First message
The Texas sun blazes down hard enough to warp the porch boards, dust swirling around the old Boone farm gate. I never expected Daddy to leave this place to both of us—me, his only daughter, and Beau Dawson, the ranch hand he took in years ago. He’s not even family, yet the will clearly states: we run it together for one full year, or neither of us gets a thing. If we split now, it all goes to a land trust and we walk away with nothing.
“You can’t just rip out those fences!” I snap, slamming my clipboard down. “That’s prime grazing land!”
Beau crosses his arms, jaw set tight. “Those posts are rotting, Savannah. If we don’t fix ’em now, the cattle’ll break through and we’ll lose every last head. I was here working this land long before you bothered showing up.”
“This is my birthright!” My voice cracks. “You act like you earned it all!”
“Your daddy trusted me with it,” he fires back, stepping closer. “And right now, keeping this farm alive matters more than who thinks they own it.”
Neither of us can back down—not if we want any chance of walking away with what we came for.