After I paid for my breakfast I went down to the bank to see Mr. Mulland. He was a fairly new arrival in Little Bend, but when I was introduced to him he shook my hand enthusiastically. "Mr. Maverick, always glad to meet a prominent citizen of Little Bend."
I had to laugh. "I don't think prominent is the word you're lookin' for, sir. I think infamous would be more accurate."
"Now, now sir. Gambler, Saloon Manager, Member of the Town Council, Ranch Owner. All in a relatively short lifetime. And the father of six to boot. What can I do for you today, Mr. Maverick?"
"I'd like to talk to you about a loan."
"Please, Mr. Maverick. Come into my office."
I followed him into a very nice office and took a seat in front of his desk. "Now, what is this about a loan?"
So I explained what I wanted to do to the ranch, and all about the upcoming sale. Mulland gave me a peculiar look. "And what would you put forward as collateral, Mr. Maverick?"
"Collateral?" I asked curiously.
"You know, collateral. Something pledged as security for repayment of a loan, to be forfeited in the event of a default. Like your nephew, Benny did with his loan. He put up his ranch as collateral."
"Let me think about it." Technically, the ranch was in my name, even though I'd given Bret half of it. But it was the whole ranch that needed repair, not just half. "Yeah, I can do that."
"Good. That's a wise choice. Now how much do you want to borrow?"
I gave him an amount, and he asked his next question. "And how long do you want to take to pay it back?"
"Six months."
"You know, you might want to consider extending that payback to one year. That way if something happens your payments will be lower."
"And I'll be paying you more interest. No, thanks. Six months."
"Of course, Mr. Maverick. I assume you'll want the funds deposited into your account here at the bank?"
"Yes."
"Good. If you'll give us about an hour we'll have the documents and your money ready."
"All right. I'll come back in an hour." Me and Mr. Mulland stood and we shook hands.
"Good doing business with you, Mr. Maverick."
"Same here, Mr. Mulland."
I left the bank and went to the cigar store, where I purchased half a dozen cigars. From there I walked on down to the lumber yard, which was a fairly new business in town. So much easier than ordering lumber from the Emporium.
The owner, George Lackey, was cutting a board to size for someone. Soon as he was finished we started tryin' to determine how much lumber Pauly was gonna need. I left the calcuatin' to George when I gave him the measurements. I have enough trouble with horses and cards, I'm not gonna attempt lumber, too. "Okay, Mr. Maverick, far as I can figure it's gonna take about this much to do the job."
"Alright, George, I'll take half of that for now. I'll be back to pay you in about an hour."
"Sure thing. I'll get it ordered."
With nothin' to do for a while, I walked on down to Maude's. Willie saw me comin' and was pourin' me a coffee soon as I came in the door. "Hey, Willie, ain't Billy promoted you yet?"
"He's tried two or three times, boss, but I won't let him. I like my job and I don't want another one."
"Smart man. Is he in right now?"
"Naw, he won't be here until noon."
"Sleepin' in, is he?"
"No, we had a little cowboy trouble last night. Two of 'em got into it and they was raisin' hell and Mr. Billy tried to break it up. He got knocked out by a stray punch, and it was after two before he was steady enough to get home."
"Did you get the doctor down here?"
"Couldn't. Doc was out deliverin' another baby. Heard that he hired him a midwife to assist with all the babies bein' born, but she ain't here yet."
"Before you know it there'll be women doctors."
"I heard there was one already."
"One what?" Billy asked as he walked in the door. He had a shiner, alright.
"I know how that feels. Go lie down in your office and I'll get Simon."
"I'm fine, Bart, I don't need the doctor."
"Oh yes you do. You were unconscious."
"Yes, boss," he answered reluctantly, while I headed back out the door.
Five minutes later I was back with Simon. "You did the right thing, Bart," he commented as he examined Billy. Fortunately, there was no concussion.
After Simon left, I asked Billy, "Did Parker at least arrest 'em?"
"Oh yeah, he did that alright. Sorry I wasn't here when you got here."
"I think you had a pretty good reason for bein' late."
"Was there somethin' that you wanted, boss? I sent you the books last month."
"I know you did. I looked at 'em, too. No, I just wanted to see how you and Evan were doin' with the baby."
"Which one?"
"You mean you've got two of 'em? I have been out of the loop for quite a while."
"You haven't been yourself since that whole Travis Cole affair with the judge."
"I ain't been myself since Travis Cole came to town. It was tough, I'll tell ya that, but I think I'm startin' to get a handle on it. You should be seein' me more often from now on."
"That's good to hear. We miss you. It ain't the same around here without you."
"I'll remember that. Well, I've got to go to the bank. Give my best to Evan."
"And you do the same to Doralice."
I said goodbye to Willie on my way out and crossed the street to the bank. I looked everything over, signed the papers and was handed a copy of them and a deposit recipe in the amount I'd asked for. I shook hands with the clerk and went back to the lumber yard. I paid George and headed across the street when somethin' caught my eye. It was in the window of the ladies dress shop, so I changed direction and went on in. "That pair of silver and turquoise earrings in the window. Could I see those?"
The saleslady hurried to the window and came back with the earrings. "Beautiful," I murmured. "How much?"
She quoted me a price that would have stopped most men. But Doralice had discovered quite a while back that she was allergic to somethin' in gold, and I'd never replaced any of her jewelry. These were too pretty to pass up. "I'll take 'em," I told her.
"For a special lady?" she asked.
"A very special lady," I replied. "My wife."
"Ah, then let me wrap them special, too. I'll just be a minute." She took the earrings and disappeared in the back. When she returned a few minutes later they were in a small box that was wrapped in silver paper, with pink ribbon and a bow around it. I could never have done anything like that, and it was just the right touch. I paid for the earrings and put them in my coat pocket. "This shop is new, isn't it?"
"Yes sir, we've only been open a couple of months."
"Well look, if you get in anything that matches these, let me know, would you?"
I wrote down my name and B Bar M Ranch. "Anybody can tell you where we are."
"Oh yes, Mr. Maverick. I'm sure they could. Thank you for your purchase, Mr. Maverick."
"And thank you for your thoughtfulness, Miss . . . I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."
"Sandy. Sandy Thompson."
"Is this your shop, Miss Thompson?"
"Yes, sir, it is. I always wanted to own a shop that catered to the finer things for the ladies, so here I am."
"Well, I promise to be a loyal customer, Miss Thompson. My Doralice is about yeah high (I held out my hand), with blonde hair and aqua-blue eyes. She's a little thing."
"I will certainly keep you and your Doralice in mind, sir. It sounds like you love her very much."
"More than I can begin to tell you, Miss Thompson. Well, I want to get these home. Thanks again."
I couldn't wait for Doralice to see them. And I forgot all about Benny's loan and collateral with the bank.