Страница 8 из 71
Then it was their oldest child’s turn when he came into the kitchen.
“You’re going to Colorado tonight,” his father informed Hugh-Jay.
They had a ranch there, and a third property due north in Nebraska.
“Why?” Hugh-Jay made the mistake of asking, in a perfectly respectful tone of voice. He was, in his mother’s opinion, the best natural cowman in the family, not to mention also being the nicest of any of her four children. Hugh-Jay was kind to everybody, good with cattle, even better with horses. His father seemed determined, however, to keep him away from cattle and buried in paperwork and accounting, which was the sort of business for which he had no aptitude at all. Chase and Belle were the ones with the heads for numbers. Hugh-Jay was the diplomat and animal lover, and Bobby… well, nobody quite knew what Bobby was good for.
“Dad,” Hugh-Jay said calmly, “I want to take that lame horse to the vet.”
“He can limp for another couple of days.”
Hugh-Jay looked startled at his father’s cavalier words. He frowned at his mother, an expression she read as both concern for the horse and confusion at his father’s apparent hypocrisy about the welfare of their animals. He opened his mouth, closed it, and then merely asked, “What’s going on in Colorado?”
“That’s what I want you to find out. Something’s fu
The “he” to whom he referred was their ranch manager.
“Dad.” Hugh-Jay’s protest was a gentle rebuke. “He’s a good man.”
“Maybe he is, but it won’t hurt to prove it.”
Behind Hugh Senior, A
“Yes, sir,” Hugh-Jay said with a sigh, “but I can’t leave until this afternoon.”
“Why not?”
He smiled at his father, then at his mother, as he pulled a red feed-store cap onto his wheat-blond hair. He had a plain, pale face that radiated his bighearted nature, and which only burned-or blushed-and never ta
“Believe it or not, Dad, I have a life outside this ranch.”
He was the only Linder sibling who was married, and with a child.
“We won’t any of us have a life if we don’t attend to this ranch,” his father retorted. The elder Hugh Linder was a beefier, more handsome version of his oldest son; he exuded a natural leadership quality that none of his children had yet grown into for themselves.
Instead of arguing, Hugh-Jay winked at his mother and started to leave the kitchen.
“Hugh-Jay?”
He looked back at A
He gave her a friendly, puzzled look. “Sure. Don’t I look all right, Mom?”
After an instant’s hesitation she nodded, saying nothing more.
His father backed down for a moment, at least about one thing. “Don’t worry about that horse, son.”
“Why not?”
“I’ll get it to the vet myself, if I have to.”
Hugh-Jay smiled his gratitude, gave his parents a wave, and continued on toward the front door, which they heard him thoughtfully close, not slam as any of their other children might have done.
Belle almost escaped as she ran out of the house on her way back to her fledgling museum. She’d only come home to shower and change clothes. But she didn’t make it out the front door in time to avoid hearing her father shout, “Belle! What time did you get in last night?”
Belle backed up, stuck her head in the kitchen and said, “I didn’t, Dad. I stayed in town, and I’m twenty-three years old, for heaven’s sake, so why are you still asking me questions like that?”
Her expression, more than her words, said he’d insulted her.
“Because you should be thoughtful to your mother.”
“What did I do to Mom?”
“She fixed a plate for supper for you, and you never showed up.”
“I never asked her to do that, Dad, did I, Mom?”
“You’ll be late for work,” he said, changing tack.
“What? You don’t even think it’s real work, Dad.”
“Anything worth doing is worth-”
“Mother, tell him to stop.”
She sounded pent-up with resentment.
A
Belle rolled her eyes.
Her mother observed that but held onto her own temper. In a light, teasing tone, she said, “Tell your dad that if he doesn’t like the hours you keep, he can buy you a little house in town, Belle. Then he won’t have to know what fathers shouldn’t be knowing anyway.”
“You know I don’t earn enough to pay him rent!”
“Who said anything about rent?” A
“Don’t treat me like I’m irresponsible,” Belle shot back.
“What? Belle, I would never call you, of all people, ir-”
Belle interrupted. “Dad, I got that buffalo head I was after, so if you could write me a check and leave it in my room?”
And then she was gone.
“I can’t say anything to that girl,” A
“I don’t know why she rushes to get there,” Hugh grumbled back. “That museum is going to get five tourists a year and most of them will be friends of ours from out of town. I think she’s only doing it to make me spend money on it.” He was bankrolling his daughter’s project-which seemed mostly hobby to him-in the hope that it might lead to an actual job for her and her history degree. “Now she wants me to pay for a mangy old buffalo head?”
“Oh, stop it,” A
Chase, Bobby, and Belle still lived-mostly-on the ranch.
He gri
When she laughed, he leaned over and kissed her mouth.
“Have I ever mentioned that you’re the prettiest woman in town?”
“Just the town? Not the whole county?”
A