“All right. If I decide there’s some merit in what you say, I’ll talk to the children and see what they want. If they agree, he can see them. If they don’t want any part of him, that’s how it’s going to be. Will that make you happy, Abby?”
“It’s not a question of my happiness, but what’s best for the children. I just think they need family.”
“I think that depends on who the family is.” He looked out into the darkness that had descended while they’d talked. “There’s one thing I won’t change my mind about.”
“What’s that?”
“He’s not taking those kids off Blackstone land, Abby. Not ever.”
In the kitchen, huddling beneath the open window, Lily put her finger to her lips to shush the others when Jarrod stopped talking. He’d been acting funny ever since they’d come back from town. Abby too. Every time she asked what was wrong, they’d said nothing. They were lying. Lily knew it was to protect them. But she’d learned from living with Mama and Papa, when he’d been there, it was better to know what you were facing. She hated surprises, and if Abby and Uncle Jarrod wouldn’t tell them anything, then they’d darn well have to find out on their own.
She motioned for them to follow her upstairs. When they were safely in her room with the door closed, she looked at them.
“What do you think, Tom?” she asked.
Katie threw herself on the bed and rested her chin in her hands. “Is this a family meeting, Lily?”
Tom glared at her. “Of course it is. What’d you think, knothead?”
Katie stuck her lip out. “We haven’t had one in a long time. I was just askin’, Tom. You shouldn’t be so mean.”
Lily noticed that Oliver stuck his thumb in his mouth. She hadn’t seen him do that since Uncle Jarrod told him cowboys didn’t. She didn’t like the way things were going. Not at all.
She looked at her oldest brother. “Do you think Abby’s right and we should give him a chance? You remember what Pa was like, same as I do. What if he’s that way too?”
Lily had heard all the excuses for her father’s behavior—bad luck, liquor, couldn’t handle the responsibility of so many children. All she knew was that she’d been happy since they’d come to live with Uncle Jarrod. But not before that. Not even with Mama, although she still missed her all the time.
“Abby thinks we should get to know him.” Katie looked from her sister to her brother.
“She’s not always right,” Lily said.
“That’s fer dang sure,” Tom agreed.
Katie sniffed. “You just don’t like Abby, Tom. Right from the start you didn’t. You wouldn’t go along with anything she said.”
“Katie’s right, Tom,” Lily said. “You haven’t taken to Abby same as the rest of us. But I like her. Right from the start I did.”
“Better than Mama?” he shot back.
“Of course not. I’d give anything if Mama was still here. But she’s not, and no amount of wishing will make it so. Besides, that doesn’t mean we can’t like Abby. Even if this time I think she’s wrong. I don’t want any part of Pa’s side of the family.”
Tom shot her a grateful look and nodded. “Me neither, Lil. So what do we do?”
That was a good question, Lily thought. When Uncle Jarrod had said that he’d never let the man take them off Blackstone land, it had made her feel like she finally belonged. The feeling was so big it had filled her up inside with happiness.
She looked around at all of them. “It’s easy. Uncle Jarrod said he would ask us what we wanted to do. We’ll tell him we don’t want to see Rafe Donovan, and he won’t make us. Simple.”
“What if Abby pushes?” Tom asked. “She’s got a bee in her bonnet about family. Uncle Jarrod listens to her more often than not.”
“If that happens, I think we shouldn’t do anything.” Lily folded her arms over her chest and waited.
“What?” Tom cried. “We gotta decide somethin’. Else why’d you call this family meeting?”
“Yes, why, Lily?” Katie wanted to know. “We always figure out a plan.”
Lily paced to the door then back to the bed and turned to look at her brother. “This time I think the plan is to do nothing.”
“Why, Lil?”
“Uncle Jarrod said he’d never let that man take us off Blackstone land. So he won’t. I don’t think we have to have a plan. Except for all of us to agree that we don’t want anything to do with that man. Right, Katie?”
