Cole folded his arms, leaning against the banister. “Mrs. Harkner, your family is one of the tightest and strongest I’ve ever seen. That boy will be fine. We just wanted to tell you we think we should go back to the ranch and make sure things are okay there—tell them there what’s happened, and keep things goin’ while Jake and Lloyd can’t.”
“Yes. You should go and take care of things. You know what to do.” Randy glanced up at Cole, thinking what a good-looking man he would still be if not for his hard life and his drinking. “Cole, Jake is in a bad way. I hope Evie can get through to him.” She wiped at her eyes. “He’s in such a dark place right now.” She struggled against more tears. “I think it would be good for him to see the grandchildren. It will help him remember what he has to live for even if…the worst happens.” She grasped Pepper’s gnarled hand. “I want you two to go home and bring the grandchildren back here. Stephen has a right to be with his father, and it might be good for Jake to see Ben…and especially good for him to see Little Jake. I suppose the little girls should stay at the ranch. They won’t understand what’s happening. Teresa and Rodriguez can stay there with them. Explain everything to the other men and give them orders on what to do while we’re gone. And…I can give you a note to take to the bank where Lloyd put the money from the cattle sale. He paid you and the other men, but the men at the ranch should get paid, too, and Teresa and Rodriguez. I want you to take enough to pay all of them when you get there, and leave some money for supplies. In fact, get some supplies to take back with you. I’ll give you a list.”
Pepper frowned. “You’re trustin’ us with that much money?”
“Of course I am. Besides—” She glanced at Cole. “Do either of you really want to test Jake’s wrath if you run off with his and Lloyd’s money?”
Cole grinned, and Pepper chuckled. “You’ve got a point there, especially considerin’ the mood Jake’s in now.”
“I am going to clean up and change, and I’m sure Brian is bringing me something to help me sleep. Come back in the morning, and I’ll give you the list and a note for the bank so you can get started. The sooner you get back here with the grandsons, the better for Jake…and for Lloyd. I’m praying that by then, Lloyd will be awake and able to talk to them. And we all have to pray he’ll be able to move his legs. Right now he’s still unconscious, but you can tell he’s in a lot of pain. It’s so hard to watch. He groans almost constantly. We’re trying to keep Katie in bed for fear she’ll lose the baby, and we’re so afraid Lloyd might be paralyzed.” She rose again. “Do the two of you have a place to stay?”
The men glanced at each other, looking uncomfortable. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Are you at Gretta’s place?”
Pepper visibly reddened. “Yes, ma’am.”
“You tell Gretta I’m grateful for her offers of help.”
“I…ma’am… You know Gretta?” Cole asked.
Randy managed to smile a little through her tears. “Cole, who am I married to?”
“Jake Harkner.”
“And Jake generally knows every prostitute in every town he’s ever been to. Yes, I know Gretta. Back in Guthrie it was Dixie James. It’s too long a story to explain, but it’s all right to talk in front of me about Gretta.” She wiped at more tears. “At any rate, yes, bring the grandsons here. Little Jake will be a bit difficult, but he’ll mind us if we tell him it’s what Grandpa wants. I am thinking that wild little boy would be good for Jake. Maybe seeing him and Stephen and seeing his own son, Ben, will bring Jake out of this darkness and remind him how much he has to live for.”
Cole tipped his hat. “We’ll head on out then and come back in the mornin’ for your list and that bank note,” he told Randy. “You and the women take care of yourselves. And if anybody can bring Jake back to the here and now and pray Lloyd back to health, it’s that daughter of yours. I swear she’s right up there with the angels.”
“Thank you. I hope you’re right.”
Both men left just as Evie came out of her room, Brian holding her arm. Evie flew into her mother’s arms, and both women wept.
“Evie, you be careful how you approach Jake,” Randy warned. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”
“I just want Daddy to come back from that awful place he’s in,” Evie sniffed. “I just have to get through to him. He can’t give up, and he has to be strong for Lloyd and for… Oh, Mother, I heard they want to arrest him! They want to take Daddy away like they did all those years ago!”