'I just got back from Cheyenne,' Joe said. 'That's one hell of a long drive.'
'It's a two-and-a-half six-pack drive.' Vern chuckled. 'A drive I made many, many times. It looks like you might have had a few yourself to make the hours more bearable. Gotta be careful on the highway,' Vern said, smiling paternalistically 'Some of those patrolmen would like nothing better than to give a ticket to a fellow state employee and get you in all sorts of trouble.'
Caught, Joe nodded. A drunk like Vern who had tried to hide it for years could be very perceptive when it came to identifying someone else who'd been drinking, Joe thought.
'You just missed Wacey,' Vern continued. Vern was now in command. Whatever had passed across his face when he looked up and saw Joe was now well hidden.
'We were having a little celebration.'
Joe looked puzzled.
'Barnum announced today that he's dropping out of the sheriff's race,' Vern said. 'He's going to retire.'
'You're kidding,' Joe replied. He wondered what had made Barnum come to that decision. With Barnum out, Wacey was assured of winning the Republican primary in a couple of weeks. And in Twelve Sleep County, winning the Republican primary was the same as winning the general election. There were only a handful of Democrats, and few of them even bothered to vote anymore.
'So ole Wacey was pretty excited and we had a few drinks to celebrate,' Vern said.
'I bet he was,' Joe agreed. 'Strange that Barnum dropped out.'
Vern shrugged. 'These things happen. Maybe he thought he was going to get whipped.'
Joe recalled the conversation he'd had with Barnum earlier that week. Barnum had certainly acted as if he had already been defeated. But Joe hadn't understood it then, and he didn't understand it now. He had noticed no grounds-well of support for Wacey Hedeman in the community--and very little dissatisfaction with Barnum. It seemed to Joe that voting against Sheriff O. R. 'Bud' Barnum was like voting against the Bighorn Mountains.
'Politics,' Vern said, as if the word alone summed up the conversation. 'Stranger than fiction.'
Joe sipped his beer. He wished he hadn't been drinking on the ride home. He wished his head was more clear.
'So what brings you down to the Stockman's Bar when it's obviously past your bedtime?' Vern asked.
Joe looked up. 'I guess I want to accept that job you offered me with Inter West,' Joe said.
'I got suspended today.'
Vern frowned melodramatically. 'Suspended? You? That doesn't even seem possible.'
Joe had a feeling that it wasn't as much of a surprise to Vern as Vern made it out to be. They were now playing some kind of game with each other. But in this kind of game, Joe was an amateur and Vern was All- Pro.
Joe told Vern what had happened. Vern shook his head and rolled his eyes at the right places. Joe thought for a moment that maybe Vern hadn't known. No, Joe amended, Vern knew. There were still plenty of people in Cheyenne that owed Vern a favor and could have tipped him off.
'So I want to work with you,' Joe finished.
'Why don't you fight it?' Vern asked. 'It sounds like a ridiculous overreaction by the department. You should be able to win it at your hearing.'
'I don't have the time or money to go against them and I need to support my family,' Joe said truthfully. 'I'm not sure I have the determination I need. I guess I'm not really sure I want my job back at all if this is what they're capable of.'
Vern drained his drink and ordered another for both of them. 'What does Marybeth say?' The tone of the question was not kind.
'I haven't talked to her about it yet,' Joe said, flushing just a bit from the implication. 'I came straight here.'
'Joe,' Vern said after the drinks had been delivered. 'We seem to have some kind of misunderstanding here.'
'What do you mean?'
Vern chuckled in his most kindly way, as if he were sharing the embarrassment for both of them.
'Joe, I don't think that I ever actually offered you a job. If I remember correctly, I just asked if you might be interested in something with Inter West I believe I said I was 'testing the waters.' Don't you remember that phrase?'
'I do remember it,' Joe said, trying to understand what was going on and where Vern was headed. He still wanted to trust Vern, but Vern's statement that there wasn't a job waiting for him at Inter West had left him shaken and wary.
'But I know what I heard from you. I know what you meant.'
'Look,' Vern said, glancing around the bar and lowering his voice. 'It's not going to happen.'
Joe sat back in his seat.
'Besides,' Vern said, rolling the sweaty drink slowly between his palms, 'I talked to my bosses at Inter West and they now think things are just fine as they are. For a while there, they tossed it around and they asked me if you were willing to make the commitment and I had to honestly tell them at the time that I didn't think you were. They reconsidered after that and now they don't see the need for additional employees at this level and at this phase in the project. Maybe if you had come back to me sooner-or with some enthusiasm. Before this thing in Cheyenne happened. It would be pretty hard right now to convince them that you suddenly changed your mind and