“I don’t know him, Lily. How can I tell if I don’t want to meet him?”
Katie liked everyone and couldn’t remember how bad things had been with their father. They had to make sure she would go along.
“Do you want to leave Uncle Jarrod?” Tom asked harshly.
“No,” Katie said in a small voice. “I love him.”
“All right, then,” Lily said. “When Uncle Jarrod asks, we’ll tell him we don’t want anything to do with that man.”
“Kidnapping?” Abby stared at Sheriff Zachary Magruder with Rafe Donovan beside him. “Jarrod did no such thing.”
“He says different, Abby. I have to check it out.”
Abby looked at the other man, politely standing on the front porch with his hat in his hand, almost the same way she’d last seen him a week ago. “You know that’s not the way it happened.”
“I don’t want to think so, ma’am. But he took the kids out of town—”
“He took them home,” she said coldly.
Donovan shrugged. “Doesn’t matter what words you use, he took the kids out of town without so much as a by-your-leave. When I tried to talk to him on the ranch, I was met with guns. This was the only way.”
“Does Jarrod know you’re here?” she asked the sheriff.
He nodded. “We ran into him up in San Augustine Canyon. He said to meet him here.”
“Then come in.” She opened the door wide and allowed them entrance. “If you’ll make yourselves comfortable in the living room, I’ll put on some coffee.”
“Thanks, Abby,” Zach said as she shut the door. “I’m sure this is just a simple misunderstanding we can clear up quickly.”
She nodded doubtfully, then left them in the front room and went to the kitchen. She had just put the pot on the iron stove when Jarrod walked in the back door.
“Lord, I’m glad to see you,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me he’d shown up before this?”
He stood in the center of the room, boots braced apart, as he stared at her. “The kids said they wanted no part of him. Slim and Dusty sent him packing. There was no reason for you to know.”
He’d shut her out. For the first time, Abby felt like the employee she was. She should have known better than to listen to Jarrod. On Tom’s birthday he had told her to let tomorrow take care of itself. She’d done that. She’d let herself mother the children and begin to feel a part of this family. A reminder that she was nothing more than an outsider was what she got for her efforts.
“I see.” She turned away, reaching up to pull cups from the cupboard.
She heard him come up behind her, felt the warmth of his body before the touch of his hands on her arms. “I’m sorry, Abby. I didn’t mean that to sound as harsh as it did.”
“There’s no reason to apologize. This is your home. I work for you and carry out orders like any of the ranch hands.”
“You’re not like the others and you know it—” His voice was tight with anger, frustration, and impatience.
“You’ve got more to worry about than my feelings. What are you going to do, Jarrod? He’s accused you of kidnapping the children.”
“Zach knows that’s not true.”
“Everyone knows that. The point is, Donovan’s not backing down. What are you going to do?” Abby pulled out a tray and set three mugs on it along with the steaming coffeepot and containers of cream and sugar.
“I’m not sure yet.” He picked up the tray and started through the doorway. He turned to her. “You coming?”
&
nbsp; “I’m just the housekeeper. I didn’t think you’d want me there.”
“Don’t be that way, Abby. I kept his visit quiet to spare you the worry. I know you love the kids.”
“Of course I do.”
“Do you think they should go with Donovan?”
“I never thought that. They love you so much, and they’ve been through too many changes. The best thing for them is to stay here.” She shook her head emphatically. “I only wanted you to be open-minded if the kids wanted to know him. That’s all.”
“That’s why I want you in on this. I’m counting on you to say it just like that to Zach Magruder.”
“If you think it will help.”
“I do,” he said. He put the tray on the table, then went to the cupboard and pulled another mug out. “You ready?” he asked, lifting the tray again.
When she nodded, he waited for her to precede him into the living room. The two men stood when she and Jarrod entered.
“Abby, Jarrod.” The sheriff nodded to both of them.
“Let’s all sit down,” Jarrod said, setting the tray of coffee on the table in front of the sofa. “Will you pour, Abby?”
