Texas Forever. Janet Dailey

funny, and wise—and always her steadfast friend.

      “The funeral is set for Saturday,” Will had told her. “After the service, we’ll be taking Jasper to the Hill Country to bury him next to Sally’s grave. She was—”

      “Yes, I know,” Rose had said. “She was the girl who drowned before their wedding. He told me he’d never loved anyone else.” Rose had wiped away the first of many tears. “I’ll be there as soon as I can get a flight. Jasper was my best friend. I want to say a proper good-bye to him.”

      “You can fly into Lubbock,” Will said. “Let us know when you’ve got your flight. Erin can be there to pick you up.”

      “Where has the time gone? I can’t believe she’s old enough to drive.”

      “Erin’s nineteen and very much her own person,” Will said. “You’ll enjoy getting to know her.”

      “That sounds lovely. I was going to get a rental, but I wasn’t looking forward to driving a strange car on the freeway. How will I know your daughter when I see her?”

      “You’ll know her,” Will had assured her. “Erin is the image of Susan, my mother.”

      Rose’s thoughts spun back to the present as the plane touched down on the runway and taxied to the gate. Clutching her carry-on, she let the crush of deplaning passengers—like cattle going down a chute, she thought—carry her through the Jetway and out into the terminal. There was a moment’s unease as she spotted the BAGGAGE CLAIM sign and followed the arrows. Would Will’s daughter be waiting? Would they recognize each other?

      She’d kept in touch with her Rimrock family, mostly by way of occasional Christmas cards. She knew that Will had married, divorced, and remarried the same woman—strange that he hadn’t mentioned her just now. She knew that a third Tyler son had turned up—Sky Fletcher, born of Bull’s brief affair with a Comanche woman. She knew that Beau was married with a young daughter, and that he’d returned to the ranch for a time, but eventually had gone back to his government job. Ferg Prescott—the scheming neighbor Rose and Bull had both detested—was long gone. So was his son, Garn, who’d sold the Prescott Ranch to a syndicate before going into politics. Sky had married Garn’s daughter, joining the two rival lines. And that, Rose thought, was the sum total of what she knew. Everything else would be a surprise.

      Passing into the baggage claim area, Rose checked the flight numbers above the carousels. The luggage from her flight was already unloading, but she had yet to spot her old brown leather suitcase. She was waiting impatiently when she happened to glance through the crowd to the far side of the carousel. Standing a few feet back was a tall, slender young woman in jeans and a white tee, her dark blond hair brushed to the side in a single braid. In her hands was a cardboard placard with a single name on it—ROSE.

      * * *

      Erin hurried to meet the woman striding toward her. There could be no mistaking Rose McCade. Will had described her as he remembered, from her petite stature and dark eyes to the birthmark that blazed down the left margin of her face. But given Rose’s age, Erin had expected someone elderly, a person who might need a hand getting out of the airport to the car. Apart from her silver hair, twisted and pinned atop her head, Rose was a total surprise.

      Dressed in trail-worn jeans and boots, with a denim jacket, she was a wiry bundle of energy. Her face, bare of makeup, was tanned and weathered from days on the Wyoming range, but her smile was as youthful as her step. Her only ornament, besides her wedding ring, was a pair of miniature silver horseshoe-shaped earrings.

      She stopped an arm’s length from Erin and stood looking up at her. “Goodness, you make me feel old,” she said. “I knew your grandmother when I was a girl. She was about your age then. You look just like her.”

      Erin found her voice. “Welcome home to Texas, Rose. Thank you for coming all this way.”

      They hugged, awkwardly at first, then warmly, both of them aware of the deep connection they shared. Rose wasn’t family, but she was the closest thing.

      “Let’s get your bag and be on our way,” Erin said.

      “There it is.” Rose pointed out a well-used leather suitcase. Erin grabbed it off the carousel and guided Rose outside to short-term parking, where she loaded the suitcase in the back of the dusty station wagon that had been her mother’s. She’d actually had it washed that morning when she bought gas in town. But this summer, after months of drought, there was no escaping the fine dust that settled on everything.

      Moments later, they were on their way, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the highway. “Let’s hope we can beat the rush hour traffic,” Erin said. “I promised Dad I’d have you home in time for dinner. He’ll be so glad to see you.”

      “How is Will?” Rose asked. “I haven’t seen him since he was a boy. But I remember how serious and responsible he was, even then. I’m guessing that Jasper’s death hit him hard.”

      “It hit all of us hard,” Erin said. “But I think it was the worst for Dad, especially since my mother passed away just four months ago.”

      “Oh, no!” Rose exclaimed. “He didn’t tell me. I’m so sorry.”

      “He doesn’t like to talk about it.” Erin had learned to hide her own grief, even though it was always there, like a cold, raw pain that never went away. “It was cancer. She was only forty-three. Dad was devastated. And now, with Jasper gone, it’s like he’s been knocked down and gut kicked twice.” She glanced at Rose. “I’m really glad you’ve come. Seeing you again is bound to raise his spirits.”

      “I hope so.” Rose gazed out the window at the traffic, then changed the subject. “Lubbock has changed a lot since the last time I was here. I’m guessing the ranch has changed, too.”

      “Not as much as you’d think,” Erin said. “The house is still there. The barn was rebuilt after a fire, but it’s in the same place. The old sheds and corrals are pretty much the same, just fixed up.”

      “How about the people? I remember Bernice and what a wonderful cook she was. But she was only a few years younger than Jasper. I don’t suppose she’s still around.”

      “Bernice retired and went to live with her daughter. She passed away a couple of years ago. We hired a Latina woman, the wife of one of our cowboys, to take her place. Her name’s Carmen. She’s good at her job, but she doesn’t live in the house, like Bernice did.”

      “And the chickens? I loved those chickens. Jasper and I built their coop together.”

      “Sorry, no more chickens. There’s a supermarket in Blanco Springs. We get our eggs and chicken meat there now.”

      Rose sighed. “Too bad. There’s something about raising chickens that’s good for the soul. And goats, too.”

      “Sorry, no goats either,” Erin said.

      “Too bad.” Rose fell silent as she gazed out the side window. They were on the freeway now, with the flat caprock plain stretching to the horizon on either side of them. The pastures, croplands, and cotton fields, watered by deep artesian wells, were green. But the stretches of open country offered little more than yellowed grass, dry scrub, and blowing dust.

      “It’s so dry,” Rose remarked. “The Rimrock must be hurting for water.”

      “This is the worst drought I can remember,” Erin said. “Are you familiar with that parcel up on the caprock, with the wells?”

      “I am.” Rose smiled. “As I recall, Bull won it in a poker game. I always suspected him of cheating, but that was Bull for you. To him, the land was everything. Land and family. Nothing else mattered.” She paused. “Sorry, you were going to say something about the parcel.”

      Erin pulled out to pass a lumbering cattle truck. “We’ve counted on that caprock land to save us in a drought, but this year we’ve overgrazed it. There’s water up there but the grass is almost eaten off. If