By the time Catherine slipped through the back door of the store, her heart still pounding over her encounter with Corbin, the sky had begun to clear, allowing the sun to drop over the edge of the horizon and cover the surrounding farmlands and wooded areas in the yellow glow of twilight. Grady’s buggy was gone from out front, which meant that Emily had already returned home, a fact that didn’t surprise her. Grady would never allow her sister to travel alone after dark in her condition.
Catherine closed the door behind her then waited for her eyes to adjust to the fading light in the kitchen. If only she could shut out the prevailing guilt that rose within her like the humidity of the Ohio evening. Meeting Corbin had only added to her turmoil. Thankfully, the house was quiet. Emily’s absence was just as well. After what happened this evening, she wasn’t ready to face any of them again.
Especially after Corbin’s disturbing accusations regarding Harrison. His words still stunned her, but she knew the town’s new sheriff well enough to realize he would never point fingers if he didn’t believe his suspicions were true. But if his instincts were correct, fate had just played another trick on all of them. Losing their father, no matter what he’d done the past eight years, had devastated her sisters. She’d seen that in their eyes. Losing the man Audrey planned to spend the rest of her life with would be yet another devastating blow.
Yet, while her head might be forced to consider the possibility of Harrison’s involvement in the recent robberies, her heart struggled to believe it could be true. Harrison hadn’t lived in this town long, but surely she was a good enough judge of character to know the difference between a young man in love and a criminal. And just because a person could spin a good story and engage an audience in the telling, that certainly didn’t make him a murderer. Even Corbin had to have something more substantial on the man before he arrested him.
She started to shed her wet coat then stopped midway when she heard someone coming down the stairs. Audrey entered the room carrying a lantern.
“Catherine?” Audrey set the light on the counter before planting her hands on her hips. “I was about to send the sheriff after you. Where have you been? You’re absolutely drenched.”
Catherine looked down at her rumpled clothes then pushed a stray strand of hair from her eyes. The last thing she was ready to confess was that she’d been with Corbin. As the town spinster, there was bound to be enough talk over his return and their past relationship. She wasn’t going to add any fuel that might fan that fire, even to her sister.
“I went for a walk to clear my head and got caught in the rain,” Catherine began.
Audrey grabbed at the sleeve of her wet coat. “If you don’t hurry and change into something warm, you’ll catch your death of cold.”
“I’m perfectly fine and not even a bit chilled.”
“All the same, you need to change. I’ll take care of these wet things.”
Catherine obeyed and peeled off her soaked dress before laying it on top of her coat. “I see that Emily went home.”
“Grady drove her.”
“And Lily?”
“She fell asleep upstairs not too long after you stormed out.”
Another wave of guilt pressed through her. Even in the flickering lantern light, it was obvious that Audrey’s eyes were red from crying. She knew Corbin was right, and they’d eventually forgive her for what she’d done, but the pain was still too raw at the moment, even if her actions had only been to protect them.
“I know you’re upset, Audrey, but you have to believe that I never meant to hurt any of you. I am sorry.”
Audrey’s silence seemed to fill the house, and not knowing what else to say, Catherine started up the stairs, shivering beneath the thin fabric of her undergarments.
“You were wrong, you know.”
Catherine turned to face Audrey, who still stood at the bottom of the stairs. “I was wrong to tell you the truth?”
“No.” Audrey mounted the stairs, stopping halfway. “You were wrong to tell us the truth after all these years of making us believe he would return.”
Nights of restless dreams and unanswered prayers returned to haunt Catherine. The picture she’d painted of her father throughout the years had been one lined with false hopes and expectations that had never materialized. But in spite of that, part of her had grasped onto that very same hope she’d offered her sisters—the hope that one day Isaiah Morgan would appear on their doorstep with that pot of gold he’d searched for—and even more importantly, that he would once again take up the role of father he’d laid aside when he left for Alaska.
But obviously her attempts to help her sisters had only managed to create a wedge between them in the end.
“Don’t you think I, too, hoped he’d return? No matter what he’d done?” Catherine swallowed hard. “No matter how he treated Momma, he was still our father. Every night I prayed that he’d find what he was looking for and come home, because I knew you needed him.”
