Love on the Line - Deeanne Gist [97]
She bit her lip. “He was killed while running from the law, then?”
“I don’t exactly know. All I know is out of the blue one day, Ma received a farewell letter from him along with a photograph. It was of Alec laid out in a long pine box.”
Her heart constricted. Reaching over, she clasped his hand.
He squeezed it. “He’d evidently given instructions to his comrades to send the letter home if anything were to ever happen to him. At the time, I was a grocer in a neighboring town.”
She blinked. A grocer?
“I went home immediately and verified the letter had been written in Alec’s hand. In it, he confessed to an endless list of crimes. Everything from stealing bread when he was hungry to robbing stagecoaches.”
She sucked in her breath, grappling for something to say. “Well, at least he confessed. That’s a good thing.”
Glancing at her, he shook his head. “He wasn’t apologizing. As a matter of fact, he didn’t show any remorse whatsoever.”
“None? Are you sure?”
“Positive. I never did find out who he was running with, but ever since, I’ve had a strong distaste for men who play outside the law.”
She immediately thought of Frank Comer, the man adored by citizens all across the state. She recalled her thrill at coming face-to-face with him during the train robbery. Her defense of him to Luke and his fierce reaction. Her realization last night that Comer was not at all a man to esteem.
They’d reached her home. The Mai tree still leaned against her porch. Had it only been last night when Luke delivered it?
He opened the gate for her.
Instead of walking through, she turned to face him. “I’m sorry I revered Frank Comer.”
He looked at her sharply.
“I know I was somewhat enamored of him. But that was before last night. Before I realized he’s nothing more than an unprincipled man who preys on those weaker than himself. And I’m sorry.”
Clearing his throat, he looked at everything but her. She frowned. Instead of soothing him, her apology seemed to have discomfited him. Perhaps he regretted sharing his brother’s story with her.
She stepped toward him and placed a hand on his cheek.
He stilled, finally making eye contact with her.
“Thank you. Thank you for today. Thank you for helping me last night. Thank you for the Mai tree. And thank you for telling me about your brother.” Stretching onto tiptoes, she kissed his cheek. “Good night.”
She slipped through the gate.
He grasped her wrist. “Wait. I want to check your house first.”
The raw skin beneath her cuff stung at his grasp, but it wasn’t nearly as disturbing as the thought of someone waiting inside for her. “Surely you don’t think they’ll come back? Maifest is over.”
He released her. “I think it highly unlikely they’ll bother you again, but I still want to check. I’ll go around back and enter from that direction. You wait here. If something happens or if I don’t come out, go to the nearest neighbor and send for the sheriff.”
Nodding, she hugged herself, a crawly sensation skittering up her arms and neck. He disappeared down the left side of the cottage.
Every sound intensified. The cicadas increased in volume. A gurgling armadillo rooting somewhere close by caused a shiver to pass through her body.
With short, tentative steps, she tiptoed toward the bench beneath the oak in her yard. A rustling in its branches made her jump back. Muffling a squeal, she pressed her knuckles against her lips, searching its boughs. Nothing moved.
Still, she decided to wait where she was. Light had yet to appear behind her windows. Was he checking it in the dark? Her fingers brushed the fan hanging from her waist. She closed her fist around it. What was taking so long?
At a rustling to her right, she spun around. A large rodent-looking animal scurried between two bushes. Unable to contain a startled cry, she scrambled backward into the fence, grasping its planks and squeezing.
It’s only a possum. Calm down.
But her heartbeat refused to obey, threatening to fly right out of her chest. Glancing at the cottage, she took a deep breath. How long should she wait before