Gabe closed his eyes for a second. And he lost that sense of how he’d seen his dad as a boy. Lost that image of that larger-than-life cowboy who was everything a kid could ever hope to become.

Hank had been such a mythical figure when Gabe was young, traveling for a lot of the year. It had only added to that intense sense of pride and awe that he had felt whenever Hank looked his way.

And then he’d started realizing why his mother was crying after she and Daddy had a fight.

And he’d started to understand the ways that Hank had hurt her.

Not with fists. No, Hank Dalton would never leave bruises on a woman.

Because Hank Dalton would never hurt anyone on purpose.

And sometimes... Sometimes Gabe found that much harder to deal with.

An asshole who went around using his fists on people...that was easy.

You used your fists right back, and added a steel-toed boot for good measure. It was easy to deal with someone who was a bully.

But a man with a ready grin and an easy wink? That was a whole different situation.

A man who killed your dreams to get better for you, not just to hurt you, he was hard to hate.

“I want to turn the ranch into a school,” Gabe said, not making small talk.

“What?”

“I want to give troubled boys a place to work, a place to learn skills. I want to work with CPS to find homes locally for them to stay at, and we can have a work and school program here. We can get grants from the state, and from the Fed. And we can also get funding as an alternative school. It’s something that Ellie is looking into. It won’t be a moneymaker, but it’s what I want to do. And if you don’t support me doing it here, you’ll have to find someone else to run the ranch...or I’ll buy you out.”

Hank thought for a long moment, then looked up at Gabe with faded blue eyes. “I don’t know why you think you have to come to me presenting ultimatums,” he said.

“Because I know you don’t support me doing this.”

“What exactly is...this? We’ve never discussed using the ranch as a school.”

“You never wanted me to be a rancher. You didn’t want me to work with horses. But it’s what I am. I believe in the land, and I believe in the animals. I believe they have the power to heal people. To give people a sense of purpose. I’m not going to hold that in. I want to share it. I can go out there and I can compete...for how many more years? I don’t even know. Not many. And it’s empty. The only thing it fills is my wallet. And I’m done with that. I’m done with that kind of living. Maybe you can’t understand that, but I don’t need you to understand. I just need for you to not be in my way.”