Wayne Gray

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the work. It was a lot of fun writing it.

Chapter 18: We Danced The day arrived. The auction hall buzzed with heat, ambition, and tension. Rows of metal folding chairs stretched across the livestock pavilion while ranchers, investors, land developers, media outlets, and bankers packed the room shoulder to shoulder beneath humming industrial fans that barely touched the Oklahoma heat. Every seat was taken. Every wall was crowded. They finally had to limit attendance after the sprawling building's capacity was exceeded

What's the opposite of psp psp psp? Because that was likely a big ole kitty.

Thanks for the comment and for reading. I'm a bit sorry to end my time with these people, too. So perhaps we'll pick things back up with them, just to check in. And see how life is treating them. There's more in just a couple of days. See you then.

Thanks, tim. This one is less about a surprise destination and more about the journey there. I think it turned out well. We’ll find out Friday. 🙂

Glad you enjoyed it, Chris. While we've yet to see exactly what Taggert plans to do, there are a few options available. And I do think people will enjoy the show. We'll find out Friday. Thanks for reading and commenting.

Thanks for the great comment. I appreciate it. Oh, I think someone branding Taggert is plenty of reason to have a harsh opinion of them. That it was his father made the action far worse. I do think it wraps up in a satisfying way. And I'm excited to read the reactions to it. Friday is coming. And we'll get to see how it all falls then.

Err? Ash isn't the son of Zane Yoder?

I love how this wrapped up. Choices were made, nothing forced. And even Earth had learned a lesson about agency. I like this future you've imagined, tim. Thanks for letting me share a bit in the process of its creation.

Indeed. They all have to end. The trick is to end them in a satisfying way. We'll have to see if I pull that off or not. Thanks for reading and for the comment. Friday will be here before ya know it!

LOL. Well... I'd love to see Zane's reaction, too. I think that makes you human, really. And yeah. Taggert still remembers and values some of the people he knew from Yoder Ranch. He doesn't want to hurt them, and they didn't do anything wrong. And... the place is one of the biggest beef suppliers in the damn state. Prices would go up for everyone if Yoder Ranch went out of business. Sure, that'd be good for ranchers, but bad for everybody else. So there's that to consider too. Thanks for reading and for the comment. More to come soon.

None. I was tempted, but no.

He did. Taggert is a clever guy, and Bill could certainly sense that. But more than that, he could feel a kindred soul in Taggert, while his son frightened him more and more as time went on. We'll have to see how things end up. And we will. Stick with me. One more to go. Thanks for reading and for the comments. I've enjoyed them.

I think Bill did a pretty good job of letting both Taggert and Zane know where they stood with him at the end of his life. And... yeah. It'd be hard to resist wrecking the ranch that branded you. But the ranch didn't. Zane did. Yet, Taggert has the choice. And we'll see what it is that he decides. I'm glad the tale has sped by. That means it flowed well, and that's important to me. Friday... the last chapter posts Friday. Come on back, and let me know if I did a good job sending our cowboys off into the sunset. 🤠

I'd like to know how you feel when the last chapter is posted. I personally think it does a pretty good job, but there's always room to improve. Thanks for reading and for the comments, Dave. I appreciate all of them!

It is indeed. The one and only place where we see his last name.

Fantastic to have you here, Gordy. Thanks for taking the plunge and commenting on my tale here. We'll have to see about a continuation down the line. I do have other stories clamoring to be told (and some already in progress), so if that happens, it'll be a bit. But I will never write off the possibility. I hope you return Friday to see the end of this one. Thanks again.

Indeed. The final chapter is on Friday. Taggert, Ash, and the Nasser crew will all appear in the last chapter, along with Zane and a few others. At that point, your questions will be answered. And you'll get to decide how well I wrapped things up for our heroes. I'm sure things could have gone better, but this is as good as I can do. Hopefully it'll be enough. You ask some great questions. And all I can say, without giving away something important, is... come back Friday and find out. Thanks for the great comments and for reading. More is coming soon.

LOL. Well... I hope I have wrapped it up in a way that satisfies most of your asks. But you can tell me how I did on Friday. Thanks for the comment and for reading. More is coming.

The math seems to work out, yes. If Taggert and Bert pool resources, they could outbid Zane. Yet, you ask some great questions about what that might look like if they did this. I think we can surmise that Zane would be furious being outbid by anyone. However, if it's his own son? Well... that'd probably push into a place requiring a new description. 😛 The problem is Zane would have to prepare ahead to use those pieces of Yoder Taggert owns in the bid. It's a lengthy process, so he'd have had to done this work already. It's not a simple call. So if he doesn't do it before walking into the auction, it won't be available for use. Well, it'd not be anyhow, but Zane doesn't know that... yet. Thanks for the comment and for reading. More to come on Friday.

Thanks for taking the time to comment and read the chapter. Yep. Bill has spoken, and he had messages for both Taggert and Zane. Both loving. But one bearing the weight of judgment and disappointment. The auction is coming. And... we'll see how Taggert translates his own sense of justice into action. We'll find out which door is opened. I hope you like how it ends up.

Taggert doesn't have quite enough if Flemming goes as high as it's likely to go. Part of what Rebecca had been quietly doing over the last few weeks was, at Taggert's request, slowly liquidating everything apart from the "non-liquid" holdings. In other words, the parcels within Yoder Ranch itself. So... at the time of the signing at the bank with Rebecca, Taggert had access to about $63 million dollars. And cashing in on those assets was very intentional. Because Taggert has a plan. Ash has been the person most important to Taggert's slow recovery. He's still in that process, but Ash has made it possible. Without Ash, none of this would be. None of it. Rebecca would still be searching for him, because Taggert would have moved on shortly after starting at Nasser. And he'd have slipped away. But Ash created a safe place to be for him. And that's worth a huge amount. Bill loved Zane. But he understood him. And he despaired for how he treated Taggert. So... he set things up through the trust the way he did to protect his grandson. I think he did a pretty good job there. Thanks for reading and for the comments. I appreciate them.

The Google-Fu is strong with this one. But yes. You got it. Well. Except now, Taggert has named Ash as his beneficiary (off-camera, so to speak). And as stipulated in the trust, this satisfies the requirement for either an heir or a beneficiary set down by Bill. Ash would probably have a conniption if he knew, and that's why Taggert didn't tell him. Ye haw. LOL

I actually don't know what I added. I have tinkered with all of the chapters a LOT. So... it could be anything. No deception intended, just my addled brain finding edits needed after reading a chapter a dozen times.

Thanks for reading and for the comments. It's great that you'll miss these guys. We've been through a lot with them, so I get it. If something happened to Taggert, all trust assets would immediately become the property of one Mister Ashton Penn. Though he doesn't know that. But, on the off chance something happened to them both. Yes, Nasser Ranch would then own bits and pieces of Yoder Ranch. Little dots of acreage critical to the operations of Yoder Ranch, but almost useless to Nasser. They don't have the right to access any of that land. They just own it. So all they could do would be to charge fees for its use, or forbid Yoder from using it. So... literally, all it can do for the owner is gift the capacity to screw Yoder over. Bill knew this. It would never serve Nasser in any real capacity if it went to them. Not operationally. But they could certainly use it as a deterrent. Zane would know this. A single phone call could evict him and all of his cowboys off of the Yoder Homestead. Leverage. Incredible, undeniable leverage.