#Mentions of the dearly departed Hank Braxton

[colleenmurphy]

"T45 tonight again...for the fifth time this week, Briggs?"

A small smirk popped at the cattleman's downturned mouth. With deep set sky blue eyes that appeared today nothing more than slits set in a face that looked foreign to it's normal sunny demeanor. T45 was a song when things were going right, when the deck wasn't stacked against him.

"No, just a double on the Turkey and B35."

"Ain't nothin' Turkey and Twitty can't fix is there?"

A slight shake of the cowboy's mouth was enough to get the barkeeper to set out his preferred bottle of Wild Turkey and put a brightly painted house coin into the jukebox followed by three more. A buck's worth and a repeat. Ol' Delbert Faurnier was feeling mighty nice to him tonight. He made sure to slip an extra twenty into his bar money this evening for the old bar tender.

"You look like somebody's gone and shot your best hound."

The familiar twang of Heck Avery's voice floated towards him from the left of the bar. There stood tall, sandy haired hard nosed Hellman Avery, the head of Delaney Cattle Limited and Alan's best friend since they were riding their hobby horses in short pants while their father's took care of other people's cattle and horses. Alan's father himself was still a blacksmith and furrier for the tri county area. Heck's Dad, Hellman Jr., or Hell as he was called by damn near everyone in their tiny town of Boone's Ridge, had been dead the better part of ten years. Gored the week after their high school graduation by a rather nasty bull he'd 'bought for a song' off Herschel Braxton and a bitter blood fued ensued between the two clans and damn near split the town in two. The Delaney Girl as she was known back then had been the olive branch to heal both sides and the ensuing marriage made the Avery clan very wealthy and Delaney's didn't feel the addition.

"What the hell do you want you Class A shit stirrer."

Was what Alan Briggs wanted to say to his oldest friend, could he even call Heck a friend? Not after what he did to Hank Braxton and his brother. Alan himself was between a rock and a hard place - Heck was the one that signed his paychecks for overseeing the Delaney Farm & Vineyard, the Delaney's personal cattle operation used for prized bull breeding stock and Colleen's beloved corral along with the newest addition of wine making to the farm Jigger Jim's Girl had made a good name for herself. Heck's little hobby these days was buying up foreclosed acreages or long forgotten ranches without family and adding them onto his own Swinging H Ranch and chasing every skirt in the neighboring counties that he could. Tonight was no exception but this one looked familiar, very familiar.

"Evenin', Heck."

A curt nod as Twitty played on, oddly enough the juke spat out what should have been a well known song to Heck but he ignored it but Briggs caught it. That little downturned twitchy flicker of Heck Avery's conscience got him thinking of the green eyed girl he'd married and left sitting at home. Briggs remembered how she'd become after the accident and how she now waited by the phone twisted into knots if Heck wasn't home at the agreed upon time. She adored him and had no idea that was out here tomcatting with..who was she? Kelli? Kelli Mabee. That's exactly who this blonde girl was. No more than newly twenty one and dressed to snare a full grown man she thought she wanted, she hung off Heck like a cheap suit reeking of menthol cigarettes cheap perfume and even cheaper wine as she giggled into Heck's ear and toyed with his hand.

"Gimme a minute, sugar."

Handing over a $20 Alan watched as the bubbly and barely kept together blonde tottered over to the other end of the bar flagging down poor old Delbert.

"I see you eyein' up Ms. Mabee there. It was a sure damn bet from the get go, mi amigo."

Noticing his coarse joke didn't land as he'd intended Heck attempted to save face with a hurried flick of his lighter and light of his own full flavor Morley Red.

"It doesn't mean a damn thing. She doesn't mean a damn thing to me."

'Who? This one or your wife?'

Allan thought to himself as he sipped his drink. This shot seemed endless tonight. He hadn't noticed that Delbert had slipped the bottle towards him with a nod as he kept the baby cheeked blonde dressed head to toe in pastels and frills occupied. She had yet to notice the old man had been given her a steady supply of weaker and weaker drinks until she'd ended up with Shirley Temples.

"Kelli I mean. It's just some fun, I know Colleen loves me but she's so occupied with her horses and her hair and the houses. I think she's stepping out on me I just can't prove it."

Another measured pour and an offering towards his old amigo as Heck had referred to him so he borrowing the term, and Briggs hung his head. His friend was in a sorry state indeed. He knew for a fact that Colleen wasn't the one cheating, the thought had crossed her mind and she admitted that only to Briggs himself. She'd very nearly kissed him at the last New Year's Even Party the Avery clan had held. Black and white and your best boots had been the invite and She'd said that Alan hadn't lacked at all , her husband on the other hand had left the party early to go to close a deal in New England. Oddly enough when he spoke with the family's shared private pilot that Heck hadn't flown alone that night, a bubbly little blonde was with him blabbering away about Boston. Her assistant was home with a sick niece or so Col had been told this morning via a harried phone call, so it was just Colleen against the wolves with her Mama for back up. The three of them kept the Avery family throughly entertained with embellished gossip they'd all heard on their last trip up North.

"Maybe she's not cheating on you, ever think that maybe your conscience is getting the better of you, Heck?"

"Us Avery's don't have'em. It was deal made a long time ago, Ace."

Wincing at the use of his old nickname Alan Briggs shuddered before finishing his drink. He'd made up his mind in that moment, he was headed out to Sage Brush Hunt and Riding Club and confessing all he knew about this current mess to break them free of the self imposed shame. An eye for an eye after all.

"It's Alan or Briggs now, Heck. I've grown up."

"Just 'cause you went and got yourself gored trying to save ol' Hank don't mean you get to be bitter. It wasn't supposed to be you on the chute anyway that day."

He failed to see the fist fly towards his angular face until it connected and the force of being flat out sucker punched off his barstool sent him up and then down into a heap as Kelli screamed. He cut her off by throwing $100 towards her.

"Call a cab, pack a bag and go to the airport. Tell the Albatross that you and Heck here want to go to Boston for a long week then tell him to fly back. Mrs. Avery will be in touch to tell him to come home. You don't know me but I know you, Kelli Mabee. Quit your assistant gig and live the high life off Heck here. Don't come back to Boone County."