“What are you talking about?” His hands waved with every word.

“We told Dad he could die in that house. Don’t give me that look. We did.” I tucked my hands into my pockets to ward off the cold.

“We were kids,” he said slowly. “Mom had just died. You were what? Twelve?”

“And you were fourteen,” I reminded him.

“And Dad was drunk!” Xander shouted, then took a deep breath, his face turning left, then right, no doubt checking to see if his outburst had been overheard. Not that anyone was listening. This section of Main Street had at least six abandoned buildings that had yet to be restored, and none of the restored buildings was open yet.

“Don’t worry—we’re alone out here. You don’t have to be all shiny perfect. Just be real. Yes, Dad was drunk, but we weren’t. He was heartbroken and said that he was going to die in that house, just like she had. And then he turned to us and said, ‘You promise me that when I’m old, I can die in this house.’ And you promised.”

“We didn’t know he’d get early-onset Alzheimer’s! We didn’t know that Sullivan would die or that you wouldn’t come home for ten years. Stuff changes, Cam. What the hell does any of this have to do with the mine? Because you and I both know you couldn’t give a shit about what happens in Alba.”

I took in the roofless building I stood in, from the stacked-timber walls to the glass panels on the north wall that had miraculously survived the last 140 years.

“This is my home. I absolutely care about what happens here. And yeah, I was gone for ten years, and you can judge me for that. I’m used to it. We didn’t know what would happen to Dad or to Mom, or to Sully, for that matter. But it’s in our capability to keep Dad in his house. And don’t tell me it’s too expensive. We both know Dad can afford at-home care.”

“You want me to strip Dad’s accounts to nothing?” Xander wavered between incredulous and mad. “You realize that’s it, right? When he dies, all we have are the mining company and the land. That’s it. Dad isn’t exactly up to going back to work with the Forest Service.”

“It’s his money. If home care strips his accounts to zero, then we’ll just have to figure it out. Please don’t tell me that your argument for putting him in a home is about preserving your inheritance.” The words tasted bitter in my mouth.