Chapter 3

A few days later, an embossed invitation arrived.

"Girls' Lunch with Clara Belle" at some ridiculously expensive Dallas restaurant.

I stared at it.

Then I picked up my phone.

"Clara Belle?"

"Sarah! Oh, good, you got my invitation! I was so hoping you'd come."

Her voice was sugary.

"I won't be there, Clara Belle."

A pause. "Oh. Is your wrist still bothering you, honey?"

"No," I said, my voice clear and loud enough for anyone in the general store to hear. "I'm just making it clear. I'm severing all ties with you and Blake Hamilton. I won't be bothering either of you again."

I hung up.

The silence in the store was absolute. Good. Let them talk.

I started selling things.

Not the core breeding stock, not the best of our ranch, but the outlying parcels, the equipment we could do without.

"What are you doing, Sarah?" Dad asked, his face creased with worry.

"There's a storm coming, Dad," I said. "An economic one. I saw it in a... a bad dream. We need to move the best of what we have, our breeding lines, to Aunt Carol and Uncle Joe's place in Colorado. It's smaller, more remote, safer."

Mom just looked at me, her eyes sad. "Are you sure this isn't about Blake, honey? About your heart being broken?"

"My heart's fine, Mom," I lied. It wasn't broken, it was scarred over and hard. "This is about survival."

They didn't understand, but they loved me. They agreed, thinking I was running from a broken heart.

Let them. It was easier.