Thomas nodded slowly.
That was perhaps the first time either of them felt fully understood.
Not romance.
Not yet.
Grief recognizing grief.
Something gentler.
More dangerous because of that.
Winter brought trouble before Christmas.
The first sign was cattle weight.
Mercy did not notice directly.
Luke did.
He came into the kitchen one afternoon.
“Pa’s mad.”
“New information?”
Luke smiled.
“About feed.”
Mercy looked up.
“What feed?”
“The steers are dropping weight.”
Mercy filed the statement away.
Later Thomas sat with ranch accounts.
His forehead creased.
Mercy placed coffee beside him.
“Problem?”
“Hay disappears faster than it should.”
“Animals eating it?”
“Yes.”
“Then perhaps you have more animals than you think.”
He looked up.
Mercy smiled.
“Joke.”
Thomas returned to the ledger.
Mercy stood beside him.
“What did you buy?”
He showed her.
Hay.
Grain.
Salt blocks.
Enough for winter.
Mercy’s eyes moved over figures.
Then stopped.
“Who is Bell Supply Cooperative?”
“Supplier in Larkspur.”
“Always use them?”
“Two years.”
“Before?”
“Independent merchants.”
“Why switch?”
“Cheaper.”
Mercy pointed.
“Is it?”
Thomas frowned.
She took a pencil.
Calculated.
Shipping.
Handling.
Storage surcharge.
The advertised unit price was lower.
Final cost was higher.
Thomas’s jaw tightened.
“Not enough to matter.”
“Monthly?”
He recalculated.
His expression changed.
Mercy asked:
“Who recommended them?”
Thomas went silent.
“Thomas?”
“My ranch foreman.”
“Which?”
“Harlan Pike.”
Mercy knew Harlan.
Fifty.
Worked Bell Ranch eight years.
Quiet.
Competent.
The kind of man everybody trusted because he gave them no reason not to.
Mercy said:
“Do not accuse him.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“You were thinking loudly.”
Thomas looked annoyed.
Mercy smiled.
“Learned that from you.”
Two days later, Thomas checked delivered feed himself.
Several sacks were underweight.
Not dramatically.
Enough.
Then he discovered two hay loads recorded as delivered had never reached the north barn.
Harlan blamed clerical confusion.
Possible.
Mercy advised patience.
“Check before anger.”
Thomas did.
That was harder for him than riding into a blizzard.
More discrepancies appeared.
Small.
A veterinary bill doubled.
Harness repair paid twice.
Cattle-sale commission higher than contract.
Thomas had signed many.
Grief and exhaustion had made him easy to manage.
He knew it.
That embarrassed him more than theft itself.
One night he slammed the ledger shut.