She was right.
Briggs and his men were bound.
Under questioning, the scheme surfaced.
Briggs had partnered with Samuel Crowe and investors tied to the proposed railroad spur.
They needed control of Ethan’s land before the water survey became public.
Briggs’s job was pressure.
Damaged fences.
Thirsty cattle.
Lost paperwork.
Crowe’s job was legal theft.
Forged transfer.
Then resale.
Pike had become the weak link.
But one problem remained.
The original deed.
Briggs laughed.
“You’ll never find it.”
Ethan stared.
Nahimana looked around the room.
Then at Briggs.
“You came here tonight.”
“So?”
“You searched again.”
He stopped smiling.
She continued.
“If you already had the deed, you would not need to search.”
Ethan understood.
“Pike never gave it to you.”
Briggs said nothing.
Nahimana looked at Ethan.
“Where would Pike hide something if he feared both you and Briggs?”
Ethan thought.
Roof?
Barn?
Spring?
Then remembered the X on the map.
The ridge.
They rode there at dawn.
Nahimana found disturbed stones beneath a mesquite root.
Ethan dug.
Tin box.
Inside:
The deed.
And letters.
Crowe to Briggs.
Instructions.
Payments.
Railroad survey details.
Everything.
Ethan laughed from pure relief.
Nahimana sat on a rock.
Watching.
He held the deed against his chest.
“You saved my ranch.”
She said, “I found a box.”
“You found everything.”
“I found tracks.”
“That counts.”
He sat beside her.
For several minutes they watched sunrise.
Then Ethan said, “One month.”
Nahimana looked at him.
“What?”
“Our arrangement.”
“Yes.”
“It’s been six days.”
“Yes.”
“Feels longer.”
“That is because you attract trouble.”
He laughed.
“Nahimana.”
She turned.
He suddenly had no practiced sentence.
He had never needed one.
“I don’t want you to leave.”
Her expression became unreadable.
He continued.
“Not because of your father.”
Silence.
“Not because you helped with the ranch.”
Silence.
“Not because I gave my word.”
Nahimana looked toward sunrise.
“Why?”
Ethan answered honestly.
“Because this place felt empty before you.”
She looked at him.
He felt ridiculous.
Kept going anyway.
“I didn’t notice how empty.”
Her eyes softened.
“And now?”
“Now you insult my cooking.”
“It is bad.”
“You argue.”
“Often.”
“You steal blankets.”
“You sleep like a man fighting bears.”
“I do not.”
“You do.”
He smiled.
Nahimana smiled too.
Ethan’s voice lowered.
“I like hearing you in the house.”
Something changed in her face.