Jane Bonander Read Free Page B

exposed his fears and his broken heart. “Oh, Papa,” she said, coming up behind him and hugging him around the waist. Shock raced through her when she felt how thin he was. He’d had less stamina lately, too. Poor Papa. He was wearing out. “You’ve done a fine job. Josie and I love you very much.”
    He snuffled a skeptical laugh. “Yeah. I done a mighty fine job, ain’t I? Got me one daughter who can’t get enough of men, and the other who can’t stand the sight of them. Not to mention that I’ve got me a grandchild, but no son-in-law.”
    He ran his fingers through his thick, gray hair and lowered his head. “Who’s gonna run this place after I’m gone?” He laughed bitterly. “Who am I kidding? If things go on like this, there ain’t gonna be a place left to run.”
    Julia clung to her father. The very idea that one day he’d be gone made her stomach cave in. She didn’t like to think about it. She wished he wouldn’t mention it. His mood had been so low recently, she’d become worried about him.
    But she felt frustration, too. Basically, she’d been running the ranch for years. She’d done everything but keep the books, and knew she could have done that, too, but her father refused to let her. Before they lost the wheat, she’d been responsible for hiring the threshing crews and seeing that the grain got to Martinez, where it was loaded onto the ships bound for Europe. Now, all they had left were a few walnut trees and more fruit trees than they knew what to do with. And … a folder full of unpaid bills.
    If they’d been the only fruit growers in the area, perhaps they could have sold enough to make a go of the ranch, but many grew fruit because it was such an effortless crop. But it was delicate, too. If shipped too far, it would spoil. If picked too early, it wouldn’t ripen. Daily she fought her panic that the time would come when they’d be forced to leave. It would kill Papa. He seemed to be dying some each day, as it was.
    They could no longer afford to keep help. Papa had wanted at least one good permanent hand, and he’d hoped it would be Wolf McCloud. If Julia knew nothing else, she knew it shouldn’t be him, no matter how hard he worked. She felt threatened by his presence, and she would get rid of him.
    She gave her father a final squeeze, then led him into the house. “Let’s not worry about that now, Papa. Something will happen. It always does,” she suggested. “Come to the table. Your lunch is ready.”
    When he sat down, she put a piece of leftover quail pie and a dish of peach sauce, which was his favorite, in front of him, hoping to stimulate his appetite. He’d been eating so poorly of late.
    Her heart ached for him. Until recently, she hadn’t thought much about his loneliness and personal heartbreak. Children rarely think about their parents’ problems, for they’re so wrapped up in their own lives. Like Josette. But Julia saw herself in him, could almost envision herself sitting at the table twenty years from now, alone, but hopefully not lonely, but she couldn’t be sure. That thought spawned another.
    “Papa, I haven’t seen the Henleys lately.” Meredith Henley and her son Serge, whom she’d once tried to marry off to Julia, usually came by on a weekly basis.
    “They went back East. Left Frank Barnes in charge,” he answered, toying with his pie.
    The mere sound of Frank Barnes’s name made Julia flush with humiliation and anger. “I don’t know why they had to hire him, anyway. He should have been run out of town.”
    “Just because he went and got your sister pregnant don’t mean he ain’t a good hand, Julia.”
    Oh, Julia thought, if that were the only reason she despised him. She would never forget how he’d pretended to court her, and all the while was sleeping with Josette. He was pond scum. Buffalo chips. Hog slop. And she was glad he was gone.
    “Serge and Meredith will be gone a few months,” her father offered, interrupting her