Chapter 2

Barret Gilbert signed the IOU with a shaking hand.

When he looked at me, there was something in his eyes he probably didn't even notice himself. A flicker of panic.

He must have gotten used to me trailing after him like a dog. This sudden hardness in me was something he couldn't wrap his head around.

"Gayle, you'll regret this." He ground the words out through his teeth.

"The only thing I regret is not seeing sooner what kind of animal you are."

I took the IOU and tucked it carefully against my body.

Then I turned, knelt before my parents' coffins, and pressed my forehead to the ground three times, hard.

In my past life, for the sake of Barret's face, I'd let my parents' funeral be a rushed, shabby thing.

He'd said a funeral was bad luck, that it would drag down his fortune.

I believed him. And I never even got to see my parents one last time.

This life, I would send them off with dignity.

The day after the funeral, I took the village's letter of introduction to the youth-placement office in town.

I was signing up for the remote western frontier.

In my past life, I'd handed that placement over to one of Barret's relatives, and all I got in return was a light, careless "thanks."

This time, I would live for myself.

I'd barely stepped out of the office when Barret stopped me.

There were dark shadows under his eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept.

"Gayle, are you really going out west? That's nothing but bitter, frozen country out there."

There was a note of probing in his voice, one he didn't even seem aware of.

"None of your damn business." I stepped around him to go.

He grabbed my wrist, gripping it with startling force.

"Is this because I didn't speak up for you yesterday? Cora's not in good health, I was only—"

"Barret, is something wrong with you?" I wrenched my hand free.

"Who you protect, who you love, does any of that have one cent to do with me?"

In my past life, I stood in the snow burning with fever, waiting for him, while he sat by the warm stove reading with Cora.

My legs went numb from the cold, and he blamed me for spoiling their pleasant afternoon.

And now he came around playing the devoted man?

"Gayle! Do you have to burn every bridge?" Barret's face flushed with anger and shame.

"You think going out west will change anything? You're a village girl. You'll be out there farming dirt either way!"

"I'd rather farm dirt than be an ungrateful mongrel like you."

I looked at him coldly. "And don't forget you still owe me three thousand two hundred dollars. You have one month to pay it back, or I'll show up at your college and hang a banner over the whole thing."

Barret's face went ashen in an instant.

Just then, Cora Pruitt came walking over from the general store nearby.

She had an expensive tin of face cream in her hand, smiling as she looked at the two of us.

"Barret, what are you two talking about?"

Barret instantly put on a gentle face.

"Nothing. Gayle says she's going out west, and I'm trying to talk her out of it."

Cora clapped a hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh my. The west is so hard, Miss Fox, how could you ever stand it?"

She came closer and lowered her voice, pitching it so only the three of us could hear.

"Miss Fox, you really don't have to be this stubborn. Just apologize to Barret, and I can have my father arrange a temp job for you in the city."

"Something like, oh, sweeping the streets."

Her eyes were full of scorn and challenge.

I looked at her, and suddenly I smiled.

"Miss Pruitt, since you're so fond of picking up trash, this man I don't want, you go right ahead and keep him."

"You—!" Cora's face changed.

I couldn't be bothered with either of them. I turned and walked off with long strides.

I had more important things to do. The special transport west left in three days.

I had to have every last piece of paperwork settled within those three days.