Chapter Twenty #2
“If we leave now,” James said, reaching for another biscuit, “we’ll be back well before supper.”
Henry nodded.
Lola looked up hopefully. “Can I come?”
Henry smiled. “Not today.”
She sighed with theatrical disappointment.
“But someone has to keep Nora company.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Lola accepted the responsibility with great seriousness. “I’ll make sure she isn’t lonely.”
The remark earned quiet laughter from all three adults. As Henry rose from the table, he paused beside Ruth, who was standing at the stove.
“I won’t be gone long.”
Ruth turned to look at him. “When you get back…” She hesitated. “...perhaps we can talk.”
Henry nodded. “I’d like that.” He held her gaze for another moment before he collected his hat and the two men headed toward the barn.
A short while later, Ruth stood on the porch watching them ride away beneath the broad Texas sky. When they disappeared beyond the rise, she released a long breath. The morning passed peacefully.
Ruth and Lola carried chairs onto the shaded porch, where the breeze offered relief from the growing warmth of the day.
A basket of freshly picked peas rested between them, and together they worked steadily, dropping the bright green peas into an enamel bowl while empty shells fell into another basket for the chickens.
Lola chatted happily about school, Buttercup, and the baby swallows nesting beneath the eaves of the barn. Ruth listened with a smile. Every ordinary moment felt unexpectedly precious. Because she wondered how many more she would be given.
The road leading toward the ranch lay quiet beneath the late morning sun. Then Lola suddenly looked up. “Someone’s coming.”
Ruth followed her gaze. Far in the distance, a lone rider was approaching through the shimmering heat. She thought little of it at first. Travelers often passed along the county road, perhaps a neighbor or someone looking for directions.
The rider drew nearer and the way he sat his horse stirred an uneasy familiarity. Her hands stilled. The rider wore a dark coat despite the warmth, his broad-brimmed hat casting his face in shadow.
A chill crept slowly down Ruth’s spine. No… it can’t be.
The rider lifted his head and sunlight caught his face. The world seemed to stop as the bowl slipped from Ruth’s lap.
Peas scattered across the porch, bouncing over the wooden boards before tumbling into the grass below. “Lola.” Her voice came out barely above a whisper.
The little girl looked up in surprise. Ruth forced herself to smile. “Would you be a dear and fetch my sewing basket from the kitchen?”
Lola frowned. “But I thought we were shelling peas.”
“We’ll finish in a moment.” She kept her eyes fixed upon the approaching rider. “Please.”
Something in Ruth’s voice must have reached the child. Lola climbed down from her chair and disappeared inside. Only when the screen door closed behind her did Ruth rise slowly to her feet. The rider brought his horse to a halt a few yards from the porch. For a long moment neither of them spoke.
“Good morning, Ruth,” Gideon said.
The sound of her own name in his voice turned her blood to ice. She gripped the porch railing to steady herself. “I think you have the wrong ranch.”
His smile was almost imperceptible. “I don’t believe I do.”
Silence stretched between them.
“So,” he said. “This is where you’ve been hiding.”
Ruth lifted her chin. “I am not hiding.”
“No?” He smiled faintly. “I’ve spent nearly a month following your trail.” His gaze dropped briefly to the plain gold band upon her finger. “I see you’ve made yourself at home.”
“I am married.”
His expression did not change. “So I’ve heard. Tell me, does he know your real name?”
Ruth’s heart lurched, but she said nothing.
“I thought not.” He looked toward the house. “I imagine Henry Foster believes he married Nora Smith.”
Her fingers tightened around the porch rail. “You have no business here.”
“On the contrary.” His smile never reached his eyes. “I’ve come for my fiancée.”
“I was never your fiancée.”
“Weren’t you?” He spoke almost conversationally. “I seem to remember your father accepting my proposal.”
“My father had no right.”
“Perhaps.” He shrugged lightly. “But he accepted all the same.”
Ruth took a slow breath. “I will never go back with you.”
“I expected you to say that.” He seemed entirely untroubled.
“What do you want?” she asked quietly.
“What I’ve always wanted.”
“And if I refuse?”
His gaze wandered toward the road leading back to Weatherford. “Then I suppose I’ll introduce myself to your husband.”
Every trace of color left Ruth’s face. “You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t I?” His eyes met hers again. “I wonder what an honorable man like Henry Foster would think if he discovered his wife had stood before a minister under another woman’s name.”
He paused. “I wonder what the good town Pastor would have to say.”
Ruth’s heart pounded so violently she thought he must surely hear it. She stared at him. “I’ll tell him everything.”
“I don’t doubt it.” He inclined his head slightly. “And then what?” His voice remained calm. “You know the sort of man you’ve married.” He glanced toward the distant road. “If he believes I’ve wronged you, he’ll come looking for me.”
Ruth could picture it with terrifying clarity. Henry would never allow another man to threaten her.
Gideon looked back at her. “If he does...” He let the sentence hang for a beat. “I cannot promise how that meeting will end.”
He did not need to say more, the threat was clear enough. Ruth felt every ounce of courage she had gathered that morning begin to crumble.
“I’ll give you until the end of the week,” Gideon said, replacing his hat. “After that, if you haven’t come to your senses...” He looked toward the house once more. “...I’ll pay Mr. Foster a visit myself.”
With that, he gathered the reins and his horse turned obediently toward the road. He rode away as calmly as he had arrived, leaving only the slow drift of dust hanging in the warm morning air.
Ruth remained frozen upon the porch. Inside the house, she heard Lola call cheerfully, “I found your sewing basket!”
Ruth closed her eyes. Only an hour before, she had believed the hardest thing she would do that day was tell Henry the truth.
Now, she knew the truth might place the man she loved directly in the path of the one man she feared most. And for the first time since she had left Devil’s Hollow, she found herself wondering whether silence, however wrong it might be, could somehow keep Henry safe.