Wrapped and Strapped by James Lorelei

Author:James, Lorelei [James, Lorelei]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: LJLA, LLC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

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IKE’S INVITATION TO meet at Buckeye Joe’s for a drink caused Hugh some concern. He and Ike were friends, but they never hung out just the two of them. He hoped Ike didn’t have some kind of personal problem, because he’d never been comfortable handing out advice.

Since happy hour had ended, the Buckeye wasn’t jam-packed. Hugh paused at the end of the dance floor, looking for Ike, since he’d seen his rig parked out front.

Ike waved at him from the far back table.

Hugh nodded at the folks he knew as he made his way to the back of the bar. He pulled out the chair opposite Ike, sat down and said, “Hey.”

“Hey. I woulda ordered you a beer, but I figured you’d rather wait for service than drink a warm one.”

“Got that right.”

Ike lifted his can toward the bar, signaling to a waitress.

Hugh stretched his arm across the chair beside his. “It’s no secret I ain’t good at making small talk, so what’s on your mind?”

“Remember when you were talking about that rodeo in Kansas and you mentioned you might need hired hands to help you out?”

“I do.” He paused to thank Susan for dropping off his Budweiser. He sipped and set the bottle down. “Why? You lookin’ for work?”

Ike glanced down at his own beer before he met Hugh’s gaze. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

Hugh waited while Ike gathered his thoughts.

“I’ve been a cattle broker for a dozen years. Started out doin’ it because I liked the challenge. I liked connecting buyers and sellers. I liked bein’ part of the ag community.”

“But?”

“But, with the way technology has changed things in the past five years, so much of my job, at least the parts of it that got me into this business in the first place, have changed. I’ve always spent my working hours surgically attached to my cell phone. That never bothered me.”

“What does bother you?”

“That I’ve gone from a salesman to a videographer. I don’t even have to meet with folks face-to-face anymore. Buyers or sellers. The sellers upload videos of the stock they’re selling. Then the buyers either go to a specific site to view the videos or it’s sent as an e-mail attachment.”

“They’re cutting out the middleman,” Hugh stated.

“Basically. Not in all cases. I’ve dealt with many of these ranchers for years and they’re loyal. But they’re the older generation. The next generation that’s taking over, well, I ain’t gotta tell you that they grew up with technology, so it’s easier for them to handle their stock sales virtually.”

Hugh took another sip of beer. “Without getting into specifics, your income has dropped?”

Ike nodded. “Cattle prices have been at an all-time high, and the volume of the deals I was making offset the losses. But as I’m lookin’ to the fall, when I do a huge bulk of my business, my calls are down damn near seventy percent.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.” Ike leaned back in his chair, mimicking Hugh’s posture. “I’ve never been a big spender. No wife, kids, the biggest chunk of my income goes to traveling expenses and my mortgage.

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