Free Broken Road Café 1 - The Broken Road Café by T.A. Webb Page B

assistant of his was bragging about how Greggie had a new lover. Odds were it was either a Russian mail order bride or a lobotomy patient. Guess we know which one now.”
“God, I do love you.”
“Buy me a pair of Jimmy Choo’s and we’re even.”
“Find out more about this Delgado deal and you got that and a Vuitton bag.”
“Darling. I love it when you talk dirty to me. Ciao.”
Dan disconnected the line and sat back again. What in the fuck was happening? He needed to do some digging and find out about this Delgado
character, and about Randolph and Mays. That company was pretty white-bread, and he hadn’t heard anything to indicate any black market trading tied to the trucking company.
    Just as he reached for his laptop, the phone rang again. Dan hit speaker, half-distracted by the bits Davonna relayed to him. “Dan O’Leary.”
    “Angel. My client has decided to accept your generous offer. Congratulations, sweetheart. You are the proud owner of the Blue Moon!”
    Dan gaped at the phone and couldn’t believe he’d let that slip his mind. It just reminded him how badly he needed to be away from the firm and all the bullshit. He did a fist pump and a little chair dance before clearing his throat. “Fantastic,” Dan drawled out. “I’d like to close as soon as possible. And Patsy, the houses I faxed you?”
    “You can pick the keys up from me anytime this afternoon. All three houses are unoccupied, so you can look at them this evening when you get here. I’ll have them in an envelope with your name on it, taped to the door.”
    “I owe you one, doll.” “I take Visa and Mastercard.” Dan laughed. “Do you know my secretary,
    Charity?” “Love, with a name like that, she sounds like my
kinda people.” “Oh, she is, Patsy, she is. I’ll be up there before
six, I hope, depending on traffic. It’ll probably be late
so I may stay overnight. There a good hotel nearby?” “Check in at the Dew Drop Inn. I’d show you
there myself, but I do have a reputation to uphold as
Mayor, you know. And don’t you say a word. Just
mention my name and ask for the Patsy Suite.” “Holy Christ on a cracker. Are you shittin’ me?” Dan could hear her draw in a breath. “Sweetness,
I never kid about something like that. And I never,
what was the vulgarism you used, shit anyone.” “I’m sorry.” Dan wondered if he’d stepped over
the line. “ Bazinga , as that lovely young man on that
television show says. But do tell Maryella to give you
the mayoral discount.” “Lady, you are too much.” “That must be why you like the men, darlin’.” Crossing his arms on the table, he laid his head
on them. “You win.” “I usually do,” she laughed, and something in his
chest relaxed. He could learn to love this woman. “I
have to run, baby, so see you tomorrow for breakfast
at the café. Nine sharp. Ta.” She might just be the death of him. * Traffic was a little heavier leaving the city than
he thought. It being a Friday night, that really didn’t
surprise him, and he was glad he’d packed a small
duffel bag. Jeans and tee shirts would do him the rest
of the weekend, and his shaving kit, and he could buy
anything else he needed. There would have to be a
drug store or a Wal-Mart somewhere. He got to Patsy’s office around six-thirty, and
grabbed the envelope off her door. Sending her a
quick text to let her know he was in town, he decided
to take advantage of the early evening sun and look at one or two of the houses before he checked in to the hotel. When he’d done the search on the MLS service, using Gary’s log in information—hey, he’d take what he could while he could—there were quite a few cabins available in the area. Most were rentals owned by investors, and had a minimum of two or three acres on the mountainside so that neighbors weren’t usually within view. While that sounded like heaven right now, he didn’t think he wanted to go from city
mouse to country mouse quite that soon. The