“Of course.” She sat down with him beside her.
Zach settled himself into the wing-back chair by the hearth. He was a big man, over six feet tall, making that seat an uncomfortable fit. Abby smiled to herself. Maybe that would speed this along. Rafe Donovan stood in front of the fireplace, even after she handed him a cup of coffee.
“Now, then,” Zach began. “What’s this all about?”
“I’ve come for my brother’s kids,” Donovan answered.
“They’re my sister’s kids,” Jarrod snapped. “They’re staying here on Blackstone land where she wanted them.”
“Their last name is Donovan. Reed wanted me to take care of ‘em and that’s what I aim to do.”
Jarrod opened his mouth and the sheriff held up his hand for quiet. “We’re gettin’ nowhere fast.”
Jarrod pointed to the other man. “What makes him think he’s got more right to them than I do?”
“My brother wrote it in his last will and testament.”
Zach shifted, trying to get comfortable in the small space. “I’ve seen it, Jarrod. Looks official to me.”
“It’s a piece of paper, Zach. He could have forged the signature. Even if he didn’t, I’ve got a letter from Sally asking me to raise her children as Blackstones.”
“Seems you both got a pretty good claim.” Zach looked from one man to the other as each of them stared at him for a solution. He shook his head.
“I got an idea,” Donovan said. “What about splittin’ the kids up? A girl and boy apiece.” He looked at them.
“Mr. Donovan! That’s out of the question.” Abby shot to her feet before Jarrod could stop her. “How could you suggest such a thing? Split up the children? Good heavens, until they came to Jarrod, all they had was each other. Why you can’t—”
Jarrod touched her arm. “Hold on, Firecracker.”
“But, Jarrod,” she cried, looking down at him. “You aren’t seriously considering it?”
“You didn’t give me a chance to say anything one way or the other.”
What he felt was a wave of relief. He knew how important family was to Abby. Still, when she’d expressed her opinion that the children get to know their other folks, he couldn’t help questioning her loyalty. He smiled inside at her outburst. When Donovan suggested the compromise, he’d lost Abby’s sympathy. Jarrod was glad to have her wholeheartedly on his side.
“How do you feel about separating the kids?” Zach asked Jarrod.
‘“Bout the same as I’d feel if someone tried to take my land or livestock. I’d do whatever was necessary to stop ‘em”.
Donovan’s blue eyes narrowed on him. “That a threat, Blackstone?”
“No. It’s a promise.”
“I have just as much right to those kids as you do.”
“Mr. Donovan,” Abby said coldly. “Are you really considering what’s best for the children? Or do you want them because of some misguided notion of saving them since you couldn’t help your brother?”
“A promise is a promise,” he answered stubbornly. “I gave my word and I won’t go back on it.”
“Even if the children want to stay here with Jarrod and me?” she asked softly.
“No offense, ma’am, but they’re just kids. They got no notion of what’s best.”
“That’s true,” Abby said. “They need guidance. That’s probably the one thing we all agree on. But you didn’t see the children when they came to Jarrod. You can’t know how much they’ve grown from a scared, skinny lot, into a happy, healthy family.”
“What is it you’re tellin’ me, ma’am?”
“There’s no easy way to say this, Donovan,” Jarrod said.
Fact was he didn’t want to take the sting out of it for the other man. He just wanted him gone. But with Zach Magruder there, he thought it would look better if he tried to meet Donovan halfway. “I talked to the kids. Told them I’d go along with whatever they wanted. They don’t want to go with you.”
“You bad-mouth me to them, Blackstone?” His whole body went rigid with anger.
Abby moved around the coffee table and looked at him. “Mr. Donovan, Jarrod never said anything about you to the children until I convinced him you have a right to get to know them.”
Donovan smiled a little. “Someone around here’s got a brain in their head.”
Abby gazed at him sympathetically. “The fact is, they made up their own minds. They don’t want anything to do with you.”
“You’re lyin’,” he said.
