“What did Cab say?”
“‘Wouldn’t be the first time it happened.’ Kind of cold, don’t you think?”
“Seems about right to me.” If Ward treated Mindy the way he treated Wye, who could blame her for leaving? Although it said something that she’d left Elise behind.
“What if Mindy is clinically depressed? It seems like someone should track her down and make sure she’s okay,” Wye pressed.
“I guess they have rules to follow. A person isn’t a criminal just because they leave home.”
Wyoming played with her keys. “What if Ward doesn’t go to bed? What if he drinks more and doesn’t wake up when Elise cries?”
“Give me the word, and we’ll drive right back there. Is there any chance he could get violent?”
“Ward? With Elise—or me?” Wyoming asked.
“Either of you.”
She found her purse and deposited the keys into it firmly. “No, that’s not his style at all, and he loves Elise. Ward’s a little full of himself, and he’s definitely having a pity party right now, but he’s not a bad guy. I could just kill Mindy; the least she could do is call and let everybody know she’s okay.” She set her purse on a nearby chair. “I don’t know about you, but I need a cup of cocoa. Want some?”
“Sure. Maybe Mindy is afraid that if she calls, someone will persuade her to come back.”
Wye had just opened the refrigerator and was reaching for the milk, but she looked over her shoulder at that.
“Not because Ward is a bad guy or there’s anything wrong with her life here in Chance Creek. Just because she’s obviously overwhelmed,” he hurried to explain.
“Or lazy,” Wyoming said. She shut the door with a thump. “Sorry, now I’m the one being harsh.” She poured two cups full of milk into a pot and turned on the burner. “When things got hard for my family, I didn’t have the option of running away and weaseling out of all the work I needed to do.”
“You’re like me,” Emerson told her. “We couldn’t run off knowing we were hurting someone at home. Maybe that’s because we know how it feels to be on the receiving end.”
Wyoming nodded. “I guess you’re right.” But she didn’t explain her answer. Emerson wished he knew more about her past, but he’d wait for another time to ask.
The following morning Emerson watched her head out, squashing the urge to kiss her again, knowing the time wasn’t right.
“I’ll let Cass know when I’m going to be home today,” Wye told him.
“How about you call and let me know.” Emerson touched her hand. “I like to hear your voice,” he added.
Wyoming smiled a little. “I guess your voice isn’t so bad either,” she said. “See you later.”
“See you.”
He realized he still hadn’t told her about what’d happened at dinner the other night. Had Cass mentioned the argument to her? Somehow Emerson doubted it, and the knowledge of a looming showdown made him feel the need for some fresh air. He decided to walk out to the Park again this morning and make some notes on what needed to be done. He could always leave them behind for someone else to take on if he ended up moving somewhere else.
He made sure the General was up, dressed, fed his breakfast and settled at his desk before he left. Once more Emerson did his PT exercises ostentatiously in the General’s presence. Once more the General balked at doing his own. “Be back in an hour,” Emerson said to him when it was obvious nothing would change the man’s mind.
The General only grunted.
“Taking a walk,” he told Cass when he passed her in the kitchen.
“Hold up,” she called as he went to put on his coat and boots. “Last night the General asked me to find these and give them to you.” She held out a ring of keys. “They’re for all the trailers. He figured you’d want to see inside them at some point.” When Emerson took them from her, she added, “We’re happy to have you and Wye here if that’s the way it works out, you know.”
“You all discussed this with the General?” He was surprised; when had they had the time?
“No, not exactly,” she said.
“He ordered you to give me these.”
“Don’t take it like that. It’ll work out in the end, you’ll see. Our argument is with the General, not you, and it’s about his lack of communication with us, not the decisions he’s making.”
“Still.” He tried to hand back the keys, but she wouldn’t take them.
“It’s fine, Emerson. None of the rest of us want to live at the Park. And you don’t have to, either, you know. You’re not a hired hand. Is that really where you want to settle?”
“No sense letting perfectly good houses go to waste.”
“He’s right,” Lena said, coming into the room from the hall. “I think Emerson is smart to see the opportunity there.”
Emerson checked her expression to see if she was being sarcastic. He had no doubt Lena resented the amount of time he spent with her father, and she’d been angrier than anyone else at the General’s high-handed tactics. She didn’t understand that the General was comfortable with him precisely because he wasn’t a member of their family. The General had gotten so used to fighting with his daughters and being called out by them for all his flaws, he still struggled to relax around them. At least he was no longer doing daily muster sessions, the way he had during his first weeks here, even though his daughters had told him it would be okay to continue the routine. Once he got settled in, the General had realized that everyone chatted about their day over dinner, anyway. They didn’t need to go over the same ground twice.
Emerson doubted Lena would want to do any of the jobs he carried out for the General, but every time she came upon the two of them together, she still acted like he was horning his way into her family. He would’ve liked to help out more with ranch chores, but she had a way of making them uncomfortable, too. While his ankle was healing, it still slowed him down, and Lena went out of her way to move extra fast when he was around, getting things done with a quick efficiency that left him feeling like a child rather than a man. A couple of the other men had noticed, including her husband, Logan. Emerson had a feeling Logan had taken Lena aside and chastised her about her behavior, but just as he might’ve expected, that did nothing to warm her toward him.
“I’m only planning to make a list of what needs to be done to fix up the trailers. I’m not trying to take over the job.”
“I just told you; no one else wants to live in them,” Cass said. “Right, Lena?”
“Right.”
“The General and I have discussed renting out some of the others. All the income would go straight into the family coffers,” he added.
“Which works out nicely for you since you’re wedging your way into the family,” Lena quipped.
Hell.
Emerson watched her go, all his interest in the trailers disappearing with her.
“Don’t let Lena get to you; you’re not the one she’s mad at. She and the General were starting to get along and then he got all high-handed again.”