“Don’t make scene.”
“I’m not making anything.”
“The mountain man wants a winter contract.”
“Then sell him board and feed.”
“He wants more.”
She looked past her brother.
The mountain man stood beside office door holding his hat now.
His expression was unreadable.
The two ranchers were still there.
Smirking.
The stable woman’s stomach tightened.
“What more?”
Her brother took her elbow.
She pulled free instantly.
“Do not.”
He smiled toward the others.
“Temper.”
The stable woman stared.
“What do you want?”
Her brother leaned closer.
“A solution.”
“To what?”
“Everything.”
He stepped back and raised his voice as though announcing something clever.
“Our friend from the mountains needs stable access, winter feed, pack horses, and a permanent base below the pass.”
The stable woman looked toward mountain man.
“And?”
Her brother smiled.
“We need capital.”
She understood part.
Not enough.
He continued.
“He’s unmarried.”
One of the ranchers laughed.
The stable woman’s entire body went still.
Her brother continued before she could speak.
“And frankly, so are you.”
She looked at him.
“What did you do?”
The brother reached into his vest and unfolded a document.
“A partnership.”
The mountain man’s eyes narrowed.
The stable woman did not move.
Her brother spoke as though reading a business proposal.
“The mountain man buys my interest in the stable.”
“He gets access to the barns, pasture, and winter quarters.”
“Outstanding debts are cleared.”
“And—”
He paused.
The ranchers were openly grinning now.
“And if the two of you decide to make the arrangement permanent…”
The stable woman’s face emptied.
“What?”
The brother held up the contract.
“Marriage would simplify ownership.”
Nobody laughed this time.
Because even the ranchers could hear what the room had become.
The stable woman stared at her brother.
“You offered me?”
His expression changed.
“Don’t be foolish.”
“Did you offer me?”
“I offered possibility.”
“To a stranger.”
“You’re twenty-nine.”
The words landed harder than he intended.
Her brother saw.
But kept going.
“This town is not full of men lining up.”
The woman looked toward the mountain man.
He had gone completely still.
Her brother mistook silence for support.
“He needs a place.”
“You need a husband.”
“The stable needs money.”
“Everyone wins.”
The stable woman felt humiliation rise from her stomach to her face.
Not because marriage embarrassed her.
Because she was standing inside the business she had kept alive while men openly discussed converting her into part of its inventory.
The rancher nearest door muttered:
“Hell of a package.”
The woman turned.
He smiled.
“Stable and stable girl.”
Something hit the floor.
Not the rancher.
The contract.
The mountain man had taken it from the brother’s hand.
The brother blinked.
“What are you doing?”
The mountain man unfolded the document.
Read one paragraph.
Then another.
His jaw tightened.
He looked at the older brother.