“Because of you.”
Ruth crossed her arms.
“No.”
Edwin looked at her.
“Ruth…”
“You don’t get to look at me like that.”
Pain crossed his face.
She continued.
“You vanished.”
“I know.”
“You let them say I lied.”
“I know.”
“You let your father ruin me.”
“I know.”
Her voice broke.
“Stop saying you know.”
Edwin looked down.
Jonah remained silent.
This was Ruth’s anger.
He did not take it from her.
Edwin whispered, “I was afraid.”
Ruth laughed bitterly.
“So was I.”
“I thought leaving would protect you.”
“Then you are remarkably stupid.”
“Yes.”
That surprised her.
Edwin continued.
“My father found the letters.”
Ruth went still.
“He threatened you?”
“No.”
Edwin looked at her.
“He threatened everyone around you.”
Her stomach tightened.
“The boardinghouse.”
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Keller.”
“Yes.”
“He already held the mortgage on the building through another company.”
Jonah swore quietly.
Ruth stared.
“He told me if I married you, he would foreclose.”
Edwin continued.
“He said he’d destroy your credit.”
“He did that anyway.”
“Yes.”
“He said he’d make sure no respectable household hired you.”
“He did that too.”
Edwin closed his eyes.
“I thought if I left, he wouldn’t.”
Ruth felt exhausted.
“You believed him.”
“Yes.”
“You knew your father.”
“Yes.”
“You still believed him.”
Edwin had no defense.
Jonah finally spoke.
“Where have you been?”
Edwin looked at him.
“Colorado.”
“Voluntarily?”
“At first.”
Ruth stared.
“At first?”
“I worked under another name.”
He rubbed his wrist.
“Then three months ago I learned Talbot’s papers had resurfaced.”
Jonah’s expression sharpened.
“Where?”
“Denver.”
“The surveyor?”
“Yes.”
Edwin looked at Ruth.
“He left evidence.”
Her pulse quickened.
“What evidence?”
“Proof Father manipulated land purchases using confidential railroad surveys.”
Jonah said, “We suspected.”
Edwin looked surprised.
Ruth gave a humorless smile.
“We’ve been busy.”
For the first time Edwin looked at her differently.
Not as the boardinghouse girl he had once courted.
As Mrs. Clay.
As someone seated beside a powerful rancher in a house that belonged partly to her now because she lived in it.
Something in Ruth straightened.
Edwin continued.
“Talbot also kept correspondence.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I helped him copy records.”
Ruth froze.
“You were helping expose your father.”
“Eventually.”
“Eventually?”
Edwin looked ashamed.
“At first I was helping Father.”
Silence.
Jonah’s expression became dangerous.
Ruth held up one hand slightly.
Not yet.
Edwin continued.
“I carried letters.”
“Through room nine.”