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“You’ve lost weight,” he said. The man was downright gaunt. “Don’t you eat?”
“We eat real good,” Cyrus answered. “Pa looks fit as a fiddle and don’t you say otherwise.”
The men around the fire shuffled and tried to appear disinterested.
Brand figured he didn’t need to say anything more about the subject. Anyone with eyes could see how Pa’s hide hung from his frame. His skin had a peculiar pale hue to it. Could he be ill? Despite the differences between them, Brand ached to think of his father dying. A man lost and on the run. Please, God, give me a chance to speak to him. Perhaps Brand could persuade him to stop running.
A shudder snaked across Brand’s shoulders. That would mean Pa turning himself over to the authorities. He’d hang. More than once the Duggan gang had left death in the wake of their activities.
“Got any coffee?” Brand nodded toward the enamel pot hanging near the fire.
“Cyrus, get your brother some.” Pa made it sound all loving and familial, even though Cyrus growled a protest as he sloshed steaming coffee into a tin mug.
Brand took it without comment. Experience told him Cyrus would object to anything, from a word of thanks to a kick in the shins. Seems he viewed every word and action with the same yellowed opinion.
One of the men took Brand’s horse away, leaving him feeling exposed and helpless. But he would never reveal weakness to this brood, and he hunkered down on his heels to nurse his coffee. Dawg pressed close, keeping Brand between him and the others.
Cyrus perched on a tree stump nearby, his boots swinging back and forth inches from Brand’s face.
Brand ignored him. Like Dawg, he knew better than to rise to Cyrus’s invitations to trouble.
Pa sank to the ground nearby. “Hear you been doing all right fer yerself lately.”
“I’ve been doing all right by myself most of my life.” He kept all rancor from his tone, just as Pa had made his words a simple comment, when Brand knew they held a whole lot more.
“You always was ungrateful,” Cyrus growled.
Pa signaled for his elder son to be still. “We been looking about, asking questions and learning lots.”
“Uh-huh.” Brand knew the sort of things they would be learning—who kept a stash of money in their mattress, who had valuables in the house, when the stagecoach carried a heavy strongbox.
“Some interesting things have come to light.” Pa inched closer. “This Eddie Gardiner you been working for is one of the biggest ranchers in the territory.” He waited for Brand to say something. When he didn’t, Pa continued. “And he comes from a rich family back in England. From what I hear they practically roll in money.”
“Do tell.” Guess it took a certain amount of backing to get a ranch like Eden Valley going, but from what Brand had seen, Eddie and his family lived simply enough. Why, his sister, Jayne, lived in a tiny, two-room cabin with her new husband. Didn’t sound like stinking rich to him.
But he knew the futility of trying to make Pa see reason.
His skin twitched to think of his pa spying on the ranch. Had he watched Sybil? Brand clenched his teeth so hard they creaked. If he’d seen them... Well, family or not, he would have shown his objection.
“You’ve been there some time. Guess you’ve learned a lot about the goings on of the ranch.”
“I broke a few horses. That’s all.”
Pa shook his head and wagged a finger. “Ain’t how I saw it.”
Brand dared not react. He knew from the leer on Pa’s face they’d seen him with Sybil. His head threatened to explode. His presence had put her in danger. He had known all along he should move on. But had he listened to the warning inside his head? Nope. Foolish feelings had been allowed to rule.
Cyrus laughed mockingly, his voice jarring across Brand’s nerves like loud discordant music.
Pa grinned at Cyrus, sending the jarring feeling deep into Brand’s gut. He knew what they would ask next. They always asked the same thing.
Could he hope to delay them? Brand set the empty cup down and yawned widely. “I’m tired.”
Cyrus’s boot connected to Brand’s knee. “Guess that’s what happens when you spend your time courting. Don’t get ’nough sleep.”
