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“We looked everywhere, but couldn’t find her.” Brigham’s expression was pure worry now. He had been afraid something like this would happen, but no matter how much they had looked after Joy, she had been able to leave after all.
“I checked her room,” Darlene said now, the same worry on her face, “and most of her clothes are gone.”
“But how did she do that? How did she get past us with bags?”
“I think I know the answer to that,” Cathleen remarked when she stepped back into the house, holding a rope. “I found this rope in the bushes below her window.”
“Darn it,” Brigham burst out, while hitting the door frame. “Her cleverness will be her downfall eventually. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“None of us want that, Dad,” Olivia remarked now. “We all love her.”
“Perhaps someone in town saw her at one point today. I’ll get my horse.”
“Let’s all go,” Cathleen said now, and her sister and mother nodded.
Brigham stepped outside and called one of the cowboys over to get the carriage ready, when he noticed someone approaching their ranch.
He waited until the young man was close enough, but then recognized the second horse as Joy’s horse.
“Derek, where did you find Joy’s horse? Is she hurt?”
He shook his head. “She came into the livery this morning, dropped off the horse and asked me to bring the animal to your ranch this evening.”
“Do you know where she is?”
The young man shook his head again. “Not exactly. I talked to Mr. Tucker at the post office, and he told me she had bought a one-way ticket to Helena, but he didn’t know anything else.”
Brigham sighed. “That isn’t exactly helpful. She can go anywhere from there. Thanks, Derek.” He nodded to the young man, and they all watched him ride back to town.
“Perhaps Charles knows where she is.”
“I doubt it. She probably didn’t tell him anything either.”
“What about Mr. Andrews?” Olivia suggested now, but her father shook his head.
“Charles and Dylan both cautioned us about him. I think they believe he is not to be trusted and perhaps even part of this.”
“A traitor?” Cathleen was outraged. “If he is helping to hurt or kill Joy, he deserves to be hanged.”
“Let’s not be hasty, Cathleen,” her mother rebuked her at once. “We don’t know enough to go that far.”
“I’ll go into town first thing in the morning and send a telegram to Charles and Dylan’s parents. Hopefully, Dylan’s parents know where their son is and can get the message to him.”
“Graham, you are home late. I expected you hours ago,” his father said when the young man entered the house. His mother and sisters all looked up.
“I spent the day with Julia. I proposed to her when I returned this morning.” He looked around the room, expecting everyone to congratulate him, but they remained serious and quiet.
His parents exchanged a quick glance, but it was Cathleen who found her voice first.
“Did you tell Joy you were going to do that?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you two were really close before the divorce was out of the way. I daresay it looked like you were courting her, despite still being married.”
“I never courted her. Sure, we had some chemistry and I kissed her several times, but I never told her I would marry her.”
“Oh, Graham.” His mother looked disappointed, almost hurt, and shook her head. Before he had the chance to say something in return, however, Cathleen was on her feet.
“So, you seriously just played with her? She was just a toy to you?”
“Whoa, I never saw her as a toy. We got along, and I liked her a great deal. I thought I was in love with her for a while, but when I got to know Julia more, I realized I only saw Joy as a friend.”
“I can’t believe you, Graham. This entire time you made all of us think you had a real interest in Joy, yet here you are, claiming it was just some chemistry.”
“I made no promises to her.”
“I doubt that,” Cathleen snapped loudly, her eyes sparkling with outrage. “You’ve always been all in or nothing.” She shook her head.
“Joy probably even told you to stop kissing her until you were free, but knowing you, you did it anyway. My guess is, you told her you cared for her, maybe even that you loved her and if I take it to the extreme, that you would marry her once the divorce is final. Just so you didn’t have to feel so bad about kissing her while still married.”
His shocked expression confirmed that what Cathleen had just called him out for, was what actually happened.
Olivia jumped to her feet, her face just as outraged as her sister’s. She was usually in full control of her emotions and feelings and rarely got upset at someone, especially her older brother, contrary to her younger sister, but this time Olivia was genuinely angry with Graham, and she wasn’t going to hold it back.
“You should be ashamed of yourself, Graham Harrison,” she scolded, her eyes spitting fire at him. “No wonder, Joy left. She must have been so hurt by the way you handled it. And to anyone who watched you two and assumed what we did, this will look like as if you only used her to get back at Lydia and her parents. This must have felt like a betrayal to Joy.”
“What betrayal? And what do you mean by Joy left?”
