Gil gripped his shoulder, and he flinched at the touch. " I'm not trying to argue with you. It's just that we should all have a say in this. We'll make the decision together."
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. "Fine. We'll vote."
Gil glanced toward the door. "Good. You want to go inside, or should I call the guys out here?"
Now? He'd not even had a chance to recover from the exhausting days in Two Stones's village. But maybe it was better to get this over with. He had to convince his brothers not to encourage strangers to come on their ranch…by leading them straight to the house, of all things.
"Have them come out here," he grumbled. "Only Jude, Sampson, and Miles though. Not the women or children."
"What about Jonah?"
Ugh. He didn't want to draw attention to the conversation by having it out inside. "I'll talk to him after."
"We've already mentioned it to him."
Jericho couldn't help but glare at Gil. "What is this? The moment I leave the ranch, you start a mutiny?" After he'd worked so hard to keep them safe. To keep the family together like Dat asked. Maybe that was the argument he should make.
Dat's wishes. And the sapphires.
Gil chuckled as he started out of the barn. "Not a mutiny. It's for your good."
Jericho finished with the horses while he waited for his brothers. He would stay calm. He would show them there was nothing selfish in his desire to keep strangers out. It was a sacrificehemade as well as the others so the family would stay together and safe.
As his brothers gathered around him, Jericho took a deep breath and spoke. "I don't know if I've told all of you this or not." He let his gaze move from one brother to the next. "When Dat realized he might not make it, he gave me some final instructions. He said to keep the family together."
When he spoke the words aloud, they seemed to fall flat in the air. Each face waited expectantly for more.
He swallowed. "Lucy never would have met Derek if I hadn't taken her with me to Helena. We wouldn't have lost her if she'd stayed on the ranch."
Jude straightened, and part of Jericho clenched tighter. Jude was the most level-headed of the younger group. Surely he would speak sensibly.
"What happened to Lucy was hard. She made a decision she regretted for the rest of her life." He kept his voice steady. "But that doesn't mean the rest of us will do the same. You have to let us choose for ourselves, Jer. Trust us."
Sampson piped up. "If we build the trail to lead people away from the creek, we'll still be protecting the strawberries."
He had no other rebuttal. If they wouldn't see the wisdom in what he'd already said—and the lessons they should have learned from the past—there was nothing else he could offer.
He would just have to find a way to protect them from the danger this new trail would bring.
"We should vote then." Gil spoke quietly. "Who says we build the trail?"
Four hands rose, all but Jericho's.
Jude stepped in. "Andis willing to help cut it?"
Miles looked like he wanted to lower his arm, but after a look around the group, he kept his hand up.
They would be building the trail then. That didn't change the fact he was head of the family and had to maintain both safety and peace.
So he nodded. "All right then. Just make sure work on the ranch doesn't suffer. We still have to gather in the last of the hay and keep working the two-year-olds. The calves will need to be weaned soon too."
"Understood," Jude said. "And don't worry, big brother. This will be good for all of us."
That wouldn't be true. It just meant his work would be harder than ever.
* * *
"Jer, didn't you say we're singing today?"
