“And there’s a loan, or more than one,” I added. No sense avoiding it. “A big one.”
Her shoulders went rigid. Every line of her body sharpened. “What kind of loan?”
“One secured against the land.”
She blinked. Once. Twice. Swallowed. The tendons in her neck stood out. “You mean a lien,” she said.
“Yes.”
She stared at the mug for a second like she’d forgotten what it was. Her fingers tightened around the handle until her knuckles paled.
“So he could lose it,” she said.
“He would’ve,” I answered. “It was a matter of time.” Silence settled between us. Heavy. Thick.
She swallowed again, hard. “Okay,” she said at last. “That’s a lot. But I can deal with it. I can figure something out. I’ll get a payment plan, I can sell things, like equipment, and some cattle. The debt should be wiped out with his passing, right?”
There it was. She is reaching for the thin ice of hope.
“Tessa,” I said quietly. She looked at me then. Really looked. Those tired eyes sharpened, defences drawing tight. “The bank will still want to get their money,” I said. “So it’ll be auctioned off for them to recoup the costs. Unless you decide to assume the debt yourself.”
Ray hadn’t been a talker, but he’d let me know what was happening. What the numbers looked like. What would the bleak future be if nothing changed?
She went very, very still. Her fingers loosened on the mug just enough for her hand to tremble.
“There’s something else,” I said.
Her eyes narrowed. Suspicion sparked fast and sharp. “What?”
I hesitated just long enough for her to feel the shift. To sense there was something personal in what I was about to say. Something that mattered. Something that could change how she saw me.
“I’ve been trying to buy the ranch,” I said, and everything in her stopped.
Her breath. Her expression. The faint pulsing of her hands on the coffee mug as she started to lift it. All of it froze.
“You what?” she whispered.
Confusioncrossed her face like a cloud. Her eyes focused in a new way, as if she’d finally sobered up.
“I made Ray an offer last year,” I said. “Above market value. I asked again in the spring. And right before he passed.” The words landed like fist blows. I could see each one hit. “I’d like to make you the same offer.”
The mug came down hard on the counter. Porcelain clacked against laminate. Coffee sloshed up the sides, but somehow didn’t spill over. I saw it then. The exact moment the switch flipped, and she became the spitting image of her uncle.
“Oh, I see what this is,” she said. Her voice changed. Sharp. Cutting. “How absolutely stupid do you think I am?” A deep crease formed between her brows, her eyes blazing.
“You drive to Calgary to tell me he’s gone,” she said. “Offer to give me a ride, hide behind the concerned gentleman cowboy act. When in reality you’re plotting to take all this from me.” Her finger flicked outward, toward the window, the yard, the ranch beyond. The life she once had here. The life she chose to leave.
“Let me guess,” she went on. “I can go back to a normal life again if I let you take it off my hands, right?” She stood in front of me now, glaring up like I was something tracked in on the bottom of a boot. Her jaw was tight, shoulders up, chest heaving.
“I’m not trying to steal anything,” I said. I kept my voice level.
“What did Ray say to your offer?” she demanded.
“No,” I said. “Every time.”
Her laugh cracked. Wild. Bitter. “So you thought you’d try me the day after he died, because you’re so sure I want to dump this place as fast as I can?” Her voice rose. Heat poured out of her in waves.
“For fuck’s sake,” she shouted, “he’s not even in theground yet.” Her words hit hard, but she wasn’t done. “A fucking vulture is what you are.”
