Christine Wenger - The Cowboy And The Cop

She vowed to join Marco’s Fit-nasium. It was the only gym in town.

Connie McBride was her usual busy self. Thank goodness she had an auctioneer who was going to do the actual sale of the property. Connie would faint if she had to do that chatter.

Bidders had been lined up since dawn and they were loud. They complained about everything like death, taxes and how rock-and-roll singers were taking over traditional country music, but mostly about taxes.

Luke Beaumont was in the crowd. She saw him leaning against the beige marble wall, a couple of fingers through the loops of his jeans. She couldn’t tell if he was amused or irritated, but he kept looking at the clock. Nine thirty-five.

Less than a half hour to go.

Amber didn’t think anyone in Beaumont could outbid him if Luke had the money, but there were always out-of-town speculators and condo builders looking for big chunks of land like the Beaumont property.

Amber walked toward Luke. When he saw her, he tweaked the brim of his hat. She liked it when guys did that. It was very gentlemanly.

“Having fun?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah.”

“Now you know how your fans feel when they are waiting in line for your autograph.”

“I’ve always known how they felt,” Luke said. “And I appreciate every one of them.”

She was just about to tell him that on several occasions she’d been one of those fans waiting in line for him, but always changed her mind at the last minute—except for the time that had brought him here.

Amber looked around. “I recognize a couple of men who have traditionally bought up property at auction. Be ready, Luke. And I hope you have a lot of money in reserve.”

“Between my brothers and me, we ought to win the bid. And, Amber, thanks for coming to Oklahoma City and letting me know about...everything. I appreciate that you gave me a wake-up call.”

She shrugged her shoulders. She was only helping an old high school friend. That was all. Right?

“Good luck, Luke.”

“Thanks.”

Amber told herself that she just wanted to keep Beaumont the way it was—a nice, small town with lots of scenic grazing land dotted with cattle, horses and sheep and no absentee landlords.

It had nothing to do with the fact that Luke Beaumont was always traveling. Now he had to stay home for a relatively long period of time.

Not that she’d notice.

Moving to the back of the room, Amber eavesdropped on three men she didn’t recognize. They were looking at a survey map. She was almost certain it was the plot of the Beaumont Ranch. When she got an opportunity to peek, her suspicions were confirmed.

Luke had better be ready with buckets of money.

Everyone knew that he was a star with the Professional Bull Riders, and had made a lot of money riding with them. She also knew that he’d had a lot of injuries and that medical insurance for PBR riders, if anyone would insure them, was astronomical. She’d bet that Luke had a lot of medical bills that he had to pay.

Amber looked at the sign-in sheet which showed the times that everyone signed in. Perfect! The three strangers were last to sign in.

Amber Chapman made a split decision to help Luke.

Because she didn’t want him to feel indebted to her, she hoped he’d never find out.

After all, she was only doing her job.

* * *

IN THE LOBBY of the courthouse, the auctioneer pounded his gavel on the makeshift podium—a dark gray metal desk that had big rust spots on three sides.

“Now we have the Beaumont Ranch, which consists of a four-thousand-square-foot historic ranch house, several barns, several outbuildings and over twenty thousand acres of prime land. You all have the information—now let’s get started.”

Suddenly, Amber Chapman’s voice rang out. “Attention, please. Attention! We are over capacity in the lobby. I’m sorry, but I have to ask the following individuals to step out. You were the last to sign in, and because of our fire rules, you have to be the first to leave. The individuals are Mark McGee, Dave Hartman, Jr. and Ray Maldonado. Please step outside, gentlemen.”

“Are you serious?” said one of them.

“I am,” Amber replied.

“But we are going to bid on the Beaumont property,” said a stocky, bald man. His face was flushed.

Luke heard him say that loud and clear. Thank goodness the three men had to leave. Interesting—Luke never thought that the Beaumont Sheriff’s Department was a stickler on details, like kicking three guys out due to the fire rules, but it was to his benefit.

“Please step outside, gentlemen, and we’ll discuss the matter. Just as soon as another three people leave the facility, I can let you three back in.”

She held the door open for the three to pass.

“We could care less about any other property, Sergeant. We’ll be leaving this jerkwater town,” one of them said. “And for the record, Beaumont’s rule about having to be present to bid is medieval. We could have sent a proxy and not wasted our time.”

Amber was glad that Beaumont had that rule, or all types of speculators hoping to grab up property would descend on their tax auctions. Of course, they could sell the property at any time to whomever they wanted, but Beaumont’s rule added just one more level of making things a little more difficult for out-of-town bidders.

As soon as the last one cleared the door, Amber closed it and stood against it. “Sorry for the interruption, Mr. Auctioneer. Please proceed,” Amber yelled over the noise of the crowd.

“Thank you, Sergeant Chapman. Now, let’s start the bidding, folks.”

When the dust settled, Luke Beaumont and his brothers owned the Beaumont Ranch, or whatever was left of it.

That hadn’t been his plan. He was just going to pay the back taxes. That’s all. It’d still be in his father’s name.

But not now.

According to county rules and regulations, because he had the winning bid, he owned the Beaumont Ranch.

Since his brothers had pitched in their fair share, sooner or later he’d have to put the deed in their names, too.

He felt elated and relieved. The ranch had almost slipped through his fingers, but it was back. It was a close call, but, thanks to Amber, there was a positive outcome. Luke was thrilled that he and his brothers were able to preserve and protect his family’s legacy.

Later, Luke would have to tell Big Dan that he was out and the Beaumont brothers were in. Even though Big Dan didn’t care about the ranch, Luke had a feeling he’d certainly care about the fact that his sons were taking over and going against his wishes.

But Luke and his brothers felt that their mother wouldn’t have wanted to see the ranch go into disrepair. They’d fix it up in honor of her memory.

No matter how they sugar-coated what had just happened in the lobby of the courthouse, Luke dreaded his father’s reaction.

* * *

As ASSIGNED BY Captain Fitz, Amber had to direct traffic safely out of the courthouse parking lot onto Main Street. She stood in the middle of the street, dividing the traffic into those turning right and those turning left to quickly clear out the parking lot. It was one of those boring jobs that the other deputies hated, and the Cap felt that was perfect for her.

But she wasn’t going to feel down. She’d just done a fabulous deed in keeping the Beaumont Ranch in the hands of the Beaumonts and away from the hands of outside investors.

“Well, if it ain’t my daughter the sergeant. What is our pillar of justice doing now?”

Her father, dressed in greasy coveralls, a greasy baseball cap and greasy sneakers, slapped the back of her crisp white uniform blouse with a hand.

“I’m directing traffic, Dad. Can’t you see? Get to the curb. You can’t be here in the middle of the traffic with me.”