A Wild Ride by Andrew Grey

lunch appointment. After he got back, he spent the rest of the day on the phone, the calls only letting up once the markets had closed.
    Ryan left the office about five thirty and went through a drive-through on his way out of town toward his appointment with Mr. Murphy. He hated to be late for anything, especially a client meeting, and he had no real idea how long it would take to get where he was going.
    The city fell away behind him, and some of Ryan’s nervous energy went with it. Yes, he was meeting a client, but it was evening, and as he drove, the terrain around him became more and more rural, grass and rangeland stretching out in front of him. Housing developments and strip malls gave way to individual homes and then ranch houses surrounded by land, fences, and cattle. He probably should have asked Mr. Murphy just what kind of real estate and investments he was talking about, but it was too late now. His GPS continued giving him directions, and he got farther and farther from the city. After a while, he began to wonder if he was in the right area, but the GPS voice kept directing him, and he followed it, eventually turning down a long drive that led to a neat, well-maintained ranch house. As he parked, the front door opened and an old man slowly stepped out onto the porch.
    “You must be Mr. Murphy,” Ryan said as he closed the car door and climbed the few steps. He shook the white-haired man’s hand. “I’m Ryan Abbott, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
    “Good to meet you too, Mr. Abbott.”
    “Please call me Ryan,” he said as he took the porch chair Mr. Murphy indicated.
    “And you can call me Hy,” Mr. Murphy said as he settled into one of the other chairs. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, and a friend of mine met your Marie at a shindig and pointed me in her direction. You see,” Hy said, indicating the land around him, “this here ranch has been in the family for generations.”
    “And you want to keep it in the family?” Ryan said, but Hy shook his head.
    “No. There’s just me and my grandson, and I don’t want to saddle him with the burden a place like this carries. You see, I’ve barely been hanging on here for years, and what I got I want to pass on to him, but this place ain’t big enough to survive nowadays. And if I know my grandson, he’d have a conniption if he knew I was thinking of selling, but he needs to be free to make his own choices in life, and a place like this will wear you down. You see, he’s making his own money and doing well for himself, but he’d spend every last dime to keep this place going, and then he’d have nothing.”
    That was not the answer Ryan had been expecting. “So what is it you want me to do?” Ryan looked around. The ranch looked to be in good shape, everything taken care of and maintained. “I don’t understand; the place looks like it’s in good shape.”
    “It’s a hard life out here. My grandson deserves better, and I want to try to give it to him. I got some stocks and other papers that my wife left, and I haven’t done much with them. Can you look them over and maybe set up something so when I go, I can pass something on?”
    “Of course, but… when it comes to the ranch, why don’t you let your grandson decide what he wants?” Ryan asked, and Hy humphed softly, saying nothing. “Why don’t you show me those papers, and I’ll look them over for you.”
    Hy reached to the far side of his chair and lifted up a shoebox. “They’re all in here.”
    Good God, Ryan thought as he took the box and set it on his lap. “Okay. I’ll look over what I can, but I’ll have to come back again so I can go through the rest of what’s in here.” He really didn’t feel comfortable just taking the papers.
    “You can’t just take them and do what you need to?” Hy asked.
    “Not without an inventory of what you have. That wouldn’t be right,” Ryan said, and Hy smiled.
    “Okay, you’re hired,” the old man said. “I was