They'd considered spending the evening at The Cottor Pin as a group, but they'd been there so much recently that they were debating over another outing for the evening.

"What kind of people in their early twenties can't find something to do on a Friday night?" Junior asked from the porch rail he was perched on.

Jesse rolled the paper bag of seeds closed and looked past Junior's shoulder toward the garden. He and Henry had been debating on if they even wanted to attempt such an undertaking that year. He'd considered downsizing the area used, but with as often as they were away during a season, he had a feeling it would be overgrown and in ruins before the end of July. Tossing the bag to the middle of the table he leaned back and put his arms behind his head. "The kind that don't find joy riding any fun."

"And why should we?" Lou asked. "We're paid to drive faster than any of those kids in town could even dream of."

River took a section of the paper Smokey had been reading earlier that afternoon, but only glanced over it in disinterest before looking up toward Junior. "You haven't been running shine lately have you?"

"If he has he's employed new drivers." Jesse muttered.

"I have." Junior deadpanned. "You're all bad for business."

"I knew it. He's too good for us."

"It's more like the other way around Mr. Fabulous Hudson Hornet." He replied facetiously before jumping down from the rail. He finally became serious and answered River's question. "Nah, haven't made any recently."

"His new sponsor wouldn't approve of it." Lou commented, knowing the subject would get him riled up.

The other's all looked between themselves as Junior launched in to a tirade against the whole idea of answering to an outside owner, that these dandies in their dress suits and ridiculous straw hats had no right to be telling them what to do.

"Hey my daddy had a straw hat." Jesse threw in for good measure.

River eyed him with uncertainty. "Did he really?"

"No." Jesse huffed as if the very idea disgusted him.

They both smirked when Junior only paused in his lengthy speech to throw in a shut the hell up Hudson, before continuing on.

"Disrespecting me in my house." Jesse tisked. "Wait till I tell my brother."

"What does he have to do with your house?"

"Well he is the elder Hudson." He shrugged. "And bigger than me, so he can whoop you and I don't have to get my hands dirty."

"I'm so glad we're all friends."

"Where is Smokey anyway?"

"Had some commitments he needed to see about, doesn't know if he'll make it over at all."

The topic of conversation shifted away from Junior's ire over their current situation in Piston Cup and Jesse caught himself staring at the bag he'd thrown to the middle of the table. Since about December he'd noticed it was becoming easier to fall back in to old routines, old habits, and banter of every day interactions.

He'd even laughed a few times without it being forced or connected to something otherwise painful.

He always stopped himself though, and he'd remind himself of a comment Henry had made a month or so before the annual spring meeting they'd attended.

You're allowed to smile. You know that right? It's ok to be happy.

Except it didn't feel ok, what right did he have to laugh or joke about anything so soon? There was already so much that had happened that he wished he could talk to Ruth about, the issues that had suddenly sprung up with Piston, if she would've wanted the whole garden planted or just a portion? Were the cookies he'd made around Christmas as good as moms had been and would she have tried the hot chocolate they'd improved with their addition of alcohol...

He felt guilty. He shouldn't be joking so lightheartedly one moment and sorting through the seeds she'd so carefully collected the next.

Jesse realized the others had fallen silent and glanced up to see they were all looking at him. "What?"

"Did you hear what I said?" Junior asked.

"Uh-" He shook his head. "No, I was thinking about this week-" It wasn't a complete lie, he was thinking about the garden...somewhat... "Sorry. What did you-?"

"I said I think I know of something we can do. If you're up for it."

He really wasn't but he knew how they'd react to his turning them down...

"Yeah, sure."

"We're doing what-...?"

"Don't ask stupid questions, Hudson. You can see what we're doing."

Jesse had left the Hornet home and had ridden with River, being told that flashy car would get them all caught for sure.

"It looks like trespassing to me."

"When has that ever bothered you?" Lou grinned.

"It doesn't, just making an observation."

They'd all slowly begun to adjust to his shifting attitude. It was a gamble at times as to what kind of mood he would be in. River had compared it to the weather once, sunshine to thunderstorms in moments.

It would have been reprehensible, but they never spoke behind his back. River had made the comment to Jesse specifically.

Jesse hadn't argued either.

Coming up along the fence line, Junior muttered to the others lowly. "You all breathe any louder and this'll be pointless."

He turned to look back when they'd all ducked through the fence and only shrugged a shoulder when Jesse shook his head, sitting on the top rail.

"Someone's gotta drive the get away car right?" For good measure, he continued. "Might as well be the best driver."

"You're lucky we all like you."

"I'm not sure lucky is the right word."

