Page 59 of Forbidden Rancher's Return
"You lead the crew Saturday?"
Rowan holds his gaze. "Yes."
Beck nods once. Then he picks up a shovel and gets to work clearing ash from the foundation perimeter and that's that.
I look at Rowan.
He almost smiles.
The insurance investigator confirms accelerant on the phone. Professional application. He'll be on-site Thursday, but I already know what he's going to find.
I hang up and stand in the kitchen and let the anger move through me clean and cold.
Halford did this. He couldn't pressure me into selling. He couldn't scare me off with late-night headlights or friendly visits with county assessor offers.
So he took a match to something I loved instead. Something my father built. Something that has stood on this land longer than Halford has had eyes on it.
Rowan appears in the kitchen doorway. He reads my face immediately.
"What."
"Investigator confirmed accelerant pattern. Deliberate and professional." I set the phone down. "Halford didn't do this himself. He hired someone."
Rowan's expression goes very still.
"That means he planned it," I say. "Before town yesterday. Maybe before he showed up on my porch."
"He's been watching this ranch for a long time," Rowan says quietly.
"Waiting for the right moment."
"Yes."
I cross my arms. The ridge will look different by fall. I can see it already. The new barn, the morning light, Rowan at the fence line.
The picture has changed. For the first time in years, when I imagine what comes next, I'm not standing in it alone.
"I'm not selling him a single fence post of this land," I say.
Rowan crosses the kitchen. Stops in front of me and cups the side of my face with that careful attention he has, like I'm something worth being precise about.
"No," he says. "You're not."
I lean into his hand for one breath. Then I straighten.
"We need to go back to town," I say.
"Today."
"Today. I want to talk to the sheriff directly. Not a phone call. In person, on record, with Beck as a witness."
Rowan nods. "I'll drive."
"I know you will."
He almost smiles again. Two in one morning. A new record.
Beck is already at the truck when we come outside. He looks at us.
