Rachel chose her answer carefully. "I think you were looking at the wrong part of the ranch."
His eyes held hers. Then he looked toward the shelves. The clean jars.
The labeled tins. The stacked pans. The crock of sourdough near the warm range.
"What part should I be looking at?"
"The part that leaves through the door every day."
"Food?"
"Money."
A pause. "And men."
Matthew's face went still. Rachel went on. "You can own every acre in this basin."
"It doesn't matter if you don't have enough cash to keep the crew until spring."
That was the thing he had been avoiding. She could see it now. Not because he didn't understand numbers. Because the cattle looked healthy.
The barns stood. The fences were mostly sound. The ranch gave the appearance of strength. The weakness was happening in receipts.
Quietly. A dollar here. Two there. Men leaving.
Freight rising. Money flowing out faster than spring could bring it back. Matthew returned to the table.
"What do you need?"
Rachel blinked. "For what?"
"To fix it."
She looked at him. "Control of the food budget."
His eyebrows lifted.
"All of it. You can approve major purchases."
"You're generous."
"I know."
"What else?"
"Access to invoices before they're paid."
He nodded. "Anything else?"
"Authority to tell Eli no when he asks for coffee twice in the same week."
From the doorway came Eli's voice. "That happened one time."
Neither of them had heard him approach. Rachel looked over. "Twice."
Eli removed his hat. "Those were hard weeks."
Matthew looked at Rachel. She looked back. Then he laughed.
It was brief. Low. Almost startled out of him.
Rachel had never heard it before. The sound changed his face more than a smile did. Eli stared.
"Boss, you feeling all right?"
Matthew's expression closed immediately. "Get back to work."
Eli grinned and disappeared. Rachel looked down at the papers. She was smiling.
She couldn't help it. Matthew noticed. He did not say anything. He gathered the unpaid invoices and squared the edges against the table.
"When do you start?"