in time of test

ETHAN JONES

Basics Age: 56 Birthday: April 22nd Occupation: Owner of Blue River Ranch Born: Lockwood Springs Resides: Blue River Ranch ✓   Selfless, Relaxed, Responsive ✗   Overprotective, Distrusting, Stubborn

staying out of a jones way is hard when they’re everywhere, ryan knows that coming to neon boots is a bad idea but he did it anyway until he sees how littered the place is with them all. he thinks he’s done well to avoid the stares or silent requests for an altercation and decides it’s best to go home, until he’s face to face with ethan and regrets coming back to lockwood at all. “it got out of hand.” ryan explains, which isn’t an excuse as much as it’s the truth. ethan used to be like a father to him, letting blue river ranch become a second home. he used to offer words of wisdom especially about his and tammie’s relationship but ryan wasn’t stupid. he knew what they all thought of him, truthfully. “i went to apologize, beau was there. and well, nothing was said that was actually needed to be said.” ryan holds his ground, not pushing back from the wall or even trying to stare down the jones father. “you actually want to hear my side or is that just so you can sneak a punch on me half way through me talking?”

“Out of hand.” Ethan copied, throwing in a pretend thoughtful tone before he took his time to reply properly. “See, I heard different. And I also don’t like my daughter being accused of being a liar. She pulled you out of the truck and then what happened, Ryan?” he remained calm as he asked the question but he smiled patiently, just wanting to hear the Southsider admit it himself. “Apologies are weird things, kid. You can’t just turn up after two years and think a sorry is gonna fix things. And I know you know Tammie better than that too. I don’t think for one second you thought showing up unannounced was a good idea.” he took a step back to survey the younger man, crossing his arms. “I got this real nasty feeling that you were wanting some trouble, but I don’t want that to be true.” Ethan wanted to give him a chance of redemption, just a little bit but being accused of being violent before his hand even balled into a fist caused him to laugh bitterly. “I really wish you didn’t say that because now I’m gonna be thinking about doing it the whole time you’re talking.”

‘ah come on, nothing will stop that. that’s why we love ‘em.’ diego’s laugh is heartfelt as he brings his hand to a brotherly tap onto ethan’s back. the jones live a similar life to the silvas and running parallel to one another, always means they see eye to eye. ‘we weren’t too bad, just hope nothing else comes rolling through that makes us stuck in a damn school again. thought i was gonna go stir crazy.’ it reminded him too much of the previous ten years, and diego once again was thankful to be able to breathe fresh air. ‘yeah closer than nothing, only problem is callahan is out for himself. never know who he’s in the pocket of. sometimes he’s with us, othertimes against us. don’t trust everything he says.’

“Is that you offering to let all four of them move over to your ranch for a while?” Ethan laughed but he would hate how silent Blue River got without them all. It’d be horrible, actually. He took hold of his beer and nodded to agree with Diego about the storm, thinking how it wouldn’t have been so bad if it didn’t result in his brother’s life being taken. “Yeah, well, luckily summer is here next so we don’t have to worry. Just better plan for Christmas, I guess.” he chuckled. He knew Arthur Callahan was not a favorite name to utter but he appreciated Diego being careful. “Oh I know, but we go way back. Best way to win Callahan over is to be the highest bidder, so. Plus I know he’s close to me and Blaze, we can sweeten him up sometimes.” he laughed. “You thought of a move yet? I’m fine with hanging back, now that I’ve thought about it. If we did anything, it’d just be adding fuel to a fire right now. Probably expecting it too.”

;

Cricket didn’t mean to ignore the toddler’s antics but she was so used to them by now that it was hard to notice Ethan was their next victim. “I don’t know, I get worried sometimes that…I’ve made him stuck.” she admitted, always finding it easy to talk to Ethan. Tammie would tell her to not be so stupid, Nora would hug it out and say Spence loved her and she didn’t really talk to Elijah about feelings. “I know he loves his family, I just worry I guess. That he might wake up and think he could’ve had something better than with me or that I stop him having fun.” She didn’t want to be a nag but Spencer’s idea of fun was mostly chaos. Cricket looked back at Ethan just in time to see Sawyer trying to wrestle with his hand, and she swooped hers to pry it away. “I don’t want people to be harsh on him, especially not you. I think making you proud is important to him.”

