“That man really pissed you off.”
“You have no idea.”
“Come stay with me.”
“I might. I just need to get a handle on whether I’m doing this. There would be so much work to do. Plus, I’m still worried my father is in way over his head.”
“Are you honestly considering your father’s idea?”
“Ugh.” I dropped my head into my hands. Seconds later, the drinks were slid onto festive cocktail napkins in front of us and I had to fight with myself to keep from consuming every drop in one swallow. “I don’t know. It’s a crazy idea.”
“Yeah, and the timing is very tight. A couple months to make a tribute rodeo event happen? That’s crazy. Although, I have toadmit the idea is brilliant. As long as you could get a few rodeo stars to show up and not the ones in their eighties either.”
Sadly, it was one of my father’s better ideas, although unless he managed to get the rodeo riders to give their time and expertise for free, the event would still be extremely expensive. Thousands of tickets would need to be sold. “I don’t know if I can trust him either.”
“Well, you told him you’d think about it, so try and relax for tonight. Have a little fun. Get laid. Oh, wait, you already did that.”
“You little bitch.” I’d very much missed our friendship.
I’d all but laughed in his face when Daddy dearest had presented the idea. Maybe more out of shock than anything else. When he’d sent over the documents I’d asked for, he also provided a highly detailed list of planned events. According to him, the tribute event would incorporate various rodeo champions, both recent stars and ones from the past. They’d perform in a stylized competition more like the choreography of wrestlers.
What I continued to ask myself was why would anyone want to come out of retirement for one event? The stars still on the circuit might enjoy the extra press, but that would be a stretch. However, if it could be pulled off, the notoriety provided to the stadium and Sterling Enterprises would be phenomenal. “Try forty-two days. My father already picked a new date.”
“Wow. That would take a miracle to put together. Please tell me he’s not advertising the event already. Is he?” Char’s eyes opened wide.
“Not from what he said or I could find, other than a teaser on social media to judge interest.”
“And?”
“People are interested.”
Char grinned. “You know the ladies and hot cowboys.”
“Yeah, I know. I swear to God, if my father tries to railroad me into taking this position, temporary or not, I will leave town and he’ll never see me again.”
Her grin turned evil. “You could milk him for all he’s worth. Two months working with him for a year’s salary.”
“At this point, I’d be working for free. Out of the goodness of my heart.”
“Well, you are the decent one of the two of us.”
We laughed, listening to the heady drumbeat and the craziness of the customers. Both the music and the crowd were eclectic, Ziggy’s definitely the place to be.
“I can’t believe you just found out about what your father has been doing,” Char muttered, leaning over.
“You forget. Dad and I were barely on speaking terms.”
“For a big corporation like your father’s, doesn’t he have attorneys on staff or at least use one of the big firms?”
I took another sip, realizing the drink was going down way too easily. “Well, it would appear that Bartholomew Sterling fired not one but three local attorneys already.”
“Wow. Three?” Char laughed. “He’s tough.”
“Yeah, my mother said he told them they didn’t hold a candle to me.” Whether or not that was true, the words were nice to hear.But I knew my father’s tactics. He would use anything to get me to stay and work for him.
“Well,” she said as she pulled the skewer of olives into her fingers, plucking one with her teeth from the pointy end. “You do know a hot commodity.”
“Meaning?”
