Page 72 of More Than Meets the Eye

Or Zach.

Evangeline’s forehead scrunched. Her neck craned back toward the boys’ bedroom door, which she’d just passed in the hall. Open. She backtracked two paces. Empty. Usually Zach had come in from the fields by now, as he seemed to tell time with his stomach. Yet he wasn’t here.

She strode through the kitchen and out the back door.

“Zach!” she yelled, aiming her voice toward the barn, since she saw no sign of him in the yard. “Supper’s ready!”

“He’s not here.”

Seth’s voice behind her startled her. She spun to face him, and his unusually ruddy complexion made her smile.

Her smile made him scowl. “Said he had some business to attend to. Told us not to wait supper on him.”

She glanced over his shoulder but saw no hint of Christie.

Seth rubbed the back of his neck. “She wanted to freshen up a bit before dinner.”

Evangeline’s grin widened. “I imagine so.” A tiny giggle escaped.

“Not a word, Evie. Understand? I won’t have her embarrassed.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll save all my teasing for you.” She stepped back into the house and closed the door. “What kind of business did Zach have?”

“He was going to see Logan. Not about Benson, though. Something else.”

Something else? Evangeline’s heart squeezed.

No. No, no, no!

She pushed Seth aside and ran to the room her brothers shared. With a tiny leap over the pile of dirty laundry at the end of the first bed, she rushed to the small chest of drawers that belonged to Zach and scanned the surface.

Comb. A random button that needed to be reattached to a shirt. A book on hog husbandry. And a conspicuously dust-free rectangle at the far edge of the dresser top.

“They’re gone.” She sagged onto the bed, deflated.

“What’s gone?” Seth leaned in through the doorway.

“The cards.” Which meant the deed was probably missing, too.

Oh, Zach. Why? I need more time.

“Cards? Oh.” Seth’s voice deepened. “I’d hoped he’d given that up for good.”

“He had.” Evangeline stiffened and jumped up from the bed. “He has. I’ll see to it. I’ll stop them before anything gets out of hand.” She vaulted over the clothes again and tried to sidle past her brother, but this time Seth grabbed her arms.

“Whoa, sis. What are you talking about? What’s going on with Logan and Zach?”

“There’s no time to explain.” She tore free of his hold. “I’ll tell you everything when I get back.”

She nearly ran over Christie in the hallway in her rush to get outside. She wouldn’t bother with a horse. She could get there faster overland, anyway. Evangeline threw open the door and ran down the porch steps.

If only Zach had waited for Logan to make the first move. But that wasn’t his way. He was the take-charge type who dictated situations instead of reacting after someone else initiated. Only this time, his taking charge might have just killed her future.

No one would escape this idiotic game of theirs unscathed. Couldn’t they see that?

“Evie! Wait!”

Evangeline slowed slightly alongside Hezzy’s pen and glanced over her shoulder. Christie was running down the steps after her, concern etched into her face.