how much they thought of him was the fact that Daddy kept that picture on the credenza with his favorite bulls and horses.
She had been introduced to Webb when she was eighteen and a freshman at A&M. Grandpa and Webb's father, an Austin lawyer and politician, had known each other for years. Mr. Henderson had insis ted that his son and Jude meet.
Webb's marriage proposal came almost at once, as if preordained. She accepted because she had been too young and too sheltered to know her own mind and she had thought that by planning marriage to a family friend, she was doing what her father and grandfather wanted. But as the engagement progressed and Jude grew smarter, she came to see Webb as a money-grubbing pain in the neck, too eager to marry into her family.
Daddy and Grandpa had spent almost no time around him. They had never seen that greedy quality in him. They had been so eager for her to marry, they had been dazzled by Webb and his father's brownnosing.
Beyond greed, Webb Henderson had other traits that had both shocked and appalled her, among them, control issues and selfishness and a streak of willfulness. No one had ever tried to control her in the ways Webb had attempted. But her Strayhorn stubbornness had won out and in spite of her family, she had managed to free herself of Webb.
She didn't think about him much these days. She had ended the relationship, to Daddy and Grandpa's chagrin, without discussing it with them. They might not realize it, but she had saved them, as well as herself, from future pain and consternation. She had no doubt she had done the right tiling.
She steered her eyes away from Webb's picture. She could scarcely stand to look at him.
Chapter 4
"I was in town for a minute," Jude said to her father. "Then I went to Suzanne's." Even to her own ears, her day sounded boring and empty.
She rarely told Daddy when she visited Jake, though she knew her father didn't hate him. The Strayhorn family had supported his run for sheriff and contributed heavily to his campaign. And Jake hadn't turned down their money or changed his name. Still, very few words about him were ever voiced in the Circle C house.
"How's Truett Breedlove doing these days?" Daddy asked. "Haven't seen him around town lately."
Jude swallowed another baby sip of her strong drink. The ranch had an intermittent relationship with Suzanne's father in that he sometimes hauled Circle C cattle. "On the road a lot, I think."
Daddy came from the bar, sat down beside her on a wing chair that matched hers. He drew on his cigar and exhaled. He shook his head as a swirl of sweet smoke encircled him. "He spends so much time in that truck, somebody'll find him dead in it one of these days."
Could be, Jude thought. "It's what he's done all his life, Daddy."
But Suzanne's father wasn't what was on Jude's mind. "Listen, I'm sort of at loose ends until I have to get ready for school . I thought I might ride with you next week and help with the weaning. I could help separate the calves."
The weaning process would start on Monday. Calves born in February and March now weighed six hundred pounds or so. Old enough to graze, they would be parted from their mothers, loaded into trailers and relocated into their own pasture miles away. Allowing them to continue nursing was a drain on the strength and health of their pregnant mothers.
Some of the large ranches used helicopters to round up the cattle, but Grandpa and Daddy believed it caused undue stress on the cattle and was more expensive than manual labor. With the price of fuel skyrocketing, Jude didn't disagree about the cost. She had opinions that conflicted with theirs on several elements of the cattle operation, but she understood their preference for using men on the ground for roundups.
She, too, liked the idea of good cowboys on good horses flushing the cows and calves out of the brush and arroyos, then driving them from remote corners of the ranch. They were preserving a practice
She had been introduced to Webb when she was eighteen and a freshman at A&M. Grandpa and Webb's father, an Austin lawyer and politician, had known each other for years. Mr. Henderson had insis ted that his son and Jude meet.
Webb's marriage proposal came almost at once, as if preordained. She accepted because she had been too young and too sheltered to know her own mind and she had thought that by planning marriage to a family friend, she was doing what her father and grandfather wanted. But as the engagement progressed and Jude grew smarter, she came to see Webb as a money-grubbing pain in the neck, too eager to marry into her family.
Daddy and Grandpa had spent almost no time around him. They had never seen that greedy quality in him. They had been so eager for her to marry, they had been dazzled by Webb and his father's brownnosing.
Beyond greed, Webb Henderson had other traits that had both shocked and appalled her, among them, control issues and selfishness and a streak of willfulness. No one had ever tried to control her in the ways Webb had attempted. But her Strayhorn stubbornness had won out and in spite of her family, she had managed to free herself of Webb.
She didn't think about him much these days. She had ended the relationship, to Daddy and Grandpa's chagrin, without discussing it with them. They might not realize it, but she had saved them, as well as herself, from future pain and consternation. She had no doubt she had done the right tiling.
She steered her eyes away from Webb's picture. She could scarcely stand to look at him.
Chapter 4
"I was in town for a minute," Jude said to her father. "Then I went to Suzanne's." Even to her own ears, her day sounded boring and empty.
She rarely told Daddy when she visited Jake, though she knew her father didn't hate him. The Strayhorn family had supported his run for sheriff and contributed heavily to his campaign. And Jake hadn't turned down their money or changed his name. Still, very few words about him were ever voiced in the Circle C house.
"How's Truett Breedlove doing these days?" Daddy asked. "Haven't seen him around town lately."
Jude swallowed another baby sip of her strong drink. The ranch had an intermittent relationship with Suzanne's father in that he sometimes hauled Circle C cattle. "On the road a lot, I think."
Daddy came from the bar, sat down beside her on a wing chair that matched hers. He drew on his cigar and exhaled. He shook his head as a swirl of sweet smoke encircled him. "He spends so much time in that truck, somebody'll find him dead in it one of these days."
Could be, Jude thought. "It's what he's done all his life, Daddy."
But Suzanne's father wasn't what was on Jude's mind. "Listen, I'm sort of at loose ends until I have to get ready for school . I thought I might ride with you next week and help with the weaning. I could help separate the calves."
The weaning process would start on Monday. Calves born in February and March now weighed six hundred pounds or so. Old enough to graze, they would be parted from their mothers, loaded into trailers and relocated into their own pasture miles away. Allowing them to continue nursing was a drain on the strength and health of their pregnant mothers.
Some of the large ranches used helicopters to round up the cattle, but Grandpa and Daddy believed it caused undue stress on the cattle and was more expensive than manual labor. With the price of fuel skyrocketing, Jude didn't disagree about the cost. She had opinions that conflicted with theirs on several elements of the cattle operation, but she understood their preference for using men on the ground for roundups.
She, too, liked the idea of good cowboys on good horses flushing the cows and calves out of the brush and arroyos, then driving them from remote corners of the ranch. They were preserving a practice
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