by Alex Jane
There was more chatter about the feasibility and how it could work and what needed to be done. The only person who was silent was Emmanuel's father, who was watching him and tapping the point of his pencil against the page he'd been scribbling on. That was until he abruptly stood up.
"Everything all right?' Martha asked, taking hold of his wrist.
"Absolutely." Josiah patted her hand, and clearly that was enough to reassure her as she let him go without another word, in the same way that when he jerked his chin toward the door, it was enough for Emmanuel to get up and follow him out down the hall, through the kitchen, and out into the garden, only taking a second to answer Asher's curious look with a shrug before he left.
The weather had been overcast when they'd left the homestead in the morning but it appeared to have brightened, leaving the back garden warm and golden. Josiah had seated himself at the bench that ran along the back of the house and had closed his eyes, his face tipped up toward the light. Emmanuel knew better than to interrupt so he simply seated himself next to his father and waited.
"When you said you were going to come here and live on the homestead, I wasn't sure you would want to stay. Your mother was. I do hate it when she proves me wrong." Josiah opened his eyes and tilted his head to look at Emmanuel, a light smile playing on his face. "You do intend to stay, I take it?"
Emmanuel could only nod. "Yes, I…yes. Unless you want me to come home. But I would like to stay."
Josiah chuckled. "I don't know why you would start doing anything I asked you now, but I appreciate the sentiment. No. I think you should stay. You seem happy here. Happier than you've been in a long time. Especially when that Alpha of yours is around." Emmanuel started to protest but Josiah cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Just…just make sure you make things official at some point. I think it would make your mother happy at least if you can pin him down."
"He's, uh…he's waiting on me actually. I just don't want to rush into anything."
Josiah laughed then. "Oh, my boy. It's too late for that. But I didn't bring you out here to talk about your romantic attachments."
When he didn't go on, Emmanuel frowned. "What are we doing out here then?"
"I'm going to sign over all the concerns regarding Lastford, the Feed and Seed, the other business concerns and land rights, all of it, to you before we head back on the train on Wednesday."
Emmanuel shook his head, thinking for a second perhaps his hearing had been damaged in the blast after all. "I'm sorry, what?"
"It makes sense. You're here, I'm not. You have a vested interest and a good head on your shoulders. And it's been pointed out to me that my not being around has perhaps done more harm than good in our current situation."
"You…you can't do that. What about Harry?"
"What about Harry?"
"Well, he's named for Grandpa Henry and the oldest. I thought he would—"
"Emmanuel." His father was using the tone of voice he saved for the special occasions when one of his children—or Seth—was being particularly dense. Also, the use of his whole name was rather worrying. "When was the last time Harry showed the slightest interest in grain prices or coming to Nebraska? He works hard at what he does but he isn't here. You are." Looking away, Josiah's voice softened when he added, "And I think your grandfather would want you to stand in his place."
"I think he would want you to do it."
Josiah huffed in amusement. "Maybe. But he came to accept I never would, come the end. He knew I never had any interest in running things here. I wanted to write and…well, I wanted to be with your mother and god knows, trying to keep her in one spot was never going to be easy. She was always going to travel and I wanted to go with her. Even after the twins and you were born, there seemed no reason to stop.
"You, on the other hand, you want to be here. You're making a life here. This might not be what I wanted for you, but I have to accept that this is the life that makes you happy the same way my father had to accept me."
"That doesn't mean you should sign over all his inheritance to my name."
Emmanuel wasn't expecting the laugh or the heavy hand on his shoulder and could only stare in bemusement until his father pulled himself together. "Oh, Manny. You know your grandfather never made money from Lastford. In fact, the only reason he could afford to buy the land here and pay for the public works was from the money he made elsewhere. You might have inherited his looks and his sweet nature but Harry got his wily ways. How do you think he's able to play the stock market so well, 'cause he sure as hell didn't get much business acumen from me or your mother."
"Must have skipped a generation," Emmanuel mumbled.
