Chapter Twenty-Four
Maeve so badly wanted to yell at her husband, to let loose all the irritation that had been simmering inside her for the past week or so. She’d known he’d been keeping something from her, but she’d never imagined it would have been something so dire.
Thomas Gedney.
If Jed had kept him entirely a secret from her, Maeve could easily have seen herself falling for the man’s charm.
He spoke with a well-earned sense of confidence, the kind that couldn’t simply be faked.
But even without Jed’s wounded history with him, there was something about the man that felt terribly off.
Maeve's instincts had been screaming at her the entire time he spoke to them; it frightened her how easily approachable Thomas made himself out to be.
How blatantly he worked in threats against Jed and Mr. Caldwell, as if he were simply speaking of the weather.
The man was dangerous. And Jed hadn’t told her the extent of it from the start.
But as Maeve listened to her husband speak, it was obvious that the secrecy had torn him up inside. How truly distressed he’d become, realizing the danger he’d brought along with him. Every part of her wanted to let herself be angry and yell at him. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“I ain’t gonna lie, Jed. I’m awful cross with you.”
Well…she couldn’t bring herself to yell, at any rate.
Jed’s expression deflated further, but he seemed fully intent on accepting whatever she chose to say. “I–I understand. You got every right to be cross.”
Maeve let out a short breath, and gave herself a moment to stew in her frustration. “More than that, I’m disappointed, Jed. I know we only recently agreed to keep Lila, but… Jed, she deserves our full protection! And I can’t do that if you don’t tell me about things that could hurt us!”
“I know. I–I’m sorry.”
Maeve looked directly at him, her heart weakening at the sight. Any spark of life in his eyes had faded to a mere flicker in the wind, taking a good chunk of her anger with it.
She took another breath. A deeper one this time, one that would help sort her emotions out from the words she actually needed to say.
“We’re partners, Jed. That means yer burdens are mine to help carry.
I…I don’t regret giving you the space you needed to think things over, but fer something like this… ” Maeve shook her head.
“I should’ve come to you sooner,” Jed replied quietly. “I should’ve trusted you. Like the pardners I promised we’d be.”
Maeve nodded curtly, then took Jed’s other hand, holding their grasped hands up as she gave him a determined stare. “I ain’t scared of him, Jed. No twirly-mustached grifter’s gonna make a mess outta the life I worked so hard to build up with you and Lila.”
Jed stared at her in awe, a spark of light returning to his eyes.
“So unless ye’re planning to roll over and let him walk all over you-”
“I ain’t.”
Jed’s words came sharply, a tinge of anger creeping into his own voice. He paused, seemingly surprised at his response, then looked to Maeve in case he’d made a mistake.
“Keep hold of that rage, then,” Maeve demanded. “Keep stoking it in yer chest so the next time Thomas Gedney gets too close to us, he’ll get the burn of a lifetime.”
Did that sound too ridiculous? Maeve felt a bit foolish after saying it, but Jed looked at her like she’d just said something incredibly profound.
He gently squeezed her hands, his own fighting spirit fully restored. “We’re pardners in this, then.”
Partners. Even she wasn’t entirely confident in that word anymore.
This had been such a massive secret to keep from her; they were both responsible for Lila’s safety, but Jed had dragged things out for so long.
The briefest flicker of doubt caught in her heart, and for a split second, Maeve wondered if their partnership was truly as strong as she’d boasted it to be.
***
It took everything Maeve had not to groan out loud.
She’d spent the morning stuck in a wagon, and now dinner was being spent trapped inside the sheriff’s station, sifting through an endless supply of papers alongside Mr. Caldwell and her dear, sweet husband.
Shifting in her chair, she finally couldn’t help herself and stood, stretching her arms up toward the ceiling while her groan escaped from the depths of her being.
“Sorry, this ain’t all that exciting,” Jed apologized.
“No, it ain’t yer fault,” Maeve reassured him. “I just… I imagined our attack against Thomas would be a bit more…” She frowned, waving her hands in search of the word. “Direct?”
“Violent?” Jed corrected effortlessly.
“A little, yeah,” Maeve admitted. “Like one big showdown to bring this all to a quick end.”
“If only it were that easy.” Mr. Caldwell let out a similar, if not somewhat tempered, sigh of his own.
He shifted a stack of papers into another one of his seemingly endless supply of folders, only to open a different one and begin combing through a new set of documents.
“But it’s best we avoid any physical confrontation with Mr. Gedney for as long as possible.