Ethan laughed, as much as he could with a toddler hand trying to pull his mouth in all kinds of directions, but he shook his head to get free and to look back at Cricket. “Only thing that gets that boy stuck is himself, Cricket. You’re probably the best thing that could happen to Jett and these two.” he gestured with a nod to the boys, who honestly were kneeing him in the appendix but he didn’t want to set them down. “I think you’re in your head ‘cause you care about him. No one’s harsher on Jett than himself too. He’s just a Jones, we’re all a bit dumb sometimes. Impulsive.” he shrugged and laughed, not sure if that was a good excuse for it. “I know he’ll get his shit together at some point. Can’t say when, but it’ll happen. And honestly, the fact you worry about him too just proves my point that you’re good for each other. It was the exact same way with Ava and me, she was the brains and I was the...not even brawn. I was the dumbass.”

-

One person Tammie could never be mad at was her dad, Ethan was a calming presence even if he would openly say he wasn’t always. Tammie never saw him as anything but the glue that kept everybody together. She was flopped on her bed, more from exhaustion than dramatics when she heard him come in and a smile twitched at his dumb joke. It stirred her enough to leave her room, giving Ethan a sheepish grin before her mouth naturally fell back to it’s newly permanent frown. “I’m here.” she said, waving a finger up. “I love you but please don’t sleep over. It’s like a boat engine trying to start.” she laughed quietly with a sigh, looking to the food on the table but instantly feeling sick at the thought of eating anything. “I don’t know what you heard but depending on who told you, it’s probably all true. It was bad.”

Ethan slowly sat back up when his daughter emerged from the room, trying to see if there was any sign of tears in her eyes but he knew Tammie would rather be caught dead than crying. He laughed at the comparison to a boat engine and shrugged. “I’m a back sleeper, what can I tell you?” he chuckled, before patting the now empty space beside him on her couch. “Well, I’d rather hear it from you but I’ll tell you what I saw happen.” he began, taking a breath to head on in to the scary talk of emotions. “I got back in time to see Ryan’s truck, and Ryan clutching his nose. So, as you can imagine I was confused. Then, probably five minutes later I see damn Beau Sullivan, shaking his hand like he caught it on the stove and he said you were pissed. That’s all I know.” he shrugged then, letting Tammie have the floor next. “Considering no one left the ranch in the back of a squad car or in a coffin, I’d say it coulda gone worse.”

@tammie--jones​

He knew his eldest girl wasn’t much of a crier, she’d rather shout her emotions. He used to be the same and well, there was no point pretending he was the picture perfect man of serenity. He still had his moments. But Tammie was still his daughter and he was going to be there. “Knock knock.” he said, only slightly cheery as he entered with her plate of food since she didn’t come over for it. “Roadkill.” he laughed as he put it on her dinner table, finding himself hilarious for a moment before he glanced around to see where she was. “Kidding, darling. If you’re hiding under a bunch of blankets, it’ll be a long night because I’m not going until I see your face. Even if you’re doing that frown your mama used to.” he said as he lowered himself onto the couch before stretching out across it. “I’ll sleep here if I have to, and you know I snore.” 

•

Nora grins when he laughs and shrugs. “I dunno, maybe you just look extremely good for your age, Dad.” She teases him with ease, nudging his shoulder back as she makes a face. “Yeah, I listened but they don’t exactly cover the top charting songs of the Vietnam war.” She combs through some more records as he speaks and glances up, brows raised, “really? Like satanic panic shit? That’s kinda cool,” the youngest Jones nods with a grin before gesturing at her dad. “Okay what Hendrix album? What about Queen? Or are they overrated? I can never tell if they’re supposed to be cool or not. I just like Bohemian Rhapsody. What about movie records? Like Pulp Fiction?” She had the album downloaded on Spotify but brightens at the thought of getting it in record format. 

“I’ll take that. Even if this says otherwise.” Ethan said with a laugh, rubbing his hand over his beard which was now much more salt than pepper. “Not even a music history lesson?” he asked, but it’d been a while since he was a student. “Guess I learned most of my music things just hanging around with your grandpa all the time.” he remembered happily before he laughed trying to keep up with her thoughts. “Okay slow your roll, bug. We gotta backtrack. What kind of experience do you wanna get with this record, huh?” he mellowed out his voice, picking up two records as an example. “Hendrix is gonna make you feel all groovy. Queen will make you feel all...gay, I guess. And Pulp Fiction will make you wanna...do cocaine?” he frowned and put that record back. “So gay or groovy are our options.”

;

Cricket laughed, glancing through the party to try and see the big idiot that was being discussed. He really was a big idiot, there was no questioning it but she couldn’t help the smile she ended up showing. Spence was a lovable as he was dumb, which was why the famous Jones grin worked on her for years. “Do you think he misses football? Or wished he could’ve done more with it instead of…stuck with me?” Cricket asked, thinking that Ethan would know better than anyone else. If she asked Spence herself he’d play it off so she didn’t feel bad. She looked back to the Jones dad and laughed slightly, not really believing Spence would ever mature. Not properly, anyways. “So, only a year? Am I allowed to get that in writing?” she chuckled. “I love that grin he has, so I don’t want that to go away. Just all the stuff he does that he has to grin about.”

