He considered.
“Water access?”
“Yes. Limited. Controlled. With proper agreements.”
He shook his head slowly.
“Other ranchers might pay.”
“Especially during dry seasons.”
“And we'd still own the land.”
“Exactly.”
Elias looked toward the map.
Then back at her.
“Where did you learn to think like this?”
Lara smiled.
“My mother managed a household. Madame Fournier managed a kitchen. And I spent years listening to businessmen assume I wasn't worth noticing.”
She tapped the ledger.
“People speak freely around someone they underestimate.”
Elias stared at her.
Then laughed.
“Caleb made the worst mistake of his life.”
“What mistake?”
“He sent me a woman who understands business better than half the men in Deadwood.”
Lara smiled.
“Perhaps.”
But she was already thinking beyond the water agreements.
The town needed food.
The mining camps needed meals.
Ranch hands needed winter provisions.
She could cook.
She could preserve.
She could organize.
And Whispering Pines had land, water, livestock, and a growing reputation for generous meals.
She looked toward the barn.
A possibility began taking shape.
A kitchen.
Not simply for the ranch.
For the territory.
A business of her own.
One that could help save Whispering Pines without sacrificing the river.
When she explained the idea to Elias, he listened without interruption.
Then he asked a question that surprised her.
“How much would you need to start?”
She blinked.
“You believe I could?”
“Yes.”
“But I've never owned a business.”
“You've been running one inside this house for months.”
She laughed.
“That isn't the same.”
“Close enough to begin.”
He took her hand.
“Lara, people have spent your whole life telling you what you can't do.”
He smiled.
“Maybe it's time to show them what happens when someone finally lets you try.”
Chapter 9: The Kitchen That Saved Whispering Pines
By February, Lara had transformed the farmhouse kitchen.
She organized preserved food.
Prepared large batches of stew.
Baked bread before sunrise.
And began supplying meals to nearby ranches.
At first, only a few men came.
Then word spread.
A stagecoach driver carried news to Deadwood.
A miner told another mining crew.
A cattle buyer passing through stopped for lunch and returned with three friends.
Soon men traveled miles for Lara's cooking.
They brought coins.
Flour.
Coffee.
Vegetables.
Occasionally eggs or preserved fruit.
Lara accepted payment fairly.
She maintained careful accounts.
And refused to allow anyone to treat the arrangement as charity.
It was work.
Honest work.
Valuable work.
The same skill her brother had mocked now supported a ranch.