Page 226 of Taken Away

“She could be furious with a person and still find a way to hurt for them.”

Burke wrote nothing for a moment.

Then he asked, “Why didn’t she fire him?”

“Because she loved Walter.”

Burke studied her.

“Not the way people like to gossip,” Patsy said. “The way you love someone who’s been beside you nearly his whole life.”

“She let him stay?”

“She made him repay every penny.”

“He did?”

“Every dollar.”

“But she never told Bennett.”

Patsy actually laughed.

“Oh, Sheriff.”

Burke almost smiled.

“What?”

“If Bennett had found out, he would’ve carried Walter off that mountain by the back of his collar before supper.”

“I believe that.”

“Mabel believed it too.”

Her smile faded.

“Mabel told me something I’ve never forgotten.”

Burke waited.

“She said, ‘Bennett would die protecting Blackwood.’”

Patsy’s eyes moved toward the planner.

“Then she said, ‘I need someone beside him who isn’t afraid to question people he loves.’”

The words settled between them as Burke looked down at the planner.

Deck.

Eleanor.

Succession planning.

Aubrey.

The pieces shifted.