Page 13 of A Forgotten Heart (Wind River Mail-Order Brides #5)

E lsie had always felt a sense of safety when she walked down the street in Calvin.

Until today.

She couldn’t be sure whether her shivers were from cold or terror as she followed Ed with Nick’s arm draped across her shoulders, Patch keeping close behind. Her gaze darted from person to person as townspeople scurried about, digging out from the tall snow drifts.

Who was the shooter? The McGraw men had said it was Quade, but until they knew for sure, it could be anyone.

A reflection glared from across the street. Elsie froze, but it was only a shovel lifted across someone’s shoulder.

Bawdy music spilled from the saloon, and she couldn’t help scanning the wide second-story balcony. Empty.

Nick’s breath had gone shallower. His body was tense, like every step hurt. His face was pale, pain lines bracketing his mouth.

Her legs started to quiver as he leaned more heavily against her.

Glancing back, Ed must’ve seen them struggling. Without holstering his gun, he dropped back and supported Nick’s other side. “We’re almost there.”

Elsie’s muscles appreciated the reprieve even as her gaze clashed with Ed’s.

The family resemblance was strong. The same keen gaze. The same cleft in their chin. She could see the fierce protectiveness Ed felt for his brother.

So you lied and told him you were married?

There had been a time when she’d imagined meeting Nick’s family. But she never could have imagined the past half hour. Ed’s suspicion and fear.

Even now, Ed speared her with narrowed eyes before his attention returned to canvassing the street.

Nick had always said Ed would do anything for family. She saw it in his protectiveness. But he hadn’t had any idea who she was.

Nick had made good on his promise. He’d forgotten about her. Never told his family about her.

Her stride faltered, and she stumbled.

Nick tightened his grip around her shoulder. “You okay?”

Elsie regained her balance, but her heart stuttered. “I will be.”

Once she was far away from Nick and the McGraw men.

She didn’t belong with Nick’s family. Didn’t belong with Nick.

Their boots hit the boardwalk in front of the newspaper office, muffled by the thin layer of snow someone had left behind when they’d scooped it.

Ed herded them forward.

Elsie opened her mouth to excuse herself, but when she glanced at Nick, beads of sweat had collected on his now-gray skin.

The short trek had taken a toll. She couldn’t leave him. Not yet.

If she saw him settled first, then she’d find a way to go home.

The astringent aroma of ink slammed into her senses as she shuffled sideways through the door. With Nick between them, she and Ed moved behind the front counter and around the large printing press. Stacks of paper and notes were scattered along two nearby desks.

Ed had holstered his gun and now nodded toward the stairs in the back of the room. “We need to get him upstairs.” His cheeks had grown pink. From the exertion?

Hurried footsteps sounded on the floor above them. “Ed?”

Elsie recognized the woman who appeared at the top of the stairs. She’d seen Rebekah around town and, as usual, was stunned by the woman’s beautiful red hair.

Rebekah’s hand came to her chest as she moved toward them. “Oh no. What happened?”

They cleared the top of the stairs, Elsie huffing and ready to collapse.

Ed recounted everything in a dark tone as Rebekah helped them settle Nick on the sofa against the wall. Patch stood nearby, watching with a concerned tilt of his head.

Elsie stepped back as Rebekah pulled a blanket over Nick’s shoulders and Ed knelt to pull his boots off.

Rebekah touched Ed’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

An affectionate look crossed his face for a moment. “I’m fine.”

That look, the clear love between the two, stirred the what-might-have-beens in Elsie’s heart. She wished she could just disappear. Nick was safe now. She should go.

But Nick was staring at her. He shook his head slightly, as if he knew what she was thinking.

Her eyes skittered away and took in the small loft.

Festive decorations brought warmth to the living room. A Christmas tree stood in the corner and poinsettias graced the end table. In the center of the room sat a cast-iron stove radiating a cozy glow, with a small kitchen against the other wall. The scent of cinnamon lingered in the air.

It felt like a home. Not like Elsie’s tidy, empty rented room with its lone desk and chair.

“Thank you for helping get Nick here.” Rebekah’s words jerked Elsie from her thoughts.

Rebekah left the two men at the sofa and moved toward Elsie.

Ed propped a pillow behind Nick’s back. “This is Elsie.” Was that a hint of annoyance in his voice?

Rebekah’s eyebrows rose. “I believe I’ve seen you around. The new schoolteacher, correct?”

Nick grunted as he twisted his head on the pillow, trying to see past Ed. “The teacher here in Calvin?”

Elsie kept her focus on Rebekah, stomach twisting. “Yes.”

