“An experiment is all it will ever be if the bank has its way,” she muttered. With the smaller size of her spread, she’d decided to try some new crops that other farmers in the area were having success with. If she could get the crop to grow, she could make more money on it than with the traditional wheat and hay her father had always planted to supplement the cattle.
Stepping into the cooler shade of the barn, Sam let the darkness envelop her. She heard a loud meow and looked down to find Arrow twining between her legs. The large male cat had one ragged ear and was totally black except for a patch of white in the shape of an arrowhead on his chest. “Hey, boy.”
Sam leaned down and scrubbed the cat behind his ears, taking comfort from him. “What big plans do you have for today? Mice to catch? Naps to take?”
He blinked his large green eyes and stared up at her. She could almost feel him willing her to go to the bin by the barn door. “Ah, I know what you want.” She headed toward it and he followed closely behind. “Just like a man. Lots of attention when you want something.”
She opened the bin and noted it was getting low. She’d have to pick up some cat food on her next trip to town. Hopefully, there was enough money in the account to cover groceries. Things were getting pretty tight.
Arrow waited patiently while she dumped a scoop full of food into his dish. Then he attacked it, eating with gusto. He purred like a well-oiled motor.
“At least one of us still has an appetite.” She was about to head to the tractor to go check the fields when she heard a vehicle approaching. “What now?” She was tired of dealing with people this morning and just wanted to be alone on her land.
She walked back out into the sunshine and swore under her breath, muttering a few of the choice words Tim had used this morning. Just what she didn’t need—George Rawlins, local lawyer and the man she’d once thought she might marry someday.
He climbed out of his shiny new black truck and smiled, showing a mouthful of straight white teeth. The best money could buy. She’d been fooled by that smile once. By the pleasing features and well-trimmed brown hair. She’d thought he’d genuinely cared about her.
He’d come around after her father had passed, offering condolences and a shoulder to cry on. Wasn’t long until he was offering more than a shoulder.
She’d slept with him and when he’d broached her about selling off some land to help her settle the worst of her family debts after her mother’s death, she’d assumed all he wanted was to help her, to shoulder some of her burdens.
Sam snorted under her breath as he approached. He’d given her plenty of attention until she’d told him she’d sold all the land she intended to. Turned out, he was buying the land himself, and at a rate far less than she would have gotten from another buyer. Then he’d turned around and sold it to her neighbors at the going rate, pocketing the difference. Sam had made the mistake of allowing her grief to blind her to his true nature. Never again. He was one of the reasons she was in the fix she was in.
“Morning, Samantha.”
“What do you want, George?” Sam wished she had a dog, a really large, vicious dog she could sic on her unwanted guest.
“No need to be like that.” He reached out to touch her and she stepped out of reach. No way did she want him putting his dirty paws on her.
“What do you want?” she repeated. Better to hear him out so he’d leave.
He shook his head and sighed, as though he was the wounded party. He was good at that, getting sympathy and making her feel as though she was the one doing something wrong.
Objectively speaking, he was a good-looking man. He stood about six feet with a lean build. His brown hair was kept trimmed in a style that suited him. He usually wore suits to work, but this morning he was wearing new jeans and a crisp, button-down shirt. His boots were the finest leather and shone in the sunshine. Those boots had never seen a hard day’s work. Not like hers had.
“I heard about your trip to the bank.”
Sam stiffened and stood her ground. She’d known it wouldn’t take long for word to get around Mission Gulch that she’d been into the bank to visit Karen Simmons. Everyone in the bank lobby had seen her and there was only one reason anyone had a meeting with Karen—they needed a loan.
She shrugged nonchalantly. “So. You got a point? Day’s a wasting.” She turned and spit into the dirt, knowing the display wouldn’t please him. He’d spent much of their time together trying to turn her into a girly girl, which wasn’t going to happen at this point of her life. She was raised working a farm, following her father and older brother around the fields. She was a tomboy for life.
Not that she didn’t enjoy being a woman, because she did, but George didn’t need to know that. He’d see it as a weakness and do his best to exploit it. George was a snake in the grass. Shame she couldn’t just shoot him to be rid of him like she could any other varmint.
As expected, he took a step back. Probably didn’t want to risk his shiny boots. “I thought you might like to talk about selling the place.”
Sam laughed at his audacity. The man was a total ass. “I have no plans to sell. If I did, you’d be the last man in the world I’d sell to.”
“Now, Sam. No need to be like that. It was just business.”
And to him it had been just business. To her it had been a betrayal. “You bother me any more about this and I’ll call the sheriff. You’re not welcome here.”
George stiffened and fury flashed in his eyes. For a brief second, she was very much aware of being a woman alone in the middle of nowhere. Then the moment was gone and his normal bland expression was back. “I’m in no hurry. You’ll have to sell eventually. And when you do…” He left the sentiment hanging.
She finished it for him. “And when I do, I’ll sell it to anyone but you.” She gave him a fake, sugary smile. “Now leave, unless you want to help me spread manure in the fields.”
He turned on his heel and stalked back to his truck. “I thought not,” she muttered. “That would mean you’d actually have to do some work.” Not that she planned to fertilize, but he didn’t know that.
The tires kicked up dirt as he sped away and Sam was alone once again. Arrow trotted up to sit beside her. “Here to protect me now that the threat is gone, are you?” She stood there until the dust settled. Still, she made no move to go to work.
Sam was tired. Tired of being the strong one, the one to hold things together. She needed someone to lean on and all she had was a disreputable-looking tomcat. There was work waiting, but there was always work on a farm, less now that the animals had been sold, but she was still one person trying to do everything.
“To hell with it.” Sam walked toward the fields, not bothering to detour for the tractor. She wanted to walk the land, to feel the heat on her face, to smell the dirt and vegetation. This was still her land and she wanted to enjoy it.
She set out, her long strides leaving the house and her problems behind. It was just past ten in the morning, but it had already been a hell of a long day.
Jace Hunter shook hands with Radnor Craddock. “We have a deal.” The trade was a fair one and he was now the owner of the massive gray-and-white stallion currently munching on some feed in the stall behind them.
Radnor slapped him on the back. “Good. You’ll share a meal with us before you set out for home.” It was more a command than an offer. Jace glanced toward his brother, not surprised when Darian shook his head. As usual, they were in accord.
Jace turned back to his host. “Thank you for the offer, but we need to be on our way. Looks like there’s a storm brewing and we want to make it home by nightfall.” They’d only been at Craddock Keep a matter of hours, having camped just beyond, up in the mountains the night before.