He looked at the wall.
“This is the third conversation.”
Victoria’s face flushed.
“The shortcut is convenient for everyone.”
Garrett nodded.
“Convenient.”
“Exactly.”
“Not permitted.”
“You’re impossible.”
“Maybe.”
“You’d rather make hundreds of people drive farther because of some principle.”
Garrett looked toward the neighborhood.
“Hundreds of people aren’t entitled to four minutes of my property because they live nearby.”
“Seven minutes.”
He looked at her.
Victoria realized she had corrected him.
Garrett laughed quietly.
“That really matters to you.”
“It matters to families.”
“So does a safe road through my ranch.”
“It’s a road.”
“It’s a working ranch.”
Victoria gestured toward the empty fields.
“Nothing is happening.”
Garrett’s expression cooled.
“That sentence right there is the problem.”
“What?”
“You look at land you don’t use and decide it isn’t being used.”
Victoria stared.
Garrett pointed toward the upper pasture.
“Yesterday I moved thirty-seven head across this road.”
Toward the barn.
“Tuesday, a hay truck backed through here.”
Toward the lower field.
“My niece rides that horse across twice a week.”
Then back to Victoria.
“You see empty because it isn’t doing anything for you.”
She said nothing.
Garrett’s voice remained quiet.