“You may be his son by blood, but I was there for him when he needed family.” Her voice shook with an unnamed emotion. “Through the endless tests at the hospital, through all the gut-wrenching decisions, through the pain and the finality of his death, I was there. I arranged the funeral, I settled the estate, and now I’m running the family business. Where were you?”

Her words hit him in the gut harder than any fighting calf ever could have. It was all true. She’d earned the right to her position in the company, but he needed it. And he’d never let a little thing like right or wrong stand in his way before. He took what he wanted in any way he had to.

“I was out getting my head busted, trying to make my father proud.” Trying to accomplish the impossible.

“You may be too late.”

He laughed, the sound bitter even to his ears.. “I know I’m too late. He’s dead. But I have to prove to myself that I could have done it if I’d wanted to.”

She shook her head. “That’s not what I meant. Uncle John is trying to force me out, trying to throw his percentage of the shares into the battle for control.”

“But you own—”

“Only a small percentage by myself. He holds almost as much, and my mother has sided the strength of her shares with him. Without any communication from you for all these years, that gives him a lot of power with the board of directors. And they’re starting to lean his way.”

She sucked in a deep breath, and he could see the effort it was taking her to remain strong. “Nothing I’ve tried has worked. I can’t seem to find the magic formula to pull the company out of this slump. And with a board meeting next week, I suspect I’m out of time.”

“Darci, I-”

“So don’t threaten me with failure, Cole. I’m already staring it right in the face.” She fell silent, her eyes bright with unshed tears, her lips clenched.

Suddenly, he smiled as a memory washed over him. “And you won’t call ‘uncle’ no matter what, will you? You never did as a child.” He laughed, this time feeling delight at the recollection of the little girl who had tried to fix his life for him.

When she returned his smile, there was a touch of wistfulness around the edges. “I was young and stubborn. It’s a terrible combination that I’m lucky I survived.”

“I wasn’t going to let you get hurt that time you followed me up the foothills.”

“You could have fooled me.”