Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Bax straightened up the quilt on the back of the couch, making sure it looked nice.
Jason didn’t care, but Coke and Dillon would be there in twenty, and Dillon was, like, a decorating guru or something. He liked shit to look decent.
“You got the ice chest all set up, Mini?” he called. He’d set Jason to getting the cooler filled with ice and Cokes and beer—and getting cups and all set out on the deck.
Lord knew they had everything they could ever need or want, save for the dogs, after Momma and Jack had come through like a whirlwind. Even Dillon’s special-order adjustable bed was in the guest suite.
Momma had brought not one, but two trailers full of shit.
Kitchen stuff—from a toaster oven to cast iron to pot holders and ten thousand kitchen towels.
An iron, ironing board, dressers and end tables, everything from Jason’s old room, tools and shit from the barn at the house, a huge roll-top desk that she’d been saving, a map case that had come down from Jason’s Daddy’s family and six—count ‘em—six rocking chairs for the front porch.
She’d had a ball.
He and Jack had fetched and carried for two days, and Momma had helped Jason set up the porches so he could get around, making sure everything had a place. They hadn’t even fought about it.
“I got it,” Jason hollered back. “We got any snacks?”
“Shit yes.” Not that Dillon and Gramps wouldn’t come loaded for bear. They were damn near as bad as Momma. “We got sausage balls warmed up, them roll-up deals and good nachos.”
Jase only wanted queso when it was just them together, so they could laugh about the drips.
“Finger food.” He heard Jason fumble at the door for a second, and he wanted to go help so bad, but he knew it wouldn’t be welcomed.
Jason needed to learn it himself, and he was doing great with the system of ropes.
The balcony and the porch were shored up, and there were sturdy gates at the tops of all the stairs, just in case.
“Hey, Gramps, y’all found us!”
“We did. Lord have mercy, son. This place is like a beach palace.” Coke’s heavy boot treads rang on the floors and Bax went to join them.
“Hey, Coke. Dillon.”
“Hey, Andy, Great bones on this place! And the view! You did good.” Dillon winked at him and handed him a six-pack. “We brought brisket and all the fixin’s.”
“Awesome. We got the smoker, so it’s a win-win.” He went to tuck the beer away while everyone gave hugs, then came back to oof as Gramps pulled him into a big one, pounding his back.
“I like it. A lot. I brought fishing poles. Y’all got licenses?”
“Got them at the Walmart this week.” He wasn’t sure how much Mini would fish, but it couldn’t hurt.
“Good deal. We’ll drop a line.” Coke looked tickled, but under the smiles, he had bags under his eyes. Bax figured he shouldn’t ask now and embarrass the man, but he would corner Dillon later to ask how the man was feeling. “You want the tour?”
“Just show me where to drop the bags and where the Cokes are.”
“You got it.”
“Jason can show me the bathroom,” Dillon said, making a wry face. “I didn’t want Coke to have to stop at a fast-food place.”
Jason tilted his head. “Y’all didn’t bring the dogs?”
“My sister is watching them this time,” Dillon said. “They’re traveled out for a bit.”
“Oh, bummer. I was going to get them floaties.” He grabbed Dillon’s suitcase and led Coke up the stairs to see the suite with its little kitchenette and sitting area with Momma’s old comfy love seat in it.
“Look at this!” Coke seemed tickled shitless. “Oh, this is perfect.”
“You like it?” He was about to bust with pride. “We got your bed all put in and everything. I got to tell you, Jack says he’s gonna get one for him and Momma.”
“Right? They’re amazing. Oh, y’all did good. Look at this balcony!” Coke went right out into the sunshine. He was going to have to make a bet with Jase on how long it would take for the clown to buy big, fancy chairs for out here.
Probably not even a full day. Bax was all over it. Coke deserved some comfort.
“Neat, huh? They’re all around the whole house. We’re just in love with the place.”
Coke grinned back at him. “I bet you see a lot of us.”
“That’s one of the reasons we chose this one. There’s a place for folks. There’s more bedrooms downstairs.”
“Are there? How hurricane-proof is it?”
Bax shook his head. “We’ve seen all the flood reports on the place. They did the best they could to make it solid as a rock.”
“Good deal. I like that there’s a fridge up here. Ice and cold Cokes.”
“Yeah, and you could make eggs or whatever on the little stove and not have to navigate the stairs.” Bax thought this was one of the greatest things about this house. Room for folks.
Him.
Wanting visitors.
Who’d have thought it?
“Well, and you two would understand that. This is real fine, son. Real fine.” Coke came back in, looking a little younger.
“Thanks. And you need to take a little nap, you just say.” He grinned at Coke. “Seriously, man, this is a no-stress zone.”
“I appreciate it. I might do that in a bit. First I want to have a drink and a sit.”
