Sedona Law 6 by Dave Daren (ebook pdf reader for pc .TXT) 📕

I can take him out there, but we thought you’d want to meet him.”

I turned to Vicki.

“Yeah,” she said. “We definitely want to meet the construction foreman.”

“Great,” he said. “Sorry about the time crunch. I’m on my way out there now if you want.”

I turned to AJ. “It should be an hour or so. You can handle everything?”

She winked and saluted and then shot me a look. Yeah, yeah, cool your heels, I’m getting Jim out of here.

“Alright,” I told Jim and Vicki. “Let’s go out there.”

“Great.” Jim smiled.

“Have they broken ground?” I asked.

“They haven’t broken ground yet,” he said. “They just want to take a look at the property and take some measurements, maybe, see what they’re dealing with.”

“Sounds good,” I said.

Vicki and I loaded up and drove the twenty minutes out to our land. Our land. We bought this piece of property from the mayor, Andrea McClellan. There was a legend surrounding the land, that whomever bought it got lucky in politics. The mayor bought it from the current governor, who only sold it to her, because shortly after its purchase, he got elected, and decided he would likely spend the rest of his days in Tucson anyway.

The rumor started when it was said to have at one time belonged to Theodore Roosevelt, who had an native shaman bless it. Or something like that. I didn’t used to believe the legend. But, it was a charming story and was starting to grow on me.

We drove out through the Sedona desert, all orange and red rocks. At night the Red Rocks seem to glow orange, but by day, they were striped in a red and orange hues. The desert highway hugged the side of the mountain, and I loved the feel of the open road underneath my palm. Nothing but expansive desert and rock, underneath a cloudless Arizona sky. I cut off the air and opened the windows and sunroof.

“We are so getting a convertible,” Vicki said as she leaned into the October breeze wafting through the car.

“No doubt,” I said.

Jim Hurley had apparently already had that idea, because ahead of us, he flipped down the top of his Corvette, and we watched his gray hair rustle in the wind.

“That’s going to be us one day,” Vicki said as she took my hand over the console. “Old and gray with a Corvette.”

“Eh,” I said. “That actually looks like a mid-life crisis to me.”

She laughed. “You’re probably right. His wife’s a nutjob.”

I rolled my eyes as I thought about the day she had tried to seduce me into taking a bribe for silence about her insurance scam. I didn’t even know about the scam in the first place. I still can’t make eye contact with that woman. But, we liked Jim. He was a good guy.

We finally arrived at the land and I smiled when I saw it. I hadn’t been here since before Tahiti, and I remembered why I loved this place. We parked next to Jim, and got out of the car. The construction guy hadn’t arrived yet, so it was just the three of us.

Jim whistled. “Beautiful place. Blows my mind everytime I see it.”

“You know the legend, right?” I asked him.

Jim smiled. “Teddy Roosevelt and an Indian shaman. Sure.”

“The land is supposed to get you lucky in politics,” Vicki  added.

“You headed to the governor’s mansion?” Jim turned to Vicki.

“You never know,” Vicki said. “But I couldn’t stand to part with this place.”

The land was beautiful. Green luscious grass, and a small orchard on one side, and a bubbling stream down below. Vicki and I had once picnicked by that stream, and I told her I loved her.

“Do you know where all the plumbing and electrical are?” I asked. “I want to figure out where we can actually put the house.”

“Yeah,” Jim nodded solemnly.

Then the foreman arrived, a burly man in a snazzy pickup truck. He exited the vehicle with a ten gallon cowboy hat and belt buckle I thought could be used for a weapon.

“Howdy,” he nodded as he approached our little trio. “Albert Williamson.”

He shook all of our hands and we made our brief introductions.

“So,” Albert sighed and adjusted his waistline. “You want to build on Teddy Roosevelt’s land, huh?”

“It’s them,” Jim held up his hands. “They want to build here. I just play with the computer.”

Vicki and I laughed.

“Is that right, huh?” Albert shook his head and looked us over. “Y’all think y’all are good enough for ol’ Teddy, huh?”

“No,” I said as I instantly gauged his uber patriotic type. “I wouldn’t dream of that. I like to think he’s good enough for us. If the land was good enough for Teddy, well damn, it’s good enough for us.”

Albert and Jim laughed and Albert nodded with vehement approval.

“I like that,” he said. “Alright, so let’s talk specifics. How we gonna do this?”

Over the next twenty minutes, Albert and Jim talked of pipelines and permits and building codes. I followed them for the first several minutes, but then feigned interest after that. Vicki looked as bored as I was, and I was just relieved when Jim and Albert wrapped it up.

“So,” Albert looked us over. “Looks like we can probably break ground here by the first of the month.”

“That fast?” my eyes widened.

Albert seemed pleased with my response. “Yep,” he said. “I’ve got the best crew around. We’ll get you all fixed up.”

“I appreciate it,” I shook his hand again.

“We’re looking forward to the project, Mr. Irving, Mrs. Irving,” he shook our hands.

“Park,” she corrected. “Vicki Park. We’re still engaged.”

“That right?” he raised his eyebrows. “I figured with a rock that big…”

“Family heirloom,” I said modestly.

I wondered if I would spend the rest of my