"Undoubtedly."
"You know I don't know much of anything about running a business like this though, or how to manage a credit union if we decide that's the thing to do."
"No one is asking you to," his father said, his voice laden with understanding. "Seth and Jonathon know all about the co-op, and your Uncle Thaddeus will no doubt have a barrage of lawyers who can set everything up if you decide to go into finance. Your job will be to make sure everything is done the way your grandfather would approve of. You'll have work to do, getting the people to see that you have their best interests at heart, but I think you're definitely the man for the job."
It should have been a compliment, but suddenly the weight of what his father expected of him bore down on Emmanuel's shoulders. "I didn't want this," he murmured. "I only wanted to come live quietly on the homestead."
"I know," his father said sympathetically. "I know you need some space and quiet and want to carry on the Alphas' legacy." He turned to face him. "But as much as you're a Fletcher, you're a Jackson too. The homestead wasn't the only thing left here for you. This town could die if we don't do something. Baskin and his friends could destroy everything your grandparents fought to build and protect. They weren't perfect men by any stretch of the imagination, so don't think for a minute you won't measure up. In my estimation, you already have just by being here."
"You think we can do this? You think we can stop them?"
Josiah smiled. "I don't see why not. And if the worse comes to the worst, we can always get your Alpha to eat Baskin. I know for a fact that would be Caleb's solution."
Emmanuel rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let's go back inside before you come up with any more harebrained schemes. And he's not my Alpha."
Josiah chuckled as he got to his feet. "Son, I think you'll find he most definitely is."
Chapter Nine
The chattering of general conversation echoing around the meeting hall dipped to almost nothing when Emmanuel and Asher walked in. Heads turned and for a moment Emmanuel thought he might evaporate from the intensity of the burning looks coming his way. But then almost as soon as it happened, the faces looked away, going back to their conversations, and Emmanuel could breathe again.
"You sure know how to make an entrance." Asher's voice was low, barely audible as they picked their way around the room to find a quiet corner. There wasn't one, but they found a couple of empty chairs next to each other to occupy. Of course, once they sat down, a few people nearby decided they'd rather sit elsewhere, leaving them with a bit more breathing room. "Was it something I said?"
Emmanuel leaned a little closer. "Maybe you need to start wearing cologne."
Asher wrinkled his nose. "Somehow I don't think that'll help."
Huffing in amusement, Emmanuel let his gaze wander around the room. He hadn't been in the meeting hall since his grandfathers had passed. There had been endless visitors to the homestead, bringing food and offers of help, but it had been making his Uncle Thaddeus uncomfortable, knowing his fathers wouldn't have wanted so many strangers around. He'd been struggling too with their loss and taking on the mantle as head of the family, so a wake had been arranged in the town hall where everyone could pay their respects and not drive him to distraction.
The place looked the same, stark without the flowers and tables full of food
, and more formal with all the chairs laid out and a table set in front for the council members to sit at. There were faces he recognized up there, and a couple he didn't. The preacher was there, Leyland, and a couple of the other business owners about town. Baskin, thankfully, hadn't wrangled a place for himself on the council yet, although from the looks he was giving some of the members, he didn't need a seat to influence their decisions.
Someone banged a gavel and yelled for good measure. It still took a minute for everyone to quiet down, which made Emmanuel smile. Especially when most of the noise came from people shushing one another. But before long the meeting was in full swing.
For all intents and purposes, it was a general meeting much like any other. The council had a list of points that were read out and discussed, voted on, and plans made. Improvements for the sidewalk on Main Street, some negotiation over the opening hours of the bar at the hotel, the issue of fencing and Mrs. Purdy's wandering cow. There was something familiar and orderly about it. He'd attended a couple of these meetings before when he would come to visit. Henry had been on the council then, of course, and had encouraged his grandchildren to come with him whenever they were around. Harry thought the whole thing was a bore but Alice would be fascinated, and that in itself had been enough for Emmanuel to learn to enjoy the proceedings. Not that he idolized his sister or anything. Caleb and Jacob had never sat at the top table, but their advice had been sought from time to time, and they'd taken the whole thing much more seriously than his Grandpa Henry had ever appeared to.