“Even later on, when you knew he was never returning?”
“It was never that simple.”
Catherine sank down onto the edge of the top stair, wishing she had easy answers to Audrey’s questions. But as many times as she’d attempted to prepare herself for this day, every answer she’d thought of evaded her. The fact was that while she had prayed for Isaiah Morgan’s return for her sisters’ sakes, she held little love for the man she’d once called Father.
“I was eighteen years old when Momma died. Father was gone. I had the shop to run and the three of you…I did the best I could, Audrey. And back then I wanted to believe his letters and promises. Especially if it was the one thread of hope left to tie the four of us together.”
“And later? After the months and years passed?”
Catherine fiddled with the perfectly stitched hem of her white cotton chemise. “I finally realized that no matter how hard I prayed, or how many times I asked him in my letters, he wasn’t coming back.”
“Then why didn’t you just tell us the truth?” Audrey sat down beside her on the top stair.
Catherine gnawed on the side of her cheek. “I suppose it was because for a long time I believed he really would return. And then later I was afraid that saying what I felt out loud would simply make it all the more real for me. I knew how much you longed for him to return. That you held memories of a father who loved you, and that Emily longed for him to see her child. And maybe part of me, even after all these years, still held onto the slight hope that those things would happen. That he’d show up for Christmas dinner this year and hold his first grandbaby. I wanted that, Audrey. I wanted it for you.”
Audrey grasped the heart locket she wore around her neck and dropped her gaze. “I guess I never thought about it that way.”
“I heard you at the dinner table tonight. You remember all the good things.”
“And you?”
“A good father doesn’t leave his family and never return. Not even Mother’s death brought him back home.”
Audrey’s frown deepened. “But knowing he’s dead makes everything so final. Especially when I always believed he’d come back one day.”
Catherine eased up from the stairway. In a way, their father’s death came as a relief. If nothing else, the truth would eventually bring closure. No longer would they be caught up in a tangle of dreams that reality had turned into dashed hopes.
“Your locket’s beautiful,” Catherine said, changing the subject as she made her way to her bedroom. Healing and forgiveness wouldn’t come overnight for her sisters, but for the first time she could believe that it would come. “I don’t remember seeing it before.”
A smile flickered in the depths of Audrey’s eyes as she looked down at the gold heart in the lantern light. “Harrison went to Lancaster yesterday and bought it. He stopped by to give it to me this afternoon.”
“He was in Lancaster?”
The bank in Lancaster had been robbed yesterday.
A shiver swept over Catherine as Corbin’s words replayed in her mind. He’s a bank robber…a con man…and a womanizer… No. She choked back the words of caution she was tempted to speak. Now was not the time, because this was nothing more than a coincidence. She’d seen the way Harrison looked at Audrey. There was no doubt in her mind that Harrison was nothing more than a young man in love.
“Catherine?” Audrey set the lantern down on the dresser in Catherine’s room before turning back to her sister. “You’ve caught a chill.”
“No, I’m fine. Really. I suppose just the combination of all that’s happened today…” Catherine searched for the right words. She may not believe that Corbin was after the right person, but she still had to know more. “Why was Harrison in Lancaster?”
“He needed a few supplies for the farm. He’s building on to the barn to hold a larger crop come winter.”
“He seems to have taken to farming.” Corbin’s earlier concerns continued to ripple through her, and she realized that no matter how badly she wanted to believe in Harrison’s innocence, she also couldn’t let her sister marry him if there was any chance that he wasn’t the man he claimed to be. Even if it meant telling Audrey the truth and breaking her sister’s heart again. But not yet. So far, Corbin’s accusations were nothing more than a pile of coincidences.
Catherine proceeded cautiously. If there ended up being no truth to Corbin’s claims, she wasn’t going to spoil Audrey’s wedding. Nothing would be said to Audrey unless the proof Corbin came up with was indisputable. “I heard that the bank in Lancaster was robbed yesterday afternoon.”
Audrey’s face paled in the lamplight. “That makes how many times? Five? Six?”
“Six, I believe.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“I don’t think so.” Catherine measured her words. “I wonder if Harrison saw anything?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t mention anything. Perhaps it happened after he left.”
“Or perhaps he simply didn’t want to scare you.”
