Braxton's Run: Cattle, Whiskey and Women

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Would you go with me? If we rode down streets of fire? Would you hold onto me tighter as the summer sun got higher. If we roll from town to town and never shut it down. Would you go with me? If we were lost in fields of clover. Would we walk even closer, until the trip was over and would it be okay if I didn't know the way?" Josh Turner 'Would You Go With Me'

"We're gonna be moving on. I just wanted to come out here and let you know." Braxton said as he and Brandon leaned against the corral fence at the ranch two days later. Both had their right boot propped on the bottom rung of the dusty white fence, their elbows resting on the top rung and their hats pulled low as they surveyed the fresh horses inside.

Laura, LeAnne and the two small babies were sitting on the porch, while the older children ran and played in the yard.

"Where y'all going?" Brandon asked as he squinted at the sunlight.

"East for a while. She's gonna meet with some dressmakers out there. Then we'll be heading up to Montana."

"What's in Montana?" Braxton thought about telling his brother to mind his own business but bit his tongue. Brandon had been a different person since just before the drive and if Braxton was being honest, it was nice to have a real brother.

"I own some land up there. She doesn't know about it yet, I'm going to surprise her." Brandon chuckled and looked over at him.

"Never would have pictured you buying land." he admitted. Braxton shrugged.

"I'm not sure why I did. Guess I just wanted a place that could be my own since I didn't much feel like I had a home."

"No, I guess you didn't." Brandon agreed with a sigh. "I'm sorry for my part in that, Braxton."

"I don't blame you." Braxton replied matter of factly. "I blame ma and pa." Brandon nodded and they stood there in silence for several long minutes.

"Mama is moving back east to live with her family. Bradley and Sarabeth are going with her." Brandon said finally and Braxton merely grunted as he shifted more of his weight to his left foot. "Are you gonna talk to them before they go?"

"No." Braxton said sternly. "I am grateful for what you and I are building and I like knowing my nieces and nephews but I won't speak to those people again. There's too much….." Brandon nodded knowingly.

"I've barely said three words to mama since the day of the funeral and I've not spoken a word to Bradley since he left town before the drive. Bradley doesn't believe that any of that happened between Maynard and ma and pa. He chooses to believe that we're lying." Braxton snorted.

"And I'll bet mama doesn't tell him any different does she?" Brandon shrugged.

"You know mama. She just wrings her hands and starts crying. Bradley falls for it hook, line and sinker."

"He always was her favorite." Braxton said with a humorless laugh.

"That he was." Brandon agreed.

"So what happens to the ranch now that pa is gone and mama is leaving?"

"Well.. Uh.. Pa actually left the ranch to me in his will." Brandon replied uneasily as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

"All of it?" Braxton asked in a controlled, emotion-free voice. Brandon nodded.

"Yeah. He left a good chunk of money and some possessions to Bradley." Braxton didn't know why he was bothered by the knowledge that he'd been left out of the will. It wasn't any more than what he had expected but still it hurt deep down.