Nothing Is Negotiable Read Free Page B

the sun setting behind it,” she said.
    “She never quits,” Luke said admiringly. He stood up and pointed the camera westward where the huge mountain was silhouetted with golden rays of sunlight reaching skyward on all sides. He took several pictures before setting the camera on the table.
    Jack picked it up and examined it closer. “A Canon Elph. I’ve got one just like it. This is a great little camera.” He turned it on them and said, “Move over a little closer and I’ll get a picture of you guys to document your first traumatic day in Montana.”
    Jack snapped a couple of shots and handed the camera back to Luke.
    “Let me get one too,” Luke said as turned the camera on them and snapped a shot.
    After the picture, Jack gave Christina a quick kiss on the lips, and then reached over and picked up the bottle of wine and held it toward Bonnie. “We’ve got a great Chardonnay that will help numb your pain.”
    “Thanks, but my stomach is still pretty queasy. I’d better stick with water, but I’ll take a few of these crackers, if you don’t mind.”
    He pushed the tray of crackers and cheese toward her. “Luke tells us you’re up here as a speaker at that Photography Workshop over in Glacier.”
    “That’s right. I gave my presentation at noon.”
    “How’d it go?”
    “I think it went pretty good. I got a lot of positive feedback from the audience and quite a few orders for my new book, too.”
    “That’s fantastic. Luke told us about your book. We’d like to order one, too,” he said. “Now that you’re done with the workshop, what are you going to do?”
    Bonnie looked at Luke and shrugged. “Just some things we found in the guide books. We’ve got another week—a few more days here and then up to Canada for the rest of the trip. We were hoping to get some tips from the locals up here.”
    “I can give you some ideas. If I wasn’t a lawyer I’d be a tour guide.” Jack squeezed Christina’s thigh and said, “Sweetie, go grab that box in the back of the Hummer.”
    Christina downed the remaining third of her glass of wine and strutted toward the stairs. Her short shorts distracted Jack’s attention momentarily, and then he returned his gaze to Luke and Bonnie. “Over the years, I’ve collected a variety of maps and trail guides. I have a few that will really be helpful to you.”
    When Christina returned she carried two boxes. One was a small plastic file box and the other was about half the size of a briefcase and made of beautiful dark wood.
    “I thought you’d want to bring this one inside tonight.”
    “Oh yeah. I forgot to bring it in earlier,” Jack said. He took the wooden box and set it on the table in front of Luke. “Let me show you something. Being from Texas, I bet you like guns.”
    He unlocked the gold latches and opened it. Inside they saw a pistol which, like the corkscrew, lay on red velvet.
    “What a beauty,” Luke said. “Is it a Colt?”
    “That it is,” Jack said. “I don’t know a darn thing about guns, but what I’ve learned it isn’t just any Colt. It’s a limited edition, factory-engraved .38. The model is a ‘Super Match’. It was made in 1935 and was the first pistol Colt made for National Pistol Matches. And this one’s never been fired.”
    “It’s beautiful.”
    “I got it when a client was short on cash. I don’t have much interest in guns, so I’d like to sell it.”
    “How much?
    “Twenty-five thousand,” Jack said.
    Luke chuckled and leaned back. “That’s a little out of my price range.”
    “Another reason we came over here was to show it to a rancher who thought he might like to buy it. He thought I’d come down to twenty, but I have several others who are interested. So I’m going to hold out for twenty-five.” Jack latched the case and set it on the floor beside the table then opened the other box and pulled out a handful of maps.
    During the next forty-five minutes, they pored over the maps and Jack opened two