Arlie Gracey is not an open book, but with years of practice, I could read her. She wanted to argue, but she knew better. When my father stood up to her, he towered. “If you think that’s best.”

“Why don’t I slice up the banana bread and bring some out here? Herbal tea okay to go with it?”

My father surprised me. “I’ll help. We’ll leave your mother here to swallow the arguments she knows better than to make. Arlie, stay.” As she half rose, he motioned her back to her seat. “I’m supposed to move around.”

When we reached the kitchen, I pulled out the banana bread and got down plates. “You’re really feeling better?”

“I feel like I’ve been put out to pasture.”

“Just long enough to get fat and sassy again.”

“All this is my own fault. I know I have to slow down. I’ve been hoping to turn things over to your sister, a little at a time, and then ease into retirement. Your mother has always wanted to travel with me at her side instead of meeting me somewhere for a few days.”

“Is Wendy the only person who can take over? What if she decides she needs something different than Gracey Group?”

“Has she said that to you?”

“No. But it’s a big commitment. With Bryce’s job she’s more or less a single mom.”

“There’s always my other daughter.”

I laughed. “No chance, Dad. I’d spend my time looking for criminals every time I was supposed to make a real estate deal.”

“Perfect place to find some. Maybe more than some.”

I’d stumbled into an opening. “I know how hard you and Wendy work. She left a lot of paperwork, and I’ve been straightening the town house so she won’t come back to a mess. She’s collected brochures from all kinds of resorts.”

“She’s probably looking at what they do that we don’t. To get ideas.”

“Are some of them for sale? Does she make suggestions for acquisitions, too?”

“If she happens to pick up information from our clients that she finds promising, but only rarely.”

“I saw a couple of places that looked appealing. I was kind of hoping you planned to buy the one outside Santa Fe. The Golden Aspen Resort and Spa. I’ve always wanted to go to New Mexico.”

“They were for sale last year, which is why she probably had the brochure. I don’t know about right now. I think they brought in consultants to do some kind of reorganization, and they pulled it off the market. I never even got around to sending anybody to look at it. I have a guy who does that for me. He has the eye.”

I filed that away. It was a nibble. We finished dishing up the banana bread, and Dad left with three plates, while I waited for the tea to steep. Back in the courtyard, I gave everyone mugs and settled beside my mother on the love seat. I told them about the girls, and Mom gave me advice, settling back into her role. Dad told me the plot of one of the books I’d given him, and we chatted about things that didn’t matter.