Page 31 of The Mountain Echoes

Even though I know I’ll need to go through the books myself to get the full picture, the outlook already feels bleak.

I open my eyes, accepting the truth of the clusterfuck the ranch is right now.

“Celine wants to sell.” It’s not a question.

Amos bobs his head in agreement. “She and Hudson are broke. They’re hollowed out. If Longhorn sells, they walk away clean with cash. And…so do you, Aria.”

I tip my chin in acknowledgment. The pressure behind my eyes is building. A migraine is coming.

“What if I don’t want to sell?”

He looks surprised for a very long and, honestly, insulting time. “Rami thought that you wouldn’t stay here.”

“This is my home.”

“Yeah, but”—Amos pauses, purses his lip—“you didn’t come back for a decade.”

“He asked me not to.”

“He wanted you to, though. Just didn’t know how to ask,” he says sadly. “Your father had more ego than a bull in a buckin’ chute.”

I huff out a laugh. “Mean, loud, and just waiting to blow the gate off its hinges?”

“Yeah.” His eyes softened with sympathy. “Look, I don’t know you very well. But I do know Celine, and I know Hudson. They’ll fightyou tooth and nail.”

“It’s just a thought…And, I don’t know if Papa’s will is going to pull the rug out from under my feet.”

He looks confused for a moment, and then, as what I said registers, shakes his head vigorously. “He’d never do that. He thought very highly of you.”

I glance at him, my disbelief evident.

“He always knew you could take care of yourself. He worried about Celine.”

I don’t want to get into this with Amos, so I changed the subject. “How can I keep the ranch? What will it take? We’re just talking survival for now.”

Amos hesitates before responding. “You’ve gotta do three things. Keep the lights on. Get cattle ready for auction. Make the farm and orchard pull more than pity income.”

“Any advice on how I can make this happen?”

Now, Amos looks downright uncomfortable. “Aria, it’s…I don’t know if it’s worth it. Look, the estate clocks in around sixteen, sixteen point five million. The estate tax itself is goin’ to be a tough climb.”

I start doing the numbers in my head.

Colorado doesn’t have any state inheritance or estate tax, but the feds want their cut, and they don’t care that most of it is dirt and fences. If Longhorn is valued at, say, around sixteen million, about thirteen point six million of it will be exempt under Federal tax law, which will still leave the taxable portion to be over two million dollars.

The tax bill could easily be, depending on deductions and structure, around a million.

My appetitecompletelyvanishes at that thought.

How the fuck will I pay that?

I don’t have that kind of money. Longhorn has little liquidity, as most of the wealth is tied up in land and equipment.

I push my plate with the half-eaten steak away.

“It’s worth it to me,” I breathe.

I’m freaking the fuck out, and nausea is coating my insides.