, otherwise he’s going to be forcibly thrown out.” Connor shrugged with one shoulder.
“If he’s got a friend or two helping out, we need to find out who they are before Anna gets seriously hurt.”
“Emily said she might have a few ideas. She’s gone into town to talk to the sheriff and see if they can confront the so-called friends.”
Travis raised his eyebrows. “Emily said she’d do that?”
“You’ve seen their friendship, Travis. Emily and Anna are more like sisters rather than friends. She’s not about to let her friend suffer.”
“We need to talk to Edwin.” Travis cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Talk being an operative word. I don’t think he’s going to be forthcoming.”
“We can give it a try. I’m not about to back down until he admits that he’s the one who put the ranch into jeopardy.” Travis headed toward the stairs. “If we’re lucky, the sheriff will arrest him.”
Connor hurried after him as they went down the stairs. “What if he won’t say anything? It’ll be our word against his.”
“Not if his friends give him up. If they’re cowards, then that’s what they’ll do.”
“You can’t be sure of that.” Connor coughed lightly.
Travis shot him a knowing look over his shoulder before heading to the door. Just then, the front door opened, and Mrs. Mason hurried in. She was wearing a shawl and a hat, carrying a basket. She was panting, her face red, breathing heavily.
“Mrs. Mason?” Travis hurried to her. “What are you doing? What’s happened?”
“I was just getting supplies in Vernon when Edwin approached me on my return. He was very drunk, so I could smell the drink before I saw him. He’s telling me that he’s been maligned and he wants people to listen to him.”
Travis pinched the bridge of his nose. It sounded like Edwin was coming back to them.
“What else did he say?”
“Something about how he’s going to make Anna pay for accusing him of trying to ruin the ranch. He’s stumbling around, cursing and saying he’s going to get his revenge for slandering his name.” Mrs. Mason looked from Travis to Connor in confusion. “What happened? It’s like something’s blown up.”
“You could say that,” Connor grunted. “Where’s Edwin now?”
“He’s stumbling around the well.” Mrs. Mason shook her head as she walked away. “You’d better send him back home before he tips over into the well.”
Travis fought back a smile. Now was not the time for hilarity. He wanted to get Edwin out of there before Anna woke up. She didn’t need to deal with any of this.
He would do anything to make her life easier.
Sure enough, Edwin was by the well when Travis and Connor found him. He was leaning against the brick wall, his head back as he took a long drink from a glass bottle. He lowered the bottle and belched loudly, only to catch sight of the two of them.
“Oh, it’s you two,” he slurred. “Come to kick the dog while he’s down?”
“You’re not supposed to be here, Edwin,” Travis said.
“Well, you can’t tell me what to do. The only one who can is Anna, and I don’t see her here.”
“You think I’m going to let her come anywhere near you when you’ve practically threatened her life? She told me about the snake, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you were involved with everything that’s gone wrong here.”
Edwin barked out a sharp laugh. “You have such an overactive imagination. Anna doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
“I think she does.”
“How am I supposed to have done them? I was seen in public when these ‘accidents’ happened.”
“Not every time,” Connor reminded him. “There were a number of times when you were nowhere to be seen.”
“You had help. We don’t know which of your friends you got to help you out, but…”
Edwin shook his head. “You’re talking out of your rear end, Connor. This place is my home as well. Why would I want to lower its value?”
“You don’t need the money. Not after stealing from the family accounts,” Travis said.
It was a long shot, but Travis was sure that Edwin had something to do with it. And from the way the man stiffened, he knew he was right. Edwin shook his head. “You’re mad. I never did anything like that.”
“Then how do you explain it?”
“Maybe Anna’s just bad with money.”
“You’re friends with Andrew Checkworth, aren’t you?” Connor asked suddenly, making Travis jump. “You’ve been friends with him since you were barely walking, right?”
Edwin frowned, and Travis saw the wobble in his confidence. “What do you mean by that? What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Andrew works at the bank. And he would have easy access to the money. Then he could change the numbers so it didn’t look obvious.
” Connor pointed at Edwin. “If we go to him with the sheriff and have him tell us about your… extra visits to the bank, do you think he’ll cave in and tell us what we need to know? ”
That made Edwin start to fidget a little. He pushed himself upright, stumbling as he tried to get his feet. He pointed at Travis.
