"You look like you've seen a ghost."She stepped inside and gave me a tentative smile."What's wrong?"
"Nothing."I answered without thinking.
Her eyes narrowed."Try again."
I should've brushed it off.Should've told her it was ranch business and changed the subject.That's what I would've done yesterday.Last week.Any time before I'd kissed her and felt the ground shift under my boots.
Instead, I pushed the ledger toward her.
"I found this in the old files.They're cattle records from before my grandfather's time."I waited for her expression to change as she opened it."Look at the names."
She scanned the first page, then the second.Her eyebrows inched up."Kincaid and Hollister.Together."
"For years."
"But everyone says?—"
"I know what everyone says."I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ledger like it might change if I looked long enough."Doesn't make it true."
Lilah flipped through more pages, her finger tracing the entries.When she looked up, her expression had gone serious."This could affect the rodeo."
"Yeah."
"The stock eligibility.The insurance."
I met her eyes."All of it."
She set the ledger down carefully, like it had turned into a live grenade."What are you going to do?"
"I don't know."The admission tasted bitter.I always knew what to do.That's how I'd survived this long.Control the variables.Manage the outcomes.Keep everything running smooth.But this wasn't something I could control.
"Does anyone else know?"Lilah asked.
"Not that I'm aware of."
"Are you going to tell them?"
I looked at her standing there, steady and clear-eyed, not flinching from the mess I'd just dropped in her lap.She deserved honesty.More than that, she deserved to know what she was walking into if she got tangled up with me.
"I don't know," I said again."But it's going to get messy either way."
Lilah didn’t flinch.Didn’t step back.Just exhaled through her nose and leaned against the edge of my desk, her arms crossed.
"Okay.Let’s break this down."Her voice was steady, like she was assessing a tricky jump rather than a document that could unravel half the town’s history."First, does this actually contradict current ownership, or just the story of the feud?"
I rubbed my jaw."Both.Some of these entries list shared herds.Joint sales.If someone wanted to challenge the bloodlines?—"
"—they could argue the stock isn’t pure Kincaid or pure Hollister."She nodded."Which affects eligibility.And if eligibility’s in question?—"
"Insurance voids.Permits get pulled."The words tasted like vinegar."The rodeo doesn’t happen."
She was quiet for a long moment, staring at the ledger like it was a puzzle she could solve if she just looked hard enough.“And no one else knows, just us.”
Us.The word burned like she’d branded it into my chest.Us.Like she was already in this, her boots planted next to mine, no question about it.
I should’ve shut the file.Should’ve told her this was ranch business and nothing she needed to worry about.
That was how I usually handled things… contained, controlled, handled alone.Problems stayed manageable when I didn’t give them room to breathe or share them with anyone else.
