The ranch's immediate prospects improved. A reliable supplier agreed to accept scheduled payments for hay. Several neighbors repaid small debts when spring livestock markets opened. The bride found a way to use the ranch's wool and leather scraps in durable garment linings and travel cases sold through her workshop, creating a modest additional stream of income. She insisted on honest pricing; workers were paid for their time rather than told the arrangement was a favor to the owner's wife.
Not everyone welcomed her. A few visiting cattle buyers made jokes about an enormous woman counting stock while men did the hard work. She answered by asking them to explain the weights and prices in their own offers. When one man's figures failed to match, she calmly slid his paper back across the table. Her husband watched without intervening until the buyer apologized, then winked at her behind the door as the man departed.
The foreman became an unlikely ally. He still called her "the dressmaker" when he was being stubborn, but he began bringing her questions about contracts before agreeing to purchases. One afternoon he showed her a delivery note for lumber that had never arrived. She compared it with the ledger and discovered that the invoice came from a company recently formed by associates of the bank director.
"Did you order this?" she asked.
"No. Thought the boss had."
The rancher examined the paper. "I never saw it."
The company demanded a substantial payment for timber intended for improvements on the northern boundary. Its name appeared on the invoice, along with a clerk's initials and a penciled note referencing the river access road. There was no signed purchase agreement in the ranch records. The bride made a copy and asked the foreman to check whether any timber had been delivered to the property.
Nothing had. Yet two days later, a formal notice arrived claiming the timber company held a lien against the ranch for materials ordered and not paid for. Attached was what appeared to be the rancher's signature. He stared at it, then shook his head.
"That's not mine."
His wife studied the writing. The signature resembled his usual broad strokes but differed in several details. Her knowledge of ledgers made her cautious; she wouldn't pretend she could prove a forgery merely by looking. Still, she knew the paper demanded immediate attention.