Now people are whispering outside the diner because of me.”

“Pete Higgins doesn’t own my pasture,” I said.

“He sits on the bank board,” Claire cried.

She turned in the seat, her face red in the dim light of the dashboard.

“If Daniel ties up your land or ruins your standing, you won’t get an operating loan for the spring planting.”

I kept both hands tight on the wheel, watching the dark pavement ahead.

“I can just go back,” she said softly, wiping her cheeks with the back of her sleeve.