The warden put the car in gear and turned into the Watsons’。 In the clearing by the front porch were two cars—a sedan and a pickup. The warden parked beside the pickup. When he and Emmett got out of the car, a tall man with a cowboy hat in his hand came out the front door and off the porch.
—Hey there, Emmett.
—Hey, Mr. Ransom.
The warden extended his hand to the rancher.
—I’m Warden Williams. It was nice of you to take the trouble to meet us.
—It was no trouble, Warden.
—I gather you’ve known Emmett a long time.
—Since the day he was born.
The warden put a hand on Emmett’s shoulder.
—Then I don’t need to explain to you what a fine young man he is. I was just telling him in the car that having paid his debt to society, he’s got his whole life ahead of him.
—He does at that, agreed Mr. Ransom.
The three men stood without speaking.
The warden had lived in the Midwest for less than a year now, but he knew from standing at the foot of other farmhouse porches that at this point in a conversation you were likely to be invited inside and offered something cool to drink; and when you received the invitation, you should be ready to accept because it would be taken as rude if you were to decline, even if you did have a three-hour drive ahead of you. But neither Emmett nor Mr. Ransom made any indication of asking the warden in.
—Well, he said after a moment, I guess I should be heading back.
Emmett and Mr. Ransom offered a final thanks to the warden, shook his hand, then watched as he climbed in his car and drove away. The warden was a quarter mile down the road when Emmett nodded toward the sedan.
—Mr. Obermeyer’s?
—He’s waiting in the kitchen.
—And Billy?
—I told Sally to bring him over a little later, so you and Tom can get your business done.
Emmett nodded.
—You ready to go in? asked Mr. Ransom.
—The sooner the better, said Emmett.
* * *
? ? ?
They found Tom Obermeyer seated at the small kitchen table. He was wearing a white shirt with short sleeves and a tie. If he was also wearing a suit coat, he must have left it in his car because it wasn’t hanging on the back of the chair.
When Emmett and Mr. Ransom came through the door, they seemed to catch the banker off his guard, because he abruptly scraped back the chair, stood up, and stuck out his hand all in a single motion.
—Well, hey now, Emmett. It’s good to see you.
Emmett shook the banker’s hand without a reply.
Taking a look around, Emmett noted that the floor was swept, the counter clear, the sink empty, the cabinets closed. The kitchen looked cleaner than at any point in Emmett’s memory.
—Here, Mr. Obermeyer said, gesturing to the table. Why don’t we all sit down.
Emmett took the chair opposite the banker. Mr. Ransom remained standing, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe. On the table was a brown folder thick with papers. It was sitting just out of the banker’s reach, as if it had been left there by somebody else. Mr. Obermeyer cleared his throat.
—First of all, Emmett, let me say how sorry I am about your father. He was a fine man and too young to be taken by illness.
—Thank you.
—I gather when you came for the funeral that Walter Eberstadt had a chance to sit down with you and discuss your father’s estate.
—He did, said Emmett.
The banker nodded with a look of sympathetic understanding.
—Then I suspect Walter explained that three years ago your father took out a new loan on top of the old mortgage. At the time, he said it was to upgrade his equipment. In actuality, I suspect a good portion of that loan went to pay some older debts since the only new piece of farm equipment we could find on the property was the John Deere in the barn. Though I suppose that’s neither here nor there.
Emmett and Mr. Ransom seemed to agree that this was neither here nor there because neither made any effort to respond. The banker cleared his throat again.
—The point I’m getting to is that in the last few years the harvest wasn’t what your father had hoped; and this year, what with your father’s passing, there isn’t going to be a harvest at all. So we had no choice but to call in the loan. It’s an unpleasant bit of business, I know, Emmett, but I want you to understand that it was not an easy decision for the bank to make.
—I should think it would be a pretty easy decision for you to make by now, said Mr. Ransom, given how much practice you get at making it.
The banker looked to the rancher.