Hazel steps out behind her, already dressed for riding. She must've been inside helping Mae when Chace found me. Her hair is pulled back, jacket on, boots laced tight.
She's ready.
Mae's face tightens with worry, but she nods. "Be careful."
"Always am," I say.
Mae's eyes flick between us—me in the barn doorway, Hazel on the porch. Whatever she sees there makes her mouth press into a thin line, but she doesn't comment. Just turns and goes back inside, leaving us alone.
Hazel crosses the yard toward me, moving with purpose. Her expression is set, that familiar mix of concern and steel I've seen a thousand times.
She looks like she didn't sleep either.
Good. At least I'm not alone in that.
"What's going on?" she asks.
I don't dress it up. "Fence got cut on the east pasture. We're missing cattle."
Her expression sharpens instantly. "How many?"
"At least twelve. Could be more."
She exhales, hard. "When?"
"Sometime last night." My gaze flicks past her, tracking the sky, the men moving, the way the day has already gone wrong. "We're heading out now."
"I'm coming with you."
"No."
The word is out before I think about it. Flat. Final.
Hazel stills. Her jaw sets. Eyes flash.
"Excuse me?"
I exhale through my nose, irritation threading through the urgency. I don't have time for this. Not after yesterday. Not with everything unsettled between us. "You're not riding out into this."
She steps closer. Too close. Close enough I can see the stubborn set of her mouth. The fire in her eyes that I know too well.
"Eli—"
"No," I cut in, jaw tightening. "This isn't—"
"Eli Dawson," she says, voice low and dangerous, "this is my ranch."
The words hit harder than I expect.
Harder thanYou're not the only one who lost your dadhit her.
We're standing close enough that anyone watching would see this for what it is. Not just an argument. A line being drawn.
Her chin lifts. Doesn't back down an inch.
I hold her gaze, feel the pressure of it, the truth she's throwing in my face whether I like it or not. "This isn't about ownership."
"It damn well is," she says. "Those cattle are mine. That fence is mine. And whoever cut it did it on my land."
