their agreement. Then she stumbled away, past Esther, and along the creek.
The brush of Griff’s heels on the ground cover joined Bethann’s retreating footfalls in the brush as he approached Esther. “What was that about?”
“I gave her some advice.” Esther smiled. “She didn’t want it.”
“Didn’t look like it.” Griff gazed past Esther. “Will she be all right? I mean, she ain’t a-dyin’ or anything, is she?”
Esther hesitated before responding. Women did die from the sickness that accompanied childbearing. They suffered so badly they couldn’t eat and faded away. Sometimes they suffered a seizure and just collapsed, never to awaken again. Bethann attempted to appear vigorous though.
“I don’t think so, if she eats more,” Esther said.
Griff rubbed the back of his neck. “And she’ll be better in a week or two?”
“Should be.”
So he suspected what was amiss with this sister.
How it must distress him to have a sister, who must be eight or nine years his senior and unmarried, in a condition too many women in the East referred to as delicate . Despite her thinness, nothing about Bethann, from her forceful voice to her wiry arms, was delicate.
He dropped his hand and clasped the other one behind his back. “Miss Esther, my pa ain’t—isn’t well, and my older brother got himself killed with the feuding ten years ago. That leaves me the head of the family, and there are reasons why I gotta know the truth about Bethann.”
“I promised her I’d keep her secret. You’ll have to ask her.”
Lightning flashed across his eyes. “Even if it means this could start the fighting again?”
“I keep my promises,” Esther said. “And my secrets.”
“Even if it could get people killed?”
“How could it get people killed?”
“That’s family business.”
“And this is my business.”
Even if she had vowed to leave it behind, it apparently wouldn’t leave her behind.
Their eyes locked, held, neither so much as blinking for a full minute.
Then Griff ripped his gaze away and turned back toward the clearing. “I suggest you be praying no one’s going to die over your honor, especially not you.”
6
Not a polite thing to say to her. Griff knew it without his mother standing over his shoulder reminding him that just because he’d grown up in the mountains didn’t mean he was raised without knowing how to treat a female right. Suggesting Esther Cherrett might be responsible for someone’s death was certainly not treating her right.
Even if it was the truth.
He’d have to be ignorant of all around him to not suspect what was wrong with Bethann. And if she was breeding, the same man as before was all too likely responsible—Henry Gosnoll, Hannah Gosnoll’s husband, Zach’s brother-in-law.
The incident that had started a ten-year-long feud.
“Oh, Bethann, how could you be such a fool again?” He groaned the words aloud and paused on the path to lean against a tree and rub his face, his gritty eyes.
His side ached. His heart ached more. The instant Pa learned the truth, he would take his shotgun to Gosnoll and the fighting would begin again.
If it hadn’t already.
Griff pressed his hand to his side and considered the possibility that someone in the Gosnoll family knew about Bethann and wanted vengeance against the Tolliver family for her interference.
Someone like Zach.
“Not Zach.” It was a prayer, a plea, a cry for help. “God, this can’t go on.”
“God can do anything He wants.” Miss Esther’s voice purred through the afternoon stillness in the forest. “He has His reasons, and I’m not convinced they are all good for us.”
Griff jerked around and stared at her. “Miss Esther, that’s blasphemy.”
“Perhaps.” She shrugged. “Will you send me home for saying it, for not being the perfect lady of faith everyone expects the preacher’s daughter to be?”
Her lips smiled. Her eyes did not. The canopy of leaves shadowed them, dimming the
The brush of Griff’s heels on the ground cover joined Bethann’s retreating footfalls in the brush as he approached Esther. “What was that about?”
“I gave her some advice.” Esther smiled. “She didn’t want it.”
“Didn’t look like it.” Griff gazed past Esther. “Will she be all right? I mean, she ain’t a-dyin’ or anything, is she?”
Esther hesitated before responding. Women did die from the sickness that accompanied childbearing. They suffered so badly they couldn’t eat and faded away. Sometimes they suffered a seizure and just collapsed, never to awaken again. Bethann attempted to appear vigorous though.
“I don’t think so, if she eats more,” Esther said.
Griff rubbed the back of his neck. “And she’ll be better in a week or two?”
“Should be.”
So he suspected what was amiss with this sister.
How it must distress him to have a sister, who must be eight or nine years his senior and unmarried, in a condition too many women in the East referred to as delicate . Despite her thinness, nothing about Bethann, from her forceful voice to her wiry arms, was delicate.
He dropped his hand and clasped the other one behind his back. “Miss Esther, my pa ain’t—isn’t well, and my older brother got himself killed with the feuding ten years ago. That leaves me the head of the family, and there are reasons why I gotta know the truth about Bethann.”
“I promised her I’d keep her secret. You’ll have to ask her.”
Lightning flashed across his eyes. “Even if it means this could start the fighting again?”
“I keep my promises,” Esther said. “And my secrets.”
“Even if it could get people killed?”
“How could it get people killed?”
“That’s family business.”
“And this is my business.”
Even if she had vowed to leave it behind, it apparently wouldn’t leave her behind.
Their eyes locked, held, neither so much as blinking for a full minute.
Then Griff ripped his gaze away and turned back toward the clearing. “I suggest you be praying no one’s going to die over your honor, especially not you.”
6
Not a polite thing to say to her. Griff knew it without his mother standing over his shoulder reminding him that just because he’d grown up in the mountains didn’t mean he was raised without knowing how to treat a female right. Suggesting Esther Cherrett might be responsible for someone’s death was certainly not treating her right.
Even if it was the truth.
He’d have to be ignorant of all around him to not suspect what was wrong with Bethann. And if she was breeding, the same man as before was all too likely responsible—Henry Gosnoll, Hannah Gosnoll’s husband, Zach’s brother-in-law.
The incident that had started a ten-year-long feud.
“Oh, Bethann, how could you be such a fool again?” He groaned the words aloud and paused on the path to lean against a tree and rub his face, his gritty eyes.
His side ached. His heart ached more. The instant Pa learned the truth, he would take his shotgun to Gosnoll and the fighting would begin again.
If it hadn’t already.
Griff pressed his hand to his side and considered the possibility that someone in the Gosnoll family knew about Bethann and wanted vengeance against the Tolliver family for her interference.
Someone like Zach.
“Not Zach.” It was a prayer, a plea, a cry for help. “God, this can’t go on.”
“God can do anything He wants.” Miss Esther’s voice purred through the afternoon stillness in the forest. “He has His reasons, and I’m not convinced they are all good for us.”
Griff jerked around and stared at her. “Miss Esther, that’s blasphemy.”
“Perhaps.” She shrugged. “Will you send me home for saying it, for not being the perfect lady of faith everyone expects the preacher’s daughter to be?”
Her lips smiled. Her eyes did not. The canopy of leaves shadowed them, dimming the
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