“Banshee,” she said to the Anatolian shepherd. “Go outside for now.” She rubbed him behind the ear as he passed, looking insulted by his banishment. “It won’t take long,” she promised.
Scarlett carried a tray with coffee into the dining room. Renata followed with a plate of cookies. If Lynnie’s friends needed to stay a bit longer, they’d do what they could to be hospitable. It’s what Lynnie would have wanted. They served coffee, cleared more plates and moved into the parlor.
“You should play something.” Scarlett nodded at the now dust-free instrument.
She stared at the piano. “I can’t,” she confessed. “I don’t want to embarrass her, crying on her keyboard.”
Scarlett draped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry this happened now. Not saying there’s a better time for...” She broke off and shook her head. “You just moved here, is all I mean. To lose Lynnie now, when you’re back, it’s not fair.”
Tandy nodded. Lynnie had played a huge part in her decision to move to Fort Kyle. She swallowed.
“Lynnie would be glad you were back, Tandy,” Renata said. “And glad we set the place to rights.”
Tandy nodded, her gaze sweeping the parlor and the small group of white-haired ladies chatting away. Lynnie didn’t have family to come and tidy up her place. Other than some second cousin in the city—which city had never been specified—Lynnie didn’t have much.
Except for Click.
Tandy swallowed the razor-sharp lump in her throat, painful all the way down. Her attention wandered, but there was still no sign of Lynnie’s great-nephew. He’d be hurting, too. Lynnie was his rock, the only family that treated him like he was more than a nuisance and mistake.
“How old were we?” Renata asked, studying the wall of pictures she’d dusted earlier.
She glanced at the photo of them. “Young.” That girl hadn’t imagined her future like this. That girl had believed in the promise of a future full of everything she’d never had.
“You okay?” Renata asked, nudging her.
“We don’t have to be here.” Scarlett took her hand.
“Of course we do,” Tandy argued. “We all loved Lynnie. He might not even be here—”
“He’s not,” Scarlett said. “Not yet. Dad’s been on the lookout for him.”
Tandy looked at her. “Why? If I remember correctly, Uncle Woodrow was never very fond of Click.”
Renata snorted. “Understatement of the year.”
“But, now that Lynnie’s gone, what will happen to her property?” Scarlett asked.
Tandy frowned. “The land?” She sighed. “Lynnie’s been gone, what, three days? Uncle Woodrow’s already worrying over her land?” Of course he was. That was the way he worked.
Scarlett wrinkled her nose. “If Mr. Wallace bought this place, Dad would have a heart attack.”
Knowing her uncle Woodrow, that was probably true. Woodrow Boone, Scarlett’s father, was...prickly. He excelled at voicing his opinion loudly and being contrary. Still, Tandy respected her uncle. What he lacked in charm he made up for with determination. If he was determined to keep Lynnie’s place from falling into Vic Wallace’s possession, nothing would get in his way.
Apparently, that was something that hadn’t changed in Fort Kyle: Woodrow Boone v. Vic Wallace feud. The patriarchs of the two largest West Texas ranching families kept things civil in public—barely. The two men disagreed on everything. From cattle—Wallace’s Angus versus Uncle Woodrow’s Hereford—to fences—Wallace’s stone versus Boone’s traditional wood and wire—if they could find a way to disagree, they did.
Tandy had always thought Lynnie’s place the prettiest in the region. The natural spring that bubbled up cold and clean was a huge bonus in the dry, arid landscape. But there was more to it than access to water. Lynnie’s property was wedged between the Boones’ and Wallaces’—a hot and arid Texas Switzerland between two warring families. And since Lynnie had outlived three husbands with no children to pass the land on to—
“Click will inherit,” Tandy whispered, that realization making the tight grip on her control slip.
“Poor Click,” Renata whispered.
“That’s what Dad’s waiting on.” Scarlett shrugged.
Tandy leaned against the piano. Would he sell or stay? This place had been special to them all once, but now...
Renata glanced at Tandy with unfiltered sympathy. “I guess Click selling is what we want? I’d think having him around would be challenging.”
Renata’s words cut her deep. “I want him to be happy.” That hadn’t changed. But, yes, having him around would be challenging. Especially since she’d planned on making Fort Kyle home for a while.