Steele was right. Wyatt wouldn’t have been able to afford their passage, not in a hundred years. But Hallock would be able to give Greta everything she needed and more. He’d find the best care for Astrid this side of the Mississippi. He could take her to Denver, pay for her treatment, and even hire a physician to come to Fairplay.

Sure as a gun, Greta and Astrid would be better off with Hallock.

Wyatt’s shoulders slumped. He couldn’t promise them anything, especially not after losing his herd as well as the cattle deal with Steele. As much as he loved Greta—in fact, because he loved her—he had to let her go.

How could he do anything less than release her from their vows and give her the better life she deserved?

Chapter 26

Greta was frozen in place. She wanted to run from the dining room and escape to some place far away, but she couldn’t make her feet or voice work.

Phineas Hallock wasn’t dead. He was very much alive and standing less than a dozen paces away.

He shifted, rubbed a hand across his nose, and then pulled out his handkerchief again.

Beneath her hand, she could feel the tension radiating from Wyatt’s arm. Although she’d expected him to speak with Mr. Steele at some point, she certainly hadn’t been ready for him to be so candid about the true nature of their relationship the moment they walked into the hotel.

During their exchange, she’d been ready to crawl underneath one of the tables. But then Mr. Hallock had spun around. It had only taken a moment for her to place his face with the picture he’d sent her, a daguerreotype she still had at the bottom of one of her bags.

While he appeared older in person, his kindness remained constant. She could immediately sense in him a gentle spirit, one that had come across in his letters and convinced her to accept his marriage proposal.

It was the same one now that told her she couldn’t spurn him, that to do so would be too cruel after all he’d done for her. Yet how could she leave Wyatt? How could she live without him?

Those same questions had been plaguing her during the entire ride into town. Even if they’d forgiven each other, and even after all the things he’d said about loving her and wanting her in his life, she’d known deep inside she still had to do the right thing for Astrid.

And that meant going to McLaughlin’s Livery to purchase two stagecoach tickets for Astrid and her to ride back to Denver.