Elias said:
“You expected desperation.”
“Yes.”
Caleb looked toward Lara.
“No offense.”
Her laugh was almost frightening.
“Every word you’ve spoken is an offense.”
Caleb shrugged.
“Frontier business.”
Lara’s expression hardened.
“No.”
“Cowardice with bookkeeping.”
Even one of Caleb’s guards looked away.
Elias stared at her.
Caleb leaned closer.
“Be careful.”
Lara’s body tensed.
Elias moved.
Caleb lifted one hand.
“No threat.”
“Advice.”
Lara asked:
“Why?”
“Because Thomas arrives next week.”
Silence.
Her brother.
Coming west.
“Why?”
“To finish the arrangement.”
Lara’s mouth went dry.
Caleb reached into his coat.
Elias’s hand moved toward his revolver.
Caleb slowly removed an envelope.
Placed it on table.
“Read.”
Lara opened.
Letter from Thomas.
Caleb—
If Elias hesitates, remind him Lara’s living expenses become his problem the moment Deadwood turns her away. She will not travel east once winter closes the line. Her pride can be used. Do not insult her directly unless necessary; strangers’ laughter usually accomplishes more.
Lara stopped reading.
Her hands shook.
Elias took the page.
Read.
His face became terrifyingly calm.
Lara whispered:
“My own brother wrote instructions for humiliating me.”
Caleb said:
“He understood you.”
“No.”
Lara looked at him.
“He understood which wounds he created.”
Caleb had no answer.
She folded the letter.
Put it inside her bag.
Caleb reached.
“That belongs to me.”
Lara stood.
“No.”
Elias stood too.
Caleb’s guards moved.
Elias looked at them.
Nobody wanted the fight.
Caleb said:
“You can't prove anything from a private letter.”
Lara looked at him.
“I don't need to today.”
Then she turned and walked out.
Elias followed.
Outside, Lara reached the alley behind the saloon before her legs gave.
Not collapse.
She sat heavily on a freight crate.
Hands over her face.
Elias stood nearby.
Not touching.
“I’m sorry.”
She laughed bitterly.
“Please stop apologizing for men you didn't create.”
He nodded.
Fair.
Lara lowered her hands.
“Twenty-two thousand dollars.”
“Yes.”
“My brother told me every winter we needed to reduce coal use.”
“He told me my medicine cost too much.”
“He told me the trust barely earned enough to support me.”
“He charged my clothing against it.”
Elias said nothing.
“He had twenty-two thousand.”
“And probably more over the years.”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled.
“I believed him.”
“That isn't stupidity.”
“Isn't it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because trusting family shouldn't require forensic accounting.”
She looked at him.
“You say things like that and then act surprised when women stay.”
The words came out before she could stop them.
Both froze.
Elias’s voice lowered.
“Women?”
Lara flushed.
“I meant people.”
“No, you didn't.”
“Elias.”
He smiled slightly.
She looked away.
“Not now.”
“Agreed.”
But something had changed.
Thomas Higgins arrived six days later.
Not by train.
Private coach.
Of course.
Lara watched from the Whispering Pines porch as it approached.
Her stomach twisted.
Elias stood several feet away.
Ben near the barn.
Two ranch hands worked within sight.
Not guards.