Chapter Forty-One, Part One

Robert got his long-awaited letter after Thanksgiving. It came in a thick brown packet that contained a Christmas card, a letter just for Sophie, a coded letter for Robert, and a sealed official-looking envelope addressed to Emily Ruiz. Robert read the coded letter, annoyed at how slow he was.

In the letter, Amalia explained that she had put the requested sum into a bank account in Santa Fe and arranged with an attorney who had served under Miguel during the war to create the document in the sealed envelope. This document stated that Arthur had set the money aside for Emily’s use alone. Robert smiled. This was much better than he had hoped for and explained the long delay in Amalia’s response. But it was the next part that made him frown. “Don’t come north for a while. There are rumors about you in Santa Fe. Will was here last month asking questions.”

He set the letter on the table. This threatened to throw off all his plans. How was he supposed to leave Castaño if his life was in danger anywhere else he went? As much as he wanted to be part of redeveloping his homeland, this threat would have to be dealt with somehow. Too bad that instead of helping create a phone company, he hadn’t spent those years in Kentucky becoming a decent marksman instead.

Well, he had gotten one thing he wanted, and that would have to be enough for now. He was looking forward to giving Emily the news the next time she came to the store for her wine. And he would tell Norma too, since she had a certain motherly interest in seeing Emily get her life straightened out.

With that decided, he put his concerns about Will aside and prepared to go to the store.

#

“Do you think that’s wise?” Norma asked when Robert told him about the money for Emily. “She might just use it to drink herself into a gutter.”

“I realize it’s a possibility,” Robert said. “But it’s also her only chance to turn her life around.”

“Yes, if her husband doesn’t go after her and beat her up for the money. I wouldn’t even put it past him to kill her.”

“It’s a risk she’ll have to take,” Robert admitted. “Does she really have any chance here?”

Norma looked away. “No.”

“Then I don’t see what other options I have. I’m doing her no long-term favors by subsidizing her habit, and anything I do to help her financially here in Castaño is likely to put me in the cemetery with Arthur.”

“If Julio thought you were doing anything kind for her he’d assume there was something behind it, that’s for sure.”

“Then that settles it. I’ll give Emily the letter and she can decide what to do from there. She’ll have a way out if she wants to take it, and nothing will lead Julio back to either one of us.”

“I hope you’re right.”