"You're a-"

"Shhh..." Jesse raised both brows and gestured for him to get going. "Impress me, moonshiner."

"Oh, impressing Jesse Hudson? Maybe we should take a wager."

"I don't gamble if I know I'll win."

"That's exactly when you should gamble."

Jesse smirked, and they gained the attention of the others as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and set a ten on the fence post beside him.

"What's the wager?" River suddenly approached from nowhere.

Without missing a beat, Jesse replied while looking back in his wallet. "If Lou would hit you for no reason."

"Well that's easy." Lou muttered, backhanding River's shoulder.

"Ow-"

"We didn't actually make a bet on-" Junior started.

"No I just wanted to see if she would do it." Jesse grinned and returned his wallet to his pocket.

"That's a low blow." River muttered.

"Hey I didn't hit you." Jesse slapped his hand over the money beside him. "First to succeed gets the money."

"Ten bucks for tipping a cow?"

"Hey you're welcome to add to the pot but I'm not wasting any more than ten."

Their bickering actually drew the attention of a number of cattle that had been grazing nearby and a large fawn colored cow wandered along the fence to investigate. She nosed at Jesse's knee before checking if there was anything in his hands. The pasture bordered a road on the old school bus routes, and children were always feeding the cows treats through the fence. He absently rested a hand on her neck while the others all pulled money from their pockets.

The others all added money to the fence post, dodging the curious attention of the cow as she made her rounds in checking to see if they had anything.

"Is there a time limit?" River asked.

"Till someone wins." Jesse replied. "Or we get caught by whoever owns this place."

"It's my uncle's land." Junior muttered. "He's not gunna care."

"So we're not trespassing."

"It is harrassment of cows."

"You can't actually tip a cow."

"Watch me."

"There is forty bucks on the line." Jesse added.

It was his comment that caused them all to scatter in different directions and despite the fact that evening had moved in quickly, Jesse's eyes had adjusted enough and from his vantage point on the fence he could just about make out where everyone was. How was he supposed to know if they'd succeeded or not, though? He couldn't see amazingly well, and it was only getting darker.

The cow that had come to investigate the group had hung around and crowded where he sat as she grazed along the edge of the fence below his feet. They jumped at the same time, Jesse gasping in surprise when he felt a hand grip his shoulder, nearly falling off the split wood railing. Whoever it was grabbed the back of his shirt and righted him before he had a chance to hit the ground.

"What the hell are you doing out here?" Smokey hissed.

"Officiating...seriously you could've given me a heart attack..."

"I could've given you a heart attack?" He asked incredulously, leaning against the fence at Jesse's side. "Everyone's car is at the house but River's and no one in sight, but I gave you a heart attack."

"I didn't think you were coming out."

"I finished earlier than I expected."

They fell silent as Jesse felt the tension in his limbs dissipate and he regained his composure after being startled so soundly.

"What're they doing, anyway?"

"There's a bet on over who can tip a cow first."

Smokey blinked a few times and tilted his head as he considered the absurdity of that comment. After a moment he glanced up to take in his brother's silhouette and muttered lowly. "You're not partaking?"

He knew that usually Jesse would've been the ringleader in such shenanigans. He was usually the one to be convincing the others in to some stupid idea of his, using his charm to wear them down and get them to see his way. He'd been sitting out of a lot of their usual activities lately.

"Nah, I'm keeping Bessie here company." Jesse patted the cow's neck as he continued to watch the others.

"The cows name is Bessie? How do you know."

"I named her that."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah just now, but we go way back."

"I'm sure you do." Smokey nodded faintly with a grin. He couldn't tell who was out in the pasture just in front of them down the ridge but he watched them in silence for a moment before speaking again. "I say we take the money and run."

He could hear the grin in Jesse's tone. "That's my kind of thinking."

"There're witnesses, though."

Jesse turned to look at him in the dark and even by his posture, Smokey could tell he was mocking offense. "Bessie? She'd never tell a soul."

"You don't know that."

"Cover your ears, he's saying mean things."

"Are you talking to the cow?"

"Well yeah, her trustworthiness is in question."

"You are ridiculous."

"Now come on, Henry."

Jesse kicked his feet against the bottom post rail and for as old as the fence was, Smokey wasn't sure how it wasn't ready to split under his brother's weight. He went to speak and made a face when Jesse started up again.

"Just because I'm nationally known-"

"Probably internationally at this point..."

"Ok, internationally known, doesn't mean that I can't have a sense of humor. You want me walking around acting like Piston all day long?"

"If you did there would at least be the excuse of the fame going to your head. He has no excuse." He heard Jesse's huff of amusement but refrained from continuing.

