Janice Maynard
For Jamie and Daniel,
who have made Texas their home…
we miss you in Tennessee!
“To our new president!”
Three of the four men at the table lifted their glasses in a semicongratulatory toast. Case Baxter, the object of their wry tribute, shook his head and grinned. “Thanks, guys. You’re all heart.”
Mac McCallum finished off the last bite of his Angus burger and wiped his mouth with a linen napkin. “Seriously, man. What were you thinking? You’re like all the rest of us...up to your ears in work. Adding president of the Texas Cattleman’s Club to your résumé means more headaches.”
Mac was CEO of McCallum Energy...and understood as much as anybody that success was a double-edged sword. Even so, with his big laugh and extrovert ways, he always seemed laid-back and easygoing.
Though the formal dining room at the Texas Cattleman’s Club was an elegant venue, the majority of the diners were men like Mac and Case. Tough, honed by physical labor, perpetually tanned by the hot Texas sun. And wealthy...wealthy enough to think they had the world on a string.
Case