Calder Pride by Janet Dailey Read Free Book Online Page A

discomfort it cost him.
    “Morning, Calder.” Pain had him biting off the words and breathing in jerky gasps. Neil halted and dug his kerchief from his pocket to wipe at his watering eyes.
    “Good morning, Neil, Emma.” Chase nodded the greeting to each of them in turn, an unspoken question in his eyes that asked what they wanted.
    “If you have a few minutes, Mr. Calder, Neil and I would like to talk to you,” Emma spoke quietly, resisting the urge to ask to see him in private without his daughter. She had seen the grief that haunted those eyes, and remembered that she had been engaged to the Taylor boy. From all Emma had heard, the girl took after her mother. And the O’Rourkes had never been the forgiving kind.
    Chase measured them both with a thoughtful glance, then nodded. “Of course. Come inside.” He motioned toward the house, then turned to his daughter. “Ask Audrey to bring us some coffee in the den, will you, Cat?”
    She hesitated only a moment, then swung around and climbed the steps, entering the house ahead of them. Emma breathed easier, relieved that he had excluded his daughter.
    The interior of the house was as big and grand as the exterior, the large entryway opening into an even larger living room. Emma looked around with interest while Calder shut the front door. She was surprised by nothing she saw. The Homestead was a popular topic of conversation among the locals. Every visitor to the house came away with descriptions of it that were passed around from one wagging tongue to another.
    When Calder led them to a set of double doors on their left, Emma knew what she would see before she entered the room. Sure enough, there above the mantelpiece of the massive stone fireplace were the wide, sweeping horns of the legendary longhorn steer that had led the first Calder herds to this land more than a century ago. A framed map hung on the wall directly behind the desk. Roughly drawn and yellowed with age, it outlined the boundaries of the Triple C Ranch, an area of land larger than the state of Rhode Island.
    The man who ruled it walked behind the large desk and sat down, waving them toward a pair of leather and brass-studded chairs that faced the desk. “Have a seat.”
    Neil lowered himself into the first chair while Emma claimed its twin. Neil mopped at his eyes again, then stuffed the kerchief back in his pocket. “I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us,” he said with a nervous bob of his head.
    “What is it you wanted to talk to me about?” He directed the question to Neil.
    “It’s about our boy Rollie,” Neil began, then paused and threw an uneasy glance her way. “The missus and me met with his lawyer yesterday, a fellow by the name of Barstow. He’s young, but he seemed to know what he was talking about. Anyways, the way he explained it is this—there’s a hearing coming up. As things stand now, Rollie is facing a manslaughter charge, which means he’ll have to serve some time in prison. Barstow wants to plea-bargain the case and get the charges reduced. Hesays that the judge might suspend the sentence and release Rollie on probation. But to do that, he says we’ll need somebody to speak up for him. Not just anybody, but somebody whose name carries some weight.”
    Chase leaned back in his chair and regarded him steadily. “And you want me to speak up for him.”
    “Your word means something around here. Folks listen when you talk.” He stated it flatly, making no appeal with his voice.
    “Rollie is a good boy, Mr. Calder.” Emma leaned forward. “A hard worker, too. He’s sorry about causing that accident, sorrier than I could ever say. He never meant for it to happen. It’s just that with the milking and the plowing and the planting, he’d worked from dawn to dusk all week. He went into town Saturday night like all boys do. He shouldn’t have drank so much, but—boys do that, too. Such foolishness is a part of growing up, I guess.”
    “Forgive me, Mrs.