Chapter 13 - The Woman Who Called Her a Monster
Hattie stared at Horace.
Gideon stood beside her.
Her uncle removed his hat.
He looked older than she remembered.
Not weak.
But tired.
“What did my father make you promise?”
Horace glanced toward Gideon.
“Hattie, this is family business.”
Gideon immediately stepped back.
Hattie stopped him.
“My husband stays.”
Horace’s eyebrows lifted.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”
They sat in the empty dining room below the general store.
Horace placed a leather folder on the table.
“Your father met Red Lawson through a supplier.”
Hattie’s jaw tightened.
“He invested two thousand dollars.”
“I saw the ledger.”
“He regretted it almost immediately.”
“Why?”
“He discovered Lawson was selling shares in unregistered claims.”
Hattie looked toward Gideon.
“So Father knew?”
“Enough to become frightened.”
Horace opened the folder.
Inside were receipts.
Bank notes.
Letters.
One signed by Samuel Miller.
“He demanded his money back.”
“Did Red return it?”
“Most.”
Hattie stared.
“How much?”
“Fifteen hundred.”
“What happened to the rest?”
“Gone.”
Horace rubbed his face.
“Your father borrowed to cover the loss.”
Hattie felt sick.
“The butcher shop?”
“Mortgaged.”
“No.”
“He never told you.”
“Why?”
“Pride.”
Of course.
Samuel Miller had been proud.
Too proud.
Horace continued.
“When he died, the debts became due.”
Hattie struggled to breathe.
“So you didn’t steal the business.”
Horace looked pained.
“I handled it badly.”
“Did you own it?”
“Legally, yes.”
“How?”
“Your father transferred the deed to me as security for money I lent him.”
Hattie stared.
“You threw me out.”
“I sold the building.”
“You gave me three days.”
“I was angry.”
“At me?”
“At him. At the entire situation.”
Horace lowered his eyes.
“And I punished you for it.”
The truth was complicated.
Hattie hated that.
Simple anger was easier.
“You let me believe you stole everything.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because telling you your father lost most of his savings to a fraudulent gold scheme seemed cruel.”
“So you chose a different cruelty.”
Horace flinched.
“Yes.”
Hattie stood.
She walked toward the window.
For months she had imagined confronting a villain.
Instead she found a flawed man.
A cowardly man.
But not the thief she believed.
Gideon remained silent.
Giving her space.
Horace said, “I have something else.”
Hattie turned.
He placed another paper on the table.
“A deed.”
“To what?”
“A shop.”
She frowned.
“I bought a smaller building after selling the original.”
“Why?”
“I intended to restart the business.”
“With me?”
Horace nodded.
“Then you left.”
Hattie almost laughed.
“You expected me to wait after you threw me into the street?”
“I expected nothing sensible. I was ashamed.”
He pushed the deed toward her.
“It’s yours.”
Hattie did not touch it.
“I don’t want charity.”
“It isn’t.”
“What is it?”
“An apology that took too long.”
Silence.
Gideon finally spoke.
“Take time.”
Hattie looked at him.
He understood better than anyone what guilt could do.
How it distorted years.
She sat again.
“I’m not returning to Philadelphia.”
Horace’s face fell.
“I figured.”
“My life is here.”
“With him.”
Hattie looked at Gideon.
“Yes.”
Horace nodded.
“Then sell the building.”
“Why give it to me?”
“Because your father wanted you to have something.”
Hattie touched the deed.
She was surprised when tears came.
Not because of the building.
Because suddenly her father was human again.
Not perfect.
Not betrayed by everyone.
A man who made a terrible investment.
A man who hid his mistake.
A man whose daughter had inherited both his stubbornness and his tendency to carry burdens alone.
Hattie almost laughed.
Apparently secrecy ran through both families.
That afternoon she walked through town.
Loretta joined her.
“You all right?”
“I don’t know.”
“That sounds honest.”
Hattie looked at her.
“What will you do?”
“With what?”
“Your husband.”
Loretta’s smile disappeared.
“I don’t know.”
“Does he hurt you?”
“Not with his hands.”
Hattie understood.
Words could leave wounds no doctor saw.
“You can leave.”
Loretta laughed nervously.
“And go where?”
“Anywhere.”
“You make it sound easy.”
“It isn’t.”
Hattie stopped.
“But hard is not the same as impossible.”
Loretta looked at her.
Hattie remembered the saloon.
The beautiful blonde mocking the large woman.
How certain they had both been about who held power.
Life had rearranged everything.
“You really forgive me?” Loretta asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to carry you around forever.”
Loretta laughed.
“That sounds rude.”
“It is practical.”
They smiled.
At the end of the street, Gideon waited.
Hattie approached.
He held out one hand.
She took it.
“You ready to go home?”
The word struck warmly.
Home.
“Yes.”
But before they could leave, Marshal Crowe appeared.
“Hayes.”
Gideon turned.
“We’ve got a problem.”
“What?”
“Lawson escaped.”
Hattie closed her eyes.
“How?”
“Someone cut the back bars.”
“Who?”
Crowe looked toward Mercer’s office.
“Maybe one of his remaining investors.”
Gideon’s face hardened.
Hattie said, “He’ll go for the mountain.”
Crowe nodded.
“If he thinks the seam is still there.”
Gideon looked toward the distant peaks.
Snow clouds were gathering again.
“We need to get there first.”
Hattie climbed onto her horse.
Gideon stared.
“You’re staying in town.”
She gave him a look.
He sighed.
“Fine.”
Horace came running from the general store.
“Hattie!”
She turned.
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
“You might need another man.”
Hattie smiled slightly.
“We need someone who knows what he’s doing.”
Gideon hid a smile.
Horace scowled.
But Hattie’s expression softened.
“Stay here.”
“Why?”
“Because if something happens, someone needs to make sure those documents reach Denver.”
Horace understood.
He nodded.
Hattie looked at Loretta.
The blonde woman hugged her unexpectedly.
“Come back.”
Hattie smiled.
“I intend to.”
Then she and Gideon rode north.
Toward Dead Man’s Peak.
Toward Red Lawson.
Toward the gold seam that had already poisoned too many lives.
By sunset, snow began falling.
And high above them, Red Lawson reached the hidden entrance to Mary’s mine.
May you like
Only to discover someone had arrived before him.
---
