Walker's Wedding (28 page)

“This is it, Potster. If I can show that Caleb's deposits are different from Walker's ledger, then I can prove once and for all that Caleb keeps two sets of books.”

“You better be sure about yer facts.”

Sarah hugged the old man's neck. “Thank you for your trust. You're the best friend a person could have.”

Sarah tucked the bankbook into the front of her dress, rearranged the papers, and latched the case. Potster put the lock back into place and fastened it.

“You're the one who's really saved my life,” she whispered.

“You just git that case back into the buggy before Caleb knows what you've done.”

Sarah opened the door and slipped out of the bunkhouse. She could hear the men coming back from the shed. Easing into the shadows, she waited for Walker and Caleb to pass. They passed so close she feared they might hear her breathing. After they went inside, she slid the briefcase back in the buggy and latched the trapdoor.

When she crept back into the house, Flo heard the screen door. “That you, Sarah?”

“Yes, Flo. I'm going to bed now. Would you please say good night to Walker and Caleb for me?”

“All right, dear. Good night.”

“Sweet dreams.”

Once inside her room, Sarah drew the lamp closer, her eyes scanning Caleb's entries. She was tempted to take the evidence directly to Walker the moment she heard Caleb's buggy leave the yard, but she didn't dare. She had to make doubly sure she had the proof needed to convict Caleb.

Footsteps sounded down the hall and then paused in front of her door. Scrambling under the blanket, she hid the book under her pillow.

Please don't let Walker come in.

But the door opened softly and he stood in the doorway, his tall
frame illuminated by the hall lantern. She lay still, affecting a steady rise and fall of her chest. Finally he closed the door, and she released a whoosh of air when she heard his boots fading down the hallway.

Sleep wouldn't come. Her heart pounded, and she knew it would leap from her chest if she lay still any longer. When she was sure the coast was clear, she got up, slipping the bankbook into the front of her dress.

Leaving the bedroom, she crept downstairs and out the back door. Diamond's restless nickers sounded from the barn.

When she entered the stable, she saw the horse milling about in her stall.

She put the lantern on a barrel and reached to comfort the mare. “Can't sleep, girl?” She knew how the mare felt. Even if she proved her accusations, it wouldn't change her and Walker's situation. It would only be one more disappointment, one more betrayal when Walker learned that his best friend was cheating him.

“Oh, Diamond, I'm such a mess. When I told Papa and Walker that I could leave the baby here, I didn't know it would be so hard.” She choked back the hard knot crowding her throat.

Diamond rested her head over the stall, her brown eyes shimmering. Her foal was close beside her. She snuffed at Sarah's dress, and Sarah realized that she was looking for sugar. Smiling, she let the horse nuzzle her belly.

“Do you want some sugar? I suppose I could sneak into the kitchen and get some. Wait here. I'll be right back.”

She picked up the lantern and started toward the door, but then she remembered why she was here in the barn. Removing the deposit book from her bodice, she looked around for a protected hiding place. Her eyes lit on the tool bin and she slid the book behind it, lodging it between the bin and the rough wall. Turning to leave, she noticed that the barn door was closed.

When she pushed against the heavy planking, it wouldn't move. In the distance she could hear Caleb's buggy leave the farmyard. The conveyance had a bell on top.

Standing back, she tried to remember if she had closed the door. She hadn't. Had the wind blown it shut? She shoved, but the door refused to give.

And then she smelled smoke.

Whirling around, she beat against the door, peering over her shoulder to see the first flames lick through the rear wall.

She pounded harder as a gray haze filled the barn. Diamond whinnied, thrashing against her stall. The other horses nickered, shifting around nervously. Smoke billowed throughout the rafters, and flames jumped from the back wall into the hayloft, trailing a stream of red flames.

The heat intensified, and Sarah put the hem of her dress over her mouth. The fire roared through the dry hay stored overhead like an angry beast, picking up fury. She pounded, screaming now.

Beating her fists, she yelled, black smoke clogging her throat. Her eyes ran with tears and she couldn't catch her breath. Finally, she slumped to the floor, the sound of Diamond's frightened cries ringing in her ears.

Twice in two days,
she thought as fire consumed the hayloft.
Caleb
is
trying to kill me.

T
ossing his sheet aside, Walker rolled out of bed. Sleep was slow in coming tonight; his mind kept going over the dinner. Sarah had been unusually polite to Caleb. What had happened to change her mind about him? She'd been so adamant the day before that Caleb was cheating him, yet tonight she played the happy hostess. She had been overly friendly, which was not like her. She was a woman with clear convictions, and he knew she was convinced Caleb was embezzling from him.

The problem was easy enough to correct. He would take the books to Pete McKinley and let him go over them. Pete was discreet; Caleb would never know his work was in question. But Walker would know, and that was the sticking point. He didn't want to believe his friend would do such a thing to him. He ran his hand through his hair. Caleb had been a loyal friend through the years. He'd listened to Walker's problems and been a solid supporter during Pa's death. What was it about Caleb that put Sarah on edge? She might be given to theatrics on occasion, but this accusation was something more. The least he owed her was an impartial look at the books. First thing in the morning, he'd take them by Pete's and get his opinion. If Sarah was right, he owed her a debt of gratitude. If she was wrong, it would deepen their rift into a chasm.

