Chapter 8: The Offer

The card said only a name and a Wyoming phone number.

The man in the vest kept smiling.

"I represent a group that likes this valley," he said.

"We'd pay four hundred and ten thousand dollars, cash, and close in thirty days."

"For nineteen hundred acres?"

"For a property in this condition." He glanced up at the porch roof. "You'll want to move quickly."

"Why?"

"No reason. It's only that places like this carry costs nobody sees until they're due."

"What costs?"

"I'd hate to speak out of turn." He tipped his head.

"You're in the middle of a separation, and I understand it's been difficult. We can make this simple."

I put the sandwich down on the porch rail.

"I never told you I was separated."

"People talk."

"Who?"

His smile didn't move.

Behind him, the ladder creaked.

Jed came down it slowly, wiping his hands on a rag.

He crossed the yard and stood at my shoulder.

He didn't say anything.

He didn't need to.

The man in the vest looked from him to me.

"Mr. Halvorsen," he said. "I believe you've had an informal grazing arrangement with the property."

"Those don't survive a sale. If Mrs. Dunning is smart, she'll let us help her."

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