Page 119 of The Guy Who Stole My Ranch

“Those were not details,” Teresa complained.

“That was like six details,” I said.

Ashley stopped, and we all did the same. She turned to face the storage unit and sighed. “We can’t stop doing this.”

“I don’t think anyone wants to,” Jessica said.

We all shook our heads.

“But it is getting difficult to get everyone together,” Jessica said.

Now we all nodded.

“Has anyone had any new thoughts on this front?” Jessica asked. We’d had another meeting after the one in the park, and while we had plenty of ideas, we hadn’t settled on a plan.

Since we still had several months of content for the channel, the five of us had decided to do this for fun. No cameras. No coordinating with the girls in Alaska because they were supposed to do the same thing themselves. Just go back to our roots to see if something sparked the solution we were looking for.

Ashley brought the bolt cutters down and pointed them at the lock. “Let’s do this.”

Out of habit, we started bantering.

“What’s going to be inside?” Nanette asked.

“More rat skeletons,” Teresa said with a laugh.

“That’s getting old, darlin’,” I rolled my eyes.

“Never.” Teresa grinned at me.

“I’m guessing it’s everything from a business that went under, and the owners forgot about it,” Jessica said.

“Including the rat skeletons.” Teresa pointed at the door.

“No,” Nanette and I said in unison.

Ashley got the cutters around the lock and squeezed the handles together. Since moving back to the ranch, I’d gained impressive upper body strength, but Ashley put me to shame. Considering the amount of molten glass she toted around on a daily basis, I shouldn’t feel bad, but it did make me want to move hay bales or something.

The metal gave way as Ashley let out a grunt, and Jessica maneuvered the lock off. Jessica looked at me and said, “I’m going to say there’s a bunch of old west cowboy stuff in here that you can use in your house.”

“Or sell for a whole lot of money,” I said. I didn’t need more cow stuff in my place.

“What do you think is in here?” Jessica asked.

I thought about it as Ashley squatted down to pull the door up. “Paintings. Lots of them.”

Nanette nodded. “I’m going with old furniture.”

Ashley stood and dragged the door with her.

The space beyond was ten feet in all directions, but it was so packed with stuff that it was impossible to see past the first layer, which consisted of boxes, bins, and a bike masterfully balanced and lashed to the leg of what looked like a table.

“Someone left a message.” Jessica pointed to a standard piece of print paper taped to the end of a bin. Red words scrawled on it said, “Good Luck!”

I eyed Jessica. “You didn’t put that there, did you?”

“No. Did you see the dust on the lock?” She held it up. It was indeed caked with dirt.

“So these people left this stuff here on purpose?” Teresa poked at the bike, which wobbled but didn’t fall.

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