Walker (Cordell Walker x Female!Reader)

Encore & Freedom

Last month was a busy and stressful time for the Walker family. After the school dance, Liam and Captain James revealed that they learned Emily's killer, Carlos Mendoza is actually innocent and that Northside Nation, those sickos from Laredo are actually behind her murder.

So Cordell and James sent out to find her real killer, who turned out to be some woman named Cali. They were going to bring her in, but she tried to shoot Cordell at the last second and Geri, who happened to be in the middle of all this, ended up shooting her instead.

Everyone in the family was struggling to deal with the situation as they waited for Cordell to come home. The kids were at each other's throat until Micki found a better way for them to release their pent-up emotions.

Liam, who made up a lie that he cheated so that his fiancé, Bret, would leave him and be safe is also dealing with the aftermath of his heartbreaking decision. He's turned himself into a Cinderella, doing absolutely everything around the ranch to keep his mind busy. I feel like Liam and I have more things in common than we both think.

And finally Bonham and Abby were just trying to keep calm and relax, trusting that their son will come home in one piece. Which he did and the family celebrated at dinner that Emily can finally rest now that her killer is gone.

Last week was a very personal and private affair for the Walker family, so I mainly kept my distance. I didn't know Emily like they all did, so it would just feel like I'm inserting myself into their personal matters. If they needed someone to vent to, they know where to find me.

With Cali dead, the Walker family can finally rest and move on from Emily's death. One way of doing so is taking apart the damage done to the Side Step and fixing it up. Cordell is still useless when it comes to this kind of stuff, so he everyone got involved with fixing up the place.

"Ready to get to work?" Cordell asked his kids. "Let's do it." August replied. "Yep." Stella said, and the three of them slip safety glasses on and begin hacking at a wall with crowbars, while Liam and I cut two beams with chainsaws.

When the new wall was up and ready, it was time to paint. Bonham open a can of Benjamin Moore paint and Cordell comes up, holding a can of blue paint and giving his father a skeptical look.

Bonham looks at the paint can in his hands then shoots a stern look at his son. "You questioning my palette?" He asked and Cordell quickly shuffles off without another word.

August was recording everything on his phone and comes over to Stella and I as we painted the wall. We both smile at the camera, Stella giving a wave, and me giving a casual salute.

When the paint was dry, August hanged up a frame photo of Geri and her father and family portrait of himself, Cordell, Stella, and Emily. Everyone sat back, admiring all the hard work we did.

Later, Cordell stood behind the bar, filling up a glass with soda. "All right. New routine, new thing going on!" He said, setting the glasses down on the bar to fill up another one. "Yeah. Thank you." August said, picking up the glass to take a drink while Stella and I hummed in agreement.

"Got our big reopening coming up, and, kiddos, you know how much this place means to me. How much it meant to your mom." Cordell said, setting the second glass down in front of Stella and fills up another one.

"We know." Stella said. "And I know too. I did watch you nailed yourself to it, cowboy." I teased, making the three of them laugh. "Yeah, very funny." He said, setting the third glass down in front of me.

"Keep talking like that and I'm gonna stop inviting you to help out." Cordell said, smiling as he fills up an another glass for himself. "Oh yeah, because you're such an expert around tools." I retorted and the kids laugh.