Read Online Montana Wife (Historical) by Jillian Hart - Free Book Online Page A

Dayton’s polished buggy with the fine-stepping Tennessee Walkers parked in the quiet alley behind the bank, safely away from the mud splatter from the main street. Appropriate, where the man parked. And predictable. Daniel would have bet every last acre of his homestead that Dayton had beaten him to the punch at the chance to buy the Ludgrin land.
    Mr. Wright had turned down his offer with true sincerity. There was too much debt, more than the land, the buildings and the livestock were worth, and with a failed crop. All of which totaled more than the value of the property. No, they could not accept a deal for such a grave loss to the bank. They would need collateral. Wright was more than eager to say they’d accept Daniel’s homestead to secure the amount on the Ludgrin land.
    Daniel could not afford to buy land that cost more than it was worth. It was that simple. But something stuck in his craw as he bought bushel bags for the few loads of wheat he’d managed to get in before the storm.
    Maybe what was important was what the banker had failed to say. Maybe they had another buyer who was willing to use his land as collateral to assume the debt. Daniel had no doubt as to whom. There was only one man prosperous enough in these parts. Dayton.
    Damn it. Daniel stared at the buggy and drowsing horses and saw red. Boiling hot rage blinded him and he wanted to turn heel and march into that bank and say the land wasn’t foreclosed yet. It was good, fertile land, the best wheat land in the county, and to own it was more than a humble man could hope to do in an honest lifetime. Why not see if he could make a better deal with the bank?
    No, that would be a poor decision. He couldn’t go off half cocked and make a bigger mess of things. He had his land free and clear, good, productive land, horses, his own secondhand thresher and, best of all, no debt.
    Debt was a foolish man’s solution, and could turn into quicksand fast enough. Dragging down a man until there was no hope left. He’d seen too many farmers lose everything because they’d rather borrow than do without.
    No, he wouldn’t lose his independence. He refused to risk everything he’d sweated blood for. Lucky for him, he had time. The bank had yet to foreclose. That would take time, and he’d have the chance to think this all through. Take a look at his options.
    â€œHey, Lindsay.” That caustic sneer could belong to only Dayton.
    Stomach tight, muscles bunched, Daniel spotted the man he’d come to dislike, breaking through the tangle of a half dozen women gazing at the front window of some dress shop. Typical, how Dayton expected folks to make way for him without so much as a courteous, “Excuse me.” Dayton was the kind of man who got Daniel’s hackles up.
    The kind of man he’d come to despise in his life and with good reason. He’d worked for too many men just like him growing up.
    Be civil. As hard as that was going to be, he might as well try jumping to the moon. “Dayton. Tough storm.”
    â€œYep. Wheat’s a total loss, but I got investments to fall back on.” Dayton hitched up his shoulders, the gesture of a man pleased with his high self-opinion.
    An opinion Daniel didn’t share. With a low word, he reassured his gelding as he came up to him and loosened his reins from the post.
    â€œNoticed you sniffin’ around the Widow Ludgrin’s skirts.” Dayton sent a stream of tobacco juice into the mud. “She’s one fine-looking woman.”
    â€œIt’s not my habit to covet another man’s wife.”
    â€œShe’s a widow now, my boy, and you know what that means. A woman without a man to protect her. Or satisfy her. Too bad all that wheat land of hers is mortgaged. Not worth the paper owed on it. Guess you know that.”
    â€œDidn’t know that was any of your concern.”
    Dayton didn’t have the grace ethic to be ashamed. A