She drew back. “Pinkerton?” she whispered, as she fastened the last buttons on her uniform. What did Lee have to do with the Pinkerton Detective Agency?
For a moment, she sat on the bed. She hadn’t had much time to think about where Lee’d gone on their wedding night. Reed had lied to her and she’d believed him. She was willing to believe that Lee loved someone else; she was willing to believe that he was running into a den of outlaws to save the leader from blood poisoning. But what if Lee were involved in something else, something…She hesitated to even think about what he could be involved in. Maybe he was helping the Pinkertons. But the way Reed was warning his son, Blair didn’t think so.
Leander was involved in something illegal. She knew it, felt it. And that’s why he couldn’t tell her what he was doing. He wanted her to remain innocent.
Slowly, with heavy feet, Blair went downstairs and arrived at the door just as Lee was entering. “I have to go,” he said, watching her.
Blair looked up at him. What act of criminality was Lee into? And why? Did he need money? She thought of the new medical equipment he’d ordered from Denver. It must have cost a great deal, and everyone knew that a doctor made very little money. Of course, Lee’d inherited money from his mother, but who knew how much that was? Was he doing this so he could open his clinic? So he could help people?
“I know,” she said, putting her hand on his arm.
As he looked at her, he seemed to sigh with relief. “You’re not angry anymore?”
“No, I don’t think I am.”
He kissed her in an achingly sweet way. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Dad will take you home now.”
Before another word was said, he was on his big stallion and riding down the mountain, out of her sight.
Blair mounted the horse Reed had brought for her, and they started the long trek home in silence. Most of the trail, between pine trees, across tiny streams, was, of necessity, single file. Blair was puzzling over Lee’s disappearances, telling herself her conclusion was wrong, and praying that he wasn’t in danger.
A few miles outside of Chandler, when the land flattened and the terrain dried, Reed reined his horse to ride beside her.
“I think you and I got off on the wrong foot,” Reed said.
“Yes,” she answered honestly. “From when I was about eight.”
He looked puzzled for a moment. “Ah, yes, the pranks. You know, I wouldn’t have known about them except that my wife found out about a few of them. Lee never said a word about them. Helen said they were being executed by a girl. She said boys were smart, but they weren’t clever like girls, and these pranks were quite clever. She was very interested after I told her I’d seen you exchanging the fishing worms with a snake. ‘Blair Chandler,’ she said. ‘I might have guessed she was the one. She always has had an extraordinary interest in Lee.’ I don’t know what she meant by that, but I do know that she laughed a great deal whenever she heard about another prank.”
“If Lee didn’t tell her, how did she find out?”
“Nina sometimes, Lee’s teacher at other times. Once Lee came home from school with a stomachache, and after Helen’d put him to bed, she returned to the kitchen to see Lee’s lunch pail slowly moving across the table. She said she nearly died of fright before she could open it enough to see what was inside. It was a horned toad, which she gratefully put in her flower garden.”
“No wonder you weren’t too happy when Lee said he was going to marry me,” Blair said.
Reed was quiet for a moment, moving easily with his horse. “I’ll tell you my big worry about you and Lee, and it has nothing to do with the pranks. The truth is, my son works too hard. Even as a boy, he used to take on three jobs at once. For some reason, Lee thinks the world’s problems are his responsibility. I was proud when he said he wanted to become a doctor, but I was worried, too. I was afraid he’d do just what he’s done—take on too much. He works in the hospital, and he manages the place even though Dr. Webster has the title of administrator. Lee also takes the case of anybody in town. Four nights a week he runs off on calls. And he still visits people in the country.”
“And you were afraid I’d be more of a burden to him?” Blair whispered.
“Well, you have to admit that excitement does happen around you. I wanted Lee to marry someone as different from him as possible, someone like Houston who’s so like Opal, someone who’d stay home and sew and make a home. It’s not that I’ve ever had anything against you, but just look at what’s happened in the last few weeks since you returned to Chandler.”
“I see what you mean,” Blair said, as one picture of excitement after another passed through her mind. “I don’t think Lee’s had much rest, has he?”
“He nearly killed himself while trying to impress you with what a good doctor he was.” He paused and smiled at her. “But somewhere along the way, I began to see how much he wanted you.”
“Yes, I believe he does,” she murmured, wondering if the wanting of her was leading him into doing whatever he was doing in secret.
She and Reed rode into Chandler in silence, the last few miles in starlight. He left her at the house she shared with Leander, and Blair went inside with a heavy heart. Was he in debt for this place, too?
She took a quick bath and wearily climbed into the empty bed. It seemed that she was destined to spend every night in this house alone.
At six the next morning, she was awakened by the telephone ringing. Groggily, she made her way downstairs.
The operator, Caroline, said, “Blair-Houston, four freight wagons from Denver have just arrived and the drivers are waiting for Leander at the old warehouse on Archer Avenue.”
“He can’t go, but I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“But it’s the doctor equipment and Leander needs to tell them where it goes.”