“Gil and I inherited the disdain from our fathers, just the way you boys inherited it from us.”
“You’ve lost me, too,” I say.
I watch my father return to the recliner.He sits with a deep sigh and his gaze meets mine.“You know that the MacLaines come from colorful frontier stock.”
Uh-oh.
“Colorful” is his catchall word for anyone or anything that’s less-than-wholesome.
“What’s going on, Dad?”
He raises his eyes to the ceiling.“My grandfather, Angus MacLaine, was a real character.He had a bad habit that almost got him killed a few times.”
“And what habit was that?”Cal asks.
“He was prone to cheating at cards.”
This is new information to me.All I’ve ever heard about ole Angus was that he was the first ranching baron of our family.He was the one who turned his grandfather’s post-Civil War era land purchase into a powerhouse.
The other thing we know about Angus is that his wife, Bridget Lynch MacLaine, was a famous frontier doctor who rode horseback through wild country to treat patients.She’s in the history books.
The history books left out the bit about cheating at cards, however.
“So one night at the poker table sometime in 1919, Angus beat Tatum Travis at a hand of five-card draw and won ten thousand acres of Travis land in lieu of cash.”
“Say what?”I ask.“Which acres?”
“Part of the east meadow, out past the family cemetery.”
“That’s some of the most beautiful property we own!”Finn says.
“We do own it, right, Dad?”
“Well, Evander, it says so, right there in the county recorder’s office, and we’ve sure as hell been paying taxes on it for the last hundred-plus years.So I’d have to say yes, we own it.”
“How do you know he cheated?”Cal pushes off from where he’s been leaning against the closed door and sits down on the edge of the bed facing Dad.
“I don’t know for sure, of course.It’s just an old family story.And allegedly, Tatum Travis was even more of a cheat than Angus, and he spent the rest of his days trying to win the land back.Never did.Then in the next generation, my father and Gil’s father were at each other’s throats their whole lives.”
“How come you never told us this?Finn asks.
“I didn’t want the foolishness to continue.”
“It’s likely that Gil never told his boys, either,” Cal says.“If he had, we’d have heard about it a long time ago.”
“You’re probably right,” Dad says.
“And yet, it spilled over into our generation anyway,” I say.“Funny how that works.”
My dad looks at me.“Which brings us right back to the events of today.”
I lock eyes with my dad.“I want to give Gil Travis back his land.”
“I think that’s a fine idea, son.And you should know that Gil is a very old-fashioned man.He’ll expect you to ask for his blessing with Phoebe.And if he’s as ill as you say, you better get your ass in gear.”
I’m stunned.“Thank you, Dad.”
“Well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see this coming, son.”
