High Desert Detective, A Fiona Marlowe Mystery (Fiona Marlowe Mysteries) (13 page)

 
“Too bad,” said Olympia.
“I’m itching to get into the saddle. Will you look at those horses? It looks
like there are a couple of women in that bunch. Fiona, maybe you and I could
take a ride.”

Fiona and Opal looked at each other again.

“Let’s see how things develop,” Opal said.

Fiona was thankful for Opal’s diplomatic response.

Rosemary and Esme and the others rode straight to the corral with
the horses. Jake stopped in front of the house and dismounted. With the dust,
the hat, the horse, the spurs, neck scarf, and chaps, he couldn’t have looked
more the Wild West cowboy. Fiona could see Olympia melting and falling in love
in the time it took to Jake to walk to the porch.

He touched the brim of his hat. “I see your friend has arrived.
Nice rig you got there. That color will be easy for the police to spot.”

Fiona thought Olympia was going to swoon. She grasped her arm to
steady her.
 
“This is my friend, Olympia.
She was waiting for us when we got back.”

“A real cowboy,” Olympia said.
“A real cowboy.”

Fiona rarely saw her friend at such a loss for words.

“How’d everything go?” said Opal, walking to where Jake stood.

Jake nodded. “The cows are in good shape. I’m not sure how long
they’ll last on the new pasture. Grass is thin, and the well isn’t running good.”

“Cowboy talk,” said Olympia. She held on to Fiona’s arm like a
lifeline.

Olympia was a woman who lived in books, in cities, and in luxury.
Real life staring her in the face made her speechless, much to Fiona’s
surprise. She’d have to remember that the next time Olympia went on a talker.

Jake took off his hat and dusted it on his knee. His dark curls
were plastered to his head and a dust line circled his forehead. He didn’t seem
to care and neither did Olympia, by the enamored look on her face.

He said to Opal. “I could use a drink. A man gets mighty thirsty
on the trail all day.”

Fiona smiled. Jake was laying it on thick. He knew he was
impressing Olympia. He could be a devil when he wanted to. He followed Opal
inside, and Fiona pulled Olympia along with her.

Olympia held back and whispered, “Fiona, he is more than Mr. Hunky.
He’s the man of my dreams. I don’t know if I can be in the same room with such
manliness.”

If Fiona hadn’t known Olympia better, that declaration could have
made her jealous. But having seen Olympia encounter more than one hunky man,
she knew that every good-looking man and then some was the man of Olympia’s
dreams.

“You’ll do fine.” Fiona patted her arm. “Just be your normal,
bubbling
self,
and everything will be fine.”

“Of course,” said Olympia. She squared her shoulders. “I can do
this. I can talk to the most gorgeous man I have ever met and not get tongue-tied.”

“That a girl,” said Fiona, leading her into the house.

* * * * *

Jake pulled a beer from the refrigerator, leaned against the
kitchen counter, and crossed his booted feet. He could hardly keep his lips
from twitching so he occupied them with downing half the bottle to wash the
dust from his throat. Fiona’s friend sat at the table with a silly grin on her
face while Fiona refilled their wine glasses. Opal joined him, leaning against
the counter. He guessed the friend’s first encounter with a buckaroo was
overwhelming her.

Opal said, “Hoover wants you to ride out with him to track those
rustlers. He’ll be over around five tomorrow morning.”

Jake nodded. “I figured as much when I saw you take him to the
end of the trail.”

“I’m going with you.”

“No, you aren’t.”

Opal looked him dead on. “I said I’m going with you.”

“And I said you aren’t. You got guests, and Fiona is waiting for
you to start on the decorating project. Hoover and I can do this
ourselves
, and you know it.”

“It’s my ranch.”

Jake grinned. “Right, but I’m the manager.”

Opal was silent then sighed. “I know I’m being pig-headed. I just
can’t get used to not doing everything I want to do. I guess I’d slow you
down.”

“There’s that.”

“I know you don’t need me along.”

“That, too.”

Opal looked at Fiona and Olympia who were intently following the
conversation. “I guess I better stay to keep you gals out of trouble.”

“There’s that, too,” said Jake with a grin.