With one twin sat happily on his lap, the other one soon came over and Ethan was happy to be almost hidden under two climbing tiny cowboys even though he was having a heart to heart with his daughter-in-law. Specifics didn’t really matter, Ethan knew there’d be wedding bells sooner or later. “Now, why would you think something like that?” his voice was morphed by a pair of hands prodding and poking his mouth as as he talked. “Football was only ever gonna get Jett so far in life, having a family is something much more meaningful.” At least Ethan thought so, and he knew his son. Spence was an idiot, no ifs and buts but he wasn’t a heartless idiot. “He loves you, even if he’s a dumbass which I gotta apologize for.” he laughed, now losing his pair of glasses to one of the twins balancing them on their head. “I’ll sign it in blood if it means that much to you.” he joked. “I know, honey. He’ll wise up and if he don’t, I’ll make him wise up. Somehow.” Maybe once he figured out to get out of the new handlock his grandkids had his fingers in. 

@ryanxyoung​

Watching his first daughter go through the process of grief and fear, to realizing that her fiance was nothing but a piece of shit wasn’t something Ethan knew how to deal with. His own anger too for giving Ryan a second home and keeping his mouth as quiet as he could when he heard the Southsider running his to Tammie. Sure, nobody was perfect but there were some lines you didn’t cross which Ryan leaped over. Hearing the things he said to Tammie when he finally showed his face again, Ethan couldn’t be a voice of reason any longer. Ethan told himself he wouldn’t cause a scene in front of everybody at Neon Boots, so at least he was keeping that promise as he cornered Ryan on the sidewalk. “I heard you had a lot of things to say, bud.” Ethan approached with a smile in his voice, even though he nudged Ryan to the wall quickly with one hand. “I think we should have a chat.” There wasn’t much choice, they would be talking. “But, I want to make it very clear. It’s in your best interest to keep that same energy you did with my Tammie. So let’s hear what you got, tough guy. The floor is yours.” And it would be soon, because Ethan would make him eat it.

;

Ethan had always been a support for Cricket so she gave him a big smile when he came over. Laughing, she sought Spencer out in the crowd and then smiled to herself. Even if earlier in the day he had annoyed her all over again. “Big idiot suits him. It might catch on.” she smiled back at Ethan, trying to stop Sawyer from scurrying off but luckily he was caught. “Sawyer’s the runner, Cooper’s the thrower. At least we know we might have some good footballers on our hands.” she joked, sitting back in the chair again. “Oh, yep. I know that one.” she sipped her drink and laughed. Spence could get away with most things, she blamed the gleam behind his eyes but maybe it was his smile too. “The get outta jail for free grin. It’s famous in our house. But Spence had to get it from somewhere, so maybe you might know something about that?”

“Oh, a hundred percent. You should let it stick. In fact, you can tell him it’s from me.” Ethan laughed and then gave a proud smile about his grandkid’s special talents. “I don’t doubt it. Especially if they’re anything like their dad.” Ethan replied happily, sitting beside cricket and bouncing Sawyer on his knee. “You and your brother gonna be football stars, huh? Put the Jones name in the records.” he grinned as he pinched the toddler’s cheek who was laughing. “If it’s any consolation, Crick, I stopped being all kinds of trouble by the time Spencer was about three so it’s almost time.” he offered that as comfort as he grinned at her. “Grin never went away though, it’s guaranteed success each time. Ava had to turn her back to me whenever she needed to lecture me.”

;

Elijah laughed quietly, lifting a hand and shaking his head. “Alright, fine. I was only thinking about it though, just saying.” he grinned, shoving his hands back into his pocket as he listened to his dad. It didn’t feel right that they had to do this for Jason, and Elijah felt like he was trying to fight back tears every day. At least seeing the pictures made him smile and allowed him to see memories from before he was born. “She’s always been one of those quieter troublemakers.” he laughed about June. “Kinda like me and Nora.” he added, sliding the picture closer to take a look and tapping over Jason’s face. “You reminded me of Spence and Tammie, the way you and Uncle Jase were. Always had each other’s backs and always stuck together too.”

