Price was already shaking George's hand. A younger man Rachel did not recognize climbed down from the wagon carrying a leather document case. George saw Rachel. His face changed.
Not much. Enough.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Business."
Rachel looked toward the wagon. There were halters hanging from the side rail. New ones. Too many.
"What business?"
George's jaw tightened. "Go finish what you were doing."
Price removed his gloves one finger at a time. "Miss Hart."
Rachel looked at him. "Mr. Price."
"Fine stock you've got here."
"I know."
He smiled thinly. George said, "Rachel."
She ignored him. Price opened the leather case and took out several folded papers. Rachel recognized George's signature before she was close enough to read anything else.
Her stomach went cold. "What are those?"
George moved between her and the papers. "Nothing you need concern yourself with."
Rachel stopped. "Then why is Calvin Price standing in our yard with six halters?"
The younger man by the wagon looked suddenly interested in a fence post. Price cleared his throat. "Mr. Hart and I have an arrangement."
Rachel looked at her father. George would not meet her eyes. "What arrangement?"
No answer. Rachel stepped closer. "Pa."
George exhaled through his nose. "I borrowed against the herd last fall."
The words seemed too small for what they meant. Rachel looked toward the mare pasture. "Which herd?"
George said nothing. Rachel's voice sharpened. "Which horses?"
Price unfolded one of the notes. "Collateral listed includes the bay breeding mares, the Parker gray, two yearlings, and—"
Rachel crossed the distance before she realized she had moved. "Give me that."
Price hesitated. Then, perhaps deciding there was no reason not to, handed her the page. Rachel read.
Promissory note. Interest. Due date. Extension.
Additional security. The numbers blurred for half a second. She read again. The bay mares.
Daisy. June. Martha. The young chestnut out of Daisy's line.
Years of breeding choices reduced to ink and legal descriptions. Rachel looked at George. "You pledged Daisy?"
"Rachel—"
"You pledged all three."
"We needed money."
"When?"
"October."
She stared at him. October. Before Jacob Mason's proposal. Before Crow Creek.
Before Matthew. Months during which Rachel had been keeping the farm accounts and trying to understand why cash never matched what she calculated.
"You never put this in the ledger."
"It wasn't your ledger."
Rachel's fingers tightened around the paper. "I keep the farm books."
"You keep the day-to-day expenses."