Chapter Sixteen
During supper, Angela had a difficult time eating the food on her plate. And she soon realized she wasn’t the only one. Sep ended up pushing his food around instead of eating it. He sat next to her at the table, and he had his hand clasped around hers. Since their hands were under the table, she doubted anyone else noticed. It was a nice gesture. In his way, he was letting her know that he was doing everything he could to make sure she was safe. She might not know what she was safe from but she was safe all the same, and that spoke volumes of his love for her.
She hadn’t had time to tell April what she had discovered about Deputy Barnes. So for the moment, she was keeping the information to herself. She didn’t know when she would get a chance to tell April what she had found out, and she didn’t know if she should tell Sep. If Sep would tell her what was going on, she might better understand why the deputy was so interested in him.
The problem with this whole situation was that nothing was black or white. There didn’t seem to be a right or wrong way to handle things, and because of that, she didn’t know what to do.
She didn’t know if Joel had picked up on how awkward everything was. He was the only one, besides the children, who ate the meal with gusto. He was also the only one who jumped into the conversation his children were having.
“I think Opal should sleep in our bedroom because she’s a girl,” Nora told Hannah.
“But she’ll cry all night,” Hannah replied. “Rebecca said that her baby sister kept her up all night after she was born.”
Nora glanced over at Angela and said, “Rebecca is Hannah’s friend.” She turned her attention back to Hannah. “She won’t cry all night. She’ll be just fine after I help Ma with her.”
“Opal will be in our room until she sleeps through the night,” Joel spoke up. “Nora, you need to sleep during the night so that you can help your ma with the house during the day.” He gave her a wink. “You’re a big help around here. She’s going to need you to be wide awake and ready to go in the morning.”
“What about me?” Hannah asked. “I’m a big help, too.”
“That you are,” Joel replied. “But Nora is older, so she’s expected to do more around here.”
April wiped her mouth with a napkin and cleared her throat. “Nora, why don’t you get those cookies you made the other day?”
Looking pleased to be given the task, Nora jumped up from her chair and hurried to the kitchen.
Sep straightened up and let go of Angela’s hand. “I should probably get going. It’ll be late by the time I get back to the farm.”
Angela rose to her feet. “I’ll see you to the door.”
Since he didn’t argue with her, she left the dining room and followed him to the parlor. Usually, he would take the time to say goodbye to everyone, but in this case, he had just bolted out of the room as if something bad was going to happen to him if he didn’t.
“Sep, won’t you tell me what’s wrong?” she asked once they were at the door.
He turned to face her, and she thought he might finally tell her. But in the next moment, he only cupped her face with his hands and gave her a kiss that was much longer than it should’ve been considering the fact that they were at someone else’s house. She would have enjoyed it if she didn’t know he was so worried. It seemed as if he was kissing her for the last time, and that frightened her.
He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against him. “I don’t want to worry you. This is something I’d rather handle alone.”
She thought of telling him that there was nothing wrong with getting help, but he probably wouldn’t believe her. He would probably think that it made him weak if he were to admit he needed someone. Her father and uncle were the same way. They didn’t want anyone to think less of them. If she were to try to impose her will on him, he might resent her, and that was the last thing she wanted.
Sep was by no means perfect, but he was a good man. She couldn’t begrudge him the spark of male pride that made him take on dangerous things by himself. But she could offer him a warning that might help him. “Sep, there’s something I need to tell you. You see, while you were gone, I –”
“Aren’t you two going to eat the cookies?” Nora asked as she hurried over to them. “I made them myself.”
“I’d love to,” Sep began, “but I really need to go.” He gave Angela another hug and kissed her again. “Everything will be alright. You’ll see. I’ll come back for you tomorrow.”
Angela was ready to protest when he called out for Fred to go with him. The dog hurried over to him, and the two left before Angela could stop them.
“It’s alright,” Joel told her as he came into the room. “He’s not going to be doing this alone. I’m going to be helping him. I promise you that I won’t let anything bad happen to him.”
“Do you know what’s going on?” Angela asked.
Joel nodded but glanced at Nora. He patted Nora on the back and said, “Go on back to the dining room. I have something I need to tell your aunt.”
“Good,” April spoke up from the doorway in the parlor. “I’d like to know what is going on, too.”
Nora glanced from one adult to another. It was obvious she wanted to ask them what they were talking about, but she was old enough to know they weren’t going to tell her.
April settled Opal on her chest and patted her back. “Nora, why don’t you make sure Hannah and Levi don’t make a mess with those cookies? The adults have something they need to talk about, and we need to do it in private.”
Nora, being a good sport, headed on out of the parlor, leaving the three alone.
April closed the distance between Angela and Joel. “Now that she’s no longer in the room, what do you know about Sep?” April asked Joel. “We’ve been unable to figure out what’s going on.”
“Well, I did figure out something,” Angela said, “I did see Sep at the bank. That’s where he went when he was gone for an hour. And on his way back, I noticed that the deputy was following him.”
Joel looked at Angela in interest. “The deputy was following Sep?”
“He had been watching Sep at the bank, too,” Angela added. “I came back before either man noticed me. Do you think that’s something Sep should know?”
“Are you sure it was the deputy? Maybe he was someone who looks like him,” Joel replied.
Angela shook her head. “No. I met the deputy the night I married Sep. He was rounding up the men who were going to auction me off. I know it was him.”
“We need to talk to Owen right away.”
“So this is important?”
“It is. And I’m going to need to get Owen right away.” Joel reached for the doorknob. Glancing back at them, he said, “I don’t want to lose time by explaining everything, but you can hold onto this.” He gave Angela a folded missive. “Sep gave it to me earlier today. It explains most of the things that are going on. I’ll explain everything else later.” Joel left the house.
“Isn’t it just like a man to run off before a woman can get more questions in?” April asked, shaking her head.
“Joel did leave us some answers,” Angela replied as she skimmed the missive. “He just didn’t answer enough of them.”
Like, was the deputy in on the auction scheme the whole time? Did the deputy plan to release the prisoners? Was the deputy going to take the prisoners with him when he went to the farm? Or was the deputy acting on this alone? Why did he demand $300? Why not more? Why not less?
As Angela thought over the questions she still had, it occurred to her that there was no way Sep or Joel could know the answers, either. This was something only the deputy knew. Since Owen was a member of the Larson family, she knew he was innocent in this whole thing.
“I guess there’s nothing you and I can do except wait and see what happens,” April said.
As much as Angela hated to admit it, April was right. Sometimes, things were better left to the men. Meanwhile, all she could do was stay safe, just as Sep wanted. At least she was giving him one less thing to worry about by staying here with his sister.
Hoping she didn’t show how anxious she was, she turned her attention back to April. “Why don’t you rest? I’ll clean up the kitchen and put the kids to bed.”
April bit her lower lip. “I suppose there’s nothing we can do but wait. Alright.”
The two left the parlor, and Angela hoped that everything would really be alright, just as Sep had promised.