“No, of course not.” But Barton’s expression didn’t grow any less suspicious.
“A man starts realizing he can’t do what he used to, that he doesn’t have the physical stamina he once had, and he figures the years are catching up to him, is all. But one day, he realizes that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Emmett said ruefully. “That he’s in serious trouble…trouble that he can’t fix by himself…”
“Pa, exactly how long have you been failing?”
“Long enough I don’t want to talk about it…if you don’t mind.”
Though Emmett could tell the boy did mind, he had the grace to back off. At least for now. Emmett figured it was a temporary reprieve, that Barton was merely holding his questions for later.
BART UNROLLED Pa’s Modern Rancher Magazine and stared at the cover. Sick the old man might be, but he hadn’t lost his interest in the thing he loved best—his spread. Not wanting that to be an insurmountable problem between them, he figured he’d better nip any problems in the bud right away.
“Listen, Pa, before I get the kids all settled in here for good, we gotta get something straight between us.”
“What would that be?”
Locking his gaze with his father’s in a no-nonsense way, he said, “That, from now on, I’m in charge.”
In a too-obvious attempt to sidestep the issue, Emmett said, “Reed and Chance always looked up to you. They won’t give you any trouble.”
“It’s not them I’m worried about.”
Shifting under his son’s stare, Emmett coughed again, this time with more intensity. Bart tried not to let his father’s illness get to him. He had to be tough as nails or this wasn’t going to work. He couldn’t let Pa call the shots here. And it was in his nature to be suspicious of anything that seemed too good to be true.
Emmett said, “The fate of both the Curly-Q and Silver Springs rests on your shoulders, son.”
“Silver Springs? Whoa! Stiles didn’t say anything about that, Pa.” Barton threw the magazine onto the nightstand that his father had built with his own two hands. “It’s not part of the deal.”
“The deal is to get the Curly-Q back on its feet and keep it that way. A healthy Silver Springs will be good for the ranch and vice-versa, especially since half of the property there is tied up in the family corporation papers. A town needs law and order, and you’re the only one with any experience in that area.”
“We’re talking about a ghost town, Pa!”
“One that never should’ve gone the way it did,” Emmett muttered. “It was a stagecoach stop on the Santa Fe Trail, for pity’s sake! We can’t abandon a piece of living history! If not for poor planning—”
“Try a changed economy!” Bart cut in. “A mine that closed down when it played out! A railroad that stopped running through the damn place!”
“But Tucker and me were men of vision,” Emmett insisted, “even if Noah couldn’t hack it,” he said of a third partner who Bart had never met. “We should’ve found a way through the setbacks. Tucker might’ve given up and moved over to Taos, but not me. I’ve just been waiting for my chance…uh, a chance for us all, that is. I say it’s not too late if the Quarrels men all pull together.”
Bart realized he’d been right. Even serious illness hadn’t dampened his father’s will. Pa was making plans like there was no tomorrow.
“Pa, you’re stuck in some damn dream. When I was a kid, it was already too late! We’ll be lucky if we can hang onto the Curly-Q and a way of life that’s mostly gone now.”
But his father had never been able to accept defeat when he took a notion. “More’n one way to skin a cat,” Emmett grumbled. “It seems tourists like visiting Silver Springs. Tourists have money burning holes in their pockets. And some people actually have been moving in, trying to make a go of it. Population in the town proper is more’n seventy now…give or take a body.”
“Seventy? And you think I should—what?”
“You’re a lawman! Do what a lawman is supposed to do. Protect its citizens. Turn Silver Springs into a shiny town that’ll attract new families. Grow it back to what it once was, for God’s sake!”
Good Lord, the old man was deluded!
“I turned in my badge, Pa. I gave up work I loved to run this ranch, remember?”
Emmett slid his eyes away. “Yeah, yeah, I remember. But part of you will always be a lawman, badge or no badge. Can’t take that out of a man. Besides, I figure you’re gonna have lots of help around here, so you can whip Silver Springs back into shape in your spare time.”
As much as the idea appealed to him, Bart recognized a pipe dream when he heard one.
“This ranch will take every drop of sweat I’ve got. Reed’ll put his back into the place, but he’s not a leader. As for Chance, he’s not much of a worker, as I recall.” Suspicions rising once more, Bart narrowed his gaze and glared at his father. “Unless you mean something else.”
Emmett said, “All I meant is if you three boys all pull together, you can do anything.” He put his hand to his chest and sighed. “Arguing knocks the stuffing outta me these days. I need my rest now.”
Exasperated, Bart backed off. “All right. We can finish this later.”
“Since you have time on your hands,” Emmett suggested, “why don’t you check on Silver Springs this afternoon personally and see what you think.”
“Already did that. Wasn’t impressed.”
“Then look up Alcina Dale and hear what she has to say. Might change your mind.”
“Alcina?” Barton appeared surprised. “Haven’t seen her in nearly twenty years.”
“That girl restored the old family home on her own,” Emmett said, “turned that spook place into one of them fancy bed-and-breakfasts that tourists like so much.”
“Bed-and-breakfast?” Bart echoed. He’d seen the place, all prettied up, on his way through town. “Not the Springs Bed-and-Breakfast?”
“How many do you think a town like Silver Springs could handle? Of course that’s the one!”
Mulling over that information, Bart said, “Hmm, maybe she does know something I don’t. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt anything to talk to her.”
“Good. You could do worse than a beautiful, smart, ambitious woman—even if Alcina is that reprobate Tucker’s daughter.”
“Pa, whoa.”
Was Pa now trying to manage his love life? Bart wondered, not exactly ready for one, even though Sara had been dead long enough that he missed a woman’s company. But his family took up all the emotion he had in him.
His family…that included his father.
“Pa,” Bart said, a knot of worry making him ask, “you are okay, aren’t you?”
Emmett stared at a crack in the adobe wall that needed fixing. “As well as can be expected.”
Bart swallowed hard. “Can I tell the kids they’ll get to see you at the supper table?”
“If I’m up to it. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a family dinner in this house.”
“I’ll let you get your rest, then,” Bart said, opening the door. “And, Pa…”
“Yeah, son?”
Bart shifted his piercing gaze from his father’s face to the foot