The letter from Gerald Hargrove arrived four days later. Not the formal one, a second letter, shorter, written in a different hand from the first, less structured, with the agitation of a man who has learned something he wasn't expecting to learn. It said that the terms of the note were perhaps open to renegotiation, and that Mr. Hargrove would be glad to discuss the matter at a mutually convenient time, and that he hoped there were no hard feelings between them. Nate waited at the kitchen table.
He passed it to Clara without comment. "He knows," she said. "Aldridge made his inquiries," Nate said. "Quietly. Quietly enough that Hargrove has now heard," she said.
"That's how quiet works in a small town," Nate said. A pause. "He should be," she said. "The lawyer in Billings wrote back yesterday," Nate said. "He's willing to take the case.
He says what we have is he stopped. Set his hands flat on the table. He says it's enough. If Hargrove presses the note, we can counter claim. And if we counter claim, Hargrove has a problem he doesn't want public.
Clara looked at him. So, what do you want to do? She said. I want the note forgiven, he said, in full, not restructured. Not extended.
That's a significant demand. It's a significant fraud, he said. Yes, she said. It is. She thought for a moment.
If Hargrove agrees to forgive the note in exchange for you not pursuing the overcharge claim, then he gets away with 3 years of stealing from me, Nate said. His voice was level, but she could hear the edge beneath it. Yes, she said, he does. And if I pursue the claim, then it's public, she said, all of it. Which may be what he deserves and may also cost you time and legal fees and put you in front of a judge, which is always uncertain.
She paused. What matters more to you? The money back or the accounting? He was quiet for a long time. The ranch, he said finally.
What matters is the ranch and the children. If I get the note forgiven and the east pasture stays mine, I can rebuild what he took over time. A pause. I can't rebuild what I'd lose if I spent the next year in legal proceedings and the operation falls apart while I'm in Billings meeting with lawyers. That's a reasonable position, she said.