Wyatt’s ready retort faded. Just minutes ago he’d been contemplating which of the rich men in town might be willing to invest in his ranch. But he hadn’t really expected anyone would want to take such a risk. After all, no one had ever done full-scale ranching in the high country before, and there were no guarantees he’d be able to succeed. The honest truth was that the odds weighed against him.

Yet, without an investor, his chances at making a go of it were even slimmer. He’d be left fighting Brawley for every scrawny ox that made it west. And it’d take years to form a large enough herd to start turning a profit.

A picture of Ma flashed into his mind from the last time he’d visited home three years ago. She’d had a swollen bruise under her eye. She’d claimed one of the colts had kicked her, but he knew their stepfather had hit her again.

Wyatt was trying as best as he could to make a new way for Ma and his four siblings. He’d been trying since the day he’d left home at the age of fifteen.

And now he was so close. He had plenty of land and plenty of know-how. He just had to get the cattle.

Was Steele the answer to his problem?

Wyatt narrowed his gaze upon Landry Steele. A shrewd entrepreneur, Steele had arrived in South Park shortly after gold had been discovered. After visiting mines in the area, he’d invested in several. Two had been profitable, including the one in Fairplay. Steele had taken his profits and invested in other mines farther up near Leadville as well as businesses that catered to the miners’ needs.

Would he see the benefit in investing in cattle? It wouldn’t hurt to ask, would it?

Wyatt swallowed his trepidation and forced out the words he needed to say. “Next spring, I’m aiming to buy a herd of Shorthorns and drive them up here.”

“And you need someone to loan you the cash for the purchase?”

“Yep. In addition to the loan payback, I’d offer a percentage of the market sales.”

“Of course.” Steele’s attention drifted to the end of Main Street to the treeless, grassy plains that surrounded Fairplay for miles and miles. Wyatt hoped Steele was seeing the same thing as him—hundreds of cattle roaming the fertile land, fat and content and ready to sell for a huge profit.

“I might be new to ranching.” Wyatt tried to tamp down his growing excitement. “But I’ve got a whole heap of experience with livestock. My pa raised cattle on our farm, and I worked alongside him since the day I was born. After he died, I got a job driving cattle from Ohio to New York. And you know about my work freighting livestock for Russell, Majors, & Waddell.”