Page 47 of August’s Cowboy Braxton

The secret hadn’t been that Margaret disappeared. She hadn’t. She’d grown up under a perfectly ordinary name with a perfectly ordinary explanation for who her father was.

Slade looked toward the copy of Boone’s notebook. “So Boone wasn’t hiding Margaret herself.”

“No.” Morgan tapped the notation. “He was protecting the truth about her parentage.”

Eleanor’s girl secured under Whitaker name. H.M.K. agreement honored.

“For Henry,” Tanner said.

“Most likely. The letters already establish the relationship, and Boone’s notes make the implication stronger. But I still want documentation before we know for sure that Henry was her father.” Morgan shifted to the next notation.

Cedar Draw stock held for Margaret.

“That’s the piece we still don’t understand.”

Jace leaned forward. “Because we don’t know what ‘held for Margaret’ means.”

“Exactly.” She placed the final surviving line beside it.

Cedar Draw account — Walker to continue until Margaret’s line is established.

“We can trace Margaret Whitaker through ordinary records now. What we don’t know is what financial arrangement Boone was protecting, what Cedar Draw was supposed to provide for her, or why the Walkers were instructed to continue an account tied to her.”

Dawson glanced toward the old livestock ledger. “And my family’s records?”

“Still part of it somehow. Your ledger confirms the families were handling stock together in the same period. We still don’t know why the Griffiths kept those records.”

“My family journal has payments decades later.” Jace studied Boone’s handwriting.

“The 1943 entry,” Morgan said. “‘Both parties aware.’ And the reference to the feud being for show.”

“So we follow the account,” Jace said.

Morgan nodded. “We follow the money.”

Dallas glanced toward Sadie. “And Roy?”

Torin answered. “Separate for now. Nothing we’ve found connects Evie to what Roy was doing.”

“We also don’t assume Roy was using Cedar Draw for the same reason Boone was.” Morgan folded her arms. “The name may have been useful to different people for very different reasons.”

Slade glanced across the remaining records. “The missing 1912 transfer? The boundary marker? And the 1923 claim?”

“Claire and I will keep working it,” Morgan said. “But none of those are the next question.”

She tapped Boone’s note.

Walker to continue until Margaret’s line is established.

“This is.”

Jace sat back. “I’ll bring you everything my family has that looks financial.”

“Ledgers, leases, tax records, old correspondence. Anything showing money moving between these families.” Morgan nodded, gathering the papers into a stack. “We finally know who Margaret Whitaker was. Now we need to figure out what somebody intended her to have.”

That was where we left it for now. We hadn’t solved anything yet but with Morgan spearheading the effort, it was only a matter of time.

Outside, people were moving up and down Main Street with coffee cups and shopping bags, completely unaware that another piece of Mustang Mountain history had just shifted underneath us.