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Colton Benton walked away from the city jail in a stupor.

He’d gone to check up on the arrest of the woman who’d killed his brother only to learn she’d hanged herself the night before.

Had the world gone mad? Only the day before Colton had watched helplessly as Stella Mikkelson shot his brother dead and wounded the only woman Colton had ever loved.

He’d never told Tommy or Emma about his feelings, but from the moment he’d first met Emma, Colton hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her.

He was forty years old and had never given his heart to any woman.

At first it was to devote himself to his studies and education in the law.

Then it was because his father had wanted him undistracted in learning the family railroad business and handling the legal affairs for anything related to the Bentons’ financial and business matters.

But a year ago, Tommy had brought Emma Johnson home, and everything changed.

Tommy had announced his intention to marry the vivacious brunette with her dark brown eyes and full lips.

She was possibly the most beautiful woman Colton ever met, and she was smart too.

Emma’s quick, witty responses and knowledge about affairs that usually bored women impressed Colton.

He remembered one conversation they’d had at length regarding the cattle industry.

This was Emma’s background, and although she wanted nothing to do with being a rancher, she knew everything about it.

Once, when Colton and his father had questions regarding cattle shipments, Emma’s thoughts on the matter helped them to make their decisions.

She was no wallflower, nor a simpering belle.

But she was Tommy’s lady.

That alone forced Colton’s hand. He had stayed away from her and did what he could to avoid ever being alone with her.

Most of the family thought he disliked her, but the very opposite was true.

He loved her. And now she was widowed and lay injured in the hospital, and Colton had a funeral to plan for his youngest brother.

Tommy had lived life fast and loose since his birth.

He was never one for sitting still. Colton was seven years old when Tommy was born.

He hadn’t been overly impressed with getting yet another brother.

He already had to share his mother’s affection with Walter, age four, and Ernest who was two and constantly ill.

Now came Thomas, and while his father delighted in yet another Benton boy, Colton was less than pleased.

He’d hoped this would be the last of his siblings.

And for years it seemed that it was, until his mother announced one Christmas that she was once again with child.

On May 30, 1865, a baby girl had been delivered after a most difficult time. The doctor announced her stillborn as the cord had been wrapped three times around her neck and suffocated her airway. The nurse quickly wrapped the baby in a blanket and set her aside.

Moments later, however, Mother had told Colton that she heard the tiniest mew from the baby and insisted the nurse unwrap the child.

The nurse had thought her in error— thought that sorrow had caused her to hear what she so longed to hear.

But soon enough the baby’s cry grew louder, and Rose Benton was truly born.

The doctor informed the family that Rose would most likely never be able to learn or function on her own.

Having been deprived of oxygen, her brain had no doubt suffered damage.

Colton remembered learning the news and later making a solemn promise to his mother on her deathbed two years later that he would always look out for Rose.

And he had. He’d looked after all of them, Tommy included.

Yet he’d been unable to keep a young woman from walking into Tommy’s wedding and putting an end to his life.

Colton made his way into the funeral home and paid for the final arrangements for Tommy’s funeral.

They would hold it the following day at Trinity Cemetery.

There would be no full church service and no open-casket viewing.

Tommy, much as his brothers, had found religion to be a waste of time. He wouldn’t want a church service.

The funeral would be for family only. Emma would be unable to attend, but even if they’d held off on the funeral until Monday, she couldn’t have made it.

The doctor said she would be in the hospital for at least a week, longer if an infection set in.

No, it was best to just get Tommy buried and grieve his passing.

His death would change a great deal for the family, and Colton’s mind was already on how he should proceed.

The previous November, their father, Lawrence Benton, had passed away due to heart failure.

He left his entire fortune to be split four ways between his sons, with the provision that they would each supply a portion to always care for their sister.

Colton had been made guardian over her, considering her difficulties, but Tommy and Emma had wanted Rosie to live with them.

Colton had agreed to this, knowing they would probably stay nearby, but he remained in charge.

Now Tommy was dead, and Colton had no idea what Emma would do.

She might want to return to her sister and brother-in-law’s ranch.

Or she might even desire to head back to Cheyenne.

Colton had heard her father say that he’d like very much to take her home.

Colton would just as soon she stay with the family there in Dallas. Rosie would prefer that too.

How could he convince Emma to stay, however?

She was now legally a Benton. In fact, Colton, as the family lawyer, had already changed Tommy’s will to leave everything to Emma upon his death.

Neither had anticipated that the day would come anytime soon, but here they were.

This brought up another difficult situation.

Tommy had inherited his equal share of railroad stock, but he had also been given their aunt’s share prior to their father’s death, which left him majority owner. Now that would fall to Emma.

Colton heaved a sigh and headed home. There was just so much to consider.

He would have to sit down with Emma once she was feeling better and explain what was going on and what he hoped she’d find acceptable for her future.

But what he really wanted to do was somehow convince her that he should be a part of her future.

Yet how could he speak of love with her husband—his own brother—not yet cold in the ground?

As he approached the three-story Queen Anne that his father had built six years earlier, Colton frowned.

He’d never liked the place. It was lavish and ostentatious.

The kind of place you built to show others that you could.

The hipped-roof building with its lower cross gables and multiple turrets was accented with a delicate spindle-work frieze that extended around the entire wrap-around porch.

The house itself was over fifteen thousand square feet and boasted a third-floor ballroom that was seldom used.

Father had said that with the coming of electricity to Dallas and the success of their railroad, the Bentons’ deserved to be noticed.

He studied the city and chose his land carefully, then paid an enormous sum to have the city extend water and electricity to his new creation.

Once the word was out that the Bentons were moving to this location, other moneyed people quickly bought up the surrounding land and began to build their own mansions.

It wasn’t long before an entire neighborhood of palatial estates had been fashioned.

Colton preferred their old house, where memories of his mother could be had in every corner and room.

He supposed that was the reason, however, his father insisted on the move.

He’d not been happy since losing her and seldom spoke of her.

Upon his death bed, though, Colton had heard him murmur her name more than once. Theirs had been a great love.

Now his brothers, Walter and Ernest, were married with their own families and living elsewhere in Dallas, and Tommy had been looking to find his own place.

That left just him and Rose in the big house .

.. maybe Emma, too, if he could convince her.

He supposed it was his decision entirely, however, as to whether they stayed in this monstrosity of a house or left for something smaller.

“I knew it was you!” Rosie said, coming to greet him in the oversized foyer.

She stretched up on tiptoe and embraced Colton as she had done every day for as long as he could remember.

“Can we go and see Emma?” She stepped back and fixed him with a hopeful expression. “I want to know how she’s feeling.”

“It’s too soon. Maybe tomorrow.”

Rosie frowned, and she lowered her gaze to the floor. “She’s all alone now.”

“She is not. She has her father and stepmother, as well as her sister’s family.”

“She’ll think we don’t love her anymore.”

Colton shook his head and put his arm around Rosie’s shoulder. “We can go see her first thing in the morning. She needed today to rest. The doctor had to put in a lot of stitches, and that hurts.”

“Can we bring her home tomorrow?”

He considered this question for a long moment. “I don’t know where Emma wants to live, since Tommy won’t be here.”

“Do you think Tommy’s in heaven?” Rose was always changing the topic with lightning speed.

The last thing Colton wanted to do was talk religious matters with his sister. He wanted to curse Aunt Clementine for her religious beliefs and how she’d convinced Rosie they were important, much less true.