“That sounds like my father.”
“He threatened to go to Helena.”
Evelyn felt something twist inside her.
Samuel Hart had never mentioned any of this.
“Then?”
“Then he died.”
Her eyes hardened.
Jonah saw where her mind went.
“No.”
“What?”
“I’m not saying Vale killed him.”
“You were thinking it.”
“I’m telling you before you do.”
Evelyn stared.
“My father died twelve days after paying the bank.”
“Yes.”
“In his sleep.”
“Yes.”
“The doctor said his heart.”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe that?”
“I have no reason not to.”
She nodded slowly.
Jonah continued.
“After Samuel died, I checked the account again.”
“The payment was gone.”
Evelyn stopped.
“What do you mean gone?”
“The ledger entry I had copied disappeared.”
“You can’t make ink disappear from a ledger.”
“You can replace a page.”
Her fingers tightened around the receipt.
Jonah looked at it.
“That was the customer copy.”
“Your father had it.”
“How do you have it?”
“He gave it to me the second time he came to the bank.”
Evelyn’s mouth opened slightly.
“Why?”
“Because he thought something was wrong.”
“He asked me to hold it for three days while he went to county recorder himself.”
“He said if anything happened, I was to bring it to you.”
“And you waited two years.”
There it was.
The question that had been building beneath everything else.
Jonah lowered his gaze.
“Yes.”
Evelyn’s hand closed around the receipt.
“You waited two years while I sold cattle.”
“Yes.”
“While I let every hired hand go.”
“Yes.”
“While I worked this place alone.”
“Yes.”
“While the bank charged interest on a debt that did not exist.”
“Yes.”
Her voice rose.
“Why?”
Jonah looked at her.
“Because I was a coward.”
The answer disarmed her more effectively than any excuse.
He continued.
“Two days after your father died, I went back to the books.”
“I found his page replaced.”
“I found three other ranch mortgages that had the same problem.”
“Payments posted and then removed.”
“Before I could copy the names, Vale caught me.”
“What did he do?”
“Fired me.”
“That’s all?”
“No.”
Jonah looked toward his horse.
“Two men met me outside town that night.”
Evelyn noticed for the first time a pale scar running from beneath his ear toward his collar.
“They convinced me leaving Bitter Creek was wise.”
“How?”
“Not politely.”
She looked at the sling.
“That?”
“No.”
“This is recent.”
Jonah flexed his good hand.
“I left.”
“Worked rail crews.”
“Cattle drives.”
“Carpentry.”
“I told myself I had no proof except one customer receipt.”
“I told myself Vale would destroy it if I returned.”
“I told myself your father was dead and the bank would probably honor the note anyway.”
“And did it?”
“No.”
“You knew?”
“Not until three months ago.”
“How?”
“I met a former bank clerk in Livingston.”
“He told me Hart Ranch was still listed under mortgage.”
“He also told me Vale had started foreclosure preparation.”
Evelyn’s anger returned.
“And you waited another three months.”
“I came as soon as I could confirm.”