Wanting to trust him? He’d like to think so. But it was clear that she didn’t. Did she lose faith in him after the church picnic somehow and decide to take matters into her own hands? Would justice in this situation not happen fast enough for Emma Jane, leading her to do something they’d all regret?
“I’m not a child,” she fumed. “I know what’s at stake. I’ve agreed to what you need from me. You don’t need to patronize me.”
“I’m sorry. I just don’t know how to convey to you how dangerous this gang really is. There’s so much you don’t know.”
“So tell me.” Those luminous eyes of hers bore into him, and while he’d been noticing their beauty, he also couldn’t help but notice their intelligence.
Every single society miss he’d ever courted all blushingly waved their fans at him and blithely agreed to whatever he wanted. Even Flora Montgomery, who sometimes made a show of standing up to him, mostly responded by pouting but always complying with what he asked.
And yet...he had more respect for Emma Jane than he had for all those other women put together.
Jasper hesitated before opening his mouth to speak. How did a man balance confidential work with talking about it with his wife? Will would know.
As if he knew the direction of Jasper’s thoughts, the other man caught his eye, making a motion with his head. Whatever conversation he’d been engaged in now over, Will was indicating he needed to talk to Jasper.
“Will needs me.” Jasper breathed out a long breath, hating the way Emma Jane looked at him—as if he was using Will as a convenient excuse to push her away. Mostly because she was mostly right to think it.
“Of course. You’ve spent a lot of time with me, and I appreciate it. I know you have work to do.”
Dismissed. Polite, but with an undercurrent of pain that made him wince. Not because she was trying to hurt him, but because she was trying so hard not to sound like he’d hurt her.
Had it been any one of the simpering misses he’d courted, he’d have been able to walk away. But he was a husband now, and Pastor Lassiter’s warnings about their relationship rang in his head. He had to make his wife a priority. Even though his duty lay elsewhere.
“I didn’t mean...”
“I know what you meant. You don’t have to dance attendance on me, there’s plenty here to occupy my time.”
If it weren’t for the tone of her voice, he might have believed her. And then there was the flash of her eyes. The brown flecks dimmed the main blue color, and in them, he read...
Who was he kidding? He didn’t know her well enough to be able to read her eyes. But he wasn’t a fool.
“I know you’re displeased with me right now, Emma Jane. We’re supposed to be spending time together to get to know each other and build a foundation for our marriage. And yet, I have this case...”
Jasper glanced in Will’s direction. Mary had joined him, and they appeared to be conversing while looking at the two of them.
“Well, it looks like Mary has joined Will, so why don’t you come with me to say hello?”
Emma Jane appeared to relax slightly as she nodded, her face looking more peaceful than it had since they began this conversation. Had she been that upset by him leaving her?
So many things he still had to learn about being a husband. All men had to learn them, he supposed solemnly, but it seemed so much harder with a wife he didn’t want. Swallowing the resentment that had once again risen up, Jasper offered Emma Jane his arm. He was trying so hard to forgive her and move on, to figure out a way to make their marriage work. But how could he rid himself of this bitterness once and for all?
As they approached Mary and Will, Mary smiled warmly. Though the couple were an appropriate distance from each other, and no one could accuse them of impropriety, the connection between them was obvious. A person only had to glance at them to know they deeply cared for one another. Their bodies were tilted in toward each other, and their attention never strayed far from one another for long.
And when they looked at each other, it was obvious they were in love.
If only Jasper could have had that for himself.
People once said he was the luckiest man in all of Leadville, with the ability to marry any of the beautiful women in town. But what none of them understood was that when he saw the love between Mary and Will, he hadn’t wanted to settle for anything less.
Beside him, Emma Jane let out a sigh, one so soft it was barely discernible. A quick glance in her direction made the breath in his throat catch. The longing in her eyes was unmistakable.
He’d been the recipient of many a wistful glance in his day. But this was not the look of a woman in love. Rather, he immediately recognized it to be something else. Emma Jane wanted the same thing he did—to have the same kind of love Will and Mary shared.
They might want the same thing, but unfortunately, neither was going to get it from the other.
* * *
“Did you see how fast Jasper scrambled up the roof to get away from Emma Jane?”
The familiar twitter of Flora’s voice burned Emma Jane’s ears.
Oh, she knew Flora was just trying to make trouble, but what was the point in causing problems for a woman who was already married? It wasn’t as though Jasper was going to wake up one morning, realize it had all been a terrible mistake, divorce Emma Jane and marry Flora.
But Flora didn’t seem to understand that.
“I heard from Jasper’s mother that they aren’t even sharing a bedroom,” Flora’s companion said in a whisper too loud to be surreptitious.
“Of course not.” Flora cackled, her voice
