I've earned every penny I make and I owe apologies to no one, especially not to someone whose biggest accomplishment is being born into a family with money. You have no right to speak to me that way. I have every right. You came at me first, remember? You spread lies about me to make yourself feel better about being rejected.
That's not my problem, Miss Mitchell. That's yours. The silence in the store was absolute. Sarah's mouth opened and closed like a fish, but no words came out. Mrs. Chen took Evelyn's arm.
We'll take our supplies now, Mrs. Brennan, and we won't be back. There's a new general store in Cooperville that will appreciate our business more. They left with their supplies and their dignity intact. But Evelyn's hands were shaking so badly she could barely hold the reins on the way back to the ranch. I shouldn't have said those things, she said after a mile of silence.
Yes, you should have. That girl needed to hear it. Now she'll spread more lies. Make things worse. Things were already as worse as they could get.
Mrs. Chen glanced at her. You stood up for yourself. You told the truth. That matters more than what people say about it. But when they got back to Thornridge, Evelyn discovered that the confrontation in town was already common knowledge.
Coop must have been there or someone else who'd ridden back fast with the news. The ranch hands looked at her differently now, some with respect, some with wariness, like she was a bomb that might go off at any moment. And Ridgewell summoned her to his office before she'd even finished unloading the wagon. "I heard about what happened in town," he said without preamble. Evelyn lifted her chin.
"I defended myself. If that's a problem?" "It's not a problem, but it is a complication." He gestured for her to sit and after a moment's hesitation, she did. "The Mitchell family has influence in Red Hollow.
Sarah's father controls most of the supply routes this direction. If they decide to make things difficult for us, they can." "I'm sorry." "Don't apologize. I'm not angry with you."
He leaned back in his chair looking tired. "I'm angry at the situation, at the way gossip spreads like disease and ruins people for no reason except that some folks have nothing better to do." "You could fire me. That would solve the problem." "That would give them exactly what they want.
No." He shook his head firmly. "You stay and we ride this out. Eventually something more interesting will happen and they'll forget all about us. And if they don't?"
"Then we deal with it." He looked at her directly. "I meant what I said before, Evelyn. You've done nothing wrong. I won't punish you for other people's ugliness."
The way he said her name sent an uncomfortable warmth through her chest. She pushed it away firmly. "What about Lily?" she asked. "If this keeps getting worse, it could affect her." "Lily's 8 years old and isolated on a ranch.