Eliza paced the confines of her suite at the Driskill Hotel with a nervous energy she could not seem to rid herself of. Even the beautifully appointed room and the lunch Ben had sent up before he left to meet with the kidnappers had not settled her restlessness.

Before he left, Ben had assured her everything would be fine. Trey would be returned safe, and she could go back to her life at the ranch.

Now she wasn’t so certain. Something was wrong. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

She went to the window and lifted the sash. The sounds from the street four floors below rose up to greet her.

“Are you considering jumping? It’s a long way down.”

Eliza gasped and turned around to see Ben standing in the doorway that connected their rooms. “That door was locked.”

He retrieved a key from his pocket and held it up. “I assured management it must have been some sort of mistake when I couldn’t get into my wife’s bedchamber from my own. They were kind enough to give me a key.”

She sank down to rest on the windowsill, her heart still beating rapidly. Ben’s having a key to her suite was completely unacceptable, but if she would be leaving today for home, it meant nothing.

“Tell me everything that happened,” she demanded. “Have they released Trey?”

“Trey is fine.” He moved into the room and pocketed the key once more. “He’ll be home eventually.”

Eliza took in his casual stance. The expression on his face that told her something else was going on. Something she had not been privy to.

“Eventually?” She shook her head. “What does that mean?”

“Stop worrying, Eliza. I have it all under control. Everything went exactly as planned.” He walked over to lift the silver cloche covering her plate on the lunch tray and then looked over at her. “You didn’t touch anything. Are you ill?”

She shrugged. “I wasn’t hungry. If everything is under control, I suppose I ought to go back home. There’s no more need for me to pretend we’re married if the kidnappers have been handled.”

Ben replaced the cloche and walked toward the door that divided their suites without a response. Just before he shut the door, she called to him.

“Answer me,” she demanded as she stood and headed in his direction. “Is it safe for me to return home now?”

“No, Eliza. According to your father, you can never return home.”

Eliza stalled in her steps. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s easier to show you. Stay right there.” He disappeared into his suite and returned a moment later with a piece of paper that looked as if it had been crumpled and then flattened again. “Now that we’re married and you’re a Barnhart, your home is with me. He was clear about that, and I agree with him. So I’ve been looking at properties near the governor’s mansion that should be satisfactory for us.”

“Wait, what?” She shook her head. “Are you joking?”

“I’m quite serious. My campaign is launching soon, and I’ll need to be settled soon. It would help if there was a baby on the way, but these things do take time.”

Her temper spiked. “That’s enough, Ben. Where is my brother, and no more games and deception.”

He placed the paper on the table next to the door and shrugged. “Your brother is fine. We are legally married. You are a Barnhart. That’s about as plain as I can make it. No games or deception. Just the facts.”

“No. Our marriage was a farce, Ben. I agreed to pretend to be married to you so you could negotiate with the men who were holding Trey hostage. There was no real marriage.”

His smile caused her stomach to churn. “Beautiful Eliza,” he said gently. “There were no kidnappers. Trey is still off on his adventures to the Far East, or at least he was as of the last letter I received from him. He’s a good friend, you know, so when he asked me to keep his cherished shark’s tooth necklace safe for him while he was away, of course I agreed.”

“You said that necklace was the kidnappers’ proof he was taken.”

“I said what I had to say at the time. What matters is we are married, just as you told that detective Brady this morning. See, you didn’t lie to the detective you like so much. That should make you feel better.”

Eliza sank onto the nearest chair, her knees weak. “You made all of this up? How is that possible? I was kidnapped by a man I’ve never seen before, and Red might have been shot if he hadn’t had that apoplectic episode.”

“We’ll have a good marriage if you allow it to be.”

Again her temper rose. “That is your response? We don’t have a marriage, Ben. Stop saying that.”

“Oh, but we do, and there’s the proof.” He nodded to the paper still sitting on the table. “You signed it yourself, dear. There will be a brief mention of it in the Statesman tomorrow. I asked them to hold off for a few days to give us time to inform our families of the happy news.”

“No,” she said again. “There is no happy news. I did not sign anything.”

“You’re overwrought. That’s understandable.”

He moved closer, pinning her to the chair as he stood over her. His hand cupped her jaw. His smile was beautiful and deadly all at the same time. Had she not known this man from childhood and been acutely aware of what he was capable of, she might have thought him handsome.

“Back away,” she told him through gritted teeth.

“Rest, dear. In time you’ll get used to the idea.” He paused to lower his lips to touch hers. “Our children will be beautiful, Eliza. Just like you.”

She slipped out from under his arm and stormed out of the room without a backward glance. Once she was down in the lobby, good sense caught up to her and she made her way back up to her suite.

