Discovering Gold

by S. M. Spencer

  Struggling to tear his eyes off her, he watched as Alex made her way toward Denver. When Denver stood to greet her Travis turned his back to them, removed the gelding’s bridle, unsaddled him and carried everything into the tack room.

  Inside, he took a couple of deep breaths and tried to think this through rationally.

  The woman was a Mason, a member of the family who’d stolen the saloon and started a feud. All through their childhood, he and Denver had witnessed their father’s frustration as he’d exhausted every legal avenue in an attempt to un-do the transaction. Then, when he was dying, one of his last wishes was that Travis promise to continue to fight for it.

  And he had, just with a different approach. He and Denver had put in a written offer. Old Man Mason had agreed it was fair, yet he’d chosen to ignore the offer therein keeping the feud alive.

  Travis sighed, wishing he could be more like Denver. Denver had pretended to go along with their father’s wishes, but he hadn’t really bought into the whole idea of there being a feud. Denver liked everyone.

  When Old Man Mason died, Travis was certain the feud had gone to his grave with him. No Mason had ever turned up in town since Travis was old enough to pay attention, so the most likely scenario was that the beneficiaries would simply sell off the assets through their lawyers.

  It made sense, and Travis had been happy—relieved even—to let go of the feud.

  Until now.

  By turning up here, Alex Mason had brought the feud back to life.

  He took his hat off and rubbed his forehead in frustration. Perhaps Alex knew nothing of the feud. Maybe her coming to Masons Flat was simply because she wanted to do things in person rather than from a distance. Or maybe she didn’t trust lawyers. She could still settle the estate quickly and go back to Australia. After all, what reason could she possibly have in keeping any of the properties?

  Realising he needed to focus on business, he took a deep breath. He needed to stay on her good side, and hope this Mason was going to seriously consider their offer for the saloon.

  He went back outside, grabbed the hose and ran cool water over the gelding, then put him into a small field with a couple of flakes of hay. He stood for a moment longer, gathering his thoughts, and then ambled over to where Denver and Alex were talking.

  He had this. He would be nice to her, keep it business-like, and focus on getting the saloon back. He could do this to honour his father and put the feud to bed once and for all.

  As he walked up Alex had her back to him, and Denver was laughing. When she placed her hand on Denver’s arm just before speaking, Travis’ jaws tightened.

  ‘I’m looking forward to it, but the reason for the visit wasn’t to wangle an invite to your birthday party, I wanted to ask if you could do some small repairs for me … over at the house.’

  ‘Repairs? Sure. Is tomorrow okay?’ Denver might as well have licked her hand; he looked like a love-struck puppy.

  ‘Tomorrow will be fine—say around one-thirty? I have an appointment first thing in the morning with the accountant.’

  ‘That works.’ Denver finally turned to look at him. ‘Ah, Travis, I was just telling Alex about the party next weekend. She’s going to come, isn’t that great? And get this; she’s never danced to rockabilly music, so this will be quite an experience for her.’

  When she turned to him and smiled, his business-like demeanour faltered. He could kill his brother right about now. Instead, he smiled back, and tried to appear amused, which was difficult with clenched teeth.

  He turned to Alex, pulling his business façade down again. ‘I overheard you saying you were meeting your accountant tomorrow. If it’s the same one your uncle used, maybe you can ask him about our offer to buy the saloon. Your uncle had been toying with the offer for ages, but he never committed to anything—mentioned something about the accountant advising against selling it.’

  ‘Oh, the lawyer never said anything about any offers, but yes, the accountant is the one my uncle used, so I’ll ask if he knows anything about it. Are you sure he gave the offer to his accountant?’

  He looked away for a moment, taking his time, gathering his thoughts so he could reply calmly. ‘No, I’m not sure of anything, that’s just what he said to us. Our offer still stands, even though the place may require more work than what the insurance will cover. Think about it. It was a good offer. Talk to the accountant, then let us know.’

