He built a stronger railing along the porch.
He moved a rocking chair beside the stove.
He repaired the little room and placed a clean quilt on the bed.
He did not tell Anna that he had begun speaking to the child when he was alone in the barn.
He did not tell her that he sometimes laid a hand against her stomach and wondered whether the baby could hear the sound of his voice.
He was still afraid.
But fear no longer dictated every decision he made.
One afternoon, while Anna sat sewing near the window, Samuel entered carrying a small wooden cradle.
It was old, made from dark pine, with a curved base and simple carved rails.
Anna looked up in surprise.
“Where did you find that?”
“It was in the storage shed. Mother used it for Thomas and me.”
She ran her fingers along the smooth wood.
“You kept it?”
“Father did.”
Samuel set it beside the stove.
“I thought it might need repairing.”
Anna rose and examined it.
The cradle had a crack in one rail and a loose joint at the base, but it was otherwise sound.
She smiled.
“It will be beautiful when you're finished.”
Samuel looked at the cradle.
For fourteen years, he had believed the future had been closed to him.
Now he stood in his kitchen, preparing a bed for a child who had not yet been born.
He could not remember the last time he had felt so frightened and so hopeful at once.
The truth about Edward Whitaker emerged slowly.
Mr. Jameson spent weeks examining the old accounts, interviewing the men who had worked for Joseph, and tracing the payments recorded in Dr. Harris's ledger.
The evidence showed that Edward had been attempting to acquire the eastern parcel for years.
He had used Thomas's debts to gain influence over him, promising to settle the loans if Thomas helped persuade Joseph to divide the ranch.
When Joseph refused, Edward turned to a different strategy.
He arranged the false medical report, hoping to convince Joseph that Samuel would never have children and that the ranch should be reorganized under Thomas's management.
The plan did not succeed as Edward had intended.
Joseph had been devastated by the report, but he had never formally altered the inheritance. He left the main ranch to Samuel, with a smaller property and financial provision for Thomas.
Edward had continued pursuing the eastern land through the forged transfer, but the document was never accepted.
After Joseph's death, the dispute remained unresolved.