The more evidence we stack against him, the farther we push him into a corner. ”
‘And a cornered animal’s one that tends to lash out,’ Maeve reasoned to herself.
She circled behind Jed and glanced over his shoulder, trying to make sense of the document he was reading.
It was some sort of land survey report made a few years back, denoting the exact acreage of one of Gedney Ranch’s cattle pastures.
The numbers looked ridiculous to Maeve; she couldn’t even imagine trying to gate off a stretch of land that vast.
“You two really built one heck of an empire,” she marveled under her breath.
“They did indeed,” Mr. Caldwell agreed. “And I hope to do everything in my power to place it back under trustworthy ownership.”
Something about the statement caused Jed’s shoulders to stiffen.
Maeve set her hand on one, trying to act as some small reassurance.
A thought had begun to form in the back of her mind during the wagon ride to town, but she’d kept it to herself.
Now, after watching Jed’s reaction, she was certain they had the same question.
‘If Jed wins the case…does that mean he has to leave Bighorn?’
It opened the floodgates to her heart, allowing a wild surge of emotions to nearly knock Maeve clean off her feet. Could she let him leave? Did she want to leave with him? There wasn’t a clear-cut answer, no simple solution that didn’t involve some measure of sacrifice.
‘And...how much am I willing to sacrifice fer him?’
Before she could voice the question aloud, a gentle knock came at the door.
It sounded irregular, but while Mr. Caldwell gave a confused look, Jed continued working without interruption.
Maeve opened it without a second thought.
Joshua stood on the other side in full uniform, carrying with him a large tray of cold cuts and fresh produce seemingly picked straight out of the ground itself.
“Couldn’t manage the water jug and cups too,” Joshua chuckled. “So I’ll have to double back in a second.”
Maeve nodded, gratefully taking the tray of food from the older Wright.
The moment she and Jed had rolled into town, they’d wasted no time filling Joshua in on Thomas’ appearance at the circus.
Jed had fully detailed his past dealings with Gedney Ranch as well, and Joshua responded by posting a few of his lawmen around the interviewing room Mr. Caldwell had since converted into his personal office.
No one got in, or out, without Joshua’s permission, and the extra layer of security not only seemed to put Mr. Caldwell at ease, but Jed as well.
He stood to take the platter from her, but paused. “Maeve, why don’t you drop by Sadie’s and make sure Lila’s doing alright?”
Maeve gave him a curious frown. “You think Sadie’s doing a bad job watching her?”
“No,” Jed admitted, “but I can tell you want an excuse to stretch yer legs fer a bit.”
He wasn’t wrong. “Alright. But I’m coming back right after, you hear?”
Jed gently shook his head. “Stay with Lila fer awhile, Maeve. Please? It would make me feel better, knowing she had you watching over her.”
Maeve’s stubborn streak began to falter.
She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she knew she’d similarly feel better staying close to Lila.
Not that Thomas had any inkling as to their connection with the Whitakers, but Maeve suspected he’d find out sooner or later.
“Alright. Don’t you two stay up too late, you hear? ”
Mr. Caldwell offered a dry chuckle. “The law waits for no one, I’m afraid.”
“Am I gonna have to tell Ms. Miller you ain’t taking care of yerself?” Maeve asked.
Mr. Caldwell’s expression faltered slightly. “Ah…no. We’ll both be sure to come for supper, Mrs. Mercer.”
Maeve gave a curt nod before moving to see herself out of the makeshift office.
“Maeve?”
Jed’s hand gently grasped Maeve’s, pulling her close to his side. He stared at her for a moment, visibly wavering about the choice he must have been debating in his head.
Maeve offered a small smile and chose for him in the form of a quick kiss against his cheek. “I’ll be safe. You do the same, husband.”
Jed’s cheeks immediately flushed pink. “I…I will…wife.”
***
Taking advantage of the nice weather, Sadie had set up a picnic outside for dinnertime. Although, she seemed to be the only one interested in eating, as when Maeve arrived, Lila was toddling back and forth between the flower boxes, squealing in delight with each lap she completed.
“She’s been at this for almost an hour,” Sadie giggled, offering Maeve a glass of lemonade.
“I believe it.” Maeve neatly tucked her dress beneath her legs as she sat, gratefully taking the drink as she reveled in the shade. “She been going like this since I left?”
“More or less.” Sadie moved to take a sip of her own drink, only to pause. “Oh, wait. No, she did briefly stand still to help me decorate a letter to Samuel.”