“Well don’t.” Ethan laughed. “I don’t have time to drive you to the E.R so even thinking about it is bad enough.” he felt lighter when Elijah came to join him, like he was able to share some of the heaviness even though he didn’t want any of his children to have to feel an ounce of it. “Yeah, June’s the kill ‘em with kindness type but she wasn’t always. I got a lot of stories about her high school years. Her and Wyatt, crazy in the good way.” he laughed fondly, feeling all the memories flood back. “I’ve always said the same too. Me and Jase could fight like Tammie and Spence too, often with each other but if anyone else tried to, there’d be hell to pay.”

closed with @ethanjxnes​ neon boots -

the honky tonk is often overcrowded with vests and patches, arms full of tattoos and a rowdy atmosphere that only feels like home for people like diego. as he enters, he immediately sees ethan and nods to the treasuerer while he approaches. ‘good to see you out again, brother.’ he says genuinely as he comes to stand beside the other man. ‘lemme get the next one.’ diego adds, lifting a finger for the bartender to notice. ‘everything all good at the ranch?’

“Don’t get too used to it, only here to stop my kids from raising any hell.” he laughed but it was true. At least there seemed to be less trouble whenever he was there even if he was partial to joining in when things got too out of hand. “Appreciate it.” Ethan smiled, finishing off his beer and then laughing. “About as good as it can get, we were lucky the storm wasn’t too bad for us but still had a few things we needed to fix up. Only just finished them.” he shrugged but it was all part of their life in Colorado. “Had some words with the Sheriff about Kamikaze, think it was probably someone who knew we’d all be in the school. Which is closer than nothing, right?”

blazethompscn​:

; 

Blaze always had a lot of time for the Sheriff and he trusted Arthur too, both of them had a shared secret which they knew they’d take to their graves together. “Now, I’m no cop but if it was a planned attack then someone had to know we were being evacuated to the school, right?” Blaze thought it sounded like a good lead, and didn’t trust other cops to follow it. “And how do we know these Irish fucks…” he whispered so nobody overheard. “…aren’t all over the case to cover their own tracks?” Blaze suggested passionately, wanting to know the truth about his good friend and so Ethan could have answers about his family. “I’ve not heard anything either, Eth. I don’t think we’d hide anything from you if someone did know something.”

-

Arthur shrugged, which was probably the least helpful response a Sheriff could give in the situation but at least he wasn’t on duty and this was a simple drink with a few friends. “I’d have to back up Diego on this one, Ethan.” he finally said giving a downward smile. “For now, at least. No point in bloodshed without the facts, which is what I’m guessing his thought process is too.” Arthur could be diplomatic when needed but waiting for more definitive answers helped him mentally prepare for how much work was going to land on his desk. Blaze made some good points and Arthur pointed with a breadstick as he nodded and then bit into it. “We don’t know anything, they could be. That’s the whole point, not even sure if the answer we do end up getting will even be true. Have to think outside the box. But, before we make ourselves go crazy with all these questions, think we should try and enjoy ourselves?”

Ethan tried to pay attention but his mind drifted to the memories he had of his brother, and now they were tainted knowing that Jason died alone and fighting for his life. “Yeah, I get it.” he nodded about not jumping into accusations without any evidence, but the more he thought about it the more hopeless it seemed to ever get any proof. “I won’t go against Die’s word, I trust him. Just hard to feel like we’re sat doing nothing.” he shrugged and then looked over to Blaze who was fighting tooth and nail for their justice. It was true that the Kelly’s probably had more power to cover something up but the keepers weren’t without their tricks either. “Local government?” he suggested after Blaze said about somebody having to know about the school. “Now that’s something we won’t stand a chance in, Kelly’s have been all over that for centuries back when this place was all Flanagan shit too.” he grabbed his drink for a much needed taste before lifting it towards Arthur’s. “I agree, there’s happier things to be focusing on. Always is.”

@cricketxreid​​

The night was still young and feeling overwhelmed by the turn out of everyone sharing memories and stories about his brother, Ethan wandered over to Cricket and the boys. The bonfire reminded him of the big party everyone had in Ava’s honor, and the only thing that could make him feel better right now was seeing the little twins in their cowboy hats. “You can go find the big idiot, if you want honey. Enjoy yourself and I can take it from here.” he smiled, swooping up Sawyer as he tried to make a run for it. “Where’d you think you’re going, huh?” Ethan laughed at the boy’s childish giggles like he knew he was being naughty. “Jett was just the same, would think a smile could absolve him of all consequences. Think he’s still not grown outta that.”

