“That’s reassuring.”
He sat again.
“Stay until morning.”
Claire held the satchel tightly.
“Only until morning?”
Elias looked toward the storm.
“Ask me after sunrise.”
She nodded.
The rain did not stop until near midnight.
Elias brought Claire into the house.
The cabin was larger than she expected.
Two rooms downstairs.
Loft above.
Stone fireplace.
Heavy wooden table.
Books.
More books than most ranch houses.
Claire looked at the shelves.
“You read.”
Elias removed his wet coat.
“Sometimes.”
“You own more books than the schoolhouse in Alder Creek.”
“Schoolhouse has worse taste.”
She smiled.
The small normal exchange felt strange after everything in the barn.
Elias gave her one of his shirts and a wool blanket.
“There’s a wash basin behind that curtain.”
Claire looked down at her soaked dress.
“Where will you be?”
“Here.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“This is your bedroom.”
“There’s a chair.”
“You’re sleeping in a chair?”
“You’re the widow being hunted.”
“You get the bed.”
Claire looked at him.
“That is almost gentlemanly.”
“Don’t tell anyone.”
She disappeared behind the curtain.
Elias sat at the table with the documents.
He read for an hour.
Maybe two.
The deeper he went, the worse it became.
Names he knew.
Families that had disappeared from the county.
Ranches absorbed by Colson.
Water rights rerouted.
One widow charged back taxes for land she had never owned.
One farmer’s signature appearing after his death.
And Boone.
His father.
His uncle.
A second parcel once belonging to his grandmother.
Elias pressed both hands against the table.
His father had not imagined the betrayal.
He had simply lacked proof.
Behind the curtain, Claire said:
“Elias?”
He looked up.
“Yes?”
“I cannot get this dress untied.”
He froze.
A pause.
Then:
“That sounds like a problem you’re asking me to solve.”
“I am.”
He stared toward the curtain.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
Elias stood slowly.
He crossed the room.
Claire stepped out enough for him to see her back.
Her damp hair had been pulled over one shoulder.
The cream dress clung wetly along her waist.
The laces at the back had tightened from rain.
She held the front of the dress against herself.
Elias looked at the knots.
Then at her face.
“Turn around.”
She did.
He worked at the wet laces.
His fingers brushed her back once.
Claire inhaled.
Neither spoke.
The knot came loose.
Elias stepped back immediately.
“Done.”
Claire looked over her shoulder.
“That fast?”
“You sound disappointed.”
She turned toward him.
The dress remained secure in her hands.