Ed cleared his throat. “I think I’ll put on some hot water for coffee.”

As he passed Rebekah, he stopped for a moment to lean in and whisper something in her ear.

Elsie could only imagine what he might be saying. Then her imagination took flight and provided a vision of her whereabouts splashed on the front page of the paper.

She eyed the stairs. Nick threw off his blanket, earning a harsh protest from his brother.

Nick ignored him. “You’re staying put, right?”

Elsie opened her mouth, but nothing came out. How could one look at Nick’s earnest, protective expression hurt so much?

“Look at you,” Rebekah interrupted. “Skirts soaked to the bone. You must be freezing. Come into the bedroom, and we’ll get you warm and dry.”

Elsie stiffened. “No, I need to go home.”

Nick immediately leaned forward, grunting in pain as he reached for his boot.

“What are you doing?” Ed demanded.

A clank sounded from behind Elsie in the kitchen, but she couldn’t look away from Nick, who was clearly trying to tug on his boot.

“I told you I’m going with you.” His gaze never left hers.

Rebekah watched everything with narrowed eyes. Everyone in the room knew Nick couldn’t make it down the stairs. Elsie knew he was stubborn enough to try, even though he was squinting in pain.

“I don’t know why you’re teaching in my hometown, and my head hurts too bad to try and figure it out. But if you leave, I’m going too.”

Rebekah looped her arm through Elsie’s, breaking the tension in the room. Nick sat back. Elsie had no choice but to give in.

She allowed Rebekah to usher her into a bedroom.

Rebekah bustled to a shelf in one corner of the room. Even with her face averted, Elsie caught her curious expression. “Nick seems very protective of you.”

Elsie accepted the towel Rebekah offered her. That hadn’t been a question.

She avoided answering by hiding her face in the towel for a long moment. But Rebekah was still there when Elsie lowered the towel, now laying a dress across the neatly made bed.

“Have you known each other long?”

There would be no avoiding this question, not with the pointed look Rebekah aimed at her.

It shouldn’t hurt so badly that Nick had never told his family about their whirlwind courtship. She’d kept him a secret too. Even Darcy didn’t know the identity of the man who’d broken her heart.

Elsie raised her chin. “We are barely acquaintances.”

Not even that. Not anymore.

Rebekah’s brows drew together in puzzlement. “But?—”

“Thank you for the towel,” Elsie said quickly.

Rebekah looked as if she would say something else but then pinched her lips. “Of course.”

She left Elsie alone in the tiny upstairs bedroom.

It was only after the door clicked closed that Elsie’s face crumpled and she buried her face in the towel.

Everything she’d experienced in the past days poured out in silent tears.

What would Nick tell his family when his memories returned?

Ed and Rebekah were full of questions, and Elsie couldn’t give them the answers they wanted. Nor did she want to imagine the anger and disdain on their expressions—an echo of what she’d seen from Nick three days ago.

She needed to leave. But she didn’t know how to do that—unless Nick fell asleep. Then she’d excuse herself and go home.

She left Rebekah’s dress on the bed and did the best she could to dry her skirts with the towel. She didn’t want to go back out there. Face more questions.

But she must.

Nick awakened with a start.

The sunlight streaming through the loft window slanted at a different angle, increasing the throb in his head. Was it late afternoon already?

Where—

It came to him. Ed and…Rebekah’s? He still couldn’t understand how Ed had ended up married to his childhood rival.

He reached down to find Patch curled up on the floor next to him. Where his dog usually lay. How could he remember that but not his brother’s wife?

He curled his fingers into Patch’s fur, trying to ground his thoughts.

How long had he been sleeping?

Squinting against the light, Nick scanned the room for Elsie. She wouldn’t leave, would she?

His eyes landed on her in a nearby chair, asleep with her head tipped to one side.

He released a long sigh and watched her sleeping form.

The sun reflected off her strawberry-blonde hair, strands escaping her braid to frame her face. Her eyelashes fanned across her rosy cheeks, and his heart swelled.

Why hadn’t she told him they weren’t married? How had she come to teach in Calvin?

Memories teased him from the edge of his mind, as if a nudge would set them all free.

Did he want to know?

A recent memory of Elsie with her face turned away sprang up.

Low voices drew his attention. Ed and Rebekah sat at a tiny kitchen table across the room. He couldn’t quite hear what they were saying.

How had Ed and Rebekah gone from sniping at each other during their school days to marriage? And happiness. His head pounded.

Watching the two of them stirred a familiar yearning within him.

Rebekah’s gaze snagged on Nick’s, and her words drifted away. Ed twisted in his seat.