Audrey’s hand rested against her chest. “What if he had been there and something happened to him, Catherine? I don’t think I could bear to lose anyone else I love. Not after Father.”
Catherine gave her sister a reassuring hug while trying to swallow her own fears. “Harrison’s fine, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“You’re right, of course.”
Catherine told her sister good night, praying that she wouldn’t end up being the one to dash her sister’s dreams.
Catherine paced the boardwalk in front of the sheriff’s office a dozen times the next morning before finding the courage to walk inside and face the town’s newly appointed lawman. She’d stayed up half the night trying to find the elusive answers to Corbin’s suspicions, but as much as she longed for him to be wrong, she couldn’t deny that his accusations could be true. If he were right, she certainly had no intention of allowing Audrey to marry the man. Gathering up her courage, she turned the door handle and stepped into the small office.
Corbin sat behind his desk with a coffee cup in his hand and a frown on his face. The bare room boasted of little more than a wood desk, chairs, and a handful of wanted posters tacked on a wooden board. Nothing had changed since Sheriff Lansing’s departure, including the pile of dime novels on the shelf and the prevailing smell of burnt coffee that filled the room.
“Sheriff?”
Corbin looked up from the paper he was filling out, not bothering to mask his surprise at seeing her. “Miss Morgan. How are you?”
“Dry.” She shot him a half smile, hating how his presence stirred up memories she preferred to forget. She felt the back of her chignon to ensure her hair was still in place. Not that it mattered. She wasn’t here for personal matters.
She clutched her handbag with her gloved fingers and eyed the door. “If you’re too busy right now, I could come back later…”
“No. Of course not.” He stood awkwardly and nodded at an empty chair. “I can’t offer much more than a wobbly chair and a cup of bad coffee.”
“The chair’s fine.” She perched on the edge of the wooden seat, wishing she could shake the air of suspicion that settled between them every time they were together. Surely he’d been right the other night when he’d said they were both wiser. Which meant that their turbulent past shouldn’t affect them today. Or so she’d hoped. Pride reared its ugly head and made forgetting the past, even with all the years between them, impossible. She started to stand. This was definitely a mistake. “I shouldn’t have come.”
“But you did, so sit down.”
She obeyed without another word. All she had to do now was to say what she came to tell him and leave. Any personal feelings she felt—or had felt—didn’t matter anymore. “I talked to Audrey last night after I returned home.”
“Has she forgiven you?”
“I think so. For the most part anyway. But that’s not why I came to see you. She said something about Harrison that…well…that I felt you should know.”
Corbin leaned forward.
“I’m still not convinced that Harrison is the hardened criminal you’ve made him out to be, but…”
“But…” Corbin prodded.
Catherine squirmed in the chair. “She told me Harrison was in Lancaster day before yesterday.”
Corbin’s brows arched. “Audrey told you that?”
“Yes. She said he had some business for the farm to take care of, which isn’t anything out of the ordinary. He always seems to be going here and there for supplies.”
“What kind of supplies?”
“He’s adding on to the barn. It’s not unusual for him to go out of town for a day or two to pick up things for the construction.”
Corbin tapped his fingers against the desk, complacent in his expression. “I had heard that he’s making a number of improvements on his farm. Have any idea how he’s able to pay for it?”
“We all assumed it was from his grandfather’s estate. Norman Tucker didn’t have a fortune by any means, but most of us believe he had a bit of a nest egg under his mattress. Apparently, we were right.”
Corbin reached up and ripped one of the wanted ads from the wall then slid it across the table at her. “This is William Marker. Wanted in four states and twice that many counties just here in Ohio. One of the witnesses from a previous robbery gave the details of this sketch before he died from a gunshot wound.”
Catherine studied the pencil drawing then shook her head. “This man could be anyone. The town blacksmith, wheelwright…why, even the circuit rider Mr. Landon.”
Corbin jabbed at the bottom of the poster. “Read the description, Catherine. Harrison has the same build, average height, dark hair color…. Even you have to admit that the resemblance is startling.”
“But it’s still not enough, and you know it.”
Corbin crossed the room and pulled a dime novel from the shelf. “You’ve heard Harrison’s stories of Alaska and the Wild West.”
