“Can you get it out?”
Doc shook his head. “Not right now. Don’t want to risk him losing any more blood. Best thing we can do is stem the tide. Hope he regains some strength, then...well, then we’ll see.” There was no promise in his words, only a strange finality. Whatever he did would never be enough. Death knocked firmly at Vernon’s door and it would not be turned away.
She waited for a sense of vindication to fill her, but it never came. Only sorrow. It crept in with slow deliberate steps and settled into her bones. There had been so much loss. So much anger and hurt. And for what?
Meredith didn’t know how long she sat there while Doc Whyte worked to patch up Vernon as best he could. At some point, Caleb moved to turn up the lamplight. Clouds had covered the moon and stars with an unrelenting blackness.
“That’s the best I can do for now,” Doc said, moving back from the table and taking a small white towel from the counter to wipe his hands with. “We’ll watch him for now. I’ll stay. You best get Miss Connolly somewhere safe.”
Somewhere safe. Was there such a place? Somewhere the Syndicate couldn’t reach?
“She can stay with me,” Bertram said.
“No.” Her answer came swift and without compromise. Bertram was like family to her. The grandfather she had never had. “If they are coming after me, I will not put you in harm’s way. You’ve done enough already.”
He started to protest, but Caleb cut him off. “She can stay at the ranch—”
She shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, Caleb, I truly do. But I will not bring this to your doorstep either. You have Rachel, the boys and the baby to protect. This isn’t your fight.”
“She’s right,” Hunter said, his gaze never leaving his father. “But it is mine. You’ll stay with me.”
Bertram stood, his normally jovial demeanor nowhere in evidence. The night’s events had peeled it away. “That’s hardly proper. Her reputation. What will people say? Especially after Vernon’s remark.”
“They’ll say she’s still alive,” Mr. Kincaid drawled, the words harsh but true.
“Mr. Kincaid is right,” she said. “I’ll go with Hunter. He’s best equipped to keep me safe. We need to settle this once and for all.” And she needed to speak with him, to know why he took the ledger sheet and what agreement his father had referred to.
Bertram turned to her, his fear palpable. “Settle what?”
Meredith stood and pressed her hands against her skirts smoothing the silk and lace beneath her palms. She had dressed so carefully for this meeting, and for what? The decision had been made before she even walked through the door. “This has been a long time coming, Bertram. I know you and Pa wanted to keep me safe and I love you both for it. But it’s never going to end, not unless we put an end to it.”
“This is suicide!” Bertram turned on Hunter, his face red. “Tell her this is ridiculous!”
Hunter glanced over his shoulder and met her gaze. She tried to read his expression but the dark brown eyes that often held so much had turned hard and emotionless.
“This is how it is,” he said. “It’s time to end it.”
Hunter and Caleb carried his father to the bed in the back room of Doc’s office. Hunter hadn’t misinterpreted the careful choice of words Doc Whyte had chosen in describing Vernon’s condition. He knew where it was heading but his mind shied away from the reality, refusing to reach the same conclusion. He found it strange he should be so affected by his father’s imminent death. They were not close. Never had been. His father had never treated him with anything akin to affection or love. He’d provided no role model Hunter wanted to emulate nor imparted any wisdom he held on to. He’d gone out of his way to make Hunter’s life a living hell in ways he was only now beginning to realize.
And yet.
And yet somewhere inside of him, the boy who had always wanted a pa, had hoped that would change. Had hoped his father would see he was worth his attention. His love. He had been a fool to hold on to that hope. Even his mother hadn’t thought him worthy enough to take with her when she went.
The only one who had ever felt that way about him was Meredith. She’d been the one to make him see who he truly was, not what was reflected in his mother’s actions or his father’s cold disregard. And in turn her family had done the same. They’d shown him what family really meant, what a house filled with love and laughter looked like. They may have struggled to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table but in Hunter’s mind, they were the richest people in Salvation Falls.