Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Worth Fighting For

Day seven. The deadline. The bank gave us ninety days after Granddaddy showed them the partnership agreement and the heritage beef projections. The first loan payment is covered—not by selling the ranch, but by selling sixty head of conventional cattle at auction, direct to a buyer Cash found through his Army contacts. The heritage herd is established. Sixty head of the best cattle from both ranches, grazing the combined pasture under the Double C brand. The first restaurant order is confirmed—a farm-to-table place in Austin called Juniper, run by a chef named Maria who almost fell over herself when I pitched the concept. The state grant application is filed. The USDA paperwork is in progress. The brand story is written. The real one. With the feud and the families and the land and the truth. And Cash McCallister is standing in my yard at five in the morning, holding two cups of coffee, wearing a Double C tag on his hat band, and looking at me like I'm the most interesting thing he's ever seen. "Morning," I say. "Morning." "The herd looks good." "The herd looks great." "Juniper called. Chef Maria wants to double her first order." "I heard." We stand there in the early morning light, two people who've been through something impossible together, and the silence between us is the kind that doesn't need filling. "Cash." "Sutton." "This is the part where you say something." "I'm waiting for you to say something." "I asked you first." "That's not how this works." "It's exactly how this works. I'm the one who walked into your barn uninvited. I'm the one who climbed your locked gate. I'm the one who convinced you to partner with a Cooper. The least you can do is go first." He sets down the coffee cups.…