“Of course.”
“Stories where he claims he saved a dozen men from a collapsed mine shaft, or when he—”
“What’s your point, Sheriff?”
“Everyone in town, I suppose, knows how Sheriff Lansing was a sucker for the adventures of a dime novel. He’s probably read every one written, or at least will die trying.” Corbin pointed to the dusty shelf. “I couldn’t sleep the other night and picked up one of these dusty covers and started reading. Now, I’m not well read when it comes to these fictional stories, but halfway through this gold-miner account in Alaska, I started to wonder. There was the odd story combined with details about the countryside, the towns, and even specific events. And some of them were details I heard Harrison recount the other night at his birthday party.”
Catherine squirmed in her chair. “That’s not proof that Harrison is a murderer.”
“It proves he might not be who he says he is. And with a bit more evidence, like placing him in Lancaster the day the bank was robbed, the time is coming when I’m going to have to arrest him.”
Catherine’s stomach knotted. If Audrey knew she was here, she more than likely would never speak to her again, but while she still didn’t believe Harrison capable of murder, she was beginning to wonder if Corbin might be right about the man not being all he claimed to be. But no matter how convincing Corbin’s evidence, part of her wanted to justify her future brother-in-law’s actions. “All you’ve proven to me so far is that Harrison might have a habit of exaggerating the facts.”
“Exaggerating?”
“The fact that he was in Lancaster could very likely be nothing more than a coincidence, and you know it. And the same thing goes for these dime novels. He probably reads them to embellish his own experiences.”
“Maybe, but you know I’m onto something, Catherine.” Corbin rested his hands against the desk and leaned forward. “And I will find out who’s behind these robberies. It’s just a matter of time until I’ve gathered enough evidence to bring the entire gang in.”
Catherine matched his intense stare. Corbin Hunter was no less stubborn than he’d been all those years ago. “I have no doubt that you will, but before you go and break Audrey’s heart, I need you to promise me that you won’t arrest Harrison until you have solid evidence that he’s your man.”
“Of course not.”
“Because the fact that he reads dime novels or happened to be in Lancaster doesn’t prove anything. If that were true, you’d have to arrest every person who happened to be in Lancaster at the time of the robbery.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but I thought you came to me because you want to know the truth.”
“I came to you because I felt it my duty, as a citizen of this town, to tell you what I know.”
“And I appreciate it.”
“But you also need to remember that just because the man can tell a good story doesn’t mean you can hang him.”
“Catherine…” Corbin rested his arms against the table and leaned forward. “You know I would never do anything to intentionally hurt your family, but I will find out the truth. And when I do, I personally will make sure the guilty party hangs.”
Catherine shoved the wanted poster across the table. “Why does it matter to you what happens after he’s arrested?”
His jaw tensed. “Five murders. Isn’t that enough?”
She dipped her chin, hating the situation Corbin had unwittingly drawn her into. Because of some ridiculous need to prove to him she’d made something of herself, his arrival had her worrying more about what dress to wear and how to style her hair than the numerous business decisions she needed to make every day. But not coming to Corbin was taking a chance that Harrison really was a murderer and her sister was stepping into something they might all regret the rest of their lives. No matter how much she hated the situation, it was a chance she couldn’t take.
Corbin stood to tack the poster back on the wall. “I need you to do something for me. You’re around Harrison. I need to know about anything that might point to who he really is.”
Catherine rose to leave. Half a night of worry had put her in this position. She already felt as if she were betraying her sister. “I don’t know if I can do that, Corbin. Audrey’s my sister.”
“You want to know the truth as much as I do, or you wouldn’t be here right now, would you? If I’m right, Audrey could end up marrying a criminal, and I know that’s not what you want.”
“Of course not, but…”
“You don’t have to do anything. Just listen and observe any discrepancies in his stories. Any trips out of town. Anything that seems suspicious.”
“I’ll watch him, but don’t you dare break my sister’s heart unless you can prove without a shadow of a doubt that you’re right. And if you find proof that Harrison is involved, come to me first. I’ll be the one to tell Audrey.”
“Okay.”
She looked up and caught his gaze. “Promise me, Corbin.”
He nodded his head. “I promise.”