“Twenty-two percent.”
Elias whistled.
Nathaniel glared.
Emma continued.
“You suspected fraud.”
“Yes.”
“And stayed invested.”
“I wanted my principal returned.”
“Of course.”
The old anger returned.
Nathaniel saw it.
“Do not judge me.”
Emma laughed.
“Now you object to judgment?”
He looked away.
She continued.
“Did Bell know I was coming to Mercy Bend?”
Nathaniel’s eyes returned to her.
“What?”
“You heard the story.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Telegram from Bell.”
Everything inside Emma froze.
Elias stopped eating.
Nathaniel realized.
“Emma—”
“He telegraphed you about me?”
Nathaniel looked trapped.
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
Nathaniel reached into his coat.
“I kept it.”
Of course he did.
Men like Nathaniel preserved anything that might someday become leverage.
He handed her the folded telegram.
VALE STOP
YOUR FORMER WIFE HAS ANSWERED HART MATRIMONIAL ADVERTISEMENT STOP
EXPECT ENTERTAINMENT STOP
IF YOU WISH TO SEE THE RESULT ARRIVE MERCY BEND AUGUST 14 STOP
BELL
Emma could not breathe.
Elias took the paper.
His face changed.
Nathaniel said quietly:
“I did not go.”
Emma looked at him.
“You were invited to watch.”
“Yes.”
“And you kept this.”
“I thought…”
“What?”
He had no answer.
Emma’s hands began shaking.
All the shame on Mercy Bend’s street returned for one second.
The laughter.
Ordered.
The horse.
Men looking.
Bell had wanted Nathaniel there.
Her former husband as audience.
A final cruelty.
Elias placed the telegram flat on the table.
“Why would Bell care enough to invite you?”
Nathaniel looked at Emma.
“Because I told him about her.”
Silence.
Emma’s voice became quiet.
“When?”
“Years ago.”
“What?”
“You managed my accounts.”
“I complained about it.”
“To Bell?”
Nathaniel nodded.
“He asked how I kept the estate books so clean.”
“I said my wife did them.”
Emma closed her eyes.
There it was.
Bell knew exactly who she was before her letter ever reached Mercy Bend.
Not merely her size.
Her skill.
Nathaniel continued.
“When Bell wrote that Hart was bringing you west, I understood why he was concerned.”
“You understood and said nothing.”
“I didn’t know he had tampered with correspondence.”
“But you knew he was stealing ranches.”
“I suspected.”
Emma stood.
Nathaniel rose too.
“Emma.”
She slapped him.
Not theatrically.
One sharp open hand across his cheek.
The café went quiet.
Elias did not move.
Nathaniel stared in shock.
Emma’s eyes filled.
“That was for laughing every time you made me smaller.”
Nathaniel touched his face.