“Who’s we?”she persisted.
“Well...”Ballesteros obviously wasn’t enjoying his role as the bearer of bad news.“The present owners claim they have no responsibility in the matter, and technically they don’t.I’m afraid the expense of either proving the drums aren’t there, or getting them out and cleaning up the area if they are, will fall to the person who was the owner at the time the drums were installed.”
Ry had figured that one out, but he wanted Ballesteros to deliver the message instead of him.And he wanted her to realize just what a jerk Whitlock was turning out to be.
“So, since my father and mother are dead, the responsibility falls to me,” Freddy said in a surprisingly calm voice.
Ballesteros steepled his fingers.“I’m afraid so.If I were you, I’d do everything I could to find a receipt or locate the trucking company.In the meantime, the financing decisions will be put on hold.I’m sorry.This is a very hot subject right now.And you’d better hope that if the drums are down there, they didn’t pollute the water supply.”
“They’re not down there,” Freddy said, an edge to her voice.
“Let’s hope not.”
Ry stood.“We’ll find a way to prove it.Thanks for your time.”
As they left the building in a much less euphoric mood than when they’d arrived, Ry reflected that there was nothing that spoiled paradise quicker than a snake.
On the way back to the True Love, he glanced at Freddy’s rigid profile.“Now do you see what your friend and neighbor has done?He’s not only thrown a monkey wrench into the sale, he may have set you up for a very costly procedure.”
“Which I couldn’t begin to pay for on what I make as foreman of the ranch.”
“You won’t pay for it.I will.”
“That’s crazy.It’s not your responsibility, and it’s bad business besides!I won’t let you do that.”
“I want the ranch, Freddy.”And the foreman, if she’ll have me.“Whitlock may think this will discourage me from pursuing the sale, but he’s mistaken.”
“I still can’t believe that Eb?—”
“Be realistic, Freddy.This was all calculated by him.He knows the drums aren’t there, but my partners and I don’t.If you can’t pay to have it checked out, then we’d have to, and we have no idea what sort of pollution problem we might run into.Any logical businessperson would back out of a sale with that sort of snag.If the drums have polluted the groundwater, the property’s value will drop drastically.”
“But none of that’s true!”
“I know, and the one thing Whitlock didn’t count on was that I’d credit the memory of a ten-year-old girl over that of a grown man.”
Her voice softened.“And you do?”
“Absolutely.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me,” he said with a chuckle.“It makes sense.A couple of weeks ago, you would have resorted to almost anything, including rumors of buried petroleum drums, to scare me off the True Love.If you really wanted Whitlock to have the property, you’d agree the stuff was down there, and I’d ride off into the sunset.”
Her throat moved convulsively.“I guess I don’t want that anymore.”
“Good.”His heart squeezed.She hadn’t made a passionate declaration, but it was a beginning.He had a long way to go, however, and he still hadn’t confessed his plans for selling the property.Guilt nagged him, but caution held him back.Before he confessed, he wanted her to care more about him than she did about the True Love Ranch.
ChapterNineteen
There were four drawers in the aging file cabinet.Freddy directed Ry to pull them all out and carry them to the dining room, where no one would need the tables for at least two hours.She called Leigh down at the corrals and asked her to come up and help.Then she enlisted Belinda, so there was one person to a drawer.
“Anything that looks like a trucking company receipt, or a hauling receipt, or trash removal, or anything remotely sounding as if it could be what we need, sing out,” Freddy said as they began the search.
An hour and a half later, several possibilities had been found then discarded.The tables were piled with folders, and the drawers were almost empty.Leigh slapped her hand on the table in frustration.“Eb Whitlock is a horse’s ass!I have half a mind to ride over there and tell him so.”
“He’s just being an aggressive businessman,” Ry said.“Unfortunately for his plans, he’s also dealing with one.I’ll call in the morning and get somebody out here with a backhoe.Can you pinpoint the location for me, Freddy?”
Freddy’s chest tightened with anxiety.“I sure hope so.”
