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father nodded and seemed happy with the answer. ‘I tried skiing once. Had so many bruises from coming a cropper. I’d rather ride a bronco bareback.’ His smile faded. ‘Won’t be doing any of it now.’
    Bella swallowed. ‘I hope you’re not worrying too much. Every­one’s certain you’re getting better.’
    â€˜Yeah, well, I’m a realist, Belle. I know I probably should have gone with the first attack and if it wasn’t for Mac McKinnon––’
    â€˜Don’t talk like that. It can’t be good for you.’ She was trembling more than ever now, fighting hard to keep herself from falling to pieces. ‘Maybe you should rest.’
    Her father’s hand tightened around hers, his grip surprisingly fierce. ‘I’m not worried about myself. It’s Mullinjim.’
    â€˜Why should you worry about Mullinjim? Luke will look after everything until you’re well again. He did a great job last time.’
    But Peter Fairburn was shaking his head. ‘Luke’s a good son and I know he’d rush back to Mullinjim in a heartbeat if I asked him to. But it wouldn’t be fair to drag him back now.’
    â€˜Drag him back?’ Bella felt as if she’d stepped off the edge of a cliff into thin air. ‘I don’t understand.’
    What hadn’t they told her? Of course Luke would step in. He’d always been their dad’s right-hand man.
    â€˜Luke needs to make his own life,’ her father said now. ‘Doing more than just raising cattle.’
    â€˜Really?’ Bella’s voice squeaked with shock. ‘Are you sure?’
    â€˜You know how keen he is on carpentry and building.’
    â€˜Well . . . yes.’ She had known Luke was brilliant at woodwork, but she’d never given it much thought. It was simply Luke’s thing, his hobby.
    Years ago he’d made a doll’s house for her. By the time he’d actually finished it, she’d grown out of playing with dolls, but she’d loved the house and she’d been old enough to appreciate the skill involved in crafting proper windows and doors, and a fitted kitchen with tiny cupboards that opened and shut, a spiral staircase.
    â€˜Your mother’s helped me to see how important that work is to Luke,’ her father went on. ‘I’m slow to pick up on these things and I guess I’m old-fashioned, but I’m coming to terms with it.’ He stopped and closed his eyes.
    He looked exhausted.
    â€˜Dad, you should rest. We can talk about this another time.’
    She’d rushed home to focus on her father’s fragile health, not her family’s succession plans. Shocked to feel tears on her face, Bella swiped at her cheeks with the heels of her hands. ‘You have to stop worrying, Dad. Just get better. Listen to the doctors and do what you’re told. Okay?’
    Leaning close, she hugged him gently, and then she remembered that she’d come all this way to utter the words she so rarely used. ‘I love you, Dad.’
    Tenderly he touched her face. ‘I love you too, sweetheart.’
    â€˜See you tomorrow.’ She stumbled from the room in a tear­blurred daze.

5.
    â€˜Would you like a coffee or something?’
    Luke was sitting with Bella in the ugly hospital waiting room while their exhausted mother rested at the motel. Liz was in with Peter.
    Bella wondered what her aunt and father were talking about. What did siblings say to each other when one of them was facing the possibility of death? She shuddered at the thought and Luke slipped his arm around her shoulders as if he somehow understood.
    They weren’t a family of huggers, but it was incredibly comforting to bury her face against her big brother’s bulky shoulder, to feel his youthful strength and comforting warmth as he held her.
    â€˜Thanks,’ she said. ‘I needed that.’
    Luke nodded. After a small