Chapter 13 - The Kiss He Asked For
“You knew?”
Josephine stood in Nora's empty dining room.
Harlan had asked Samuel to wait upstairs.
Sheriff Mercer had gone to find Rebecca.
Now there were only two people in the room.
Two people who had survived too much dishonesty to tolerate another lie.
Harlan did not deny it.
“Yes.”
Josephine's chest hurt.
“How?”
“Nora.”
Nora, standing near the doorway, looked stricken.
“I didn't tell him everything.”
Josephine turned.
“What did you tell him?”
“When Harlan said he was traveling to St. Louis, I asked whether he'd heard of Gideon Bell.”
“And?”
“I told him Eleanor's daughter might be in danger.”
Josephine looked back at Harlan.
“You knew I owned land.”
“I knew there had been property.”
“How much?”
“Not the value.”
“But you knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't have proof.”
“You had Mother's letter.”
“I had a sealed letter addressed to you. I didn't read it.”
“But you knew Nora was looking for me.”
“Yes.”
Josephine began pacing.
“Was that why you answered Father's advertisement?”
“Partly.”
The word hurt.
Partly.
“So Vale was right.”
“No.”
“You wanted something from this.”
“I wanted to keep Vale from getting the property.”
Josephine laughed bitterly.
“Why?”
“Because I'd worked for him.”
“That doesn't answer me.”
Harlan's jaw tightened.
“I knew what he'd do with the railroad.”
“What?”
“Take the water rights. Clear the valley. Push three families off leased farms.”
Josephine stared.
“So you married me to stop him.”
“I married you because your father was going to hand you to him.”
“But the land mattered.”
“Yes.”
The honesty made it worse.
Josephine looked away.
She had built Harlan into the one man who had acted without motive.
But perhaps nobody did anything without motive.
“Harlan.”
“Yes?”
“Did you ever plan to tell me?”
“When we found proof.”
“And if we hadn't?”
He had no immediate answer.
Josephine's throat tightened.
“That's what I thought.”
She walked outside.
Harlan did not follow.
For that, at least, she was grateful.
Josephine spent the afternoon alone.
She walked beyond Black Pine to the cemetery.
Eleanor's grave was not there.
Her mother rested in Missouri.
But Sarah Creek's marker stood beneath a pine.
Harlan had eventually brought her body home.
Josephine read the inscription.
SARAH ANN CREEK
BELOVED SISTER
FREE AT LAST
Josephine sat.
“Your brother is an idiot,” she told the dead woman.
Wind moved through the trees.
“He is also kind.”
She sighed.
“Very inconvenient.”
Josephine understood why Harlan had hidden the information.
He had not wanted her to think the rescue was a business transaction.
But by hiding it, he had recreated the thing Josephine hated most.
Men deciding what she should know.
Men deciding when she could handle truth.
The reason might be better.
The act still hurt.
Near sunset footsteps approached.
Harlan.
He stopped ten feet away.
“May I sit?”
Josephine almost smiled despite herself.
“Since when do you ask?”
“Since meeting you.”
She nodded toward the grass.
He sat.
For several minutes neither spoke.
Then Harlan said, “I was wrong.”
Josephine waited.
“I should have told you the first night.”
“Yes.”
“I thought you had enough.”
“That wasn't your decision.”
“I know.”
“You keep giving me choices but still decide which truths I'm ready for.”
He absorbed that.
“Yes.”
Josephine looked at him.
“That's not freedom.”
“No.”
Harlan's voice was quiet.
“It's not.”
She had expected defense.
Instead he accepted responsibility.
That made anger harder.
“I don't know whether I can trust you.”
“I understand.”
“What happens now?”
“Whatever you choose.”
Josephine laughed.
“There it is again.”
“Still true.”
She looked at Sarah's grave.
“Did you marry me because of the land?”
“No.”
“Did the land influence your decision?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want any part of it?”
“No.”
“Would you sign something saying that?”
“Today.”
Josephine studied him.
“What do you want, Harlan?”
For once, he had no quick answer.
Then he said:
“You.”
Her breath caught.
Harlan continued before she could misunderstand.
“But only if wanting me is also what you choose.”
Josephine stared.
He looked almost frightened.
This enormous man who could walk into a burning stable was afraid of one woman's answer.
“When did that happen?”
“I don't know.”
“That's not very romantic.”
“I'm not good at this.”
“I noticed.”
A reluctant smile touched her mouth.
Harlan continued.
“Maybe when you insulted my medical judgment.”
“That was our second day.”
“Then probably before that.”
Josephine's pulse accelerated.
“What exactly are you asking?”
Harlan looked at her lips.
Then deliberately back at her eyes.
“May I kiss you?”
No man had ever asked.
Josephine suddenly understood how powerful four ordinary words could be.
She waited.
Not to torment him.
To hear her own answer.
“Yes.”
Harlan moved slowly.
He touched her cheek.
Josephine could have stopped him at any second.
She didn't.
Their first kiss was gentle.
Brief.
Nothing taken.
Everything offered.
When they separated, Josephine's eyes remained closed for half a heartbeat.
Harlan whispered, “Was that all right?”
She opened them.
“No.”
Alarm crossed his face.
Josephine smiled.
“Do it again.”
This time Harlan laughed before kissing her.
The second kiss was warmer.
Josephine rested her hands against his chest.
For one beautiful moment, there were no courts.
No deeds.
No fathers.
No men setting prices.
Only choice.
When they returned to Nora's boarding house, Rebecca Hale was waiting.
Her face was grim.
“We have a problem.”
Josephine's happiness faded.
“What now?”
Rebecca placed a document on the table.
“The original deed from your mother has been challenged.”
“On what grounds?”
Rebecca looked at Harlan.
“Because somebody recorded a competing deed last year.”
Josephine read the name of the supposed buyer.
Her heart stopped.
HARLAN CREEK.
She slowly raised her eyes.
Harlan stared at the paper.
“I have never seen that.”
Rebecca folded her arms.
“Then somebody wants Josephine to believe you have.”
May you like
And judging by the look on Josephine's face, whoever had planned it knew exactly where to strike.
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