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Chapter Three

Wednesday, October 10th.

Wild Stallion Ranch.

Billy had dandy heat kicking out of the woodstove in the living room by the time I had breakfast cooked and on our plates. We were eating early and getting breakfast over with because Linda Brown was coming to list the ranch.

Billy sat down and slathered peach jam on four slices of toast. “I can’t believe you’re going to sell this ranch already. You’ve only been here since the end of August.”

“Longest six weeks of my life.”

“This is a great ranch,” said Billy. “Great barn and one of the best corrals I’ve ever seen. House needs more insulation, but I’d buy it myself if I had the down payment.”

“Oh yeah? That surprises me. You never said anything.”

“Because I didn’t know you were serious about selling.”

I popped down four more slices for toast and leaned on the counter. “What if you just made mortgage payments and didn’t need a huge down payment?”

Billy raised a dark eyebrow. “Would you consider an arrangement like that?”

“I’ll think about it. You’ll be making decent money when you’re elected sheriff of this shit county.”

Billy laughed. “I have to win an election first.”

“You’ve got all the votes from the Shelby side of the county where y’all’s kin live.”

“I haven’t even told anybody over there that I’m thinking of running.”

“You’d better make a trip to your home turf and get on it. We have to get your campaign going right away—only three weeks until the vote. Molly will help a lot. She likes you and she wants you to be her boss.” I laughed. “If it ain’t gonna be me.”

“Not as much as she wants you to stay, Travis. She told me that.”

After breakfast, I stayed at the ranch to talk to Linda Brown and Billy went to the station. I’d tried a couple of times to get hold of Linda and cancel our meeting, but her cell kept going to message. The wind was picking up and cell service had turned sporadic.

I did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen while I waited for her to arrive. I even added more wood to the stove in the living room and tidied up in there. Not that I made a big mess. I didn’t, and Billy was military neat like I was.

Max and Sarge raised hell when Linda knocked on the door and I sent them to their beds so they wouldn’t scare the agent. I didn’t know her well enough to know if she was a dog lover or not.

“Come in, Linda. I have coffee on.”

“Thanks, Travis. The roads are icing up and it’s going to be a terrible day for driving.”

“Have a seat near the stove and I’ll bring you a coffee.”

She smiled. “This house is so cozy.” She had her laptop with her and pulled it out of the bag as soon as she sat down.

“I called you twice and left you messages,” I said as I set her coffee down on the table in front of her.

“Why were you calling? Was it about the bad driving?”

I sat down in the armchair across from her wanting to light up a smoke but I didn’t. “No, not about the roads. I changed my mind about listing the ranch. I was being too hasty because of all the bad weather we’ve been having.”

“Okay.” Her expression hardened. “Obviously, I didn’t get your messages or I could’ve saved myself a trip.”

“That’s exactly why I called, Linda. Not completely my fault.”

She gathered up her stuff and didn’t drink her coffee. No more pleasant conversation wasted on me. She saved that for people who were going to give her a listing.