“Well, come on then.” He led the way back to the main part of the house. “Cokes in the fridge, and in the cooler out on the deck.”
“Oh, the deck. I bet Jason and Dillon are out there already.”
They did find them out there, laughing and easy together, like friends.
“What’s funny?” he asked.
“We were talking about inviting Beau and Sam out after the season’s over, going deep-sea fishing and the six of us goofing off for a couple weeks.” Jason grinned at him, and he found himself responding to that smile, all the way.
Bax moved to Jason’s side like they were attached by one of their ropes and Jason was pulling. “I’d like that. I bet they would too.”
“You look as happy as a dog with two tails, Andy Baxter.” Coke plopped down in a rocker with a grin. “Damn, y’all. This is a good place.”
“It is, huh? You need a pillow, Gramps?” He knew Coke liked one for his neck.
“I got it.” Dillon handed Coke one of them travel pillows, and he popped it around behind his head. Now that was a fine thing. He wondered if they made ones like that to go around a bum knee.
He bet they did. Folks made all sorts of shit nowadays.
“So are you going to run cattle on the land?” Coke asked. “Is it real marshy?”
“It needs some clean fill dirt for horses, so I bet we might run a few head for the taxes, but that’s it. We talked some about goats.”
Dillon clapped his hands. “I love goats.”
“Of course you do,” Jason said, laughing. “You’re a clown.”
Dillon drummed on the arm of his rocker. “Bingo.”
“I’m going to get dogs.” Jason had that determined face that Bax was seeing, more and more often. “And I’m going to figure all this out.”
“Sure you are, son.” Gramps nodded like Jase could see him. “I have no doubts.”
“Thanks.” Jason relaxed a little. “I keep thinking that I ain’t gonna be worthless as a bag of wet mice. I’m gonna earn my keep somehow.”
“Well, we’re going to get you a movie deal, man, and a book deal.” Dillon always sounded so sure. “Once this is done, you watch and see.”
“Yeah. Well, that will be all fine and shit, but I have to be good to help around here. And maybe do signings at rodeos and stuff. Ace might never let me come back to the show to do them, but the smaller venues will.”
Bax was so damn proud of Jason for not giving up.
“The sponsors dictate who comes, Jase, just remember that.” Dillon chuckled, and the clown’s expression was pure evil. “You don’t stress that. Once the finals are over, you’ll have this in the bag. I’ll help.”
“So will I,” Coke said. “You know that.”
“I do. Y’all are good friends—y’all, Beau and Sam, AJ and Missy. Even Emmy and Cotton. That girl have the baby yet?”
“No!” Dillon’s eyes went wide. “She’s the size of a tank.”
Coke snorted. “And you know, Cotton is tiny. My bet is she’s having twins.”
“I can’t imagine.” Bax wasn’t the baby type. Jason was great with kids, and he loved Aje’s brood, but…
“Not looking to adopt a posse, Andy?” Dillon teased, and he flipped the bastard off.
Jason, though, he snorted. “No. If we want to visit kids, we have AJ’s place. He’s always looking for help, and we can get our fill.”
“And Emmy and Cotton will have more,” Bax said, relieved. “Among others. They’ll all start to settle down sooner or later.” Just like him and Jase, he reckoned. Sam and Beau. Even Balta was spending more time at home.
“That’s how it works.” Jason surprised him with the words.
“It ain’t like we got these huge, long careers.
I mean, the bullfighters do better than the riders, and the clown?
Well, I guess you can work forever, but this is a kids’ game.
I had another three years in me? Maybe? And that was if I didn’t get all hurt in some other way.
Let the young guys do it. I want to be someone else now. ”
Bax found himself nodding, and Coke actually kinda looked…maybe relieved. “Yessir. It’s not if you get hurt.”
“It’s when,” they all finished.
Dillon popped open a Coke. “I’ll work out my contract. Then we’ll see.”
“You think you’ll do something else?” he asked, and Dillon snorted.
“I think I’ll retire with my bullfighter and make a lot of YouTube videos.”
Wow. Dillon retiring seemed like this super serious thing. “Who you think will replace you?” Bax asked.
Dillon shrugged. “Lance Jamesby is good. So is Wacey Green.”
“None of them are you.” Coke looked thunderous, a little, and it made Bax grin. Those two loved each other like…well, like he loved Jase.
“I know.” Dillon snapped both fingers, then rolled his shoulders, which Jase missed, but he had to know Dillon was being a goof. “But they’ll bring in their own fans, and mine will learn to like whoever takes over.”
Jason chuckled softly. “It’s weird, huh? Cool, but weird, knowing that it’s going to be over, but it’ll never be over.”
“There’s always a new young gun,” Coke agreed.
“Someone without a bum knee,” Bax threw in.
“Someone who can see,” Jason deadpanned.