The room was empty and the door to Ben’s suite still open. She looked inside to find it empty as well.

Glancing down, she spied the crumpled paper on the table and snatched it up. Whatever Ben Barnhart was up to, he would not get away with it.

Her first stop that afternoon was the Travis County courthouse where she would determine whether the paper in her hands was legitimate. If it was, then she would lodge a complaint that her signature had been forged.

After waiting a few minutes, the clerk ushered her into his office. The room was a tiny space just bigger than the maid’s room at the home in New Orleans, and it held only one small window with a view of an alley behind it.

Immediately Eliza felt claustrophobic. Ignoring the desire to bolt and run, she sat down across from the older man who took the chair on the other side of the desk. He looked over the license and then set it down on the desk between them.

“How can I help you?” he asked.

She decided to keep the question simple and direct. “Is this a legitimate license or is it a forgery?”

“I am only going on what I see in front of me, but I assure you this indeed appears to be a document issued by this office. The Travis County clerk uses a particular type of paper for marriage licenses and the watermark is showing right there in the center, so that would settle the question for me. You cannot just walk in off the street and buy this paper anywhere.”

“Where could it be purchased?”

“Nowhere that I know of. We order straight from a paper supplier in…” He shook his head. “Never mind about that. It’s not for sale in stores, I can assure you. Is there a problem, Mrs. Barnhart?” he asked, his expression kind and his gold wire-framed spectacles perched on the end of his nose. “And congratulations on your recent marriage.”

“This document is a forgery.” She handed him the marriage license. “I am not married. I did not sign it. And that is the problem.”

“But you did,” he said after adjusting his spectacles to examine the paper again. “Right there. It says your name.”

“It does, but I didn’t see this until an hour ago. Someone signed in my place.”

Eliza waited for a response, but the clerk seemed preoccupied studying the paper. Finally, he handed the document back to her. Still he said nothing.

“Well?” she said as she placed the bogus license on the desk between them. “Are you going to do something about it?”

He sat back in his chair and regarded her with an unreadable expression. “I knew your daddy well before you and your brothers were born, and I’ve been acquainted with the judge and his wife since before they were both knee high to a grasshopper, as was I. So I say this with respect to both families.”

“All right,” she said slowly.

“I cannot find any fault with that document other than someone crumpled it, and the thing ought to have been treated with more respect considering what it is. Beyond that, it looks legitimate, and I have to consider it so.”

“But it isn’t,” she said, her voice rising. “I told you. I did not sign this. My supposed husband presented it to me an hour ago.”

Crimson climbed into his cheeks the same way it did in papa’s when he was irritated. She didn’t care.

“And furthermore,” Eliza continued, “if you will hand me a paper and pen, I will show you that my signature looks very little like that one.”

“Very little?” One brow rose. “So you’re saying it’s similar.”

She glanced down at the paper on the desk between them and back up at the clerk. “Yes, I suppose there’s a similarity, but I did not sign it.”

“So you said.” He leaned forward and rested his palms on the desk. “Mrs. Barnhart, the deed is done. Any remorse you have over your choice of husband is best served by setting it aside and determining to be a good wife to the man you’ve got.”

Several responses occurred. Eliza bit them back and leveled an even gaze at the man. “Is that your final answer on my complaint, sir?”

There was a brief pause and he nodded. “It is.”

“That is unfortunate.”

Eliza rose, her back straight and her shoulders square. She snatched up the forgery and offered the clerk a curt nod. Then she departed the office and, a few minutes later, the building.

She walked five blocks as quickly as she could until the capitol was in view. There she stopped to catch her breath and determine her next move.

Home. Yes, tomorrow she would go home. Papa would know what to do.

Returning to the hotel, Eliza stopped at the front desk and asked for a porter to be sent to her room. She went up to wait, relieved that Ben was gone.

When the porter arrived, she opened the door and let him in. “I’ll need you to move that dresser in front of the door,” she told the young man.

The porter looked perplexed. “But ma’am, if I do that, the door won’t open from the other room into this one. Whoever’s adjoining this suite can’t get in.”

Eliza smiled. “Exactly.”

June 28

If Ben had returned to the Driskill last night, he hadn’t bothered to try to open the door between their suites. So far this morning all was quiet, causing Eliza to give thanks as she slipped out of the hotel.

With no transportation of her own, Eliza arranged with the livery to borrow a horse and buggy to make the trip out to the Gentry Ranch. The horse was skittish and tried to bolt several times, but despite that, she arrived at the ranch safely.

Red met her on the porch of the ranch house. The red-haired gentle giant looked pale but much better than he had when she’d been forced to leave him for dead in the wagon.

