Feed arrived late.
Invoices didn’t match deliveries.
A contract Luke mentioned once in passing turned up under another man’s name when she saw the papers in town.
When Wade Mercer visited at the end of the first week, all polished concern and low-voiced sympathy, the pieces shifted.
He sat in her kitchen drinking coffee and asking questions so gently they almost disguised themselves.
“How’s Luke sleeping?”
“Any trouble with his leg?”
“He say anything about the cattle contracts?”
It wasn’t until Luke appeared in the hallway after Wade left that Evelyn understood she had done something wrong by answering.
“Did he ask about the books?” Luke said.