He moved to the window to look out. Moonlight illuminated the barn. Inside, he could hear Diamond bumping her stall. His eyes
traveled the deserted barnyard as a matter of habit. Everything was quiet, the bunkhouse dark. The men had been asleep for hours.

Cocking his ear, he realized that Diamond's whinnies were different from a moment ago. Nervousness tinged the animal's cries now. Lifting the window, he studied the barn, searching for a source of concern. There was no wind tonight. A full moon mantled the farmhouse in mellow rays. Then he smelled it. Smoke.

Swiftly reaching for his pants, he slipped them on. Had a careless hand dropped a lighted match in the hay?

By the time he reached the barn, flames were licking through the roof. Pounding on Potster's door, he yelled for the cook to wake the men and then grabbed a bucket and raced toward the rain barrel. Within minutes the barnyard teamed with bare-chested men, still half asleep, racing against time. Fire shot out of the barn roof and spread to the back of the building.

Fumbling for the latch, he discovered that the door was locked from the outside. What fool had done that? Walker threw the bolt and lunged inside to free the animals but stumbled, dropping to his knees when he encountered an obstacle blocking the doorway. Black smoke belched from the blazing interior, and he grabbed his handkerchief out of his back pocket to protect himself from the smoke. Coughing, he tried to shove the object aside, but he came into contact with a feminine hand. He strained to see whose it was. Flo's? What would she be doing out here at this time of night?

The draft shifted, sucking the flames to the rear of the barn. Lifting the inanimate form, he carried her outside, laying her on the ground. S.H. ran up, tucking his shirttails into his pants.

“Sarah!” the two men exclaimed in unison.

Walker placed the handkerchief over her mouth, trying to shield her from the rolling smoke. Her eyes opened briefly and he saw recognition before they closed again.

Flo darted toward them, her unpinned hair streaming down her back. The old woman knelt in the dirt, cradling Sarah to her ample bosom. “What's she doing out here? She was in her room when I went to bed.”

Walker scanned the area. Chaos reigned as men shouted, racing back and forth with water buckets. What
was
Sarah doing out here at this time of night? Even worse, why was the barn door locked from the outside? Spring Grass didn't have any trouble with theft—nothing was ever locked up at night.

Lifting Sarah into his arms, Walker carried her to the house. When he placed her on their bed, her eyelids fluttered and she moaned, coughing. Reaching for him, she clung tightly.

“You're all right, you're safe now,” he soothed her.

“Fire…the door was locked…oh, Walker!”

“It's all right,” he murmured, gently stroking her back. He could feel her trembling beneath his hands.

“I called for you…but no one came.”

What if he hadn't gotten out of bed and smelled the smoke? The ramifications chilled him more than the November air. He could have lost her. He had no way of knowing she was in the barn, caged like a wild animal. Holding her close, he absorbed her scent, tainted by smoke, but still very Sarah. “Why were you in the barn this time of night?”

“I couldn't sleep…” She coughed, still trying to catch her breath. Gently wiping her mouth, he eased her back onto the pillow. “I couldn't sleep,” she whispered. “I heard Diamond and I went out to keep her company.”

Another spasm of coughing hit her. When it passed, she lay back again, her eyes meeting his wearily. “I'm sorry to be so much trouble.”

“Nonsense.” He poured water into the basin and wet a rag. Wiping her face, he cleaned the soot away, his eyes locked with hers. “I suppose you think Caleb locked you in the barn and set the fire?”

“I heard his buggy drive off as I tried to get out.” She moaned, closing her eyes. “I had the deposit book…but it's gone, burned up in the fire.”

“A thief wouldn't leave evidence in a deposit book.”

“A smart one wouldn't.”

“But you were so charming to him tonight. I was starting to think he was your best friend.”

“I am a very good actress.” Maybe he didn't need to know that.

He placed the cloth on her forehead. “Where did you get this book?”

“From his briefcase. When you and Caleb visited the shed, I searched his buggy and found a trapdoor. That's where he keeps the records, Walker.”

“You searched his buggy. My friends are subject to searching before they can leave the ranch?”

“If Caleb is the friend in question.”

“Sarah.” He stood up, shoving his hands through his hair. How did a man deal with this? If what she was saying were true, there'd be no point in taking the ledgers to Pete because apparently there was a second set—or so Sarah said.

“Honestly, Walker! You'll defend Caleb to the death, but what about me? What about your child? If Caleb had succeeded tonight—”

“You're talking crazy, Sarah. This pregnancy, our situation—it has us confused. Flo says your frustrations are normal and nothing to be concerned about. She says they'll pass after the baby's born.”

He returned to the bed, taking her back into his arms. Smoothing her hair, he said quietly, “Don't put me in this situation, Sarah. The Caleb I know is a loyal friend. He has his faults, but show me a man who doesn't. What do you want me to do? Have the man arrested on the suspicion that he's cheating me? If you're wrong, I've betrayed him.”

“Potster saw the deposit book.”

“The ranch hand cook is in on this now?”

“Ask him about it if you don't believe me.”

“I concede Potster saw some book, but neither you nor he knows what it was.”

Sighing, Walker rose and left the room. He had lost a barn. At least that was something he knew how to handle.