“We can look out for ourselves,” said Fiona. “We’ll do some
sightseeing. I think Olympia wants to do some research for a new book, don’t
you?”

Olympia perked to life. “I certainly would like to see more of
this lovely country. Fiona and I could go along with you two gents. That would
be fun.”

Jake studied the newcomer. “This is not a fun thing, and, no, you
won’t go. It’s hard riding over rough country.” He looked to Opal. “You could
take them sightseeing maybe over to the refuge to do some bird watching.”

“Bird watching?” said Olympia with a perplexed frown. “I have
never watched a bird in my life.”

“This is a good place to learn,” said Jake. “With any luck Hoover
and I will only be out over night if we get an early start.” He finished the
beer.

“Dinner in an hour,” said Opal.

Jake said, “If you ladies will excuse me, I’ll see to the horses
and get cleaned up for dinner.” He touched his hat again and left Olympia with the
silly grin still spread across her face.

* * * * *

Fiona had other ideas. She and Olympia could go do some
investigating of their own, if she could convince Opal to stay behind. She had
hoped that Opal would go on the tracking trip with Jake and Hoover.

Olympia regained her voice over dinner. She had donned the most
amazing red-sequined gown for dinner while the other three of them sported
ranch duds. Where Olympia came up with some of the outfits she wore was beyond Fiona.
Where she ever found them was a mystery.

She, unfortunately, was regaling Opal and Jake with exploits from
their Australian vacation. There were some parts of that vacation that Fiona
would rather not be made public. But she was seated too far away from Olympia
to kick her in the leg.

“So you got into a little mystery solving on vacation,” Jake
said.

“Oh, my, yes, and Fiona was superb. She zeroed right in on who
stole all the expensive equipment.”

“Is that right?” said Jake. “What was the equipment for?”

Fiona butted in. “It wasn’t anything. Wouldn’t you like to hear
about our sightseeing plans, Olympia?” She gave her friend a pointed look, but
she refused to meet her gaze.

“Wasn’t anything? The police were very grateful you were able to
identify those crooks. But not before this really lovely man, who wined and
dined us the whole time, helped Fiona solve the mystery.”

“Olympia, really, you are boring Jake and Opal to death.”

Jake held up his hand, a smile in his eyes. “I’m fascinated by Olympia’s
account. Fiona has not given us any details of your vacation in Australia. It’s
someplace I’ve always wanted to visit. I hinted I wanted to go but Fiona had
other plans, I see.”

Fiona felt her face heat up with that comment. One of the reasons
it took her so long to make the trip to see Jake and Opal was that the
Australia caper got out of hand, and they had had to stay longer. She didn’t
want to go into any more detail. That was another story for another time.
Maybe never.

“You wanted to come?” said Olympia. “Fiona, you never mentioned
that. You would have been most welcome. We can go another time.
Maybe after my next book.”
She smiled her most alluring
smile at Jake. “We could all go, but maybe Fiona doesn’t want to go back. It
ended sadly for that lovely man who wined and dined us.”

“Olympia, will you please shut up?”

She finally looked into Fiona’s scowl and seemed to get the
message. “I’m terribly sorry. I guess I am boring everyone.”

Jake held up the wine bottle to pour Olympia another drink. She
smiled into his eyes.

“Really, Olympia, haven’t you had enough to drink?” asked Fiona.

“Not me. The night is young, the wine superb,
the
company beyond compare.”

Jake laughed and poured another healthy glass of wine for Olympia.
Fiona covered her glass when he tried to do the same.

“I’ll get dessert,” said Opal, rising. “A little ice cream will
cool things down.”

“Did I say something wrong?” Olympia asked Fiona.

“Nothing.
Nothing.
It’s just that when you have too much to drink you say things that are perhaps
better left unsaid.”

Olympia waved a hand in the air. “Not me. I’m the height of
propriety always.”

“Jake, why don’t you tell Olympia all the wonderful things there
are to see in this lovely country?” said Fiona, trying hard to be pleasant. Olympia
had gotten them into more than one ridiculous situation with her loose tongue.
She really did want to forget the lovely man in Australia. She hoped he never
showed up unexpectedly which was another reason she decided that now was as good
a time as any to disappear into the middle of nowhere.

