“I can’t believe no one’s bought this yet, bro,” he said.
“Not a lot of people looking to get into ranching around here who aren’t already, I reckon.” I shrugged.
“They don’t know what they’re missing.” A wide grin appeared on his face.
“Cow and horseshit?”
“Yeah, that too.”
We both snickered.
He drove up the dirt road to the main house.
“Are the McMillians here?” I asked.
I’d never dealt with them that much when working at the ranch over the summers. The few times I had, they’d seemed like a cranky couple, and honestly, I didn’t feel like taking any shit from them when I was in a pretty good mood.
“No,” Carl said. “They actually moved out of town a few years back. To Phoenix, I think. They didn’t decide to sell until six months ago, though. I don’t know why it took them so long. The real estate agent said it was okay for us to look around. I don’t think he thinks he can sell this place.”
He reached into his pocket to pull out the keys they’d loaned him. Small town trust could make things easier at times.
After Carl parked, we made our way to the house. He unlocked the door, and we entered. Dust coated the silent and empty home. Not a huge surprise. Webs ruled the corners of the rooms. No signs of mouse or rat droppings, though.
We slowly looked around, checking out the place, every room, bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, even the attic. I knelt, checking out the baseboards in each room. I wished we’d brought along a voltage tester, but the lights were working in each room at least, which was a good sign.
The bad signs were that every room in the house needed to be painted, and there were stains all over the floors and walls. No sign of dry rot or water damage, though; no termites, and no cracks in the wall or foundation. I might not have been a contractor, but I’d worked construction for many years, and I could tell when a place was in solid shape. I had to give that to the McMillians. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep the house, but it was nice to know that it was in good shape if I chose to. It might even work as a nice rental property or something like that.
After 20 minutes of exploring the house, I said, “It’s gonna need to be fixed up, but nothing major that I can see.”
“Yeah. They had an inspection six months ago when they put the land on the market,” Carl said. “That’s what he said too. Good roof and no electrical problems. Mostly cosmetic and minor stuff.”
I nodded. “Let’s go check out the barn.”
We locked up and headed to the barn. The paint was peeling, and there were more than a few cracks in the wood, but it didn’t look like it was going to collapse in the first summer storm. The damage was something we could fix ourselves probably with a few days of work.
Stepping out of the barn, I said, “It’s a good deal between the house, barn, and the land.”
Carl pointed off in the distance. “Remember the creek, bro?”
I grinned. “Yeah. I remember how we used to mess around in it, and sometimes Old Man McMillian would find us and bitch us out.” I raised my arm to mimic him holding his cane. “Get off my property, you punks,” I said using my best old man voice.
Carl laughed. “Well, it runs through the entire back part of his property.” He gestured. “My land ends right before it on my side. So if I bought this land, I’d have another water source for the cows.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah. It’s damn near perfect.”
“I don’t think you’re going to find anything better than this,” I said.
“I agree. But I can’t make it happen without you, bro.” He shrugged.
I rubbed the back of my neck. Everything about the plan seemed good. I trusted Carl, and I didn’t mind ranching life, but still, it’d be a major commitment.
“Let me think about.” I glanced at my watch. “Maybe we can head into town and grab some lunch and go check out my dad’s old house since it’s still pretty early.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
* * *