Rose(125)

“He’s never said a word about me bringing back his father’s things,” Salty told her. “I was sure one of them would.”

“He will. He just needs more time.”

But as the days went by, she grew less hopeful. George had placed the colonel’s letter on a shelf where anyone in the room could see it. It seemed to exercise malevolent power on all the brothers. Even Zac, who had no memory of his father and virtually none of his mother, was affected by it.

At last she couldn’t stand it any longer. She took the letter and put it in the bottom of one of her drawers.

The boys noticed its absence. Rose saw each one of them glance at the shelf as they came in, then pause a moment when they realized the letter wasn’t there. But the atmosphere improved almost immediately. It wasn’t long before they were in pretty good spirits.

The roundup was nearly complete. There had been no more trouble with the McClendons, and they would soon begin the drive to King’s ranch. They had secured their ranch, they would have their breeding stock, and they would have some money. They were on their way to establishing the Randolph ranch as a permanent and profitable business.

And they had done it together. None of them would say it, but Rose knew they were all proud of themselves.

“I think the ranch ought to have a distinctive brand,” she said one evening.

“We have a brand,” Jeff reminded her.

“And a name,” she added. “You don’t want people calling it the Randolph place, do you?”

George eyed her, a kind of expectant amusement in his eyes. It made her squirm, but she refused to back down.

“I agree,” Monty said, suddenly enthusiastic. “The running ‘S’ isn’t our brand. It came with the place.”

“What would you like?” George asked.

“It ought to be something distinctive, something people associate with us,” Jeff said.

“And something not easy to change into another brand,” Hen added.

“I can’t think of anything that satisfies all those requirements,” George said. Then he looked straight at Rose. “Do you have any ideas, boys?” But his eyes never left Rose.

“We could use—” Monty began before Hen elbowed him in the ribs. “What the hell!” Monty exploded, rounding on his twin.

“He doesn’t have any ideas at all,” Hen said to George. “None of us does.”

Rose was tempted to leave the room. They were ganging up on her. Even Monty, who was usually too single-minded to understand anything less subtle than a blow to the head. She would have given anything to wipe the grin off George’s face. Hen was just as bad. She plunged ahead. After all, it was her idea.

“I did have one suggestion I thought you might consider,” she said, giving George back his look, stare for stare. “Since there are seven of you, I thought you ought to use the number seven.”

“There’s only six,” Zac corrected.

“You mustn’t forget Madison,” Rose reminded him gently. “George hasn’t.”

That succeeded in wiping the smile from George’s face, but Rose wished it hadn’t.

“And I think you ought to put a ring around the seven. The Circle Seven sounds good. It also makes it harder to change the brand.”

“A square block would make it even more difficult,” George said. He was teasing her. She knew it.

“I like the sound of Circle Seven,” Monty said.

“I still want to know why Rose thinks we ought to use a circle,” George said.

“Does it matter?” Monty asked.

“Yes,” George insisted.

He was determined to pry the reason out of her. Well, he could have it, Rose thought, but he would be sorry.

“I thought of a circle because it represents the unbroken and unending love that holds this family together. Every time you see it, you’ll know why you’re working so hard.”

She’d never seen them look more uncomfortable. She’d have to remember that men didn’t deal well with real emotion, especially not when there were other men around.

“If we’re going to include Madison, we ought to include you,” Zac said. He was the only one immune to the significance of Rose’s words. “It ought to be the Circle Eight.”

“You play your cards right, young man, and you can have a wonderful career fleecing wealthy dowagers and beautiful heiresses,” Rose said, wanting to hug Zac. “You really can’t call it Circle Eight, though it’s sweet of you to suggest it. It would have to become the Circle Nine when the next one of you gets married, and then the Circle Ten. If you didn’t, the other wives would feel hurt.”