“You don’t get to accuse me of something without any proof. I won’t allow it.”
“Once we confront Checkworth, I’m sure we’ll have the proof.
” Travis felt his body tense. He was sure there was going to be a fight shortly, especially with the way Edwin was trying to square up to him.
“You went in and got him to move money around for your benefit. While Anna carried on, thinking that the ranch was solvent, you were siphoning money.”
“No!”
“You wanted Anna to fail miserably, so you got some friends to help you out. They might’ve been complicit, but you’re the driving force behind it, making sure Anna suffered.” Travis folded his arms.
Edwin shook his head and stammered. “You haven’t had someone promise you something for years only to have it taken away, have you?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Father said he would give me the ranch should anything happen to him, but it had to be sold as soon as he died to cover his debts. I had nothing. Then I came to live with my uncle here at the ranch. He said early on, if I proved my worth, then he would leave the ranch jointly between Anna and me. I hated that I would have to share, but I thought it would be easy enough to take over.” He scowled.
“Not only was Anna much better, but my uncle said to me shortly before he died that he didn’t trust me to keep the place running.
He was sure I would lose it within months.
After all that time, he had no faith in me. ”
“So you decided to make it difficult for Anna because you didn’t get your way?” Connor demanded.
Edwin took another swig. Travis noticed the gun holster against his hip when his jacket moved. He was armed. A shiver of apprehension washed over him, and Travis glanced at Connor to see if he’d noticed. From the way the foreman tensed, he had.
“It should’ve been so easy. I would just slide the fake will in with my uncle’s possessions, and then it would be all mine. I knew Anna wouldn’t be able to find a husband given her aversion to marriage, so I thought I was home and dry…”
“Wait a minute.” Travis held up a hand. “Am I hearing this correctly? Was the will that Anna would have to marry to keep the ranch a fake? Montgomery didn’t really write that?”
Edwin scoffed. “Of course not. He didn’t care if it wasn’t conventional. In his will, the original, he declared that Anna was to inherit the ranch and take it over. He was giving everything to her.”
“How did you find the will?”
“About a month before he died. I was tidying up some papers in the study, and I came across it. Do you know what he left me? Nothing! Not even the cottage I’ve lived in for years.
” He pointed in a random direction. “I was told I would need to find myself a new home and new employment within six months. He didn’t want Anna, his precious daughter, to have to deal with me and my ‘behavior’.
He couldn’t protect her when he was dead, but he could sure try. ”
Travis let this sink in with growing shock. Had the will been a fake? He hadn’t anticipated that. He glanced at Connor, who looked equally startled. Edwin had managed to get away with forgery, and yet it had still gone wrong for him.
“But why didn’t you just turn your names around in the new will?” Connor asked. “You could’ve inherited everything and made Anna leave within six months. Why give her a stipulation if she wanted to inherit?”
“Because I knew it would haunt her,” Edwin sneered.
“I knew she didn’t want to look for a husband, and she wouldn’t lower herself to becoming desperate for someone to marry, especially when she struggled with trusting people.
I didn’t expect her to find someone. I really shot myself in the foot with that one. ”
“So when that didn’t work, you employed a few friends to help you dismantle Anna from the inside,” Travis said darkly. His whole body was tense, ready to launch himself at Edwin, but the sight of the gun was making him pause.
“It was meant to be mine! All of this!” Edwin waved his arms around, sloshing drink from the bottle and splashing it on the ground. “I wasn’t supposed to be taking orders from Anna! This was mine, and she got around my obstacle. If she was going to be stubborn, I wasn’t going to make it easy.”
Travis wondered if Edwin knew what he was saying, and how much the alcohol was blinding him to the fact that he’d just admitted to several crimes.
“And if you carry on, there’s going to be nothing left for you to take over,” Travis pointed out, but Edwin shook his head.
“Not a chance. I know what I’m doing. Once Anna’s gone, I’m going to use the money I’ve taken to build the place up again.”
A loud bang behind Travis made him jump, and Edwin immediately fumbled for his gun.
But before he could get to it, Anna was storming toward him, hobbling a little on her bad ankle.
Travis stared at her, wondering how much she’d heard.
Connor started toward Anna, but she pushed him out of the way before standing in front of Edwin, anger practically radiating off him.
“You are such a pathetic, useless man,” she hissed.