Jake studied Fiona with steady, not-to-be fooled eyes. “Yes,
let’s tell Olympia what she has been missing all these years. Maybe it will
show up in her next book.”

Jake was getting the hang of Olympia fast. He became tour guide extraordinaire
and told her about hunting, hiking,
camping
, fishing,
and ATV opportunities. Fiona knew Olympia didn’t follow a word he said. Her
eyelids had the half mast look of one under the influence. But Olympia could
carry a conversation even dead drunk though she didn’t always remember what she
said.

“I would love to go fishing,” Olympia said. “I’ve never fished
before. Would you take me? I mean, us, of course.”

“I’d be glad to take both you gals, if I had more time. Opal is a
world class fisherwoman. What do you say, Opal?”

She looked at Jake like he was crazy. “We can drive to one of the
lakes and have a look if you like. You girls have to get some gear and fishing
licenses.”

Olympia turned her charm on Fiona. “Wouldn’t that be fun? What do
you say, Fiona?”

At least the conversation was clear of the Australia caper. Though
Fiona wasn’t much of the outdoor type, she could learn.

“All right.
Tomorrow I’ll show Olympia
the sights. We’ll go shopping in Rocky Point and meet some of the local flora
and fauna first.”

Opal looked relieved. “Yes, you girls go. I got enough to do
around the ranch. You go have a good time in that red bomb she drives.”

Olympia looked puzzled.
“Red bomb?
You
mean my beautiful Range Rover?” A slow smile spread across her face. “I like
that name. It shall be the Red Bomb for ever after.”

Perfect. They were set for some sleuthing in the morning.

* * * * *

Morning came and went and Olympia was still not out of bed. Jake
had left before any of them had risen. Opal and Fiona finally discussed what
Opal wanted done to the house. Opal was short on ideas. Fiona had endless. They
agreed on new flooring for the great room which had some sort of linoleum that
was badly worn.

“I think pine flooring would look great in here,” Fiona said.

“How much would that cost?” asked Opal.

“I’ll get prices.”

“There’s a good flooring place in town.”

“I’ll check prices there and what other possibilities they have
to offer. There’s fake wood flooring that comes in squares that might work.”

“I worry about the cost of all this,” Opal said.

Now it came out. Fiona was afraid of this. “Do you have a budget
in mind?”

She shrugged. “I never gave the price a thought. I wanted
something that looks prettier than it does now. The place does look a little
shabby, don’t you think?”

“It is charming as it is. It has a homey, lived in look. If you
don’t want to change it, I understand.”

Opal sighed. “You’re sweet, Fiona. We lure you out, you come all
this way, your house burns down, and I’m not sure if I can afford to remodel now.”

Opal was quiet while Fiona looked around the great room where
they were standing, where the dance took place after the barbecue. Most of the
interior walls were log or pine paneling, so there wasn’t much painting to do. Oiling
would bring up the sheen on the wood and preserve it longer. She’d use a rustic
theme for the floors and windows. Right now the windows had nothing at all. Nearly
every window had a great view. Putting up insulated drapes could help with the
heating bill in the winter. Changing all that could run into thousands of
dollars in a space this big.

“There’s another thing holds me back,” Opal said.

Fiona looked at her.

“Jake wants to buy this place. I don’t want to put a lot of money
into the place and change it into something he doesn’t want.”

Fiona’s eyebrows lifted. This was a game changer. “Is it a done
deal?”

“We’re working out the details.”

“What about the relatives?”

“That accounts for some of the details we have to work out.”

“You’d really give up the ranch?”

Opal sighed again. “I’m not getting any younger, and I want to
have things tidied up. If I don’t, there’ll be a terrible row when I’m gone.”

Fiona smiled. “You don’t need to worry about that. You won’t be
here.”

Opal smiled, too. “I know. But it will be nasty if I don’t make
some provisions. I want Jake to have the place. He’s been loyal, he’s very
capable, and he loves this place as much as I do. I can’t help he’s not a blood
relation.”

“I can see why you love it,” Fiona said softly.

Opal peered at her. “Why Fiona I believe you mean that. I think
you might be coming to like it here.”