Rough Country (Tannen Boys 3)

We can talk about cattle and crops, the resort, legal cases, school, rodeo, animals, town gossip, cars, drag racing, and so much more. And everyone listens and cares, regardless of interests.

But tonight, the floor is all Bobby’s.

“I did it. Signed right on that dotted line. Well, it was a solid line, but I signed it!” His smile is almost blinding, his dark eyes alight with joy, and his tone still one of disbelief. “I got a record deal.”

“Oh, my cheesus and crackers!”

“Woohoo!”

“Bobby Tannen!”

“What the fuck, man?”

That one was Brody, and he gets an instant, sharp look and reminder from Mama Louise. “Language.”

“Pretty sure it’s justified in this case, Mama Louise,” Brody argues back.

She doesn’t agree, but she lets him off the hook with a lift of her brow.

“Tell us all about it!” Shayanne screams, her hands beneath her chin like a kid on Christmas morning.

Bobby goes through every detail of the deal with Outlaw Records. Mr. Wheatley was telling the truth. They really do want Bobby just as he is. The contract allows him to have full control over his music, his songwriting, his albums, his concerts, and his merchandise. They get a much larger percentage of the profits for the first two years, but then the contract allows for renegotiation. Even the percentages had seemed fair when Mr. Wheatley explained what they were going to invest in Bobby’s career—producers, advertising, musicians, and radio play. Those were all things Bobby has no idea how to do, so letting Outlaw do the hard work and sticking to the music he loves had seemed like an equitable split.

“You sure it’s not another slicker-than-snot deal like Marshall’s?” Brutal asks quietly.

Bobby looks at Allyson, who’s sitting between Brutal and Cooper.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I had someone with a fair amount of legal knowledge look over the contract first.” Bobby’s grin says loudly and clearly, ‘I hear your concerns, man, and I’m good’. They do have an odd shorthand, gruff and sometimes violent but filled with love all the same.

Brutal looks at Allyson, his brows lifted high on his forehead. “You couldn’t have told me that?”

She shakes her head, pleasantly smug to get one over on the big man. “Attorney-client privilege. Well, paralegal-client privilege, but Bobby came in to see Rick and me. You know those meetings are confidential.” Her shrug says it’s no big deal, but Bobby told me she was overjoyed for him and he wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep her mouth shut for long.

Good thing she didn’t have to because Bobby signed today and he’s spilling the good news to everyone mere hours later.

“Okay, then,” Brutal gives his blessing.

“Congratulations. Always knew you had it in you.” Bobby has looked up to Brody for years as his big brother and as a man to strive to be, so the compliment from him is heavy with importance. “Glad you’re getting the chance to let it out,” Brody jokes, his permission given.

“Like a fart,” Cooper whispers, but it’s not quiet enough and everyone cracks up.

“Cooper!” Allyson scolds him, but she’s fighting a smile too.

Shayanne recovers first. “I’d like it included in that contract that I get front-row seats to every show, a signed copy of every album, and the whole line of Bobby Tannen T-shirts. My boobs will be your billboard!” She blinks. “Wait, that’s not what I meant. Well, kinda, but you know what I’m saying.” She shakes her head like she’s trying to get that image out of her mind.

We all laugh again, and somehow, despite this life-changing news, we end up talking about the goats again. Apparently, Trollie has learned a new trick and it’s the cutest thing.

“If he sees you’ve got food, he’ll run laps around your legs, faster and faster like it’s the Daytona 500, until you fall on your butt. Then he gobbles up all the treats before you’ve even checked to see if your tailbone is in one piece. Awful monster!” Shay describes him like ‘monster’ means the cutest thing ever.

We finish dinner, and Rix and Brody clear the table, taking dishes to the sink. Mama Louise leans my way. “Come here, dear. I want to show you something.”

I get up, letting go of Bobby’s hand under the table, curious about what she could possibly want me to see.

In the front room, I freeze when I see them.

My pictures. All of the ones I printed are precisely and perfectly hung on the wall in a large arrangement. Mama Louise has added some older pictures of the boys when they were little, a black and white wedding picture of her and John, and there are even some old shots of the Bennetts and Tannens from decades ago. I think my favorite is one of both families, the kids all sprawled out in the grass and dirt with Mama Louise, John, Martha, and Paul looking over them with big smiles on their faces. I didn’t even know they were friendly back then, but the closeness is clear in the shot.