“It’s me, isn’t it?” Heather asked softly. I turned to my sister, seeing the tears in her eyes. “They want me.”
My mother nodded, still unable to speak.
“No,” I snapped. “Absolutely thefucknot. Let them have the ranch. They can’t?—”
“I’ll do it,” Heather said, cutting me off.
“You can’t?—”
“Nick,” she said, her voice shaking. “We can’t lose the ranch. Not after everything Daddy has been through.” She gave me a weak smile. “I don’t have any prospects in Hell Creek anyway and I probably?—”
“Fuck that!” I barked back. “You can’t just go throwing your life away for a piece of land and a few cows! It’s not worth it!”
“It is to me,” Heather said quietly, meeting my eyes. “This is our home, Nick. Our family’s legacy.”
“Your sister’s right,” Dad said, though the words seemed to tear something out of him. “The Valenti family... they’re not unreasonable people. The marriage would be to one of the sons. Heather would be taken care of, and the ranch would stay in the family.”
I wanted to put my fist through the wall. Instead, I gripped the table hard enough that my knuckles went white. Outside,the last light was fading from the valley, turning the mountains into dark silhouettes against a purple sky. I’d grown up looking at those peaks and learned to ride in the pastures below them. I’d helped Dad mend fence lines and move cattle through every season under that endless sky…
But I never expected this.
“There has to be another way,” I said, my voice low and dangerous. “We could sell off some of the land, downsize, pay them back in installments?—”
“We tried all that,” Mom interrupted. “Mr. Valenti was very clear. These are the only two options he’ll accept.”
I turned to face them again, studying my father’s slumped shoulders, my mother’s red-rimmed eyes, my sister’s pale face. Something didn’t add up.
“Why marriage?” I asked. “What do they get out of that? If they want the ranch, why not just take it?”
Dad shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “The Valentis are expanding their operations out west. They want... legitimacy. Connections to established families in Montana. A marriage ties them to the land legally, gives them a foothold that doesn’t look suspicious.”
“So, Heather’s just a goddamn business transaction to them.”
“Aren’t all marriages, to some degree?” my sister asked with a bitter laugh that didn’t sound like her at all.
“No,” I said flatly. “They’re not.”
The silence stretched between us again, heavy and suffocating. I could hear the old house settling around us, the wind picking up outside, and the distant sound of cattle lowing in the darkness.
“When do they need an answer?” I finally asked.
“Tomorrow,” Dad said. “Someone’s coming to the ranch tomorrow afternoon. To discuss the terms.”
Tomorrow. Christ.
I looked at my sister again, really looked at her. Twenty-three years old, her whole life ahead of her, and she was willing to throw it all away for this place. For family. The thought made something crack open in my chest.
“I want to be there,” I heard myself say.
“Nick—” Dad started.
“I said I want to be there.” I met his eyes, seeing my own desperation reflected back at me. “Before we agree to anything, I want to hear what they have to say. Face to face.”
Dad studied me for a long moment, then nodded slowly. “Alright. You can be there.”
“I’m coming too,” Heather said, straightening in her chair. Some of the color had returned to her cheeks, replaced by a stubborn set to her jaw that I recognized. We’d always been alike that way. Too damn stubborn for our own good.
“Of course,” Mom said quietly. “It’s your future we’re discussing.”
