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His stomach growled and he headed for the pantry. He’d make himself a sandwich, leave a note to tell his father he’d be back for dinner, and be at the Cortez ranch in half an hour.
* * *
“It’s so nice to see you, Adam.” Ines Cortez patted his hand and poured him another glass of iced tea. “Carlos hasn’t been getting out much, and you’ve cheered him up.”
“How’s he really feeling?” Adam lowered his voice, aware that his father-in-law was sitting outside on the porch, and the door was open. He’d spent half an hour visiting with Carlos, and had only come inside when his companion started to doze off.
Ines grimaced. “He’s very tired. These long trips to the hospital aren’t helping. The sooner we move to Sacramento, the better.” She hesitated. “Do you know a guy called Rio Martinez?”
“Yeah, he’s engaged to Yvonne who runs the café. Why?”
“He called me today, said he’d heard the ranch was for sale, and wanted to know if he could come visit.”
“I haven’t heard anything bad about him,” Adam said cautiously. “He’d also be good for the cash, seeing as his father is some kind of billionaire.”
Ines nodded. “That’s good to know. I’ll call him back and ask if he can come up this weekend.” She looked around the old-fashioned kitchen. “Not that’s there’s much to see. We’re barely functioning as a ranch right now.”
“I can always come over and help out. You know that,” Adam reminded her.
“You’ve got enough to do.” Ines smiled at him, the worry on her face easing slightly. “Jeff will be coming after me if I keep you from doing your job.”
“He has plenty of alternatives,” Adam said. He’d noticed the gradual decline in the number of cattle and the unplowed fields. He’d decided not to mention them because the couple had enough to deal with.
“Nonsense. Jeff relies on you. He told me so himself.” Ines surreptitiously checked the time. “I hate to cut your visit short, but I have to fetch Carlos’s prescriptions from Dr. Tio’s office.”
“I could get them for you,” Adam suggested as he rose from the table. “I have to go into town anyway. I can drop them back on my way home.”
“Would you?” Ines cast a worried glance at the door. “I don’t like to leave Carlos by himself.”
“It’s not a problem.” Adam took the list from her and stowed it safely in his jacket pocket. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“God bless you, Adam.” She hugged him tight, “You are such a comfort to us.”
He kissed the top of her head, said good-bye to Carlos who was dozing in the sunlight, and got back in his truck. Now that he really looked at the place, he could see the heart had gone out of it. The decline had started when Louisa, their only child, had died so young, and had only accelerated when Carlos became ill.
He wished he had the money to buy it himself, but it wasn’t possible. He’d told Carlos not to worry about leaving him the place in his will—that he should take the money now and use it to get well. It had been a hard thing to do, as if he was giving up on his last promise to Louisa, but Carlos had to come first. Things were changing. He didn’t like it much, but there wasn’t anything he could do.
He drove into town through bare hills covered in yellow grass while dust clouds swirled across the road and the sun blazed down. Every breath felt like it scorched his throat, and his eyes were dry and scratchy. He sighed as he approached Main Street and came to a complete stop. Two tour buses were taking up the width of the street and they didn’t look like they were going anywhere anytime soon.
One change he could agree on was the current push to get the historic street closed to traffic. He took a quick right turn onto Front Street, which would take him around the back of the town and deliver him at the other end of Main Street where Dr. Tio’s medical center was situated.
The sunlight was so blinding that he almost missed the figure on the side of the street attempting to flag him down. After a quick glance in his rearview mirror, he stopped, backed up, and let down his window.
