Chapter Eight
Lord have mercy, them Taggarts had themselves a shitload of land. Landon followed Adam’s trailer in his old truck, singing at the top of his lungs with Tim McGraw. Never hurt to have a fellow Louisiana boy on the music channel.
He had no idea how long they’d been driving since they went through the Triple T gate, but it had to be miles. Literally miles. How did they even get their mail?
He was gonna have to take himself a bunch of pictures, send them to Sister to see. She’d laugh about how much land horses took, about how dogs took less. ’Gators just needed swamp.
West Texas was dry, too, grassy. Not like home at all.
Landon liked to see new things, though, and when the barns came into view, his jaw dropped. Look at those monsters.
He hooted, slapping his thigh with his free hand. Look at that! They had red barns like in the movies, tall with pitched roofs and pens out front. The barns had to cost more than his whole set-up. Dieu, just one of them was worth more than his layout.
And the horses. Oh, they stunned his eyes, a whole herd of them, black and palomino, chestnut and paint. The glossy coatsshone in the sun, the yearlings running in a streak of color across the nearest pasture.
Landon stopped, stared, his eyes burning. Lord have mercy. He’d never seen anything so beautiful in his whole life. All he could do was to sit there with his teeth in his mouth.
His phone beeped, and he glanced at it. A text from Adam said,
U coming?
He nodded and hopped out of his old pickup, smoothing his shirt and stuff. Adam and his folks was high-dollar. The idea made him a little nervous.
Adam came around from the side of the driveway. “You were plumb froze for a minute. I need to head on down and unload the trailer. Want to come with?”
“Surely do.” He grinned, grabbed his hat. “I was admiring the horses.”
“Well, now you get to go meet them.”
“I’d like that.” He climbed up into Adam’s truck, riding down to the barns, one of Adam’s brothers opening the gates. He grinned at how much they looked alike. He could always tell Adam, but the other two were a mystery to him unless they was working. Chris always wore the yellow shirt then, and Brian the green. Adam wore blue.
“What’re you grinning at?”
“How y’all look alike. I mean, me and Laurel, you can tell we’re kin, but she got boobies.”
Adam burst out laughing. “I bet she does. Yeah, we’re identical and all.”
“I know that folks say me and Sister ain’t real twins, but I don’t believe it a bit.”
“How can you not be real twins?” Adam glanced over, quizzical-like.
“That’s what I say. We’re twins, the both of us.”
“You bet.”
Adam backed that trailer in at one of the barns like an expert. It was a skill, driving with a hitch. Landon could do it, but he usually rented a horse when he went roping. He hopped out as soon as Adam stopped, heading back to help. The mare they’d been hauling was super-glad to be out of the trailer. He called to her, nuzzling her gently, leading her around with a hand to her halter. She danced a little, letting him know she’d been cooped up for too long.
“I know, huh? Cher done said we all can have a long ride soon.”
“She’ll need to be walked out and checked over,” Adam said, hauling tack. “You got her?”
“Surely do.” Landon took her into a paddock and started walking her, singing away. She followed him, head bobbing along like she was dancing to his music. She was a pretty thing, all deep chest and flicking ears.
“You know what you’re doing with that girl?”
He blinked over her flank at who must be Brian, because Chris knew him better than that, and that wasn’t Adam. “Yessir.”
“Well, have at ’er then.” Brian smiled, his eye crinkles not quite as deep as Adam’s.