  Her mouth smiled, but her eyes were like cold hard gems. Then the fire he’d seen in them the day before returned as she cocked her head. ‘Certainly. I’ll speak to the accountant about it.’ Turning back to Denver, she changed the subject. ‘Oh, is there a dress code for your party? I didn’t bring a lot of clothes with me. I planned to do a bit of outlet shopping before I go home, and fill up my bags that way, but if I need something in particular, I’ll need to have a look soon.’

  ‘Dress code? I suspect there’ll be everything from party dresses to jeans and boots, so it’s entirely up to you. You ever hear of anyone setting a dress code for anything around here, Travis?’

  When she turned toward him, Travis just shrugged. What did he know about dress codes? And why would he care?

  She turned back to Denver. ‘Great. Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow around one-thirty. Corner of Mason and Blue Gum.’

  Travis gritted his teeth as he watched the exchange—as if either of them needed to be told where that house was.

  ‘See ya tomorrow, Alex.’ Denver said, doing a mock bow and winking as he lowered his head.

  ‘Yeah, see ya.’ Travis raised an eyebrow, then turned to Denver, determined not to watch her walk away. ‘We’ve got work to do, Den, how much longer do you need to work on this dance floor anyway?’

  ~~*~~

  As she walked back to her car, Alex once again had the distinct impression she’d been dismissed. Travis might as well have told her to piss off already, the way he gave her the cold shoulder and turned to Denver. Then again, she hadn’t exactly been warm toward him either. What was it about him that made her feel like she had to be so serious and business like?

  The brothers were like chalk and cheese; Denver all smiles and jokes, and Travis serious and stern.

  But it was more than that. Travis Gold was borderline rude.

  And yet she still found herself drawn to him. One minute she felt as silly as a shy school-girl talking to the cute boy in class, and the next like a shrewd business-woman doing a deal. What was happening to her?

  Was she simply over-tired? She still hadn’t gotten into normal sleep patterns. That was the only explanation.

  She keyed the hotel’s address into the car’s navigator, wanting to take the quickest route back to the hotel. Perhaps a good night’s sleep would cure her odd behaviour around that man. Something needed to.

  Chapter 7

  Alex sat beside the rather rotund accountant, Gary Matthews, as he went through the profit and loss statements for the various buildings. The documents were similar to those she was used to looking at when she managed the tennis club, although these were a whole lot more personal.

  The good news was that the properties as a whole showed a positive return. There were no mortgages on any of them, so the rents only had to cover rates, maintenance and insurance. And once they put tenants in the vacant ones, the situation would only get better. She and her sisters couldn’t retire on the income but, if they decided to keep them, they weren’t going to be out of pocket.

  But that decision hadn’t been made yet. There was still the option to sell everything. And that carried a lot of appeal as it would most likely give her enough money to pay down her mortgage and set up her coaching business.

  With that thought in mind she asked the obvious question. ‘Do you have valuations for the various buildings?’

  ‘No, but I will need to get them done if we’re to do your taxes for you.�
�

  When Alex sighed, Gary raised his hand, frowning. ‘But I seem to recall your uncle saying something about having obtained valuations a few years back. I always tended to go by the County’s Annual Assessments and then bump them up a bit—for insurance purposes. Is that what you’re after?’

  ‘Sort of, but we’re trying to decide whether we should sell everything and be done with it, or whether we should hang on to some or all of the properties.’

  Gary quirked a smile. ‘Really? You think you might want to sell?’

  ‘Maybe. We have some decisions to make, obviously, but I need to understand the current market value of each of the properties—in the condition they’re in right now.’ She and her sisters definitely didn’t have spare cash to throw at doing up the buildings.

  ‘Well, funny you should say that because I have a realtor friend who would be more than happy to help.’

  She frowned, biting her lower lip before speaking. ‘That wouldn’t happen to be a Mr Marshall would it?’

  ‘Why yes, have you heard of him?’ He broke into a broad smile.

