Page 86 of The Cowboy Who Worked Late
Tate laughed too and said, “Yeah, too much math going on there.”
“I could be a technician, though,” JJ said. “Or maybe it’s just enough that I can monitor all the animals at Seven Sons when I take it over.”
Tate made a scoffing noise that sounded like disbelief. “Do you really think you’re gonna come back here and take it over?”
“I have never beenreallysure,” JJ said. “But the more I think about it, and the more I pray about it, the more I feel like yeah, I’m gonna come back to Three Rivers, to Seven Sons. And that’s gonna be my life.”
It sounded simple to him, and while JJ had grown up simply and he didn’t mind being simple, he also wanted a grand adventure.
Tate didn’t say what he was going to move into, probably because he hadn’t decided yet, and they drove the rest of the way to Seven Sons with the radio playing country tunes into the silence around them.
He made the turn onto the road that led right along Seven Sons Ranch, saying, “That house right there is my Uncle Liam and Aunt Callie’s. This one coming up on the left is Uncle Micah and Aunt Simone’s. And then we come around to the fence.”
JJ made the turn off that country road and onto a dirt one, and the enormity of the ranch opened up before them. Uncle Skyler and Aunt Mal had built a second homestead right next door to where JJ had grown up at the main homestead.
Seven Sons Ranch housed four families, and Uncle Wyatt lived in the northeastern foothills, while Uncle Rhett and Uncle Tripp lived about ten minutes away on one of the southernmost roads in Three Rivers just outside of town.
“This is it.” He came to a stop, the dust behind his tires pushing up around the truck as they took in the generational trees, the green grass, and the beautiful fence that held the seven stars—one for each of the seven Walker brothers.
JJ sat there, an overwhelming sense of belonging and peace filling him. “Yeah,” he said. “I think I’m gonna come back here one day.”
“I would too,” Tate said, his voice filled with reverence. “Look at this place, JJ. It’s incredible.”
“I’ve just got to figure out how to be useful,” JJ said. “I got to know more than I know now.” And it wasn’t like his parents couldn’t afford college. They could. In fact, when JJ took over the ranch, he’d probably inherit billions of dollars from his father.
He looked over to Tate and grinned. “Wait till you see the barn with the American flag on the back of it.”
“Well, let’s go, cowboy,” Tate said in his big, booming voice, and JJ pushed on the gas pedal to get the truck moving again. He went past Uncle Skyler’s homestead and Daddy’s homestead and past some of the old sheds that had once belonged to the Foster sisters. The three of them had owned the ranch next to Seven Sons, and they’d all married a Walker brother. The sheds had been fixed up, and a whole row of cowboy cabins stood just beyond them.
“We’re in the middle one,” he said, nodding forward. “That green one.”
“It’s cute,” Tate said. “Ruby would love this.” He pulled out his phone and snapped a picture through the windshield. “She’d absolutelylovethis place.”
JJ didn’t know Ruby at all, only what Tate had said about her, so he said nothing as he pulled in front of the cabin and parked the truck. They didn’t have a lot to unload—several boxes and bags for each of them—and the cabin came furnished. JJ and Tate could certainly unload their own things, as they had packed them themselves from the fourth-floor apartment in Amarillo and driven themselves here. But JJ wasn’t surprised at all to find the freshly painted white door of the cabin opening and Daddy walking out with Uncle Liam.
“Hey,” Daddy said as he came down the stairs, his smile as wide as the sky. “Look who made it.” He grabbed onto and pulled JJ right into his chest. “How was the drive?”
“Ain’t no thing,” JJ said. “Passed like nothing.”
“Yeah, well, you missed most of the bad weather last week,” Uncle Liam said. He hugged JJ next. “We still got plenty of cleaning up to do around the ranch, though. Don’t worry.”
“Joy of joys,” JJ said. He looked across the hood of the truck as Tate came around it. “This is my best friend, Tate Reynolds,” he said. “You’ve met my dad, Tate. This is my Uncle Liam.”
“Pleased to meet you, sir,” Tate said, his charming smile in place. He shook both their hands, and Daddy said, “Let’s get you unloaded.”
That took about ten minutes, and Daddy must have texted Momma at some point, because she showed up with Clara Jean, Emily, and Hattie, his three sisters, and said, “We’ll help you unpack, boys.”
They did that, Momma hanging up JJ’s slacks and church shirts, while Emily and Hattie unpacked the few dishes and food items that he and Tate had brought from Amarillo. Then they moved into Tate’s room and did the same thing.
“All right,” Momma said only about a half-hour later. “You guys have beds and blankets. The water’s all hooked up; AC’spumping hard.” She grinned at both boys. “Come on, we don’t want to be late for the feast going on over at the house.”
JJ looked at Tate, and Tate looked at JJ, and he raised his eyebrows as if to say,I told you so.
Tate chuckled and said, “Mrs. Walker, I’ve heard so much about the things you do here at Seven Sons. I can’twaitto go to this family feast.”
“Kiss up,” JJ muttered under his breath as Momma said something about how glad she was Tate had come to Seven Sons for the summer.
But he laughed as he followed everyone out of his new cowboy cabin and across a field, and then the back lawn to the homestead. Everyone seemed to be making that pilgrimage, as Daddy was the best cook in the family, and he often fed everyone out of the kitchen here at the homestead.
