She came to buy his sale barn. Sold.
Boone Haskell grew up in the Big Timber Livestock Auction. He’s called every Wednesday sale for twelve years, he sings bass in the Lutheran choir, and his father has never once told him he’s any good.
Ruby Jo Tafoya is the women’s world champion livestock auctioneer, two years running, from Magdalena, New Mexico. She lost her family’s ranch at twenty-five. She’s got red boots, $181,000 in a credit union and a voice that can sell a bull while it’s chasing her up the stairs.
When Boone’s father announces he’s selling the barn, he has two people who could run it. So he makes them split the block, every other Wednesday, until the state auctioneer championship in May. Whoever’s ahead gets the first offer.
The whole county takes sides: tan caps for Boone, red bandanas for Ruby Jo. Mavis Ekstrom takes bets. And a ninety-year-old woman in a purple tracksuit buys them half a heifer each.
Inside you’ll find
- Rivals to lovers
- A battle for a family business
- A chant-off in a bar over half a pickup truck
- A bull in the auction booth
- A calf born at 2 a.m. in pen nine
- A proposal sold as an auction lot
Going Once, Going Twice, Going Cowboy is the final book in The Cowboys of Sweet Grass County. Standalone, with a guaranteed happily ever after.