Page 16 of Final Ride

Tammy smiled. “I want to get you the one you like. No point in stealing one otherwise, is there?”

Willy shook his head. “I don’t want you to steal a truck for me, Tammy. That’s the last thing I want you to do. I hope you’re only kidding.”

“Red is nice,” Tammy said. “Nice and bright.”

Bluefield. West Virginia.

Bobby stopped for coffee as he drove through Bluefield and while he waited at the drive-thru window, he checked his map to be sure he was on the right highway heading for North Carolina.

“We’re going the right way, Cleo. It won’t be long before we find out where Terrible Tammy is hiding.”

Passing all kinds of traffic coming at them from the south, Bobby found himself looking at every vehicle and wondering what Tammy was driving.

“Guess it will be a surprise, Cleo.”

Cleo stuck her big head farther out the window to keep watch.

Wild Stallion Ranch. Montana.

Travis cracked a couple of eggs into the frying pan and stopped cooking long enough to answer his phone. “Bob, have you got something going on this early in the morning?”

“I do, Travis. I’ve lined up a bunch of Texas properties for you and your boys to look at online. If any of them appeal to you, then you’ll have to fly down to the Lone Star State and have a closer look.”

“We’ll come to your office right after breakfast, and take a look at the pictures when we get there.”

I was listening to Dad talking to the real estate guy and so was Virge. “Where are the ranches, Dad?” asked Virgie.

“Are they near Annie’s ranch?” I asked.

Travis held up a hand. “Hold on, boys. I have no idea where they are, and we won’t find out until we get to Bob’s office. Don’t ask me more questions because I don’t know the answers. You’ll see the pictures and get all the facts and the details at the same time I do.”

“Got it,” said Virge.

Dad finished cooking our eggs and me and Virge didn’t ask any more questions. He was getting stressed out by all the added pressure the move to Texas was putting on him.

Risky business.

ReMax Office. Coyote Creek.

Before we went to the station to start work, Dad drove us to the real estate office to look at the ranch pictures Bob Crockett was excited about.

Bob showed us into his office at the back of the building. He was the boss and had the biggest space. He pointed to chairs and turned his screen around so we could watch the virtual ranch tours.

“Three different ranches recently came on the market in the area you’re targeting, Travis. Different locations, but all within a fifty-mile radius of the City of Austin.”

“Does that answer your first question, Harlan?”

“Yeah, it does, Dad. Don’t get pissed at me, okay? It was only a question.”

“I’m not pissed,” snapped Travis. “Look at the pictures.”

All three spreads looked great in the videos. Three different sizes—in acres. Different sized barns, bunkhouses and main houses. All of them had good points and bad points.

“We need to fly down to Texas and do some looking at these three properties and probably a few more before we decide,” said Travis.

“Let me know when you’re making the trip, Travis,” said Bob. “As soon as you have an arrival date, I’ll call the various brokers and make the appointments for you and the boys.”

“I’ll figure the work schedule out with Billy at the shop, book a flight for me and the boys and get back to you later today, Bob.”

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