“That is why I came.”
The wind moved through the cottonwoods.
Silas stared at her.
“What does your father have to do with him?”
“He was partners with Gideon Shaw.”
Silas's expression hardened.
“In what?”
“Land.”
She took a breath.
“My father and Gideon bought land together ten years ago. My father believed Shaw was honest.”
“He wasn't.”
“No.”
“What happened?”
“My father discovered that Shaw had been falsifying records.”
Silas stepped closer.
“What records?”
“Deeds.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Land deeds?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't your father expose him?”
“He tried.”
“And?”
“My father died before he could.”
Silas stared at her.
“Accident?”
“I don't know.”
“You think Shaw killed him?”
“I think Shaw had reason to want him silent.”
Silas's face became very still.
“How did you get involved?”
“After my mother died, I found my father's papers.”
She reached into her handbag.
“I found this.”
She pulled out a folded document.
Silas took it.
He opened it beneath the fading light.
His eyes moved across the page.
Then stopped.
“This is a survey.”
“Yes.”
“Of your father's land.”
“And mine.”
Silas looked at her.
“What does this have to do with my ranch?”
She pointed.
“That boundary.”
Silas followed her finger.
A line ran across the map.
It ended near the western edge of his property.
Silas looked up.
“That isn't possible.”
“It is.”
“No.”
“Look again.”
He did.
Then his face changed.
“The creek.”
“Yes.”
“That line runs through Creed land.”
“It runs through land that Shaw claims belongs to him.”
Silas looked at her.
“And you came here because of that?”
“I came because I needed someone who knew the country.”
He stared at her.
“You used my advertisement.”
“Yes.”
“You answered because of the ranch.”
“Yes.”
“You never intended to marry me.”
She hesitated.
“I never said that.”
He looked at her.
“You came for the land.”
“I came for the truth.”
“Same thing?”
“No.”
She folded her arms.
“I wanted to meet the man whose property was connected to my father's records.”
Silas stepped closer.
“And if I hadn't been attractive?”
She blinked.
“What?”
“If I had been old?”
She stared at him.
“If I had been ugly?”
“I would still have come.”
“If I had been cruel?”
“I might have left.”
“If I had been kind?”
Her lips curved.
“I would have been disappointed.”
He almost laughed.
“Why?”
“Because I suspected you would be.”