Willow stared at him.
For a moment she genuinely couldn't tell if he was joking.
This was a man who'd known her grandfather for years, who'd probably sat on that same stool a hundred times before she'd ever set foot in Yellow Creek. Hearing him repeat something so completely false bothered her more than anything Nathaniel himself had said to her face.
"Who told you that?" she asked, calm, careful.
He shifted his weight. "People are talking. Fella at the hardware store mentioned it. Said he heard it from somebody who knows somebody connected to Graves."
"Let me ask you some thing, did you see a contract?"
"No."
"Did anyone you know actually see me sign something?"
A pause, longer this time. "No. I just heard it."
"Then you didn't hear a fact." Her voice stayed level, but there was
