Page 6 of The Lonely Road

“But—”

“But what?” He shook his head, then ran a finger over the desk and picked up some dust. “Nokoni says you’re the best water rights lawyer he’s ever met.”

“Elder Nokoni is being generous,” I said, chagrined.

I had spent enough years at a top law firm in Aspen to know that the law doesn’t decide what’s right—it just decides who wins. And I was very good at helping clients win. I helped developers legally buy ranches, transfer water rights, and sometimes change that water from irrigation to more profitable uses. I never took a case against tribal interests—not once did I cross that line—but I knew exactly how the game was played.

Mac waved a dismissive hand. “I’ve known Nokoni a long time. He’s not given to exaggeration.” Then he shrugged. “He’s been waiting for you to be done with that fancy Aspen. Maybe, Taya, it’s time for you to start fighting the people who want to take what isn’t theirs.”

Elder Nokoni had said the same thing to me on and off for the past couple of years. I countered by telling him that what I did was legal and above board. And he reminded me that, legal as it might be, it still often devastated rural communities.

“You mean I should start fighting the kind of people who used to be my clients?”

“Yes.”

I had been thinking about it for a long time, and even before the debacle at the law firm, a part of me had wanted to become more careful about who I helped win. It was probably why Elder Nokoni kept at me—never pushing hard, but always reminding me that I could do better, not financially but spiritually. And now all the seeds he had planted in soil he had prepared long before anyone else knew there was a garden were coming to fruition.

“Mac, I’ve never worked alone,” I told him. “I’ve always had a team and help, and this is…well, this will be a one-woman operation.”

“True,” Mac said. “Kid, I’ll help you. I’ll work with you on the big cases if you need it. I just have one demand.”

I pinned him with a look. “What?”

“I want you to argue with me! I can’t stand yes-people.”

I smiled then because I had made a decision I didn’t think I would. “I’ve never said yes to anything I didn’t believe.”

He smiled then, slow and dry. “Good. We’re going to get along fine.”

That evening, Elder Nokoni called me about my meeting with Mac. “Well?”

“I’m going to do it.”

“Excellent. How does the law firm look?”

“Law firm might be a slight exaggeration,” I muttered. “And it looks like it needs work.”

“Everything worth having does.”

So that’s how I ended up owning a building on Main Street and taking over all of Mac’s clients. There were many of them with very different needs.

Write me a will.

Read over this grazing lease.

My neighbor moved his fence—what do I do?

The bank says I’m in default—what does this mean?

Can my daughter build a house on the back forty?

They want an easement for a pipeline.

They want an easement for a road.

They want an easement for power lines.

The county says my well isn’t permitted.