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displeased him. "Jasper, those hands get their breakfast, pick their mounts and are horseback before daylight. It'll be a bad situation if they have to wait for somebody to come to work."
    Her grandfather's attitude struck Jude as odd and even more narrow-minded than usual. Most of the hands were married, with families. They didn't live in the bunkhouse. They either lived in one of the ranch's many houses or drove to work from some other home every day. Some even lived in town. Though breakfast was served at 4:45 a.m., she had rarely heard a complaint about someone being late and holding things up.
    "Dad, I'm on top of it, okay? her father said, putting together another fajita. “Just let me handle it. If it becomes a problem, I'll simply tell Fallon he has to move on. But I think he'll make a good hand. He's been doing some cowboying off and on for a couple of years over in Stephenville, so he's not afraid of the work. And he's a college man. Graduated from Tarleton with a BBA. Got some smarts between his ears. He asked me for an opportunity and I gave him one." Daddy bit into his fajita.
    "Just remember this, Jasper," Grandpa said. "If he decides to sell, we want to be the buyer. I've already alerted Bob Anderson at the bank in Lubbock.That fifteen sections would square up our line on that south side. I tried to buy it from Margie after Harry died, but the cantankerous old woman wouldn't sell it to me."
    A light came on in Jude's mind. Th e land was the root of Grandpa's displeasure with Daddy's not insisting that Brady Fallon live in the bunkhouse, where Grandpa might be able to keep tabs on what he was doing. Land acquisition was so much a part of the Circle C's history, Jude supposed it had become almost like a gene. She felt the corner of her mouth quirk at Grandpa calling Margie Wallace an old woman. At her death, she was younger than Grandpa.
    "I know, Dad," Daddy said.
    "You keep on top of the situation, you hear, Jasper?" Grandpa tapped his forefinger on the table as he talked.
    Good grief ! Jude’s offer for the 6-0would have been a million dollars, a substantial chunk of her trust fund. It was a fair offer for neglected rangeland in Willard County. If shehad been the one to acquire it, a much bigger family explosion than she had imagined would have ensued. Nuclear, even. A part of her was glad the transaction had fallen on its face.
    "I will, Dad. I understand ," Daddy said.
    And what did that mean? Exactly what did Daddy understand? Did Grandpa want the 6-0's new owner to fail so he could get the land? The notion wasn't far-fetched. Time and again , Jude had seen him prove his pragmatism. For all of his reputation for doing good works, contributing to the community and being a caring employer, she had seen him be downright ruthless when it came to something that affected the Circle C's holdings.
    Daddy's assurance to Grandpa was unclear, but one thing Jude knew was that he and Grandpa were like-minded. She believed her father was a fair man, but if Grandpa wished it, Daddy did it, sometimes even before Grandpa made his wishes known verbally. She also knew that Grandpa and Daddy, though they might appear to be low-key, were both powerful and influential men, with tentacles crawling into unlikely nooks and crannies. And not just in Texas.
    What did her grandfather's attitude really mean? She felt an inexplicable concern for Brady Fallon. Anyone could see he had his hands full trying to put the old 6-0 ranch back together. But now he was facing another harsh reality without even knowing it and an adversary not of his own making.
    Jude had lost her appetite. She picked at her food.
    “What’s the matter, punkin,” Daddy asked. “You’re not feeling well?”
    “I—I’m fine. I guess I’m just not as hungry as I thought I was.”
    “You shouldn’t waste food, Judith Ann,” Grandpa said.

 
    Chapter 5
     
    At the end of supper, Daddy followed his routine by retiring to his suite for some reading, then an