[Dalyia]

“Yes, and there’s no one with him. Go on back.”
Walker walked down the hall and tapped on the door before going in. Once inside,
the surprise on his father’s face revealed how little communication there’d been
between them on a one-on-one basis since his teens. Though they’d been together at
the past two rodeos and the house, this was the first time he’d stepped foot inside
J.W.’s inner sanctum here at the ranch office.
His father started to get to his feet, but Walker told him to stay put. The less he
had to put pressure on his bad leg, the better. “If you’re expecting someone, I’ll
come back another time.”
His father emoted a strange combination of trepidation and pleasure. “Every day
I’ve been hoping you’d walk in here. Sit down, son. You make me nervous standing
there like you’re walking on hot coals.”
Maybe that was because their fiery exchanges always ended with no resolution, but
he refrained from saying anything this time and sat in one of the deep leather
chairs opposite the desk.
“The twins told me you were leaving for Canyonlands today.”
“Boyd and I will be heading out with the horses tonight.”
His dad gave him a rare smile. “Do you have any idea how proud I am of you for
getting back to bulldogging? Your speed is clocking faster with every competition.
I must confess I didn’t think the talk we had at the barbecue a few weeks ago did
any good.”
It was just like his father to take credit for something he had nothing to do with,
but instead of reacting as he’d done in the past by walking out on him, Walker took
a deep breath and tried to view his father dispassionately. He had to admit it was
the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, to sit there and take it. Still, his
conscience, unearthed by Dr. Bader, had reminded him that no man was perfect.
“Have you given more thought to running the Corriente bulls operation? No one has a
better eye for them than you. Dex said a couple of draggers had slipped in with the
last bunch. If you were in charge, that wouldn’t happen.”
Walker stretched and crossed his boot-clad feet at the ankles. “I appreciate your
confidence in me, Dad, but that’s not why I came in. There’s something else I want
to talk to you about. It’s not along any of the lines you’ve been thinking.”
The comment caused his father to press his fingertips together. He always did that
when he was trying to hold his tongue. “Go on.”
“The idea came to me while I was in college, but for obvious reasons I haven’t been
able to do anything about it until now.” The real reason was seated in front of
him, of course, but Walker needed to put the enmity of the past behind him or his
life would be a desert.
“If you’re thinking of opening up one of the old mines, I had this conversation
with you boys years ago. You know my feelings on it. Too risky, too expensive, too
much trouble. We don’t need that headache.”
No, because when J.W. didn’t like an idea, he refused to discuss it and that was
it. Walker sat forward. “I’ve brought something with me I want you to read. It
won’t take too long.” He handed him a copy of the senior paper he’d turned in to

his college professor over six years ago.

His father eyed him shrewdly before settling back in his leather chair to peruse
it.
Five minutes turned into fifteen before he lifted his head. It was a miracle in
itself that he’d stayed with it that long. Walker heard him clear his throat, but
no words came out.
He decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns.
“Because of the alarming findings about the existing natural-gas field, if you’re
willing, I’d like your permission to drill for natural gas on another part of the
property.”
The quiet was all consuming while his father took in what Walker had just proposed.
Besides the rodeo, J.W. had always been so focused on the running of the ranch, the
horses, the cattle… The idea of exploring for more gas came as the second
astonishing surprise of the day for his parent, Walker’s presence in his office
being the first.
J.W. sat forward. “You honestly think there might be another field?”
Incredible. It seemed Walker had managed to grab his attention. “Why not? The wells
in activity are located on the rangeland, away from the mountains because of the
uplift. We’ve got rangeland to spare. Why wouldn’t there be more?”
His father let out a laughing cry. “By damn, why not!”
Encouraged, Walker said, “Here’s what I can see happening. If we strike a new field
like the one found years ago, then I’d like to start up the J. W. Cody Natural Gas
Company.”
The gleam in his father’s eyes grew brighter.
“But even if my theory proves wrong, we can still form our own company after the
lease is up for renewal with Spurlings next year. That’s not very far away.”
“You know, you’re right.” While his father’s mind was starting to get the picture,
Walker was still reeling from Paula’s assertion that she’d never been interested in
Matt Spurling. The poor devil had taken his defeat gracefully. Hearing his voice on
her answering machine had made a new man of Walker. If that made him some kind of
monster, he didn’t care.
“We’ll keep it going until we’ve exhausted what’s left of the field. I see no
reason to go on giving away the natural resources on our land when we could be in
business for ourselves and reap all the profits.”
J.W. pounded his fist on the desktop. “I should have thought of it years ago.” He
sounded upset with himself. That wasn’t the reaction Walker wanted to provoke. His
father had done more to ensure the future of the Cody legacy than any Cody that
went before him.
“You had other weighty matters on your mind, Dad. But think about this—every month,
if it’s a peak month—we make a royalty of fifteen percent of the take. That
normally adds up to $200,000 a month, right?” His father nodded. “Think if we could
keep the other eighty-five percent, too. We would be talking over a million dollars
a month for each well.”

“My brilliant son is teaching his father!”

Was this the same father who’d been down on him from day one?
“I’ll tell you who was brilliant, Dad. It was our ancestor who got all the rights
to the land in the first place so the government couldn’t step in and control
things. We own a lot more of the same kind of land where the first field was found.
I’ve ridden Peaches all over it.”
“I didn’t know that.” His father sounded shocked. “If you’d told me, I would have
ridden out there with you.”
“I had to work out my plans first, and I do it better alone.”
J.W. made a strange sound in his throat. “You’re my son all right.”
“Just so you know, I’ve been investing my money since I went into the military.
I’ve got enough to drill a couple of wildcat wells doing subsurface mapping and
seismic measurements. The figures in my paper will have changed over the past six
years. According to the research I’ve already done, it will cost three million
dollars to drill for one well in today’s economy.”
“I’ll match your funds.”
He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Thanks, but I’d like to see this project
through on my own steam.”
“Good for you.”
“A road will have to be built for each one. If I find gas, the delineation well
will tell me how big the field is underneath the ground. If we find a lot of gas,
I’ll have them made into development wells.
“You saw the graphics in my paper. They’ll have to be forty-five acres apart, but
the good thing is they’re quiet and have very little physical impact on the
environment except for a road. I believe it’s worth pursuing.”
“Worth pursuing? It’s vital!” His father leaped out of his chair, grabbed his cane
and came around to the front of the desk to hug Walker. “I always knew you were the
brainy one in the family, but right now we’re talking pure genius here.”
For the first time ever, Walker saw his father totally excited about something else
besides the rodeo.
He grabbed Walker’s shoulder. “And you promise to live here and run the whole
thing?”
“If it has your approval.”
“If?” he exclaimed. “To live to an old age with all my children and grandchildren
around is all I’ve ever wanted, son!”
The truth of his words caused a sudden surge of affection for his father that
seemed to spring out of nowhere, surprising the hell out of him.
“You can talk to Mom about it, but until I’ve done more groundwork with a couple of
engineers, let’s keep this under our hats where the others are concerned.”

“Agreed, but come on home with me now and we’ll tell her together.”