“Would you rather sit here and think about the elevator collapsing on us?”T.R.asked.
“I’d rather think about your ranch,” Lavette said.“I’d go in on it in a minute if I had the cash.”
“You might get that settlement,” T.R.reminded him.
“You know, I might,” Lavette said.“Listen, McGuinnes, after we get out of here, let’s keep in touch.You never know.”
“I guarantee you won’t go wrong on this investment.The Sun Belt’s booming.”
“I think you’re both nut cases,” Gilardini said.
“So you’re not interested?”T.R.asked.
“I didn’t say that.Hell, what else is there to be interested in down in this hole?If the ranch looks good, just call the Forty-third precinct and leave a message for me.”
T.R.shook his head.“Let me get some business cards out of my briefcase.”
“I’d just as soon not think about your briefcase, McGinnis.Let’s talk some more about the ranch.What’s the name of it anyway?I always liked those old ranch names — the Bar X, the Rocking J.RememberBonanza?”
“I saw that on reruns,” Lavette said.“The guy I liked was Clint Eastwood.I snuck in to seeHigh Plains Drifterat least six times when I was a kid.Back then, I would have given anything to be a cowboy.”
“Yeah, me too,” admitted the cop.“So what’s the place called?”
T.R.hesitated.These guys were after macho images, and he wished he could give them one.“Well, this spread is named something a little different.”
“Yeah?”Gilardini said.“What could be so different?”
“The True Love Ranch.”
ChapterTwo
Freddy Singleton hung up the phone and glared at her younger sister, Leigh, who was perched on the edge of the old pine desk.“Damn.That was Janine at Cooper Realty and she wants us to send the van for that TR McGuinness from New York.”
“Do we have to?”
Freddy shrugged.“I’ll catch hell from the Westridge corporate types if I don’t.They want us to roll out the red carpet for him.They think he’s got money.Shoot.I was hoping he wasn’t serious.Then maybe Eb’s offer would stand.”
“Fat chance,” Leigh said.“Westridge wants at least their original investment back.”She pushed away from the desk and walked over to study the gallery of framed photographs displayed on the office walls.“Maybe they’re hoping for a bidding war between Eb and this Easterner.”
“Eb can’t go any higher.”Freddy tapped a pencil against the desk in frustration.“Just what we need, a greenhorn trying to run the place.Eb Whitlock would just leave me alone to do my thing.”
Leigh turned back to her.“Maybe the guy won’t be interested once he sees the ranch.Wearelooking a little shabby in spots.And we’re low on guests this week.What have we got, eleven?That won’t seem like a money-making operation.”
“Here’s a clue for you, Leigh.It isn’t.I’ve never seen it so slow in May.”
“So we’ll convert our weaknesses to strengths.Maybe we can scare him off.Don’t forget to tell him about the legendary curse that’s supposed to hang over this property.”
“Yeah, Westridge has been on my case about all the little mishaps we’ve had lately.Sometimes I wonder if there really is a curse.”Freddy dialed the bunkhouse and asked Dwayne to make an airport run, then hung up and glanced up at Leigh.“We might as well go down to the corrals and get this morning’s chore over with.Are you ready to convince Red Devil that sex isn’t all it’s cracked up to be?”
Leigh chuckled.“I don’t think there’s a male animal alive who would accept castration with grace, but I’ll do what I can.After all, that’s what a head wrangler gets paid for.”
Freddy stood and reached for her hat hanging from a peg on the wall.“You know, I wonder if we really could discourage this T.R.person from buying the ranch.”
“He’s a dude, right?”Leigh said.“We have ways of handling dudes.”
“That we do.”Freddy adjusted her hat so the brim settled low over her eyes.“And I’d do just about anything to get rid of this particular tenderfoot.”
T.R.wasn’t surprised when the guest ranch van that met him at the airport had steer horns on the hood instead of a standard hood ornament.With a ranch named the True Love, he was lucky the ornament wasn’t a valentine heart.
