But by the same logic, he should be open to considering any large growing state in the Union.
As he sat in the Morgen library, Emmett removed the scrap of paper from his wallet and set it on the table. Then he opened volume three of the encyclopedia and added a second column.
Population of Texas
Population of California
1920
4,700,000
1920
?3,400,000
1930
5,800,000
1930
?5,700,000
1940
6,400,000
1940
?6,900,000
1950
7,800,000
1950
10,600,000
1960E
9,600,000
1960E
15,700,000
Emmett was so surprised by California’s growth that this time he read the opening paragraphs. What he learned was that its economy was expanding on multiple fronts. Long an agricultural giant, the war had turned the state into a leading builder of ships and airplanes; Hollywood had become the manufacturer of dreams for the world; and taken together, the ports of San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco amounted to the single largest gateway for trade into the US of A. In the 1950s alone, California was projected to grow by more than five million citizens, at a rate of close to fifty percent.
The notion that he and his brother would find their mother seemed as crazy as it had the day before, if not crazier, given the growth of the state’s population. But if Emmett’s intention was to renovate and sell houses, the case for California was indisputable.
Emmett returned the scrap to his wallet and the encyclopedia to its shelf. But having slid the third volume back in its slot, Emmett removed the twelfth. Without sitting down, he turned to the entry on Nebraska and scanned the page. With a touch of grim satisfaction, Emmett noted that from 1920 to 1950 its population had hovered around 1.3 million people, and that in the current decade it wasn’t expected to increase by a soul.
Emmett replaced the volume and headed for the door.
—Did you find what you were looking for?
Having passed the reference desk, Emmett turned to face the librarian. With her eyeglasses now resting on her head, Emmett saw that he had been wrong about her age. She was probably no older than thirty-five.
—I did, he said. Thank you.
—You’re Billy’s brother, aren’t you?
—I am, he said, a little surprised.
She smiled and nodded.
—I’m Ellie Matthiessen. I could tell because you look so much like him.
—Do you know my brother well?
—Oh, he’s spent a lot of time here. At least, since you’ve been away. Your brother loves a good story.
—He does at that, agreed Emmett with a smile.
Although as he went out the door, he couldn’t help but add to himself: for better or worse.
* * *
There were three of them standing by the Studebaker when Emmett returned from the library. He didn’t recognize the tall one on the right in the cowboy hat, but the one on the left was Jenny Andersen’s older brother, Eddie, and the one in the middle was Jacob Snyder. From the way that Eddie was kicking at the pavement, Emmett could tell that he didn’t want to be there. Seeing Emmett approach, the tall stranger nudged Jake in the side. When Jake looked up, Emmett could tell that he didn’t want to be there either.
Emmett stopped a few feet away with his keys in his hand and nodded to the two men he knew.
—Jake. Eddie.
Neither replied.
Emmett considered offering Jake an apology, but Jake wasn’t there for an apology. Emmett had already apologized to Jake and the rest of the Snyders. He’d apologized in the hours after the fight, then at the station house, and finally on the courthouse steps. His apologies hadn’t done the Snyders any good then, and they weren’t going to do them any good now.
—I don’t want any trouble, said Emmett. I just want to get in my car and go home.
—I can’t let you do that, said Jake.
And he was probably right. Though Emmett and Jake had only been talking for a minute, there were already people gathering around. There were a few farmhands, the Westerly widows, and two boys who had been biding their time on the courthouse lawn. If the Pentecostal or Congregational church let out, the crowd would only grow. Whatever happened next was sure to get back to old man Snyder, and that meant there was only one way that Jake could let the encounter come to its conclusion.
Emmett put his keys in his pocket, leaving his hands at his side.
It was the stranger who spoke up first. Leaning against the door of the Studebaker, he tilted back his hat and smiled.
—Seems like Jake here’s got some unfinished business with you, Watson.