“Why did he come to you?”
“Because he knew I had access to the hospital records, and he wanted someone to tell him whether he had caused you permanent harm.”
Samuel felt a wave of anger so sharp that he had to grip the edge of the chair.
“And what did you tell him?”
“That I could not determine your fertility from the available information. I told him the report was dishonest.”
“Did you tell him to correct it?”
“Yes.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
Samuel stood and walked to the window.
Outside, a wagon rolled past, its wheels splashing through a shallow puddle.
For fourteen years, Samuel had believed the matter settled. He had not known that the doctor who diagnosed him had later confessed the truth to another physician.
He had not known that someone else had possessed the evidence all along.
He turned back.
“What happened to Dr. Lang?”
“He left Montana two years later. He died in Oregon.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
The man who had written the false report was gone. Whatever justice Samuel might have sought from him would never be obtained.
But Edward Whitaker had lived for years after that.
Thomas had lived for years after that.
And Dr. Harris had remained silent.
“Why are you telling me now?”
Harris looked toward the window.
“Because Edward is dead, and Thomas has begun asking questions about the documents. He came to me three weeks ago. He wanted to know whether I still possessed the original notes.”
Samuel’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you tell him?”
“That I did.”
“Did you give him anything?”
“No.”
“Did he threaten you?”
Harris hesitated.
“He asked whether I intended to tell you before or after your wedding.”
Samuel's face drained of color.
“Before my wedding?”
“Yes.”
Samuel remembered the letter Dr. Harris had sent two weeks before Anna arrived. The invitation to town. The request to discuss his medical records.
He had ignored it.
He had assumed the old doctor wanted to review his treatment because of some administrative matter.
He had never considered that Harris might have been trying to tell him the truth before he married.
“Why didn't you send the letter again?”
“I should have.”
“Why didn't you come to the ranch?”
Harris's voice broke.
“Because I was afraid you would ask me why I had waited so long, and I had no answer that could make it right.”
Samuel sat down.
For a while, he could not speak.
Then he asked the question that had been haunting him since Anna first mentioned the pregnancy.