“He won’t believe me.”
“Do you believe her, Dawn?” Cree asked.
Dawn nodded without hesitation.
“I trust Dawn’s judgment. If she believes you than so do I.”
“But I’ve been such a shrew,” Lucerne said.
“There you go,” Cree said. “You have finally spoken the truth, so I now have reason to believe you.” Dawn sent a scolding look his way and he ignored it. “Now tell me this secret that has obviously caused a problem so that I may see to resolving it.”
Her wound giving her a bit of an ache, Dawn took the chair closest to Lucerne, the young woman refusing to let go of her hand.
Cree was quick to ask, “Are you all right?”
Dawn nodded and waved his concern off.
“You will not dismiss my concern that easily,” he snapped.
Dawn felt Lucerne quiver and not wanting to make the situation any more difficult, she tapped her chest and bowed her head as if apologizing. Then tapped her chest again though slowly this time and gave him a gentle smile to let him know she was fine.
“That’s better,” he said with a wicked grin and Dawn narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s even better, now I know for sure that you’re all right.” Cree turned to Lucerne and ordered, “Tell me.”
With a voice that quivered now and then, Lucerne related the same story to Cree that she had to Dawn. When she finished and Cree had remained silent, Dawn wondered if perhaps he didn’t believe her after all. But she dismissed the thought as soon as it entered her mind. Cree had said that he trusted her judgment and he was a man of his word.
Cree finally spoke. “It wasn’t you who tainted my food that night?”
Lucerne shook her head.
“Why did you beat Bree?” Cree asked.
Lucerne’s eyes turned wide. “I never touched her. I thought perhaps she displeased you somehow and you took a hand to her or ordered another to do so.”
“Have you always been so mean-spirited?”
Lucerne displayed no shock at his query, though her shoulders slumped, her burden weighing on her once more. She rubbed at her temple. “I do not believe I have been, but then lately it is as if I don’t know myself, my headaches have worsened since my arrival here.”
Cree looked to Sloan. “Find out what Bree has been up to.” He turned back to Lucerne. “You’re coming with me to see Elsa.” He then settled a glare on Dawn. “And you’re staying put here.”
Dawn stood much too fast sending a sharp twinge to her side and caused her to involuntarily cringe.
Cree mumbled an oath and was beside her in an instant, his arm curling gently around her waist. “You will rest and I will not hear another word about it.”
Dawn jabbed at her chest and then at his.
“You most certainly are not going with me.”
Dawn did not want to argue with him, but she also did not want to be left in the cottage to pace and wonder what she was missing. She rested her head to his chest and patted it and then her own repeating the gesture several times.
“Pleading will do you no good,” Cree said gently.
She thought of something that might do her some good. She held her wrists together as if shackled.
“I have told you time and again that you are not a prisoner”
“But she is… as am I,” Lucerne said.
Dawn wasn’t surprised to know Lucerne felt the same as she did, though she was surprised to hear her voice her opinion without sounding shrewish.
Cree looked from one woman to the other, though the only one that truly mattered to him was Dawn, he suddenly had a better understanding of Lucerne. And it surprised him to realize that her situation paralleled Dawn’s. They each had been forced into circumstances that had allowed no choices.
He was growing more and more annoyed that this whole situation was taking twists and turns that outmaneuvered him too many times. Now he felt more than a sense of responsibility to Lucerne. The two women both were pawns in a deadly game… a game Cree intended to win. Until then he needed to keep them both safe.
Cree found an easy solution to his current problem, wishing everything else was so easily solved. He took hold of Dawn’s chin. “You may come with us so that Elsa can have a look at your wound and assure me that all is well.”
Dawn smiled and nodded happily.
He gave her a quick kiss before releasing her chin and turning to Lucerne. “And you will tell no one what was discussed here. You will let everyone think that you came here to confront Dawn as your mother had advised.”
“What shall I say was Dawn’s response?” Lucerne asked.
“Tell her that I intervened before you had time to speak with her.”
Lucerne looked relieved and nodded.
“Sloan, take Lucerne outside and wait for us,” Cree ordered.