“That isn't an answer.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
Thomas looked at Samuel.
“Of him finding out what kind of man I was.”
For the first time that evening, Samuel felt something more painful than anger.
He felt pity.
Not because Thomas deserved it, but because his brother had spent fourteen years building a life around a decision that could have been undone by one honest conversation.
Samuel returned to the table and picked up the bank draft.
“Where did the money come from?”
Thomas did not answer.
“Your account?”
Silence.
“Father's account?”
Thomas looked up sharply.
Samuel understood.
The draft had been purchased using money from the ranch.
Money that Joseph had entrusted to Thomas for the purchase of winter feed.
Samuel closed his eyes.
The lie had not merely stolen fourteen years from him. It had been financed with the family's money, concealed through the family's records, and protected by the family's trust.
“Did Father know?” Samuel asked.
“No.”
“Did he ever find out?”
Thomas shook his head.
“Then why does Harris say someone in the family was responsible?”
“Because I was responsible.”
“Only you?”
Thomas hesitated.
It was another small pause.
Another moment in which the truth stood close enough to touch but was still being kept at arm’s length.
Samuel leaned forward.
“Thomas, if there is anyone else involved, tell me now.”
His brother's eyes shifted toward the front door.
“I have told you what happened.”
“No. You have told me what you think I can forgive.”
Thomas rose.
“I can't do this tonight.”
“You came to my house.”
“I came because I wanted to keep you from making a mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Destroying your family over an old medical report.”
Samuel's voice dropped.
“You destroyed it fourteen years ago.”
Thomas flinched.
For several seconds, neither man spoke.
Then Thomas reached for his coat.
“I'll come back tomorrow.”
“No.”
Thomas looked at him.
“You don't get to decide when this conversation ends,” Samuel said. “You don't get to walk away from the truth because it's inconvenient.”
Thomas's face hardened.
“And what are you going to do? Have me arrested? Tell the whole valley that I paid a doctor to change a report? Ruin my wife and children because I made one terrible decision when I was young?”
Samuel looked at him steadily.
“You made one decision fourteen years ago. Then you made another every morning you woke up and chose not to tell me.”
Thomas opened the door.
Cold air swept into the room.
Before stepping outside, he turned back.
“You don't know everything, Samuel.”
Then he left.
Samuel stood listening to his boots crunch across the frozen ground until the sound disappeared.