Low voices drifted outside the door, one of them angry. Oblivious to the sound, Lizzie shoveled another bite of eggs into her mouth and munched happily, her stockinged feet swinging back and forth above the floor.
“What will we do today, Abigail? Can we go see Dorsey? Mr. Stacy said he’d have a message for him to carry soon. Maybe we can go watch him fill Dorsey’s pouch.”
Abigail pushed up from the table. “Um, maybe, sweetheart. We’ll have to see what your father has planned first.”
“All right, but maybe we could save Dorsey a biscuit. Do you think he likes biscuits, Abigail? I can put some cactus jelly…”
Her lively chatter continued, but Abigail stopped listening and moved to the door. Nathan was in conversation with someone, and whoever it was wasn’t happy.
“I came to you out of concern, thinking you would help.”
“I have helped.”
“This is your solution? This is how you help her? What about the miners? I can’t hold them off forever.”
“Abigail will be safe as long as she’s with me.”
Gavin Nichols. Abigail cracked the door open far enough to see the mine superintendent standing toe to toe with Nathan. Though he was tall, he still looked up to Nathan. Sputtering, he flung the tails of his coat wide and propped both fists on his hips.
“Are you out of your mind? Didn’t you see what happened to her face?”
“That had nothing to do with the miners,” Nathan said. “The man who broke in was after her money.”
“How do you know? Maybe he got spooked and took off before he got what he was really after, and maybe he’s not the only one. These men are out for blood, Hawk. They want an explanation, and right now, the only one they’re satisfied with is Anson’s guilt.”
A curious look flashed across Nathan’s face, and then he shook his head. “That’s because the accident is still so raw. Once your team from the mine company certifies that the mine is safe, this will all blow over—”
“They’re not—! That is—” Gavin drew a deep breath then grabbed his hat in one hand and brushed a bead of sweat from his brow with the other. “All right.” His limbs shaking, he shoved the brim of his hat into Nathan’s face. “This is on you, Hawk. If anything happens to that woman—or your daughter, for that matter—it’s on you.”
A look of black rage dropped over Nathan like a blanket. Abigail sucked in a breath and curled her fingers tightly around the door’s edge. She’d never seen him so angry. Gavin shrank back as Nathan took a step forward.
“You let me worry about taking care of my family, Nichols. They’re no concern of yours, now or ever.”
He’d called her “family”! Abigail’s breathing quickened.
A cloud of dust settled over Gavin’s polished boots and the cuffs of his trousers as he shuffled his feet. He jammed his hat on his head and nodded. “Fine. You see to it, then. In the meantime, I’ll see to business on my end.”
He strode away, but Nathan stood unmoving with his hands clenched at his sides.
Abigail looked over her shoulder at Lizzie. “Get a wiggle on and finish your breakfast, Lizzie. When you’re done, climb up into the loft and see to the beds, yours and your pa’s.”
Her mouth stuffed with biscuit and jelly, Lizzie could only nod. Abigail offered a smile and then eased out the door. Lizzie would be fine, at least until she’d spoken to Nathan.
The morning sun had just crested the ridge of hills in the distance. Its pale rays provided little warmth, but they did illuminate the fire blazing in Nathan’s eyes when he looked at her.
Abigail approached him carefully. “What was that about?”
The muscles in his jaw flexed. “You heard?”
“Some.”
He glanced toward the lean-to. “Lizzie?”
“She’s finishing her breakfast. What did Gavin want?”
Nathan blew out a breath and then motioned toward the shaded side of the lean-to. “Let’s talk over there. Best if Lizzie didn’t hear.”
Abigail followed him around the house, though she had to hasten to match his long strides. For several moments he did nothing but pace, his fingers working themselves through his thick hair like a plow to a field. When he stopped, Abigail bit her lip and waited, her chest tight.
“Gavin thinks you might be in danger. Says the miners won’t be satisfied with anything less than blood.”
She shivered so hard her teeth shook. “Wh–whose blood?”
“In this case—ours.”
Nathan crossed to her and planted both hands on her shoulders. The strength she felt in his grip made it hard not to feel safe, as though the miners and their accusations couldn’t possibly touch her so long as he stood in their path, but the warmth of his fingers also reminded her of his humanity. She couldn’t put him in harm’s way, not when he had Lizzie to consider.
She shrugged from beneath his grasp. “Don’t you mean mine? This doesn’t involve you, Nathan.”
His gaze hardened. “You’re my wife now. What affects you affects me.”
Abigail swallowed a surprising lump in her throat. “That wasn’t the deal.”
“I’m changing the deal,” he said, his voice gruff. He took a deep breath and let it out slow. “Abigail, you have to promise me that you’ll let me help you find out what really happened in the mine. Tell me you’ll wait to ask your questions until I can be with you.”
The sleeves of his cotton shirt were rolled to his elbows, revealing arms Abigail longed to fall into. It surprised her how much she wanted to say yes, to accept his help without question, but deep inside, she knew she couldn’t wait. She’d go to the mining camp or seek out the Chinese, find anyone she thought might provide information, and keep doing it until she had the answers she sought.
And she would do it alone.
Nathan waited, his hands clenched at his sides, while a passel of emotions flitted across Abigail’s face.
She had to listen to him. She just had to.
The vehemence of the thought shook him to the core. Though his arms ached to hold her, he resisted. He’d never let go if he gave in to the urge now.
A teasing wind plucked at her hair and tossed a strand of it into her eyes. She brushed it away with her left hand, where the gold band he’d placed on her finger just hours ago gleamed.
“Well?” he demanded, more gruffly than he intended.
The shuttered look he knew so well dropped over her face, and she lifted her chin. “You have my word. I won’t go to the mining camp without telling you.”
He searched her eyes. She stared back, guileless. Relief, deeper and wider than any canyon, opened up and swallowed the dread in Nathan’s belly. He expelled a loud sigh and followed it with a smile.
“We’ll figure this out, Abigail. I promise you, we won’t stop digging until we know what really caused the mine explosion.”
Once again, the faces of the two mining company strangers popped into his brain, followed by Gavin’s obvious discomfort. Did he have any right keeping the information from Abigail? But wouldn’t knowing the truth only push her to investigate further?
Before he could dwell on the answer, Abigail’s features twisted into something earnest and sharp. “What if we don’t?”
He blinked. “What?”
“What if we never prove my father’s innocence?” Hugging herself, she peered up at him. “Will you share my father’s shame? The livery could suffer and lose business. You and Lizzie—”
He did pull her into his arms then, and when she seemed as though she would continue with her protests, he gently laid his finger across her lips.
“I don’t have the answer to that, Abigail, but I think—” Pastor Burch’s words rang in Nathan’s head, filling him with more hope than he’d felt in a year. He looked down into his new wife’s eyes. She looked back, pleading for his assurance with her gaze. Everything in him wanted to give it, to be the pillar she could lean on when she was weary or frightened. He smiled. “I think that if we can find a way to pray, maybe—maybe God will hear.”
Surprise sparked in the depths of her brown eyes for one brief moment and was quickly chased away by an even brighter flash of gratitude.
How strange, Nathan thought, tightening his hold on his wife as she slid her arms around his waist and squeezed. He’d always thought he knew what it meant to provide for a wife, but never in the years he’d been married to Charlotte had he ever considered that what she needed most was for him to rely on God.