“Because I was drowning in debt, and I was afraid.”
Samuel turned away.
He had heard that explanation already.
He had spent the previous night trying to understand how fear could make a person betray his own brother.
He had not found an answer.
Thomas continued.
“I thought the report would only influence Father's decision. I didn't know you would believe it so completely.”
Samuel turned back.
“What did you think I would do? Laugh?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Thomas swallowed.
“I thought you would eventually accept it and move on.”
Samuel stared at him.
“Move on?”
Thomas looked ashamed.
“I know how it sounds.”
“No. I don't think you do.”
Samuel stepped closer.
“You watched me stop writing to Eleanor. You watched me refuse to attend weddings because I couldn't bear to hear people talk about their children. You watched me spend fourteen years believing that the one thing I wanted most was impossible. And you thought I would simply move on?”
Thomas's eyes filled with tears.
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
Samuel's voice was cold.
“You were.”
Thomas lowered his head.
“I have another confession.”
Samuel waited.
“Edward told me that the medical report would protect the ranch from a different threat. He claimed Father had borrowed money from a group of investors and that they would try to seize the property if you were considered incapable of managing it. He said the only way to prevent that was to create a temporary arrangement in which I would oversee the business.”
Samuel frowned.
“Father never borrowed money from investors.”
“I know that now.”
“How?”
“Because I found the records after Edward died. The debt was invented.”
Samuel felt the blood drain from his face.
“Who invented it?”
“Edward.”
Thomas took a folded paper from his coat.
“I found this among his private records.”
Samuel accepted it.
The document was a letter from Edward to an attorney in Helena, dated shortly before Samuel's accident.
It described a plan to acquire the eastern parcel through a series of financial arrangements. It also mentioned Thomas's debts and suggested that the younger brother could be persuaded to cooperate if he believed the inheritance was at risk.
Near the bottom of the page was a sentence that made Samuel's hands tremble.
The medical issue should be handled before Joseph begins discussing a transfer of control. If Samuel is believed to have no future heirs, the matter of succession becomes considerably easier.
Samuel read the sentence twice.
Then he looked at Thomas.
“You knew about this letter?”
“No. I found it last week.”
“And you brought it to me?”
Thomas nodded.
“Because I cannot keep lying.”
Samuel studied him.