“They ain’t here,” he told her from his perch on the porch rocker. “But I sure am glad you are.”

“So am I, Red.”

The ranch foreman rose with difficulty and leaned on a cane as he shuffled toward her. She crossed the distance between them to envelop him in an embrace. Then she pulled away to hold Red at arm’s length.

Evidence of his apoplexy showed on his face, but even a partial smile from this man warmed her heart more than she could adequately explain to him. So she returned that smile and gave thanks to the Lord that he was still standing on this earth.

“I thought you were dead,” she said, tears springing to her eyes. “I was so afraid you were gone forever.”

“I thought I was too,” he admitted. “I was sitting there keeping watch and praying the Psalms like I always do on those occasions, and next thing I knew I was flat on the floor of the wagon with my arms and legs ignoring me. Couldn’t speak neither. But I could hear. And I heard what that man said. He was going to shoot me. And he took you. All I could do was pray because I couldn’t sit up and shoot him and I couldn’t call for help. There’s only been one other time in my life when I felt so helpless, and I don’t care to feel that way again.”

He straightened and took a step back, leaning heavily on his cane. His expression told her he felt he’d said too much.

“Where’re Mama and Papa?” she asked him.

“Gone,” he said. “Don’t expect they’ll be back anytime soon.”

She shrugged. “I can wait.”

“No, Miss Eliza, you can’t.” He studied the ground for a minute. When he looked back up at her, he had tears in his eyes. “They lit out for New Orleans in a hurry. Mr. Gentry, he was plenty upset. So was the missus and that little girl. He told me to give you something if you were to come looking for them.”

Red turned to walk back toward the porch, and Eliza fell into step beside him. “I don’t understand, Red,” she said. “What happened to make them leave like this?”

He kept walking, his pace slow and uneven. When he reached the porch steps, Eliza was tempted to help, but the ranch foreman seemed determined to do it himself. When he finally reached the porch, he veered off toward the chair where he’d been sitting instead of going inside.

“Sit a spell,” he told her. “I need to rest up.”

Eliza joined him on the porch, her heart pounding. Panic threatened, but she took a deep breath and forced it away as she exhaled.

“You’ve got to go home to your husband, Miss Eliza. Get what you need out of the house. I’ll look the other way while some of the boys load things up for you. I’ll even loan the wagon for the trip back into Austin and not mention it to your pa. But I can’t let you live here anymore.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but the words froze in her throat. “But this is my home,” Eliza finally managed. “Where will I go?”

“You’ll go back to your husband and make the best of the situation you’ve found yourself in,” Red said. “And if you’re thinking Zeke and his wife will take you in, I ought to warn you that your pa has sent word he’s not to do that. You know Zeke. He’ll listen and do whatever his pa tells him to do, so I wouldn’t advise putting him in a situation where he has to turn his own sister out on the street.”

“Is it that bad, Red?” Tears threatened, but she blinked them away. “I only went along with Ben because I thought I was saving Trey’s life.”

His brows rose. “What’s this now?”

“Ben told me Trey had been kidnapped. He showed me his necklace as proof. I was supposed to pretend we were married so Ben could negotiate with them as my husband, but oh Red, I feel so stupid.”

“You’re anything but, Miss Eliza,” he told her. “I wish I could fix this for you, but I just can’t.”

“No, I created this mess, so I’m going to have to be the one who fixes it.”

“That ain’t true.” Red shifted positions to look directly at Eliza. “Ben Barnhart created this mess. He calculated it all to happen just as it has.”

Red was right, but she wouldn’t allow herself to get off so easily. “I could have said no.”

“You wouldn’t have, and he knew it. You love your brothers, and you’d do anything for them. I’m sure Ben Barnhart has been sitting on this idea for a while.” He paused. “I mean no disrespect, Miss Eliza, but I couldn’t stand him as a boy, and my opinion of him has only gotten worse since then.”

“I’m not feeling any kindness toward him right now either.”

She pressed her palms against the arms of the porch rocker and stared out at the land that made up the Gentry Ranch. She’d grown up here, had skinned her knees climbing trees, and had looked up at the stars from just about every corner of the property.

With one stupid choice, all of that was lost to her.

Or was it?

“I’m going to make this right, Red, but I need some assistance.”

Red shook his head. “I done told you I am not the man to do the fixing in this situation. You’re going to have to find someone else to do that.”

“That is exactly what I intend to do.” She stood but motioned for him to remain seated. “I need to get in touch with a man Papa does business with. Where would I find that information?”

He thought a minute. “Most of that information I’d say Will carries around in his head.”

“Oh.”

“But he does keep a ledger in his office where he records such things. You may find your information there.”