"Yesterday."
Rachel looked away. "What did he want?"
"Money."
"Of course."
"And I told him no."
Rachel's head snapped back. Matthew continued before she could answer. "I told him I wouldn't cover a debt he created without knowing what you wanted."
Something in her chest loosened and tightened at the same time. "He's going to lose the mares."
"I know."
Rachel rested the broom against the wall. "And you could stop it."
"Probably."
"So why don't you?"
Matthew held her gaze. "Because buying your father's debt would give me control over the thing you're trying to make yours."
Rachel had no answer ready for that. Matthew reached inside his coat and pulled out a folded packet. "I brought something else."
She looked at it. "A proposal?"
Rachel's expression must have changed because he added quickly, "Business."
That almost made her smile. Almost. He gestured toward the tack room. "Can we sit?"
Rachel led him inside. The room smelled of leather oil, hay dust, and cold iron. A rough table stood beneath the window. Matthew placed the papers on it.
Rachel did not touch them. He sat across from her. "High Mesa has more pasture than I'm using on the east side this year."
She listened.
"I can lease you enough for six mares and their foals."
"Lease."
"Lease. Not give."
Rachel unfolded the first page. The handwriting was not Matthew's. "Who wrote this?"
"My attorney in Cheyenne."
Rachel looked up. "You have an attorney."
"I own too much land not to."
She read. Pasture lease. Feed at cost through winter.
Access to High Mesa breeding stock under separate terms. Rachel's horses to remain Rachel Hart's property. She read that line twice. Then a third time.
"What do you get?"
"Half the net profit on foals bred under the partnership."
"Half?"
"You provide the mares and management. I provide pasture, feed access, and stallion service."
Rachel kept reading. "If one of us ends it?"
"You keep your horses. I keep my land."
"No debt?"
"No."
"No claim on future animals outside the agreement?"
"No."
Her eyes moved lower. There was no mention of marriage. Not one. Rachel closed the packet.
"Why?"