Marshall had a point there. “Of course it’s a good thing you caught on as early as you did. But that doesn’t mean—”
“Chase. We need your help. Badly. Now are you going to do it or continue arguing with me?”
Resigned, he gave in. “Of course I’ll do it. But we need to find another manager quickly.”
“Tell me about it. You can be in charge of that too.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You asked,” Marshall repeated. “Let me finish up here and I’ll meet you at the office to discuss what needs to be done now and what can wait.”
He went back to the house and Marshall came up a few minutes later. A thought had occurred to him as he walked to the office. “How much money are we out?”
“Too damn much,” Marshall said and quoted him a number that made Chase want to hurl.
“Any chance we’ll get any of it back?”
“What do you think?”
“So, no. Great.” He rubbed his hand over his head. No choice. He contributed physically when he wasn’t on the road or injured, and he contributed to the business as well as ranch upkeep monetarily, but Marshall and Damaris bore the brunt of the work. They’d done an excellent job, too, growing Walker Paints into a widely recognized horse business. Of course, there were still some people who thought they sold paint, as in what you painted a house with.
“We need to find someone before I go back on the road.” He’d helped manage the ranch in the past. He knew how much work went into it.
“That would be great, but it’s not that easy. Maybe you’ll have better luck.” He started to walk out, then added, “Ranch management books are on that middle shelf.” He gestured to one wall of bookshelves.
“Thanks.” He was going to need them. After talking to Marshall, Chase sat down and started sorting things into piles. He had four. Do Now. Do Soon. WIGATI—When I get around to it. And of course, the round file. It took him a while but he’d pared down the main stack fairly significantly when his phone rang.
Thankful for the break, he answered, though he didn’t recognize the number. Even a robocall was welcome at this point. “Yeah.”
“Chase? Wyatt Kelly here. I’m glad I caught you.”
Wyatt Kelly? What was the CEO of Kelly Boots doing calling him? He knew Wyatt, of course. Everyone in Whiskey River did. But they weren’t close enough for Wyatt to be calling him up out of the blue. “Hi, Wyatt. What can I do for you?”
“I have a business proposition for you. Can we set up a time for you and your agent to come to Kelly Boots and discuss it?”
“Sure. But I’m between agents at the moment.”
“Damn. Any idea when you’ll have a new one?”
“No, but we can discuss it without one. I’m a little down on agents at the moment. I should warn you though, I broke my shoulder and I’m not sure when I’ll get back on the circuit.”
“I heard about your accident. Sorry about that. But you’re still a two-time World Champion, aren’t you?”
“Right.”
“Well, then, I don’t see the problem.” They settled on the next day, after lunch.
Chase hung up and just sat for a moment. A business proposition and mention of his agent made him all but certain that it was some kind of endorsement deal. The fact that he was the reigning saddle bronc champ the last two years running made it even more likely.
Chase had had plenty of endorsement deals through the years. Everyone in the business did. The more prominent you became in rodeo the more lucrative the deals. A deal with Kelly Boots would be great. As for agents, his last one hadn’t stolen from him. Not exactly, anyway. No, he’d just screwed him out of two high-paying gigs by saying Chase was over-committed and couldn’t add another endorsement. Oh, and by the way, he’d told the prospective employers he had another client who’d be perfect for the jobs. One who gave him a bigger percentage than Chase did. So when Chase found out, he fired his ass.
And since he was sidelined now people weren’t exactly beating down his door. Wyatt had known about his injury but he wondered if Kelly knew he might be out for the season. And if he did, would that make a difference in the offer?
With an effort, he went back to work. He decided not to tell anyone about the phone call. He didn’t want to jinx anything. Not that he was superstitious. But it never hurt to be careful. Time enough to talk about it once he’d heard the offer.
