Page 56 of The Swindler’s Daughter

“We were thinking we would find a hoard of valuables that the corrupt magistrate has squirreled away,” I said defensively.

He sat back, folding his arms across his chest and giving me his best parental look. “And did you?” he asked, his tone mocking, clearly expecting the answer to be no.

“Yes,” I said with calm confidence.

He opened his mouth, probably ready to launch into an I-told-you-so speech, but once my answer sank into his brain, he stopped himself, falling silent.

“Two large trunks, too heavy to carry.”

He tilted his head, not wanting to believe what I was saying but knowing I wouldn’t lie. “They could have been filled with anything.”

“I picked the lock, Hunter. It was filled with coins and other valuables. No doubt the ‘taxes’ they’ve collected for all their hard work.”

He stood and pushed his hands through his hair then said with disappointment dripping from his voice, “You picked the lock?”

I blanched, my jaw dropping. “That’s what you’re choosing to focus on? My lock-picking? Not the fact that the most trusted man in the village is robbing us all blind?” I asked, outraged.

“Of course”—he growled in frustration—“of course I’m upset about that. Of course it’s wrong.” He ran his hands through his hair, seeming to check himself before looking back to me. “Of course something should be done. But…” His eyes cast about, searching for the answer. “Does it have to be you? Haven’t we risked enough? Haven’t we walked that line enough?”

I smiled sadly as memories of that first year on our own bubbled up. The burden he had carried was something I couldn’t imagine.

“I know something has to be done,” he admitted quietly. “I just never wanted it to be you. I never wanted you to have a reason to pick a man’s pocket or break into his house. You deserve to be more than that, Miri.” I heard it in his voice then and knew his words were pure truth. This really wasn’t about the theft, it was about me—about what he wanted for me. He was so desperate to protect me, to give me something that he felt our father had stolen from us.

“Maybe this is the way I can be more.” I wanted to be more than what I’d been as a child—desperate and focused on my own survival. “As much as you want good things for me, I want good things for the people in the village. Those who are starving because of the greed of one man.”

He took a deep breath, his face tense and tortured, not able to separate the right from the wrong. “How am I supposed to ever rest easy, knowing that you’re putting yourself at risk?”

“You need to trust me.”

He waved his hand through the air. “Of course I trust you.”

“Do you?” I asked.

Suddenly his eyes settled on me, like he was surprised by my question. He studied my face for several seconds, his shoulders sinking. Then he closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, Miri. I never meant that I doubted you.”

“And yet you do at every turn. How is it that you can trust your wife to protect herself, but you can’t trust me?” I asked, a bit of hurt leaking into my words.

“I just…” He sank down onto the chair again. “I know what it was like to grow up the way we did. I know the habits we had to break. I know how much I struggled.” He thumped a finger over his heart. “It’s me I don’t trust.”

“How can you not trust yourself?” I asked in shock then crossed to where he sat and crouched in front of him. “You are the one who got us here. You are the one who built this life for us. If you happen to be a little stubborn and overprotective at times…” I shrugged. “That is a small price to pay.”

He reached out and squeezed my hand. “It’s just hard for me to know you are out there and I am here, unable to help.”

Perhaps if he wanted to understand, if he was willing to rethink what he believed to be right and true…“If you’re so worried, why don’t you come along and help us?” I suggested gently.

He gave me a tender smile then stood, pulling me up with him. “I’m here for you, no matter what. You know that. But I can’t take that risk. You’re not the only person I’m responsible for.”

I didn’t point out that he really wasn’t responsible for me anymore. I was fully grown and fully able to care for myself. But I doubted he’d ever see it that way. “I know you have Emeline to worry about, which is why you need to trust that I know what I’m doing. You don’t have to save me, Hunter. I promise. You don’t need to take any risk.”

“I don’t know that I could even if I wanted to. I’m too terrified of what would happen to Emeline and to…” He cut himself off, sniffing and looking at the ceiling.

“And what?” I prompted.

He looked back at me, his face coated in vulnerability. “And the baby.”

I smiled through the angst of the moment, because how could I not? Yes, I’d suspected Emeline might be pregnant, but hearing the words from my brother lit a giant ball of joy in my chest. “You’re going to be a father, Hunter?”

He nodded, unable to speak.