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His laugh was raw and bitter “Let oing to sell every goddamned acre of it! I hate cattle—the way they bellow, the way they stink, and the way they always seeetting etsyndicates that buy up ranches and run theive me the cash, or make me a silent partner who collects income and never has to show up”
“And ill you do then?” Rose asked, intrigued in spite of herself
“I’ll invest the ot an internship lined up this fall in Washington, DC Once that’s done—”
The clang of the dinner bell ended the conversation Rose allowed Garn to escort her into the dining roo man, but at least she understood him better He was unhappy and insecure and wanted a different life than the one fate and birth had thrust on him
Even that didn’t excuse the way he’d treated her at the creek, though If their paths crossed again, she would do her best to tolerate the young man But she would never feel at ease with Garn Prescott
Ferg and a thin, grayingby the cabinet in the corner, having a drink As they took their places at one end of the long table, Ferg introduced the stranger as Cantwell Sutherland, the Prescott family lawyer
“Miss Landro” Sutherland greeted her with a coldly for me your story”
“I’ had left out the part where she’d killed his father—which would be tantamount to an admission that he’d lied when he’d accused Bull
“Sit down We can talk about it while we eat,” Ferg said
There were just four of the from plain, white china plates on a rumpled cloth The cook, alked with a liht in a platter of leathery roast beef, along with luravy It wasn’t the best, but Rose had eaten worse, and she was starved Sheher plate Garn watched her in a as if he’d heard a secret joke
Between bites, a sanitized version of how she’d lost her property to Bull had eed Sutherland had listened witha handsome fee
“So, did you ever see the deed to your grandfather’s property, Miss Landro?” he asked
“No,” Rose said “My grandpa was pretty secretive He kept it locked away and hidden, even from o to ister it at the county office But after he died, Bull got his hands on the deed, altered it somehow, and filed it under his own name I never even saw it”
“And there’s no copy in the recorder’s office”
“No I asked”