I bite my lip, unsure. Truth is, I’ve never wanted to have a cattle ranch. I don’t see that changing. But the money it makes sustains it, so I wouldn’t need to touch my inheritance if I didn’t want to.
“I’d need someone to work the cattle I kept,” I tell him, curious to see his thoughts on that.
He grins. “Don’t let this pretty face fool you. I’m a cowboy through and through. I can keep things afloat until you’ve had time to think things over.”
I blow out a breath I didn’t even know I was holding. “Okay, Riggs. We’ll play things by ear. Now let’s see what these guys have to offer, and we’ll go from there.” He nods as we move the horses into the pen before dismounting.
I give Willow a bit of a fuss before removing her reins. “I’ll be back to give you a rub down in a little while, and if you’re good, I’ll bring you a juicy apple.” She nods her head, blowing warm breath all over me, making me laugh. “Play nice with your friend.” I give her a kiss and head to the gate, where Riggs is waiting. He closes and locks it, taking my reins from me.
As we move closer to the men, I look them over. Both look to be in their late fifties to early sixties, but fit in that way only aging cowboys can be. Dressed in pressed jeans, clean shirts, and Stetsons, I feel underdressed, which is stupid. We aren’t dressed all that differently, but then women tend to be held to a higher standard than men when it comes to appearances.
“Gentlemen, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Calliope. This is my friend Riggs. I understand you’re interested in purchasing some of my cattle.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Twelve million dollars.”
“How long are you going to keep repeating that for?”
“As long as it takes for it to sink in.”
“You had to know there was money in ranching. I mean, that’s nothing really. If I’d really wanted to make a killing, I’d have easily gotten another fifty to a hundred grand, but I just want this part over so I can start with the next phase.”
He looks over at me, his expression lost and bewildered, before he turns back to the road.
“You kept the land, the house, the equipment, and half the cattle and still made a fortune. Why couldn’t you tap into that when you needed it? In my experience, rich people rarely land in jail.”
“My father was supposedly dead, and even if he wasn’t, that man would never waste a penny on me. Not when he felt robbed.”
He frowns.
“The house, the land, it’s all part of my inheritance. It’s always passed to the females in my line; the husbands have no claim to it. The only time they have any measure of control is while they wait for the next heir to become of age.”
“So he had control of all this technically until you turned?—
He hisses as if just realizing how dirty my dad is. “He tried to screw you out of your inheritance. That was his plan all along, wasn’t it? I couldn’t work out why a man who had this kind of wealth would not only fake his death but let his daughter take the fall, but it was for this place he thought of as his. It was all for money.”
“In essence, yes.” It took me a long while to realize that, especially after the whole wanting to marry me off thing. I guess my coming into my own early made him panic.
“There’s a little more to it.” I rub my thumb absently over my birthmark and find his eyes dropping to watch me. I quickly pull my sleeve down and fold my arms.
“But yes, with me gone, he had full control of this place, or the man heappointeddid,” I say with air quotes. “They didn’t count on me escaping a murder one rap.”
His eyes close as his nostrils flare, anger riding him hard.
“He banked on you getting life.”
“I’m sure he’d have preferred the death penalty, but that would have come with its own issues. When I turned eighteen, all the control of this place and the money it generated would have come directly to me. He couldn’t have that. I overheard him talking to the old sheriff about marrying me off to a man he could control, who in turn would control me, and up until that point, I knew nothing about this place being mine.”
“So it could have worked?” He asks, sounding horrified.
“I was sixteen, so who knows, but he made a mistake not just by talking about his plans where I could overhear him, but bytelling me who he planned on selling me off to. If he thought I’d have lain down and agreed to wed my childhood tormentor, he had another thing coming.”
Of course, then my powers came in and fucked up his plans altogether, but I leave that part out.
“What I didn’t know until recently is that I had a second inheritance left for me. I don’t know why. It’s not tied to this place, so even if my father had somehow wrestled this place from me, I still would have been a very wealthy woman. Part of me wonders if he even knew about it at all. I assume he would have fought for it if he did, out of spite as much as greed, but I can’t see how he would get his hands on it after effectivelydying.” I add in finger quotes.
Part of me wonders if the money was a secret for a reason. Something left by Dorothy’s daughter, for example— the only one of the Hart women to break free from this place. She alone would have known that sometimes freedom comes at a cost. She would have wanted her daughter protected, knowing what she might face. The fact that she came back and found herself in a similar situation to the one her mother fled makes everything that much more heartbreaking.
