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“At least Jessy was present at the first cereray eyes

“Now you sound like your grandfather,” Cat chided with affection, stepping aside as he cah the door into the entryway “He still doesn’t see why Laura is having teddings—one here and one in Britain But the trip to England would have been e, and it simply wasn’t practical for Sebastian’s family and friends to fly over here”

“I know” Quint nodded “Where’s Jessy? In the den?”

“Yes,” she confirlad you decided not to randfather here by himself bothers me”

“Don’t worry There’ll be plenty of people keeping an eye on him besides me”

“Of course there will” She cast a glance in the direction of the den “You’d better go see what Jessy wants”

The Hoe den was still considered the heart of the Triple C despite the construction of a separate ranch office several years back It was on one of its walls that the old hand-drawnboundaries and identifying its various landmarks and watercourses on paper that had yellowed over time

It was in the den as here the ihorn steer was mounted above the mantel of the massive stone fireplace The same steer that had led the first cattle drive from Texas to the newly established Triple C Ranch in Montana It was a rooe that never failed to make its imprint on Quint This afternoon was no exception

The fresh scent of pine ereenery that adorned the mantel A cheery fire blazed in the old stone fireplace, casting its glow into the roorandfather’s old bones

As usual, his grandfather, Chase Benteen Calder, sat behind the oversized desk, his once vigorous body now gray-haired and stoop-shouldered, with age lines creasing his rawboned face The accumulation of years had left the mark on his body, but his mind re knowledge on this northern plain

Currently, his grandfather’s attention was centered on his daughter-in-law, Jessy Calder, who, under Chase’s able tutelage, had been running the Triple C for the last twenty-odd years since her husband’s death Jessy sat on a corner of the desk, her boy-sliled toward Chase She swiveled to face the doorhen she heard Quint’s footsteps

“We were just talking about you, Quint” In a single, fluid htened up from the desk

“Mom said you wanted to see me” Quint swept off his hat and walked the rest of the way into the roolance between the two of them But there was little that could be read from their expressions “What’s up?”

“That’s ant you to find out,” Jessy stated “How soon can you be packed?”

Quint halted in surprise “To go where?”