She breathed into his shoulder quietly, and as she clung to her father, she tugged Beth into the circle of his embrace. He wrapped his arms around his girls. It was so easy to hold them both.
“I don’t have anything to bring you,” Garner said. “I can’t do anything to save this place.”
“I don’t care,” Rose whispered. “It doesn’t matter. You have to stay. Whatever happens, I hope you will stay. Everything will be all right then.”
“If you insist.”
“I dreamed of this day. I knew you would come.”
When the time was right, he would give credit to Beth for that. If not for her, father and daughter would have each dreamed the same dream until they met at the gates of heaven.
He heard Danny say to Jacob, “Is that my grandpa Remke?”
Garner replied, “It is, son. Back from the grave.” He added so that Beth would hear, “In more ways than one.”
Danny was beaming. “Prodigious,” he said.
Garner laughed, still holding Rose and Beth close to him. “Now that sounds like something I would have said when I was your age.”
“You two already have something in common,” Jacob said. Garner saw the man cast a smile at his granddaughter, though he was talking to Danny. His first thought was that this cowboy was far too old for Beth—and then he turned his back on the thought. He had no desire to travel that judgmental road again. He despised the destination.
Rose tilted Beth’s forehead toward her and planted a firm kiss on it. “I can’t believe you did this,” she whispered.
“Why don’t you take your dad back up to the house?” Jacob said to Rose. “Danny and I can keep looking for Wally.”
Beth stepped out of Garner’s embrace. “What’s happened to Wally?”
“He ran off during the night,” Rose said. “Sometime after bed check.”
“He was upset yesterday,” Jacob told Beth. “That lockbox of his is gone again. He accused one of the other men of stealing it. You know how they tease him sometimes.”
“We try to keep that sort of thing to a minimum,” Rose said to her father. “Most of the time the men are really decent.”
“He took a couple of shovels and went off last night, then didn’t show for breakfast. The three of us have been all over the southern property line, but so far, nothing.”
“It’s easy to dig down there by the creek,” Beth said. “And there’s lots of places to hide something.”
“Those were our thoughts,” Jacob said.
“I looked there for my truck when—did Levi really sell it?” she asked.
“No! Why would he tell you that?” asked Rose. “And when?”
“It doesn’t matter now. Who else is searching?”
“Everyone,” Rose said. “Eric and Emory are searching the west side, Roy’s on the north, and Lorena’s keeping a lookout at the ranch house.” She looked at Garner and squeezed his hand.
“Everyone except Levi,” Danny said. “He’s got higher priorities.”
“Respect your brother, Danny,” Rose said.
“I know, Mom. But c’mon. We all know that Levi’s the reason why Wally’s so agitated,” Danny said. “Jacob’s just too respectful to say so.”
“What do you mean?” Beth asked, looking at Jacob.
Rose said, “Sam Johnson has been on the property a lot this past week—he and Levi are already drawing up plans.”
“I haven’t surrendered my share yet,” Beth said.
“No one has. But they’re moving ahead. In any case, Wally was up at the cemetery while Sam and Levi were surveying those acres, and—you tell it, Jacob. I guess everything I know I heard from you.”
“Wally said he heard them talking about relocating the family plots.”
Beth looked at her mother. “Levi promised not to.”
“I know, hon.”
“That sounds bad,” Garner said.
“Downright iniquitous,” said Danny. Garner liked this boy more and more.
Jacob continued, “Wally barged in and started objecting. He threatened to tell you all about their plans, Beth.”
“Me?”
“He hasn’t stopped talking about you since the day we buried your dad. He’s been wanting to know where you are. Levi told him you were dead, and that’s why you hadn’t been around.”
Beth paled.
“Spawn of the devil,” Garner said. Danny belted out a laugh. Rose shot him a look of disbelief. “Oh, I didn’t mean that,” Garner said.
“Wally came back around suppertime out of his head,” Jacob continued. “He said he couldn’t find his lockbox and Levi had stolen it. He was desperate to get it back.”
Beth’s sigh was heavy. “I suppose Levi denies it all.”
“Not in so many words. You know the notebook Wally carries?”
“Yeah, it’s how he remembers things.”
“He pulled it out and started taking notes of their conversation. Levi