A flush of angry color blotched Abby’s cheeks. “I’m going to overlook that because you’re upset, Mr. Donovan. I don’t lie. The children have nothing but bad memories of their father, and they want no part of anyone related to him. And after your willingness to tear them apart, I must agree with their instincts.”
“Abby’s right,” Jarrod said. “The kids belong together. They’ve lost their father and mother. No call for them to lose each other too.”
Donovan took a step toward Jarrod. “This has nothing to do with what the kids want, Blackstone. You think you’re better’n me—”
Zach jumped out of the chair. “Everyone hold on. This isn’t getting us anywhere. My gut tells me neither one of you is gonna back down.”
“You got that right,” Donovan said.
Jarrod nodded his agreement.
“There’s no choice then. You need to go before the circuit judge.”
14
“Lil, I think we better get us a plan. Right quick.” Tom closed the door of her room and leaned back against it.
Three pairs of eyes watched her, and Lily had never felt the weight of being the oldest as heavily as she did now. The four of them had hidden in the shadows at the top of the stairs, listening while the adults argued for a long time. When the sheriff left with the other man, Uncle Jarrod went out the kitchen door and slammed it, rattling the windows. He was mad as a wet hornet about that man taking them away.
It made her feel good inside to know Uncle Jarrod wanted them that much and was dead set against splitting them up. Mama would be sad if they weren’t together. But their other uncle seemed just as bent on taking them away.
Now in her room, the other three were looking to her to figure something out. She had no idea what to do.
“Should we run away?” Oliver asked, taking his thumb out of his mouth.
Tom glared at the younger boy. “That’s a dumb idea.”
“We did it before, in the back of Abby’s wagon.”
“That was when Abby lived in town. And it’s different. It’s not boarding school,” Lily reminded Oliver.
“I don’t want to go with that man,” Katie said, pouting. “I don’t like him. Seems a good reason to run away.” Her curls bounced as she flopped on Lily’s bed and folded her arms over her chest.
“We’r
e talkin’ about the law,” Tom said. “If the judge says we gotta go with him, I ain’t sure running away will help.”
Lily thought for a moment. “What if the judge says we get to stay with Uncle Jarrod?”
Tom sat on her bed, beside Katie, and let his shoulders slump and his long arms dangle between his knees. “What if he doesn’t?”
“Are you willing to run away from the ranch and Uncle Jarrod and Abby and your horse? Do you want to give up our home if there’s one chance that we’ll get to stay?”
“What if we have to go, Lil? What if that old judge says we gotta go with him?” Tom asked.
Lily thought he looked real close to crying, something he hadn’t done for a long time, not even when Mama died. “Then we run away,” she said, nodding emphatically.
Jarrod stomped through the oak grove that stretched beyond the house. Rage and discouragement took turns churning up his insides. He wandered along the dry creek bed into Bulito Canyon for nearly a mile, not realizing where he was headed. Then he rounded a bend and came upon the falls where he and Sally had played as children.
He had nearly forgotten this place, until the kids discovered it the day after their arrival. They’d found it for the same reason he and his sister stumbled across it so long ago: no one had the time to be bothered with them.
The thought made him feel guilty. He remembered Abby telling him the children needed to spend time with him. Strange that he’d gotten her message after he’d persuaded her to come live at the ranch. Since then, she had gotten him to take time off for Tom’s birthday and the Fourth of July. She’d made a difference to all of them.
He looked around, breathing in the scent of damp earth and the poplar leaves that rustled in the breeze. The falls were smaller and more intimate than he remembered. Water trickled from a thin stream that skipped down the rock face from far above, a high ground of oaks and shrubs. Sunlight dappling the surface of the creek turned it to diamonds.
Memories washed over him. He and Sally had talked here for hours, sometimes until almost dark, and their mother had scolded them, out of fear, he knew now. He shook his head, remembering all the grand plans Sally had confided to him. Not once had they included dying too young.
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