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“If it’s their choice, why not let them?”

“If something were to happen…Say Jesse was hurt or Fernando or you.” She blinked away the tears and stared across the interior of the truck at the perfect stranger she’d just spilled her guts to. “I couldn’t live with myself if any of you were hurt because I was too stubborn to give in to the pressure.”

“Put it to us and let us make the decision. If we choose to stay, don’t feel guilty.”

“What about when I can’t afford to pay you…?” she asked, her voice fading off.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we have to.”

“That would be now.”

“Why?”

“I found out today that the bank will foreclose on my property if I don’t pay the note in full in thirty days.” She leaned her head against the back of the seat. Could she be more tired?

“That’s why you went to Amarillo?”

“Yes.”

“Any luck finding a new lender?”

“No yesses, just maybes.” She looked across at him. “Did you guys get the fence up today?”

“Yes, for what it’s worth. If the rustlers want to come back, they’ll just drive right through it again.” He debated telling her the rest and gave in. “We found something today.”

Her eyes shot open. “What?”

“A chunk of hair and scalp on the barbed wire, a matchbook and a dog’s paw print.”

Her gaze returned to the road in front of her, she forced her tired brain to massage the meaning of the clues. “So whoever helped steal my cattle got a nasty cut on his head, smokes and owns a dog?”

“That’s pretty much what I figured. The matchbook was from Leon’s Bar.”

“So that’s why you came?”

“I wanted to see if I could find our guy with the cut scalp. I also came because of some troubles we had on the ranch today. Dusty was itching for a fight with Jesse.”

She shook her head. “He used to behave when I was around. I made sure the two weren’t together much. Now I won’t have to worry about that, will I?”

“What’s up with them and Catalina?”

“Dusty knows Jesse has it bad for Catalina and she won’t have anything to do with Jesse.”

“Why?”

“Did you know Catalina is Fernando’s daughter?”

“Fernando and Rosa?”

“That’s right. When we were going to high school, Catalina got it into her head that she’d be better off white instead of Hispanic. So she bleached her hair blond and worked hard to erase her Latino heritage, including her boyfriend, Jesse.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. Someone must have hurt her feelings pretty bad. I never got the straight story out of her. She wanted out of Prairie Rock as fast as she could get there.”

“Did she make it?”

“For a few short months she lived in Dallas. But she couldn’t get a decent job with only a high-school education. With housing much more expensive than anything here in Prairie Rock, she couldn’t meet the expenses of living in the big city. Before we knew it, she was back. She’s taking online courses as she can afford it so that she can get a degree and try it all again.”