Now she understood how many questions he'd carried without answers.
And she wished she'd appreciated his uncertainty while he was alive.
The first winter after planting brought a difficult freeze.
A cold front pushed through West Texas in late December, sending temperatures lower than the forecast predicted. Several exposed cactus plants suffered damage, especially in portions of the test plot where Marlene had underestimated how cold air settled near shallow depressions. When she inspected the rows after the weather warmed, she found pads that had softened and changed color.
She felt sick.
For several minutes, she stood staring at them.
Then she returned to the house and opened her records.
Instead of trying to save every damaged plant, she began documenting which specimens recovered and which didn't. Rosa helped her understand the differences between varieties and the importance of choosing planting material with suitable cold tolerance for that part of Texas. Elena reviewed the site layout and encouraged Marlene to treat the freeze as another reason not to expand too rapidly.
It wasn't comforting.
But it was useful.
By spring 2004, Marlene had learned more about the weaknesses of her plan than she'd known when she first planted the cactus.
That knowledge made the second season stronger.
She adjusted the planting zones, improved protection in vulnerable areas, and reserved healthy pads from surviving plants for propagation. She also began managing the surrounding vegetation differently, protecting useful native plants and allowing certain grasses to recover rather than clearing every inch of exposed ground.
Her father had spent decades measuring rainfall.
She was beginning to understand the value of keeping water in the soil after it fell.
The first serious thunderstorm of 2004 arrived on an April afternoon.
The sky darkened quickly.
Wind pushed dust across the ranch, rattling the old porch screen before rain began striking the roof. Within minutes, water was running down the limestone slopes and gathering in shallow channels that had been dry for months. Marlene stood beneath the porch overhang holding her father's notebook, watching the water move.
She didn't see the storm as an inconvenience.
She saw an opportunity to study the land.
When the rain eased, she pulled on her boots and walked toward the first planting zone.
The older parts of the ranch were already losing water through fast-moving runoff, especially along exposed tracks left by years of cattle movement. But near the new cactus rows, the shallow contour features and protected strips of vegetation slowed the flow. Water spread across a wider area and soaked into soil that had previously dried almost immediately.
It wasn't a miracle.