“I nearly did.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Caleb looked away.
“Because I was a stranger.”
Elena gave a bitter laugh.
“You solved that problem by marrying me.”
His face changed.
There was shame there.
Real shame.
“Yes.”
The answer took some heat out of her.
Elena looked at the deed again.
“Tell me what this has to do with twenty dollars.”
Caleb walked to the opposite side of the table but kept distance between them.
“Your mother inherited White Pine Basin from her uncle.”
“I never heard of him.”
“Jonas Mercer.”
Elena’s fingers went cold.
There had been a silver cup in her mother’s old chest with the initials J.M.
Her father had thrown it into a wagon with other belongings after Margaret died.
Caleb continued.
“Jonas had no children.”
“He left the basin to your mother.”
“She married your father three years later.”
“He started managing the timber contracts.”
Elena stared at the deed.
“My father said the basin came through his family.”
“He lied.”
The word was clean.
No hesitation.
It hurt more because of that.
Caleb went on.
“Your mother became worried about his debts.”
“What debts?”
“Cards.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Of course.
She remembered men arriving late at night.
Her father telling her to go upstairs.
Money disappearing.
A cow sold unexpectedly.
Her mother whispering behind a door.
“She transferred the basin to you before she died,” Caleb said.
“Why did I never know?”
“She was afraid your father would force you to sign it back.”
“I was fourteen.”
“She wrote that she wanted it held until twenty-one.”
Elena looked at the document.
“I’m twenty-two.”
“Yes.”
“So I should have received it last year.”
“Yes.”
The humiliation of the last twelve months rearranged itself.
Her father complaining that she ate too much.
That her clothes cost too much.
That no respectable man would marry her.
That he could no longer afford to support an adult daughter.
That she should be grateful for any proposal.
Meanwhile he had been managing land that belonged to her.
“Where was the original?”
“County records.”
“He couldn’t destroy it?”
“No.”
“But he filed papers claiming you were physically dependent and unable to manage property.”
Elena went still.
“What?”
Caleb’s voice became careful.
“He said you were incapable of traveling alone.”
That was not entirely false.
Long distances were difficult.
Her size made certain wagons uncomfortable.
Deep mud exhausted her.
But incapable?
“He told them I was an invalid.”
“Yes.”
Elena’s cheeks burned.
“I kept his books.”
“I know.”
“I ordered supplies.”
“I know.”
“I negotiated feed prices because he couldn’t add figures without getting angry.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“My sister knew your mother.”
Elena looked up sharply.
“Sarah Holt?”
Caleb nodded.
The name pulled something from childhood.
A dark-haired woman who had visited during Margaret’s final illness.
Elena had called her Aunt Sarah even though they were not related.
“She was the midwife.”
“Yes.”
“She disappeared.”
“Your father threatened her.”
“With what?”
“Arrest.”
“For stealing the deed.”
Elena laughed in disbelief.
“A deed that belonged to me.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to Sarah?”
Caleb’s eyes changed.
“She died three winters ago.”