That happened a lot anymore, their teasing would fall short and the conversation would die until the subject changed. It felt strange, bantering back and forth without the third part of the equation stepping in with a smart remark, admonishing them and throwing out middle names. Smokey could no longer make out the figures of the others and could barely make out Jesse's profile beside him. When he asked how long they intended to be out there, it was explained that there was no time limit and that the other three had been pretty competitive when they'd all parted ways.

"So we could be here all night."

"I'm not staying all night..."

There was a whoop of laughter not far from them to the left and they both jumped in surprise, to the point of Jesse losing his balance on the fence and landing hard on his back. Smokey had begun laughing and only continued to laugh harder when Jesse hadn't been able to catch his arm in time.

"Are you ok?" He finally choked out.

"Yeah never better." Jesse ground through his teeth, sitting up and rubbing the small of his back with a hand.

"I win!" River's voice was suddenly much closer than before as he joined the two. They could hear something shouted from further down the ridge but couldn't make it out. Out of breath, he stopped at the fence and looked about until spotting Jesse. "Laying down on the job I see."

He pushed himself up and brushed off his jeans. "Yeah well, you know, I don't get paid nearly enough for this."

The money had fluttered off the fence rail with the breeze and River collected it quickly from the ground, shoving it in his back pocket.

"Hold on, how do we know you really won?"

"You didn't see?"

"It's black as pitch out there how are we going to see?"

"Well I'm not doing it again, that's harder than it looks."

There was what sounded almost like a scuffle and the sound of hoofbeats further behind River and they all turned just in time to see a smaller cow hefting itself back up off the ground and other cows scattering out of the way as Lou trudged back up the small hill. She brushed her hands off with a frown. "Never again."

"That...you actually did it..."

"Yeah I actually did it." They could just see her pointing in the general direction she had come.

"I just...didn't think it was possible..."

"Wait." She paused. "Did Scott already win?"

"I never actually saw-"

"Yes, I won."

"But how do we know-"

"I won."

"I think Junior should be consulted." Smokey threw in. "It's his relative's property."

"When did you get here?"

" 'bout half hour ago."

"How'd you find us?" River asked, looking toward Jesse when he commented that that was a good question.

"It's a small town." Smokey huffed. "Not to mention your car's right on the edge of the road."

Jesse grinned in the dark, no one could ever argue that his brother wasn't smart. Sometimes he was on the wrong end of that but the eldest Hudson sibling could never be considered naive or easily confused.

Junior finally joined the group and when the situation was explained he didn't find it to be very fair either. River divvied up the money again, saying that next time they'd have to pick a night with a full moon so everyone could see who the real winner was.

"I still can't believe that actually works."

"Seeing is believing."

Jesse shoved the cow's shoulder gently away from him, hoping to goad her back to the rest of those in the pasture. He jumped in to his brother's truck when they went to leave and gave him a brief run down of the evening's events that had led up to them being found in a cow pasture.

"Do you remember the couple of cows we had?" Smokey asked while lighting a cigarette.

Jesse thought a moment, his mouth pulling in a tight smile before he replied. "Daisy and Moo."

"We were creative kids."

"We had the cows because Momma hated goats."

"We only even had the cows because her sister's family was moving to the city and selling their farm."

Jesse glanced away from the road and toward his brother. "What were their names before?"

"Don't think they even had any...we only even kept them because Ruth was in love with them and dad gave her everything she wanted."

"She wasn't the only one."

"You're right." Smokey agreed after a pause. They may have teased each other through the years over what sibling was favored the most, but when it really came down to it, they had all been spoiled by their parents.

Jesse wanted to ask his opinion on what to do with the garden, they'd been avoiding the topic most of the spring, but planting season was soon approaching and if Jesse didn't get seeds started now they wouldn't be ready. Instead of asking, he decided what he was going to do and made it a statement as opposed to a question.

"I'm only gunna do half the garden this year..."

Smokey only nodded slowly, putting the cigarette to his mouth briefly before ashing it out the cracked window. "Thought you might."

The corner of Jesse's mouth turned up faintly and he leaned his head against his hand. It wasn't a long drive back to the house but it seemed to be taking ages that night.

When they finally pulled in to the drive, he looked in the direction of the garden, just able to make out some of the rotted plants from last year in the light cast from the headlights of River's car behind them. He hesitated a moment, hearing the other's voices as they all made it back to their own cars and discussed the weekend's race.

He'd get the seeds started in the morning, and start getting the ground prepped to plant in the next few weeks. He'd use the side Ruth had always claimed.

She'd always said that side was better anyway.