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Chapter Four

Millie did walk over and open the officeshe’d closed earlier, having known the heat would intensify the s supper Lola had said to use it sparingly, just a drop or two in a bathtub of water Millie had used an entire bottle scrubbing the cabin

Exhausted inside and out, she plopped onto the chair What would Rosemary do now?

Millie couldn’t remember when she’d learned her mother had died; it had happened when she was just an infant But she did recall the moment she’d learned how her iven her a new saddle, black with silver conchas, and a seat as plush as velvet She’d ridden all afternoon It was that night, when she was in bed, that Roseive her the new saddle, she’d juive it to her, her sister had told her the family secret

No one was ever to know, Rosemary had said, but their mother hadn’t died from complications of childbirth She’d taken her own life when Millie was six months old, with one of Papa’s pistols

Papa hadn’t been ho army business, as he had been most of their childhood The saddle had been ordered and delivered with a note from him So Millie had asked Lola about their

The housekeeper confirmed what Rosemary had said was true, that their mother had shot herself when Millie was a baby She’d also said no one but their dear mama, God rest her soul, knehy she’d done it

Months later, when Papa had come home and asked Millie about the saddle, she’d told hi it with Rosemary Papa had said he was proud of her, how she understood Rosemary was different, and needed to be assured constantly that she was loved, just like their mother

Millie closed her eyes It was true For as bold and brassy as Roseile, as delicate as glass, just as their mother had been Rosemary had said she’d take her own life, and that of the baby, before allowing Seth to discover the truth He would ruin her if he found out Millie didn’t believe there wasthe number of men her sister’s name had been linked with, but she did believe her threats She feared the baby would be in danger, for Rosemary did appear to be as desperate this time as she’d been over the saddle, when she had jumped into the river

The weight on Millie’s chest increased tenfold She didn’t believe her sister capable of s worse than death And knowing that had left her with no option but to agree to travel to Fort Sill to keep Seth froton, and possibly Richmond, as the letter he’d sent implied, until December

Her gaze roamed the room Seth didn’t deserve the deception, neither Rosemary’s faithlessness nor Millie’s lies And he didn’t deserve her painting his cabin with rose oil, either But Rose she wouldn’t do to protect her, and the life growing inside her

If Millie was eous, this would be easier Actually, if she’d told Papa the truth five years ago, she wouldn’t be here now She’d known about Clifton Wells, that Rose so, fearful there’d be a rohen Papa discovered it, Millie had gone to a friend’s house to avoid being dragged into the argu, when she’d been su Seth instead of Clifton Until Papa told her Clifton was already wed, andthat would save Rosemary’s name

A knock on the door had Millie pushing off the seat and squaring her shoulders She couldn’t stop protecting the faive up on this mission

“I hope I’, Mrs Parker,” Mr Winston said when she opened the door, “but I wanted to drop off your boots They should be fine this time Good as new, actually”

A lump had formed in her throat at how he’d addressed her Others, when ht now, after conte the past and the events that had led her to here to Seth, the deceit see the boots, she found a simple smile “Thank you, Mr Winston I do appreciate all you’ve done”

“It’s beenhis head as he backed out the doorway