Vance clamped his hand firmly over my wrist. “Calm down, Austin. It’s nothing bad. Just some changes.” He let go and straightened his tie as his father and another suit walked in. Thankfully, Jinx was dressed down in Dickies work pants and a plain navy T-shirt, which made me a little more comfortable in my ratty bell-bottom jeans and one of Mama’s frumpy blouses. Dressing in her clothing gave me some comfort at least.

“Yeah, well, I’ve already had my fill of changes lately. I’m not sure I want any more,” I whispered, but Vance seemed to not hear me.

“Gentlemen, thank you for joining us,” Vance said formally as he stood to shake their hands.

It kept striking me out of nowhere that he was an actual grown, successful man and not that teenage boy who used to goof around the farm and steal kisses from me. I had no idea where the years had gone, no more than I knew where they were going. By the looks of these men at the conference table, they were able to tell me. Or try to at least.

Ed Cumberland directed his focus on me. “Jinx and your father met with my financial team a few months back, along with Mr. Fitzgerald.” Vance’s father tipped his head toward the man I knew was Malorie’s father and the town’s favored lawyer.

My stomach began to churn.

Mr. Fitzgerald took that as his cue. He handed me a thick folder. “Dave made the necessary provisions in case . . . in case something was to happen to him, to provide for you and your siblings.”

The envelope Morty had given me three years ago with Pa’s funeral arrangements came to mind. Pa had never intended to make it through any of his suicide attempts, yet he did. “He’s okay,” I whispered.

“Of course.” Mr. Fitzgerald gave me a sad smile.

Jinx spoke up from beside me. “Austin, your daddy will be okay, but we need a plan to take care of the farm and you young’uns till he gets there.”

I leaned close to Jinx and whispered, although I’m sure they could hear, “Was Pa in his right mind when he made these decisions?”

Jinx reached over and clasped my fisted hand. “You know I wouldn’t let him do this if he wasn’t. He’d talked to me about it a lot in the last few years.”

I nodded, trusting Jinx. “Okay.” In his early fifties, he wasn’t old enough to be my grandfather, but I had come to view him as one anyway. He was a wise man. I returned my attention to Mr. Fitzgerald.