“I wish I lived in a tree house,” Ginny said with a wistful sigh. “I would reach up and touch the sky. Would you come and visit me if I lived in a tree house?”

“Of course,” Emily said and gave her a hug.

Peggy Sue’s sharp voice rasped across the room. “Come along, Ginny!”

Ginny pulled out of Emily’s arms. She looked puzzled, as if she didn’t know what she had done to earn her mother’s disfavor.

“Go,” Emily whispered, giving Ginny a gentle pat on the back.

Without a word to Emily, Peggy Sue curtly turned away.

* * *

Later that day, Emily pored over the stack of bills and carefully recorded each expenditure. The high cost of running a ranch was an eye-opener.

As she’d expected, the payroll commanded most of the expenses. The younger ranch hands earned twenty dollars a month, and the more seasoned cowboys earned forty. After wages, the biggest expenses were barbed wire, freight charges, and cattle.

There were also bills for stirrups, spurs, collars, and saddles. The high price of pistols surprised her. How the average man could afford such a thing was a puzzle.

At first, it appeared that the ranch was hopelessly in debt. But after going over the books for the previous years, she realized that the ranch received its money in lump sums, mostly in the fall when cattle were driven to market. Bills were paid accordingly. For that reason, expenses were carried over from month to month.

She was so involved in what she was doing that she failed to notice the late hour until Cookie knocked on the door and told her supper was served.

Carrying a copy of American Cattle: Their History, Breeding and Management, she found the dining room empty with only one place setting. It was no more than she’d expected, but still, she was disappointed. Evidently, Chase had found something else to occupy the time she’d saved him by taking over the books.

Emily stared at the steak on her plate and toyed with the peas with her fork. She couldn’t explain why, but food just didn’t seem to taste as good when dining alone.

She opened the book and began to read. The subject matter wasn’t as boring as she’d previously thought. Some of it was even fascinating. She was surprised to learn that Christopher Columbus was credited with bringing the longhorn ancestors to the New World from Spain.

After completing her meal, she headed upstairs. She was tired and decided to skip the campfire and make it an early night. To her surprise, Peggy Sue stood waiting for her on the second-floor landing. “I need to talk to you,” she said.

“I want to talk to you too,” Emily said with a smile. “I have an idea that I hope you’ll like.”

Emily motioned the woman into her room and immediately explained. “At church, I met two local families, and they expressed interest in having their children come here for lessons. It would save them having to drive all the way to town. I think it would benefit Ginny to have children around her own age.” Two were twin boys, and the girl was Ginny’s age. “So what do you think?”