drsawzall

The real test will come when Levi is tossed in to the hormonal swimming pool called school….

Bartos is growing in strength with his use of the might. If we couldn’t have a house fall on the witch, or a pail of water, I’m happy with her finale… What will they be up against when this journey is over?

Oh my goodness…enough teenage angst to, fill a small swimming pool…this should be very interesting!

Hopefully Joel and Hank take it slow and with the blessings of the children.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and many thanks!

Now…I’d pay money to see this….

Looking forward to the next chapter…as you wrap up Book 2. I had to look up the following…..attempted 'golpe de estado' of 1981

And with Mr Park another red herring lands on the table….

This is either a walking pity party or a screaming need for help.

Overconfidence is such a bad, ahem, habit…. He is blind, she thought, the realization filling her with arrogant, dismissive triumph. They have a crippled hedge-mage defending them. He reads the dirt like a worm. He cannot see the blood. She smiled, a thin, bloodless expression, monumentally underestimating the man who had just thrown her violently out of his husband's mind.

I like the description cosmetically challenged tragic skank much better…after all, if the description fits she best wear it…

Interesting beginning, let’s see where this goes….

As @drpaladin noted, take a hunting rifle and give Calder a love tap right behind the ear… Quick, easy, and sends the right message….

Oh my, I need a bottle of that wine! I loved this chapter and can’t wait for the next!

I’m sorry but I can’t find any empathy for Brian. I still feel he used Tommy for his own shellfish, cowardly ends. Knowingly stringing him along. I’m reminded of Charlie Brown and Lucy where she always pulls the football when he goes to kick it. And after so many years he still can’t truly face the truth. This was a well written story that grabbed the readers as one can see from the comments…

Tell me the winter chains are for something else….jeepers….house smoosh…it’s the car boys!,,,

How in the heck did I miss these words?????

As you noted, Wayne, we know, actually assume, that we know/understand some of the horrors of Taggert's past, a singular M/M experience, and the boy/man ran away. Pretty much that's all we can count on other than the constant wearing of the T-shirt, along with an overwhelming snippet of memory of fire and metal, and scrambling. The realization hit him so suddenly, it almost hurt. Safe. No disgust and shame. No shouting and fear. No regret curling through the room afterward. No fire and metal. No blinding pain. No exile. No scrambling to leave. No pretending it hadn’t happened. There's much to unpack and only limited, first-person flashbacks that, for us, are inconclusive. Hopefully Saturday's instalment sheds more light on Taggert's troubles, and if they are following him. For me, what truly sets this story apart is the depth and richness of everyone who is working on the ranch; they are all three-dimensional folks with their own quirks, follies, and peccadilloes, and yet form a strong team! Loved the following... That earned him a look. One dark eyebrow rose beneath Branford’s hat. “Cowboys have been finding comfort with each other for damn near two hundred years,” Branford said plainly. “Some folks don’t like it and pretend it doesn't exist, or like it never has.” A shrug. “Doesn’t make it stop happening.” He smirked. "You think you an' Ash are the first paired men I've met?" Taggert blinked once. Because Branford didn’t sound scandalized or uncomfortable. He sounded practical. Branford straightened slightly in the saddle as Ash started riding back toward them. “It may be different at Yoder, but here,” Branford continued, voice lower now, more deliberate, “we respect hard work.” His gaze settled fully on Taggert then. “You an’ Ash are fine.”

I could give a flying f%ck about the house, tell me about the fuc&*ng car...what kind of classic car would need winter chains? The left bay was the stillest of the three. A covered car rested beneath a heavy canvas tarp, its shape just discernible — the sweep of fenders, the slope of a hood — something classic, kept not for prestige but for what it meant. A car that had stories in its seats and engine, preserved not to impress but to remember. The air in this bay was cooler, shaded, faintly laced with cedar from a nearby cabinet. Inside that cabinet sat bottles of wax and spare oil, cloths neatly folded, and a cardboard box stencilled in black marker: winter chains. There was a smell here — metal and wood, a hint of motor oil — that clung to the walls like a kind of loyalty, as though this room remembered every pair of hands that had worked here.

These folks deserve each other....my goodness...it's like a revolving door of angst....

I can see a scenario where Ruder is 'grooming' Owen, bringing him back to his apartment, drugging him up, and hiring him out.... Ruder is assuming much, and Owen is leaving one trap for another...

Looks promising, what was Sander B up to?

If Vicky was blackmailing Diana over her abuse of Caleb, I could see her, if not carrying out the killing of Vicky, at least in the planning; we still don't know who was in the car that was spotted. Would Caleb have the ability in his medicated state? It's possible...Then there is Billy, Daune...aka Don/Dawn.... A central theme is the photos; we know Vicky took some, as did Isaac Foster... Who is the mysterious texter, the "I know what you did" blackmailer? Could it be Isaac...Daune, or are they all red herrings? Could have been a 'community project, à la a neighborhood clean-up as @Summerabbacat suggested??? Marcus Webb has access to some, if not all, of Vicky's electronic life before the police do; is he altruistic, or seeing an opportunity? Will the 'destroyed' phone now in a velvet jewelry bag under a pile of dirty laundry in a gym bag have any bearing on this case, or the message on his other phone that he didn't delete? Welcome to Red Herring city folks, where all your questions only lead to more questions...Next week on your favorite TV show Soap...

I can't add much to the comment being late to the party, other than I think all were spot on. I like the note about you 'inverting' the story, it give me some trends to spot in the directions you will take this. Again, a superb chapter, and I have to suspect old Albert truly wants to clear out any distractions for the new bride. Let's not forget, he left the ranch to go see her and get married. To me...for a city woman of means, to give up that lifestyle is quite the change. She must know how difficult life on a ranch can be, even a money making one...there' an incongruity here, and there's more to this piece of the puzzle that we haven't seen...something seems off... The boys best be going quickly and strike while the iron is hot, I would expect rather quickly after the argument between Fletche and his pa... And speaking of Fletcher and being called an arrow...aren't arrows long, hard, with a pointy tip???? One other note...the surprise Roland and the other ranchers are setting Albert up for sounds ominous to some extent that it may/might bring changes/conflict....God forbid Rob finds hisself on the road heading towards Barnswallow...

And here I thought it was "Pant's Off Monday"....good thing I'm the only one home tho....