  She grimaced. ‘He dropped in when I was visiting the house. I wondered how he’d known I was there.’

  ‘Ah, well … news travels quickly in small towns, you know that. But he and I go way back—we were in college together, you see.’

  As interesting as that was, the fact that he and this agent were good friends wasn’t exactly a tick in his favour. Exactly how much might he have told the agent?

  ‘And does he manage the tenanted properties?’

  ‘No, no, that’s a chap out of Sonora. Thompson Realty, Ben Thompson.’

  ‘I suppose I’ll need to speak to him; I’m curious why those two shops have been vacant for so long.’

  ‘I don’t know him personally, as your uncle dealt with him directly. I think he was a friend, or perhaps the son of a friend. I did ask your uncle why they were still vacant, but all he said was that there wasn’t much interest in them, and he didn’t mind them being vacant until the right tenant came along.’

  ‘And this Thompson fellow, does he manage other properties in town, or just ours?’

  ‘I couldn’t say,’ he replied, shaking his head slowly.

  She wondered if Ben Thompson managed the Gold properties, and if they owned any of the others that were vacant in town. Then, thinking about the Golds, she remembered their offer.

  ‘Speaking of selling, have there ever been any offers received? For any of the properties? I mean, surely people in town knew about Uncle Steven’s illness. Has anyone come forward with any offers to buy any of the shops or his home?’

  ‘Nothing recently. There was an offer a while back, but your uncle never took it seriously.’

  ‘And that was?’

  ‘The Gold brothers. They wanted to buy the saloon.’

  ‘I see … and do you recall if their offer reasonable?’ Alex asked, tilting her head with curiosity.

  ‘Quite reasonable, based on what your uncle had said, but he didn’t want to let it go. He liked working there as he said it gave him a way to keep in contact with everyone in town.’ He winked, continuing, ‘Personally, I think he enjoyed being a bit of a self-appointed gate-keeper on how much people drank.’

  She wished she’d known Uncle Steven better. She only remembered meeting him once, when she was quite young—before they were whisked off to Australia. She remembered him being tall, with a deep voice, but not much else. Although it occurred to her that she might have heard her father refer to him as a bit of a loner—living out there in Masons Flat on his own, and never marrying. Yet, from what the accountant said, he didn’t seem like a loner.

  ‘Did he ever say why they wanted it? Why the Golds wanted to buy the saloon?’

  Gary rubbed his jaw for a moment. ‘Your uncle rarely talked about it, but I think it goes back to the way your family came to own the saloon. You see, your great-grandfather and the Mr Gold who was his contemporary were in a heated poker game one night—both drinking far too much. Gold threw what was then Gold’s Saloon into the pot, and your great-grandfather threw in his hotel. Mason won, and Gold lost. Your great-grandfather then changed the name to Gold Nugget Saloon and refused to give it back. He’d won it fair and square. If Gold had won, you think he wouldn’t have kept the hotel? Anyway, Duncan Gold, who was Travis and Denver’s father, tried unsuccessfully to get the original transfer reversed. It was after he died that the boys put in the offer.’

  ‘And Uncle Steven wouldn’t sell it back to them?’

  ‘Nope—like I said, he enjoyed owning it.’

  She let that sink in. He’d enjoyed owning it, which meant she might too. ‘Is that why it’s on the opposite side of the street to all the other Mason properties?’

  ‘Yes, exactly. Actually, are you interested in hearing a bit of the town’s history?’

  She looked at her phone. She had plenty of time. ‘I would love to hear it.’

  ‘In a nutshell, there were three miners, Mason, Gould and James, who made their fortunes in this area, and decided to set up the town together.’

  ‘Yes, I saw a photo of the three of them at the hotel. The Mason was Thomas, but I don’t recall the other two first names.’

  ‘Nor do I. Anyway, Gould, who later changed his name to Gold, had most of the land on the north side of the street, Mason had most of the south side, and James had some on each side. Over the years James and his descendants sold their holdings, but the Masons and Golds kept theirs.’

