Page 18 of Battle Mountain

Byrnes fixed her eyes on Joe and mouthed, “Ten minutes.”

Joe indicated that he understood.

—

Rulon had gainedweight since the last time Joe had seen him, and his ruddy complexion seemed to have paled. Joe wondered if the job was more daunting than Rulon had expected it to be in his second stint.

As if reading Joe’s mind, Rulon patted his belly behind his desk and said, “Reception after reception after reception. Speech after speech after speech. All involve vast quantities of food that I’m expected to eat. And we aren’t even to the cursed legislative session yet.”

Wyoming’s legislature met for only forty days every other year, and only twenty days in between. Many people in the state thought even that was too much. Rulon was on record saying he agreed with them.

“You know,” Rulon began, “I’m not real sure why I’m doing this again. I think I can tell you that in confidence, can’t I?”

“You can,” Joe said.

“I’ve had a very good life, and in my first go-round, I left as a much-beloved ex-governor,” Rulon said matter-of-factly. “When I termed out the first time, I made a hell of a lot more money as a lawyer than I ever did as a public servant. Plus, I could represent whomever I wanted to represent and do some good without always looking over my shoulder to see who in the Cowboy Congress was trying to stab me in the back.

“So here I am, right back in the thick of it again. What’s wrong with me, Joe?”

Rulon seemed to be sincere when he asked the question, but Joe wasn’t so sure. Rulon was the most natural political animal Joe had ever been around. The man thrived in the limelight and seemed to revel in picking fights and taking on anyone who the governor thought was working to harm or belittle the state of Wyoming. Voters thought of Rulon as a man who would fight, and Rulon rarely disappointed them.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” Joe said. “Except that Ithink most folks are glad you’re back in there. Governor Allen was—”

“A feckless little faux-rancher asshole,” Rulon said, finishing Joe’s sentence with words Joe wouldn’t have said. “I tried to warn people about him, but no one believed me.”

Joe nodded. He knew that was partly accurate. Rulon had had concerns about Allen, but he’d kept them mostly to himself. But like every politician Joe had ever encountered, Rulon was much more comfortable with his own version of the truth.

“Anyway, water under the bridge,” Rulon said with a dismissive wave of his arm. “To the matter at hand.”

“To the matter at hand,” Joe repeated.

“Are you still gonna be my guy? My trusted range rider?”

Joe frowned. “I guess it depends on what you need.”

Rulon threw his head back and laughed. “You haven’t changed, Joe. You’re still the guy who arrested a governor for fishing without a license way back in the day.”

“Yup. And I’m still a guy who won’t do politics. I wouldn’t do it for Governor Allen and I won’t do it for you.”

“I assure you this isn’t politics,” Rulon said. “It’s personal.”

Joe looked at him warily. For men like Rulon, Joe had learned,everythingwas politics.

“Did you ever meet my son-in-law, Mark?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Mark Eisele?”

“Nope.”

“He’s married to my daughter, Megan, who, as a modern-type woman, goes by her given last name. So I understand if you’ve never heard of the Eiseles. Anyway, they have a little one—agirl—and more on the way, I hope. Megan takes little Charlotte to work every day, and Mark works for some Silicon Valley tech firm out of their home in Cheyenne. I have no earthly idea what in the hell he does for them. He tried to tell me once, but I fell asleep.”

“Charlotte is your granddaughter?” Joe asked.

Rulon lit up at hearing her name. “Grandchildren are an absolute blessing,” Rulon said. “Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. They are the greatest gift there is. You’ll find out someday.”

“I hope so,” Joe said. He and Marybeth had a bet on which of their three daughters would have a child first. Marybeth thought it would be Lucy, their youngest, because, unlike her older sisters, she’d always been gentle, maternal, and openly pined for a family of her own. Middle daughter April, the maverick, was focused on her work for a private detective agency in Montana. Joe’s bet was on April, since April always seemed to do what was least expected of her. Both agreed that it wouldn’t be Sheridan, who was all-consumed with running Yarak, Inc. in Nate’s absence.

---