Page 12 of Roughing It with the Rancher

Lowering my voice, I whisper, “It’s a treasure map for a cache of Aztec gold stolen by the Spanish conquistador Juan Diego Xavier del Constanta de Lupe Hidalgo and his men during the sixteenth century and buried somewhere in northern Nevada. It went missing for centuries, its whereabouts moldering away in documents that no one read, rumors of wealth fading. But what no one knew … what no one still knows, is that a treasure map exists. That’s what you’re looking at, and my grandpa and I have reason to believe the map starts at your ranch.”

Reese dissolves into uproarious laughter. The kind that makes his whole body shake, and his eyes tear up. Swiping the back of his hand over his cheeks, he shakes his head, laughing some more. “I have to hand it to you, Esmeralda. You are, by far, the most entertaining person that I have ever met. There’s no getting bored with you.”

I grab my phone, lock the screen, and frown. I shouldn’t be shocked. After all, I reacted similarly when Grandpa first showed me the map. Still, having someone laugh in my face, even a stranger, smarts a bit.

“So, like the Goonies or something?”

“Yes,” I answer, arching my eyebrow. “This map purports to lead to the fabled lost gold of El Cortez, and it starts on your property. That’s why I drove all the way out here. To find you and talk you into letting me onto Gunner Ridge for the hunt. I had no clue, not in my wildest dreams, that I’d find you in the Heirloom Rose first.”

He furrows his brows. “And what were you doing here anyway?”

“Waiting out a long night of driving. I went as long as I could, but I started dosing off and pulled over here for food before continuing on to your place. It’s been cheaper and, as you said, far more entertaining than stopping at the Motel Six.”

“The Motel Six? Not in this town. That place is scuzzy. For God’s sake, Esmeralda, you’ve got to promise me you’ll stop taking unnecessary risks. It’s bad enough hearing about you driving alone. Or fixing to go to a lonely bachelor’s ranch all by yourself. But the Motel Six to boot? Hell, no. You’re a Hilton or Hyatt girl.”

“A Hyatt or Hilton in this town?” I chuckle.

“Or Heirloom Rose. But not the Motel Six.”

“Are you kidding me? I don’t have the money for those kinds of splurges. After all, treasure hunting is expensive.” I could go on and on about my broken-down truck and everything else that’s happened so far, but I spare him the details.

Reese rubs his face with his hands. “So, you really believe this bullshit?” he asks, gesturing to my phone, still resting atop the table with its screen black.

“Of course I do. Or I wouldn’t even be here.”

He grimaces. “I don’t mean to point out the obvious, but there’s no way what you just showed me is a Spanish map from the fifteen hundreds.”

“Correct.”

He furrows his brows.

“What I showed you is a map that dates to the turn of the century scrawled out on tracing fabric. We believe that a ranch hand at Gunner Ridge stumbled upon the treasure. We’re not sure how. Honestly, that’s kind of where the trail goes cold. All we know is somebody with some level of education found it and either drew a map of its location or relocated it with the prompts I showed you.”

“And how much do you think it’s worth?”

“Every bit of what you won at the table,” I level with him.

“That would make us millionaires! But why would you consider sharing that vast a sum with me?”

“Because, as my Grandpa says, one bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.”

Reese sits back, crossing his arms as the server returns to offer us coffee. I press my lips firmly together, waiting for her to walk away before we discuss anything further.

Flexing his jaw muscles as he grinds his teeth in deep thought, he says, “So, if we hadn’t met here this morning, I would have seen you later today at my house?”

“That was the plan.”

“With this ridiculous story?” he adds, his face incredulous.

“It’s not ridiculous. Grandpa and I have verified it with enough independent sources to know we’re onto something serious … with the potential of more wealth than you or I have ever imagined.”

“I’m starting to see a pattern here,” Reese frowns, wrapping his big, sexy digits around the white chipped coffee mug in front of him.

“And what’s that?”

“More wealth than I can imagine as long as I give you half. I mean, itison my property, after all.”

“And you knew nothing about it until this moment,” I remind, arching my eyebrow. “Believe me, you’ll never find the treasure without me and the map. Hell, I’m not even sure we’ll find the treasure with it. Grandpa and I have obsessed over this for four years, and yet so many mysteries remain. My only hope is that finally setting foot on Gunner Ridge and looking around will jar a few epiphanies and help me fill in the remaining clues.”

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