"What?"
"I checked my suitcase."
"When?"
"The evening of April second. The railway agent tagged it through to Willow Creek."
Deputy Harris looked toward the battered suitcase visible through the kitchen doorway.
"Still have the tag?"
Anna's pulse quickened.
"I don't know."
They went inside.
Anna opened the suitcase.
The old baggage tag remained tied around one handle beneath a leather strap.
The writing was faded.
But visible.
ST. JOSEPH.
APR 2.
WILLOW CREEK.
The deputy examined it.
"Useful."
Thomas looked at Anna.
She saw the doubt leaving his expression.
But the fact that it had ever appeared stayed with her.
The deputy returned the tag.
"I'll ask the stationmaster to telegraph St. Joseph."
"Am I free to remain here?"
"For now."
For now.
The words destroyed whatever relief Anna had felt.
Deputy Harris mounted his horse.
Before leaving, he said, "Whitmore may come out here himself."
Thomas's face hardened.
"He won't bother Miss Miller."
"Thomas," Anna said quietly.
The deputy looked between them.
"Best keep things calm."
Then he rode away.
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Lily had come from the house.
She had heard enough.
"Anna didn't steal anything."
Anna turned.
"Lily."
"You didn't."
The child's certainty hurt.
Thomas said, "Go inside."
"But."
"Please."
Lily reluctantly obeyed.
Anna began gathering laundry.
Thomas helped.
She took the sheet from his hands.
"I can do it."
"Anna."
"I can."
Her voice broke.
Thomas stopped.
She stared at the wet cloth.
"Ask."
"What?"
"The question."
"I don't have one."
"You looked at me."
"When?"
"When he said what Charles accused me of."
Thomas understood.
"I was surprised."
"You wondered if it was true."
"For a second, I didn't know what was happening."
"That's the same thing."
"No."
Anna laughed without humor.
"It's always the same thing."
Thomas stepped closer.
"Anna."
She turned toward him.
"You think I don't know how this works? A respectable man makes an accusation against a woman traveling alone, and suddenly she has to prove she isn't what he says."
"I don't believe him."
"You didn't know whether to believe me."
"I know you now."
The words stopped her.
Thomas continued.
"I've watched you for three weeks."
"Three weeks isn't a lifetime."
"No."
He looked directly at her.
"But it's enough to know you return money when Lily leaves a penny on the table. It's enough to know you write down every cent you spend from the household account. It's enough to know you wouldn't let me buy you a pair of shoes because you refuse to owe anyone anything."
Anna's eyes filled.
Thomas lowered his voice.
"I don't believe you stole that money."
She looked away.
"What if everyone else does?"
"Then everyone else can be wrong."
That evening, Anna told him everything.
Not just about the farm.