It was nice that even though there was business to discuss, a levity and neighborly good humor still made a show in the proceedings. Although Emmanuel couldn't help but notice that as time went on any lightheartedness seemed to be replaced with a tension and sense of foreboding that really wasn't helping his nerves any.
A while in, Asher made a point of leaning heavily against his side, bringing his lips close enough to Emmanuel's ear that he thought he felt them graze his skin. "You wanna calm down before you start scaring the women folk."
"I'm fine," Emmanuel whispered, but the assertion only made Asher huff out in derision, probably as he could hear Emmanuel’s heart beating like a one-man band in his chest .
"Right. I'm kinda worried you're going to pass out if you keep going like this. And can you stop—" He placed his hand firmly on Emmanuel's knee to stop it from bouncing. "Honestly. You're going to do fine."
"I'm going to hold you to that."
"You're going to hold my what now?"
The scandalized look Emmanuel shot over his shoulder must have been something as Asher snorted out a laugh that was loud enough to draw attention.
"Marshal Franklin?" Emmanuel and Asher's heads whipped round to find the chairman glaring at them. "You have something to contribute?"
Asher cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "Uh, no, sir. Pardon me." He faked a cough and touched his throat. "It's the dry air."
Emmanuel felt about four years old when he had to hide his smile behind his hand. Luckily, he could tell the chairman thought it was amusing, despite the way he attempted to glower across the room. "Try keeping your mouth shut and breathing through your nose, son."
Asher nodded and did his best to look serious. "Yes, sir. I'll try."
When everyone had gone back to the business at hand, Emmanuel leaned over, hoping to be subtle. "You always get into this much trouble at these things?"
Asher smiled and kept his eyes out front. "Helped you with your little problem, didn't it?"
Emmanuel wanted to deny it but it had. He was still nervous, but the panic that had been threatening to make his throat close up had subsided, and he was able to sit in relative ease while the meeting dragged on. That was until they got to the part when the chairman sighed and sat back, saying, "Well, I know Mr. Baskin"—and he said the name as if it was something he'd stepped in—"has some business he'd like to discuss, but before we get to that, does anyone else have anything they'd like to bring up?"
"Here we go," Asher mumbled and shifted in his seat, the back of his hand brushing Emmanuel's lightly, before Emmanuel rose slowly to his feet.
The only thing that broke what would have been dead silence as he got up was the creaking of every chair in the place and the outrush of breath as everyone turned to stare at him. No one gasped or fainted so that was something at least.
Emmanuel was glad he'd kept hold of his hat. It at least gave him something to do with his hands. "I have a couple of things, if that's all right."
The chairman looked strangely relieved and smiled as he nodded. "Yes, of course, Mr. Jackson. What can we do for you?"
Emmanuel couldn't stop his lips from quirking up into a smile at that. "It's more what I can do for you actually." The chairman's head tilted to one side and he looked curious, still, he waved his hand, motioning for Emmanuel to get on with it.
For all that he'd been nervous, waiting for his chance to speak, now he was on his feet Emmanuel felt, if not fine, then certainly able to go on without sounding as if he was shaking out of his shoes. He only hoped his confident tone was enough to put the townspeople at ease with what he was about to say.
"Um. Well, I guess being that I see a few unfamiliar faces I should introduce myself. I'm Emmanuel Jackson. I'm living out at the Fletcher homestead. I'm sure most of you knew my pa, Joe Jackson, and his father, and my grandfathers, Caleb Fletcher and Jacob Carpenter." There was a murmur of recognition from most of the room, as well as a notable sense of irritation coming from Baskin and his cronies. "I've been away a while but the Alphas left the homestead to me and I intend to settle there, just in case you thought I was passing through." He had to take a second to look at his feet and take a breath before he went on. "I guess I should let you know too that as of yesterday, the land rights my Grandpa Henry held and the ownership of the Feed and Seed that he passed to my father, passed to me."
