A Father's Stake. Mary Anne Wilson

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СКАЧАТЬ When he’d graduated from law school in California, and come home, the first thing he’d done was propose to Robyn. That memory still made his stomach clench. It had been the most natural thing in the world to marry the love of his life and the best decision he’d ever made.

      They’d built a life together for almost nine years, and then one night, one wrong turn on the way home from the Reservation where Robyn taught second grade, and she’d been gone.

      Adam studied him from shadowed eyes, then shook his head. “You’re looking bad.”

      “Thanks.”

      Adam held up a hand. “Hey, I’m sorry. This day started out rough, very rough. I’m just....”

      Jack thought he was going to talk about their parents despite his request to wait, but Adam’s next words were about him and Faith.

      “I’m not used to being here and Faith being in Chicago. I mean, she really needs to help her dad adjust to house arrest and what will follow, but I need her, too.” A rueful smile touched his lips. “Who would have thought I’d ever say that about a woman?”

      “Not me,” Jack admitted as the two of them headed for the porch, sinking side by side onto the stone.

      “Can’t figure out why this place has been empty since the old man died. Makes no sense.” Adam turned to rest his hand on Jack’s shoulder. “I was really glad that you were thinking of taking it over.”

      Jack tensed and glanced at his brother. Adam looked away, off to the distance. “What’s taking Gage?” he asked as if he hadn’t spoken before.

      “He said he had a few things to do. Any time now, I’d think. This place belongs here,” Adam went on, obviously unable to keep totally silent about the purpose of this meeting. “The folks’ ranch is great, bigger and newer, but it doesn’t fit into the land like this does. Grandpa knew what he was doing.”

      His words echoed the way Jack had always felt. Their grandfather’s ranch was right where it should be, and he wanted to be here, too. “All I’m going to say until Gage gets here is, I’m sorry.” He squeezed Jack’s shoulder then drew back, looking out beyond the stables.

      The heat seemed to hum in the silence until Jack finally cleared the lump in his throat. “Did you ever bring Faith out to see the place?”

      Adam shook his head. “When she was here it was too cold, too much snow and not enough time.”

      “When is she coming back?”

      Adam stood abruptly, flexing his shoulders under the tailored uniform shirt. “I don’t know.” His voice seemed tight, and Jack had a fleeting thought that maybe things weren’t right between him and Faith, that maybe Adam coming back without her had nothing to do with Jack, or with the job.

      “Hey, there!”

      The loud shout from the west startled Jack and he looked toward the heavy stand of trees in that direction.

      “He couldn’t just drive over like the rest of us, could he?” Adam said.

      Jack watched Gage walk toward the house, leading his black horse, Grenada. “Sorry to be late,” he called out, kicking up dust as he got closer. He stopped by an old stone hitching post their grandfather had hewn from a long rock he’d lugged down from the Rez, and secured the large horse to it.

      Jack knew if any strangers saw them, they’d see three men who looked like possible triplets, all tall, dark and strong looking. But those strangers would never know how very different all three were. “Day from night,” their grandfather had said more than once. And that was true. It was incredible that all three of them were back in Wolf Lake at the same time. That timing was perfect for Jack.

      As Gage strode to the bottom of the step, he actually smiled up at his brothers. “Merry soloed this morning.” he said.

      “I never thought she’d ever get back in a plane after your scare on the mountain.” Jack said, remembering the haunted look on the woman’s face during the rescue helicopter ride after she and Gage had crashed in the high mountains last February.

      Gage nodded. “I wasn’t sure, either, but now she’s doing great and is even thinking about taking Erin up. That little girl is in love with planes.” Another flash of pleasure lighted his face. Gage, Merry and the little girl they were adopting were already a family, even though their wedding date hadn’t been set.

      Jack felt a wave of jealousy, but blocked it. “Good.”

      As suddenly as he’d smiled, Gage sobered. “So, tell me what’s going on.”

      “Let’s go inside,” Jack said, turning to lead the way to the great room, the ceiling low with heavy beams, the worn tile floor starting to get dusty after the last monthly visit from the cleaning crew. The air in the adobe was at least twenty degrees cooler than outside, the natural insulation of the thick bricks doing a good job against the dry heat.

      They passed the massive stone fireplace in the middle of the room, getting glimpses of the well-worn leather furniture where the dust sheets had slipped a bit. All the furniture in the house had been handmade on the Rez by friends of his grandfather’s and was still sturdy and usable. They walked into the small kitchen at the back of the house.

      An old-fashioned yellow Formica table, its faux marble pattern almost worn away by use, stood by a window that overlooked a stand of huge pines, parted to expose the panorama of the distant mountains. If you knew where to look, you could see part of the Rez from there, a deliberate decision by his grandfather when he’d cleared some of the pines.

      Once they were all seated on the high-backed wooden chairs, Jack leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table beside two large manila envelopes that he ignored for the moment. He had to figure out exactly how to say what he had to say. He didn’t want that anger to come again. He didn’t want to destroy their family.

      “It seems like forever since the three of us have been in here together.” And he meant it. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed this connection with the past and his brothers.

      Gage nodded. “Yeah, it’s nice. It’s been a while what with Adam catching criminals and me building the complex and you....” His voice died off before he added. “I hear you’re doing a bit of law now and then.”

      “I do, now and then.”

      Both brothers sat silently, giving him time. Finally, he just started to talk. Whatever he said, he’d live with. “I talked to Mom and Dad a couple of weeks ago. I asked about this place, about me buying it out of the trust, and they said they’d thought about it before and they agreed that they wanted to deed it over to me.”

      His brothers didn’t say anything. After clearing his throat, Jack pressed his hands palms down on the dull yellow table top. He spoke to Gage. “Seems you’re thinking of living in town, getting an office going, and that acreage out by Delany’s Stables that you bought years ago, you could build on that.” He turned to Adam. “And you’ve always wanted that parcel over by Natchee’s spread—word is, he’s thinking of heading back up the hill. It could become available.”

      Adam nodded, but his face was tight. “Yeah, I’ve had my eye on it.”

      “And this has always felt right for СКАЧАТЬ