If she could turn back the clock, she would. And change her mind on that.
She whipped around and stormed back to her table—then frowned. Where...? She checked the ground ... her satchel ... even the crates.
Someone had stolen her pencils. Every last one of them.
FRIDAY, JULY19
Julian and Damian watched Anna and Joshua across the gulley. Julian lifted the field glasses to get a closer look.
“Not what you wanted to see, is it, brother? I told you he was trouble.” Damian’s voice barked at him.
A low growl escaped his lips as Joshua leaned in to hug Anna. “No ... she’s mine.” He groaned the words.
“I told you. Now let me take care of it.”
Julian bristled.Hewanted Anna. No ... he needed her. She was the one left who could fix him.
“Well?” Damian’s impatience grew with every second that passed.
“Let me think, will you?” His brother’s attempts to remove Joshua with an accident had failed. And then he’d gotten so angry that he’d shot at Ziegler. Not that Julian didn’t want the other man gone, but his brother had missed, and Julian noticed the way Ziegler now looked at him.
“There’s nothing to think about. He needs to be gone. That’s the only way you’ll have Anna and you know it.”
Julian lowered the field glasses. He couldn’t watch any more. It hurt. The light and dark inside him warred with one another. “But Joshua Ziegler has been kind and respectful to me.”
“Oh really? What about lately? Does he look like he trusts you? Do you really think he would be nice to you if Anna chose you over him?”
“Well, no.”
“See? I’ll take care of it.”
Julian stared across the gulley at the couple. “Fine.”
“What about her father?”
“What about him?” That wasn’t part of the plan. What did Damian care about Anna’s father?
“You said yourself that he saw the ribbons.”
He clenched his fists. “Don’t you dare hurt Mr. Lakeman. I won’t stand for it. Anna loves him.”
His brother grunted. “You don’t know what’s good for you.”
“Oh, and you do?” Damianalwaysthought he knew best.
“As a matter of fact, I do. You’d do well to remember that. Who takes care of you? Who makes sure that you are safe and protected? The town doesn’t hate you. They hateme. Because they hated our father. Well, I don’t mind being the one everybody fears. Somebody has to stand up and take care of things and you’re too soft.”
The words stung. “Just promise me you won’t hurt Mr. Lakeman.”
Silence stretched for several seconds. “I promise.”
Julian released his breath.
“For now...”
twenty-six
“They found the leaves were scattered,
