Daniel pulled an old envelope from his coat.
Jacob had written three months earlier.
He said his daughter was in town.
Capable.
Honest.
Needed better work.
He also warned that someone connected to Elias Bennett might be moving cattle near Bennett land.
Daniel did not believe the Elias part.
But he remembered Lila.
Saw her working at the general store.
Then told Cole she might be useful.
Cole looked at Daniel.
“You suggested I offer her work.”
“Yes.”
Lila felt something collapse.
The job had not been random.
She looked at Cole.
“You knew my father sent the recommendation?”
“No.”
Daniel answered before Cole could.
“I told him I’d heard she was good.”
Cole’s face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because I thought if I mentioned a dead brother, you’d ride to Mexico with six guns and no plan.”
Cole said nothing.
Which meant Daniel was probably correct.
Lila looked toward Jacob.
“And the warning note?”
His eyes shifted.
There.
“You.”
Jacob nodded.
Lila’s chest tightened.
“You were inside the house?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“Mrs. Keller.”
Lila stared.
The senior housekeeper.
Jacob continued.
“She knew me years ago.”
Cole frowned.
“Mrs. Keller worked for my mother.”
“Yes.”
“Why help you?”
“Because she knew Elias was alive.”
Another betrayal.
Or protection.
Hard to know.
Jacob continued.
“She discovered Earl tampered with the bathhouse.”
“Why not tell Cole?”
“She was afraid.”
Exactly what Lila had said.
“She thought Earl would know if she went directly.”
“So she warned me.”
“Yes.”
“Because?”
“Because she saw you two.”
Heat rose in Lila’s face despite everything.
Jacob almost smiled.
Wrong moment.
Very wrong.
Lila glared.
“Do not.”
He lowered his eyes.
Cole walked toward the fireplace.
His entire household had known pieces.
Daniel.
Mrs. Keller.
Lila’s father.
And nobody trusted him enough to bring truth directly.
The realization hurt.
Lila saw.
This was not simply betrayal.
It was consequence.
Cole had built fear deliberately.
Now fear had built secrecy around him.
He understood.
“I did that.”
Everyone looked.
Cole stared into the fire.
“I made them afraid to tell me.”
Daniel said:
“Cole—”
“No.”
He looked at his foreman.
“She was right.”
Lila knew what he meant.
The bathhouse.
Someone warned her because they feared him.
Cole turned toward Jacob.
“You used your daughter as a shield.”
Jacob flinched.
“Yes.”
Lila looked at him.
“Why admit that?”
“Because I’m tired.”
“That does not repair it.”
“No.”
“Do you expect forgiveness?”
“No.”
Good answer.
At least one.
Lila sat.
Her legs felt weak.
Cole moved toward her.
Stopped.
The familiar pause.
She looked up.
Then reached for his hand.
He gave it.
Her father watched.
Lila did not care.
“I need you,” she whispered.
Cole’s fingers closed around hers.
Jacob looked away.