For Love of Charley Read Online Free PDF Page A

and
supplies, but at least three rooms would be suitable for offices when they were
cleaned out. The one directly across from Charley’s would be his. It wasn’t the
largest, but he liked the location, and it would fit his needs perfectly. At
the moment it only contained one long table with several folding chairs. They
would need the table before the day was over.
    After making a trip to the Jag to get his
briefcase, Cole returned to Charley’s office, taking long enough to start
coffee brewing in the pot that sat on a side table. With the books spread out
in front of him, he went to work, periodically jotting notes on the paper next
to him. Charley had created her own system for keeping books, it seemed. He
smiled slightly. It was going to take an accountant a solid week of hard work
to get them straightened out again.
    The first inkling he had of Charley’s
arrival was the loud backfiring of a vehicle from somewhere nearby. The
sputtering of a motor that sounded like it was making its last bid for life
echoed from the back of the building and then stopped completely. Relief flowed
though him. She had decided to show up.
    Listening to the back door open, and the
sound of her footsteps down the hall, he went back to staring at the books,
trying his best to look uninterested in her arrival. He didn’t even look up
when she stopped in the doorway. The silence extended until Cole was on the
verge of checking to see if he’d only imagined she was there.
    “How long have you been here?” She sounded
edgy and nervous, but no longer mad.
    “Long enough.” He still didn’t look up.
“Who does your books, Attila the Hun?”
    Instantly, she bristled. “I do my own
books, and the system works just fine for me. If you don’t understand it,
that’s your problem.”
    “I didn’t say I didn’t understand it. But
the way they are now, if you were ever audited, they’d probably throw you in
jail just on general principle.” He finally looked up, his gaze sweeping her
rapidly before returning to her face. She had obviously dressed with care.
Nothing too fancy, of course. Just a pair of khaki pants and a golden-brown,
silk blouse, but she looked like an angel in them. “That’s the first change
we’re making. I’m going to hire an accountant to take care of them, if you
don’t mind.”
    “Do I have a choice?” Sarcasm dripped from
her words.
    “No. Not in this area.” He leaned back in
the chair. “Maybe we should get a few things straight right up front, Charley.
I bought into the saloon because I happen to have some plans for this area of
the county. It was a good investment, and it has the potential to make us both
quite a bit of money. I don’t intend to take the management of the Red Dog away
from you. For one thing, I don’t have time to do it myself. For another, you
seem to be good at it and I don’t believe in fixing what isn’t broken. On the
other hand, I have no intention of fighting with you over every improvement I
want to make. So you can either work with me and have a say in what’s
happening, or you can stay out of my way. What’s it going to be?”
    Charley stared at him. He knew the exact
moment when it finally dawned on her that this wasn’t a short business trip for
him. He was back to stay. Cole watched as emotions flashed across her face too
rapidly to read.
    “Why didn’t you let me know you were the
one buying into the saloon, Cole? Why the big mystery?”
    He toyed with an ink pen. “If you’d
bothered to read the contract carefully, you might have known.”
    “My lawyer handled it. She’s competent. I
was mainly concerned with the financial details.”
    “Maybe you should take another look at it.
It says very plainly that CJE, Inc. is a subsidiary of Jordan Enterprises.”
    “Oh, believe me, I will.” She took another
step into the room. “I tried to call you at the motel last night.”
    Cole leaned forward and pulled a pad of
paper closer. “I’m not at the motel.” He