Count it. It should come to about forty-one thousand.
That’s enough to pay off the note on the north eighty, with some left. I did the math. The place will be clear, and the cows will be yours, and you’ll have a year to decide what you want. Whether you want to stay. I think you’ll stay. But I never asked you, so I’m asking now, in the only way I’ve got.
Ben will want to ranch. Let him, if he’s still of a mind. But don’t let him do it out of guilt. Make him go to school first. Make him see another country. A man should have somewhere to come back from.And Karen. About Dwayne.
I know my brother. I’ve known him fifty years. He’s not a bad man. He’s a scared one. He’s been scared since our dad died and left the place to me, because I was the eldest and the steady one, and Dwayne got the pickup and a hundred dollars. He’s never forgiven it. He’ll hurt you, if there’s a chance. Not because he hates you. Because he thinks, down deep, that he’s owed.