Brigham sighed. “Son, I know Charles and Dylan told you to stay away from Joy for a while so those who killed her parents would see her as more of a target, but I am quite certain they meant in public, not all together and pretty much abandoning her. Worse even, to find someone else instead.”
“You played with her feelings, Graham,” his mother agreed and stepped closer. “Even if it wasn’t done intentionally, you made her believe there was more between you and her.”
“I did not mean to hurt her. But I only kissed her because I thought the feeling was mutual. I thought there was something between us.”
“You should have talked openly to her about it, Son. No wonder she was so ill-looking these past few weeks. She felt lonely and abandoned by you.”
“If she got her hopes up, that isn’t alone my fault,” Graham snapped and was all defensive now. Cathleen looked like she wanted to murder her brother.
“You got her hopes up, Graham. You made her believe that once the divorce was out of the way, you and she would start courting. Then the moment you were free, you threw her in the corner like an old sock as if she weren’t useful to you anymore. And if you never even talked to her about why you were avoiding her and that your feelings had changed, it is no surprise that she left.”
“Will someone finally tell me what you mean by Joy left?” His defensiveness turned into irritation and even anger. It was no secret that he wasn’t happy about how the conversation had turned out.
“Joy rode into town this morning, and we haven’t seen her since. We searched the ranch earlier and then Derek came by and brought her horse back. Apparently, she took the stagecoach to Helena.” Brigham’s worry was back.
Graham suddenly swallowed hard and his anger subsided. “When did she leave?”
“This morning, most likely. Why?” His father looked into the young man’s eyes.
“Oh no,” Graham gasped and dropped himself into an armchair.
“What? What did you do?” Cathleen asked at once, a premonition on her mind.
“She probably saw me when I proposed to Julia.”
“What? How do you mean?” Brigham was getting frustrated now too.
“I arrived with the morning stagecoach and when I saw Julia, immediately ran over to her and proposed to her.”
“Outside? In the middle of the street?” Darlene’s eyes were wide with concern. Graham nodded.
“Oh boy,” Cathleen gasped now too, and everyone fell silent for a moment.
“That must have been the tip of the iceberg for her.”
Olivia teared up. “I bet she won’t come back even after all of this is over. Perhaps she moves in with her aunt and uncle, or finds a man who will sweep her off her feet.”
“I am sorry. I never meant to cause her hurt or make her feel abandoned. I didn’t even think how my actions might affect her.”
“Yeah, you never think, when it comes to women,” Cathleen snapped right away, but her mother silenced her.
“Listen, Graham. We don’t want you to think we aren’t happy for you and Julia. Of course, we are delighted, and we like her a lot, but you needed to know what was most likely going on in Joy. After all she went through, the friendship and romance she found with you, helped her immensely. I know she will be happy for you and Julia, but if she truly witnessed the proposal, it must have felt like a slap to the face to her.”
Darlene pulled her son into her arms, knowing well how he would feel now.
Cathleen shook her head. “We can only hope, that what Olivia said won’t come true. I’d miss her too much.”
Brigham sent out the telegrams the following morning. Graham went to visit with Julia and confessed everything to her. She was shocked, but realized quickly that he hadn’t purposely done that to Joy. Her heart ached for her friend, though, and she was deeply worried that something might have happened to her.
After Graham left, Julia went to the post office and sent off a few telegrams herself. One was sent to her parents, in hopes, Joy had found refuge there, another one to Judge Lawson, since he had many connections and would be able to call for a search if he thought it to be necessary.
The response from her parents came quickly, letting her know that they had not seen or heard from Joy, but would ask around and try to find something out. Judge Lawson replied hours later.
He informed Julia that he was currently visiting relatives in Helena and that he had met with Joy the evening before, but he did not know about any of her plans. He had assumed her to return to Deer Lodge, but he would speak to his relatives to find out more.
Brigham did not hear back from Charles, but from Charles’s uncle, who told him that Joy had stayed at their place for a night, but had left that morning.
The telegram continued by informing Brigham that he couldn’t tell him where Joy had gone to, since she had asked them not to tell anyone, but that Charles had gone with her.
Brigham sighed relieved. He was still worried, but knowing that Charles had not let her go on by herself, helped him feel a little less concerned.
He knew enough about Joy at this point that he was well aware, that she had most likely wanted to keep going alone, but Charles clearly had insisted on him going with her. It was a relief that one of the two attorneys was trustworthy.
“So, shall we keep looking for her?” Graham asked when they were back on the ranch, but his father shook his head.
“It would be foolish for us to keep looking right now. Charles is with her, and he will not let anyone harm her. We need to be here and prepare for when they need our help in finishing this.”