Page 166 of Tenderfoot

We did the whole hug thing then we did the whole huddle thing.

“Tex and Nancy have decided on a house,” Roxie shared. “Their offer was accepted. They move in in twenty days.”

“And we’re nosy, so we’re here to see what it looks like,” Indy put in.

“I can’t believe the pics they sent,” Ally added.

“Tex and Nancy have decided on a house?” Luna asked.

“Tex! Dude!” Jessie shouted. “You picked a house and didn’t tell us?”

“Didn’t tell the Rock Chicks either!” Tex bellowed back.

“He didn’t. Nancy told Jet,” Indy confirmed. “Jet would be here too, but the boys have something going on and she couldn’t get away.”

Jet, another Rock Chick (book two), had three boys. In other words, for the most part, her hands were full.

“Did you bring your men?” Luna inquired.

Annette slung an arm around Roxie and Ally’s shoulders. “Girls’ trip, bitch.”

We all got that, considering how big we were smiling at each other.

“This calls for a cocktail,” Jessie decreed.

“Not here for five minutes, and day drinking is on offer,” Annette declared. “This might make me open another store. Head South.”

Annette, by the way, owned a head shop in Denver (Head West), also one in Chicago (Head East). Annette was kind of a pot-and-hippie paraphernalia mogul.

“If you leave us too, I’ll be pissed,” Indy snapped. Then, loudly so Tex could hear, “No more deserters!”

“You girls stop being boring, I’ll go back to Denver,” Tex boomed back.

“Please, sir, don’t do that,” a customer’s voice could be heard begging.

“I am where I am,” Tex again boomed his retort.

“Then I’m moving to Denver,” another customer said.

Told you Tex had groupies.

“Can we see the pics of Tex’s house?” Shanti requested.

Roxie whipped out her phone and we all huddled closer as she pulled up the photos.

“Well…uh…” Jessie didn’t quite comment.

I understood her inability to voice her opinion.

The place was one-story, L-shaped, blockish, had zero personality, and it looked like no one had lived there for two decades.

There was a massive front drive that was a sea of light-colored gravel. There was practically no vegetation, unless you counted the very dead tree and a meandering cactus at one side. And there was a concrete half wall in front that looked like someone was trying to do something architecturally interesting, but considering the overall “An Axe Murderer Lives Here” vibe, they failed.

The pool was oval, it appeared to have its original liner, and I knew that because, except for some sludge at the bottom, I could see all of it.

The interior rooms were boxy and small, though they all had floor-to-ceiling windows, which would be cool, if there was a better view out of them than just scrub and a scary pool. Not to mention, this was Phoenix. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the summer would be killer on the AC bill if you didn’t have really good shades.

And the kitchen had mustard-colored cabinets and appliances.