For nearly an hour, they discussed the project.
By the time Marlene left, she carried a list of measurements, tests, and practical questions to answer before planting.
It wasn't a promise of success.
It was something better.
A way to test whether success was possible.
The financial problems remained.
Marlene couldn't plant cactus with hope alone, and eighty-four thousand dollars in secured debt was too much to ignore. She spent the following week examining the ranch's equipment, livestock, and operating expenses, comparing each item against the income it might realistically produce. The more carefully she studied the figures, the more obvious it became that continuing to run the same cattle operation would consume whatever money remained.
She decided to sell most of the herd.
The decision hurt.
Her father had spent forty years raising cattle, and some of the bloodlines traced back to animals her grandfather owned. Marlene remembered helping Curtis during calving season, riding beside him through the pastures, and learning the names he gave to particularly stubborn cows. But keeping animals she couldn't afford to feed would not honor him.
It would only repeat the choices he'd begun questioning before his death.
She retained a small number of animals temporarily while arranging proper sales, then worked with a livestock agent to find buyers. The proceeds reduced the equipment debt and provided enough money to repair essential water equipment and establish the trial planting. She also sold an old tractor that required more repairs than it was worth, keeping only the machinery she believed the new operation could use.
Daryl called when he heard.
"So you're finally selling the cattle?"
Marlene stood beside the barn.
"Most of them."
He sounded relieved.
"Good. That's the first sensible thing you've done."
She closed her eyes.
"I'm planting cactus."
There was a long silence.
Then he said, "What?"
Marlene took a breath.
"Twenty acres to start. More if it works."
Daryl laughed.
Not because he found it funny.
Because he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Marlene, please tell me you're joking."
"I'm not."
He sighed.
"You sold cattle to buy cactus?"
"To build a different business."
"Cactus."
"Yes."
He was quiet.
Then he asked, "Have you lost your mind?"
Marlene looked toward the hills.
For a moment, anger rose in her chest.
Then she remembered her father's notebook.
She took a slow breath.
"I've spent the last two weeks studying what Dad was trying to do."
Daryl sounded impatient.
"Dad spent forty years trying things."
"I know."
"And most of them didn't make money."
"I know that too."
He sighed.