The kitchen door opened and Connor and Emma rushed inside. “Aunt Lana! Aunt Lana!”
They raced straight for her. Heart swelling with love, she leaned down and hugged them both. She envied Liz, with her loving husband and two adorable children. “It’s been a whole week since I saw you. What’s new?”
“Daddy’s gonna sign me up for T-ball in June,” Connor said proudly. “When is that, Aunt Lana?”
“Let’s see. It’s April now. After April comes...?”
Connor screwed up his face. “Summer?”
She laughed. “Summer isn’t for a little while yet, buddy. After April comes May, then June.”
Emma gave an enthusiastic nod. “When I’m five, I get to play T-ball, too.”
“That’ll be next summer—how exciting.” Lana made a mental note to get the dates of the games so she could cheer Connor on.
“How are Daddy and Grandpa doing with the hamburgers?” Liz asked.
“Good,” Emma replied. “We’re ’posed to tell you that they’re almost ready.”
“Then you’d both better hang up your jackets and wash your hands.” Liz pointed to the powder room.
The men brought in the hamburgers, greeted Lana, and helped set the food on the dining room table. Dinner was the usual chaotic but fun affair, with Connor and Emma causing lots of laughter.
Lana finally relaxed. She was almost home free. With any luck she’d skate through the rest of the evening with a smile on her face and then head home filled with the warmth born out of family harmony. Or so she thought.
At the end of the Sunday meal, Emma and Connor scampered into the fenced backyard to play. The adults lingered at the table, sipping coffee and chatting.
“I keep forgetting to mention, I ran into Cousin Tim at the grocery yesterday,” Lana’s mother said.
Lana’s cousin from her father’s side was nine years her senior, but he seemed much older. Always a brusque man, he’d grown even more difficult after his wife had divorced him less than a year after their wedding. Having grown up in a bustling city, his ex had decided the ranching life wasn’t for her. Or maybe the problem lay with Cousin Tim himself. Lana wasn’t sure. Her cousin rarely smiled or laughed, which made being around him a chore. After eleven years, it was long past time for him to get over his ex and move on.
“We haven’t heard from him since last Christmas,” her father said. “How is he?”
“Not so good.” Her mother looked solemn. “He told me that a few months ago, some of the cows at Pettit Ranch died suddenly. It turned out they were poisoned. Sly Pettit has accused Tim.”
Two men named Sly in the same town...What were the odds? Lana had gone to high school with yet another. Apparently, the name was popular among the sixty-thousand-odd residents here in Prosperity. She imagined Cousin Tim’s neighbor, whom she’d never met, to be as beefy and bowlegged as he was.
“That’s terrible—unless Cousin Tim actually did it,” Liz quipped. Both parents stared at her, appalled. “Well, he isn’t the nicest person.”
Their father frowned. “I don’t care, he’s family, and?—”
“Family sticks together through thick and thin,” Lana, Liz, and Eric replied in unison.
They meant it, too, especially when times were tough. When Brent had left Lana, they’d wrapped her in so much love and warmth, they’d nearly smothered her. But now that she wanted to adopt a baby by herself... Her parents’ disapproval ruled out their support.
Liz made a face. “Just because the man is family doesn’t mean we have to like him. He’s never exactly been fond of us, either.”
“Ranching is a tough business,” her father said. “Tim inherited the Lazy C from your great-uncle Horace, and it never has been a moneymaker. That kind of stress would make anyone grouchy.”
“Living all alone on that big ranch...” Lana’s mother shook her head. “I wouldn’t like that at all.”
“He has a crew and foreman to keep him company,” Liz pointed out. Under her breath she muttered, “They probably can’t stand him, either.” Then, in her normal voice, she said, “Hecould sell the ranch and find a job in the city, where he’d collect a regular paycheck.”
“With acreage prices at record lows, this isn’t the smartest time to sell,” Lana’s dad said. “Besides, Tim is a rancher through and through. As bitter and rough around the edges as he is, at heart he’s a decent man. He wouldn’t poison anyone’s cows.”
Lana frowned. “Then why would Mr. Pettit accuse him of such a thing?”
“God only knows, but I’m sure our cousin’s eager to tell me all about it. I suppose I’d better phone him, since he hasn’t called me.” Her father’s heavy breath indicated it would be a chore.