  ‘Did Mason and Gold buy up the James’ properties, or are there other owners now?’

  ‘Bit of both. Mason and Gold each bought a couple, and some were sold to others.’

  Alex frowned, trying to visualise the street layout as Gary continued. ‘And did you notice that the house is on the corner of Blue Gum Road?’

  ‘Blue Gum?’

  Gary smiled, raising an eyebrow.

  Then the penny dropped. ‘Oh, of course, I should have twigged that it was an odd street name for around here.’

  Gary’s smile widened further. ‘Mason headed to Australia for the gold rush that followed the one here in California, and when he returned he planted a grove of Blue Gums, hoping to make a further fortune with the wood. He planted it to the south of what was then a very small town; the northernmost section of the grove is on the south side of Blue Gum Road.’

  Alex smiled. ‘Which is the park across from the house. So, my family had a connection to Australia, and I hadn’t even been aware of it. My grandfather’s great-grandfather, or would he be his great-great-grandfather?’

  Gary shrugged, lifting his hands in an I’m not entirely sure type of gesture.

  ‘Well, whatever he was, he’d been to Australia.’

  ‘Indeed he had, along with both James and Gould. They all made more money over there, so when they returned, they decided to turn the small mining camp into a full-fledged town, and that’s when Masons Flat was founded.’

  She pondered that for a moment. ‘And why was it called Masons Flat, rather than James or Gould?’

  ‘Humph … not sure. Perhaps they flipped a coin? If so, it would have been a gold one.’

  He chuckled at his own joke, but Alex could feel a frown deepening on her face. Perhaps there were many reasons for this ongoing rift between the Golds and Masons. And perhaps the rift was deep enough for Travis Gold to try to drag down the value of the Mason properties for his own benefit.

  Something that had been bothering her since she’d arrived finally found words.

  ‘Do you know how the fire started, in the saloon? Could it have been arson?’

  Gary shook his head. ‘No, it definitely wasn’t arson. Everything was thoroughly investigated. A grease filter caught fire and the whole kitchen went up in no time. They were lucky to get it stopped before it damaged more of the building.’

&nb
sp; ‘I saw the kitchen … all the damage. I just wondered if it could have been intentional.’

  ‘Others thought the same, hence the thorough investigation, but there was nothing suspicious about the fire.’

  ‘Okay then, it was just a thought.’

  Alex took a deep breath and concentrated on the figures again. The buildings were generating enough cash to pay for themselves. And the situation would be even better if she could manage to find tenants for the two empty shops. She and the twins could keep them, if that’s what they decided to do. It was going to be a big decision to make. And there would no doubt be a tax bill of some sort. The lawyer had alluded to it when he mentioned she might like to see an accountant.

  She turned to Gary. ‘I don’t suppose you have any idea how much we’re going to have to pay in taxes? I mean, if we decide to keep all the properties, for example, are we going to struggle?’

  Gary frowned. ‘Struggle? How do you mean?’

  ‘Will we need to sell a few of the properties to pay the taxes? Do you have any idea what we’ll be up for?’

  Now he smiled. And it reminded her of the smile she’d seen on Mr West’s face.

  ‘Alex … I thought the lawyer explained what you inherited?’

  ‘He did … sort of. Mind you, I don’t know how much of it I took in—I think I was struggling to keep my eyes open.’

  ‘Did he give you any sort of summary of what you’ve inherited?’

  She dug into her shoulder-bag and pulled out the folded stack of papers. On the top was the summary sheet Mr West had prepared for her. She handed it to the accountant and watched intently while he studied it.

  ‘Right. Now, this here … see it?’ He pointed to a line near the bottom of the page.

  Alex leaned over to stare at the summary, focussing on the line he pointed to.

  ‘What’s it say, Alex?’

  ‘Cash and cash equivalents: three million, seven hundred forty-two thousand, three hundred dollars and twelve cents.’