+ ETHAN THE BROOM CLOSET

“What about this one, Dad?” Nora holds up a vintage record, small smile dancing on her lips as she nudges her dad’s shoulder. “See them in concert?” Even though it’s from the 60s and her dad isn’t that old. She’s asked him to come record hunting with her, having just acquired a new player off of Facebook Marketplace. And though she does think he’d have the best taste in music, she really just wanted him to get off the ranch for a bit. Her uncle’s death still hangs like a cloud above them, grief washing over Nora in waves and she can only imagine what her dad’s going through. “Or him?” She holds up an old Elvis record with faded writing across the front reading Blue Hawaii. @ethanjxnes​

Ethan had to slip on his glasses to read the record better, his mouth moving silently until the joke dropped and he lightly nudged her. “You already know the answer is no.” he shook his head laughing. “You’re getting me worried about your sense of time now. You sure you paid attention to any history classes?” he teased back, taking off his glasses as they continued on. He sighed when he had to put them back on, deciding to keep them there for the rest of the trip. “Now, I like some Elvis. But really, you need some Zep for a record player. And obviously Hendrix. That music was made with record players in mind so the sound is always great. I’m guessin’ anyways, from what I remember. You know we used to be able to play ‘em backwards too? Churches freaked out and said everything had the devil in it.”

at: Flanagan’s Pub @ethanjxnes @blazethompscn​

-

Usually their fortnightly visits to the pub were more joyous, but Jason’s death clouded their recent ones and was the main topic of discussion. Arthur didn’t mind being a support for Ethan, or for stepping out of his comfort zone and leaning more towards the MC than he commonly did. “I wish I had something I else I could say.” Arthur sighed, refilling up his friend’s glasses with the Irish whiskey they were sharing. Just enough for a sip so he didn’t make an ass of himself. “Obviously homicide are all over it and the most I got was that there’s some camera footage, but it was dark and the guy seemed to know how to hide himself good enough. So, I guess now they’re gonna be looking at people who knew the school well.” Arthur explained but there wasn’t a name or even a suspect that would make Ethan feel better. “Anything your side or is this the worst game of hide and seek we’ve ever had to play?”

Ethan had always liked Arthur’s company, even if his methods as a Sheriff were a little shady. He reckoned everybody was a little shady, so he didn’t judge and he was grateful for the help he was giving for Jason’s justice. “God dammit, how come we got like 14k phones or whatever they’re called but security cams are like how I used to watch TV?” he sighed. “Surely they got a list of names they think are capable? And I know Diego has said for us to not start pointing fingers, but it’s obvious...right?” Ethan didn’t want to seem like a crazed family member throwing conspiracies around. “Nothing our side either only that everyone’s story checks out, so it wasn’t one of us.” he sipped his beer, sighing again. “Unless they’re not telling me because they know I’ll be ending this truce with my bare hands.”

Beau believes he’s hidden his heart-eyes for Ethan’s daughter successful over the years. In fact, there’s a small part of his arrogance that thinks he deserves a medal for being friends with her ex-fiance meanwhile harboring his true feelings secretly. But Ethan’s quick comment shakes his confidence briefly. Maybe it was just a joke. “Sure thing. Happy to help. How’s the little ones doing? In fact, is everyone alright?” Beau doesn’t just make conversation for the sake of it, he does have genuine concern for the family after their loss. The whole of the MC feels it too. “Oh, if she’s busy there’s no need. I can manage just fine.” he insists politely, but more so because the last time he spoke to Tammie, they basically had a whole entire argument about her damn ankle. 

“Oh we’re all...gettin’ there.” Ethan didn’t know how to answer. The Jones’ were good at pulling together and overcoming everything but it didn’t stop anything from hurting any less. “I appreciate you asking, sometimes feels like everyone wants to avoid the conversation.” he explained, giving Beau a smile. Speaking of avoiding a conversation...Ethan took a few steps closer and beckoned Beau so he knew there was about to be something important. “Look, I know you’ll probably think I’m just an overly concerned dad, but I feel like I gotta say this. Man to man.” he began, smiling still. “You’ve known Tammie for a damn long time but I’ve known her for longer and I’m sorry to say but she’s just like me.” Ethan laughed kindly. “She don’t like secrets. I know no one does but hell, Tammie hates them. And let’s call a spade a spade, Beau. I suggest you’re better off getting it off your chest, let the inevitable storm settle, because trust me, there’ll be a storm. But, that’s better than her ever findin’ out another way because Tammie won’t like thinking she’s had a friend in you for so long...just for that to not be true.” Ethan hoped he handled the matter delicately but before he could even let Beau reply, he heard the devil herself walking across the porch. “Monkey, can you help Sully get this dresser and side table to Jett and Crick for the boys? I gotta go see a man about a dog.” Ethan smiled, turning to his daughter and then slowly peeling away from the conversation. “Remember what I said, Beau.” was the last bit of advise he could give the man.  @tammie--jones​