A murmur went through the assembly at that, and Asher sat a little straighter in his seat. It made Emmanuel want to lay a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but instead he held his palm up, hoping it would have the same effect on the crowd.
"So, does that mean you own the town now?"
It wasn't clear who had spoken but it didn't quite matter. Emmanuel figured most of everyone would be thinking the same thing.
"Yes, and no. Technically, yes, but in practice the legalities won't change anything. I intend to carry on the way my grandfather did. Rents won't rise and all the money will go into the trust controlled by the council to pay for repairs and landworks as usual. All it means really is that I'll be here, so if you have any issues you can just swing by the homestead anytime rather than have to wire New York and try to get ahold of my father."
"I would have thought he could drive here in his fancy motor car if he wanted," someone scoffed.
Emmanuel's chuckle was quiet but effective. "Pa says he'd rather walk than step foot in one of those things. Although I'm sure he'll be taking the train over more often now I'm here."
"So, if nothing's going to change, did you just come to gloat or what?"
Rubbing his brow, Emmanuel sighed. "I wanted to let you know that I'm here but also… Since I got back, I've been surprised at how tough things have gotten. People have been losing their land and I fear the downturn's only going to get worse. My brother, Harry, is the business-minded one in the family and knows about these things. He says it's only a matter of time before times get really tough. For everyone. After talking over the situation with my family, I've decided to make a couple of changes."
The unhappy noises that elicited seemed to be mostly coming from the Baskin side of the room, so he kept going. "The co-op that has been running out of the Feed and Seed isn't working, at least not for everyone, so I'm going to do two things. Firstly, I'm going to expand the Feed and Seed, buy in more equipment and set up a dedicated implement store, where anyone can hire whatever they need, be it trowels or tractors, and set up a means for people to buy or trade livestock. A
nd I'm setting up a credit union where people can bank their money and get loans that won't cost their farms to pay back."
The sounds of discontent that had been grumbling away ratcheted up as he retook his seat, their protests matched only by people trying to shout them down and telling them to let the man finish, which was a little worrying as Emmanuel wasn't quite sure what more he had to say. He let out a shaking breath as the chairman banged his gavel, only starting to relax when Asher briefly took his hand, squeezing it firmly, and gave a slight nod of his head.
In the end, it was only Baskin who stayed on his feet, his mouth yapping, immune to the pleas for quiet. "Well, it's not as if I said this wouldn't happen. Didn't I tell you?" He looked around the room, seemingly searching for approval. "As soon as they brought that marshal in, I said this would be the end for Lastford. Now they want to expand their business. Make you all dependent on their handouts. And don't tell me the two things aren't related. We all know how much time the marshal has been spending out at the Fletcher place."
The scandalized murmur might have made Asher tense up, but Emmanuel couldn't help smile a little as he got to his feet to address the room. "First off, I don't have to explain myself to you, Baskin. I wouldn't mind knowing exactly who you mean by they though. But for anyone else who matters, I had no idea the Alpha was here when I decided to come back to Nebraska. And as for this being the end of Lastford." Emmanuel had to take a breath. "My grandfather helped found this town and I'll be damned if I'll see it get sold off piece by piece to people who've never set a foot on Nebraskan soil other than to strip it bare. Henry Jackson was instrumental in helping this community grow and making sure all its citizens were treated fair. All of them. And I intend to make sure it goes on that way."
Someone muttered something to his right and while he didn't catch the whole sentence, the word "whore" caught his ear alongside his father's name. He didn't even realize he was moving until he felt his chair toppled to the floor and Asher's arm around his waist. "If my grandmother was in this room, you wouldn't dare say that to her face, you coward. None of you would. And until this cozener showed up"—he gestured at Baskin—"it wouldn't even have occurred to you to do it."