this love, walker

010. barn burner

"Why are we doing this again?" Cheyenne asks as she cuts vegetables up.

"Because it's friendly competition and an excuse to make my chili." Katherine says. "Now keep cutting."

"Chili's only good when it's winter, though." Cheyenne says.

"Cheyenne Jennifer Lambert." Katherine gives her a look.

"Okay, okay, sorry." Cheyenne mumbles. "Won't it be awkward if you beat Cordi's mom, though? I mean..."

"We're friends. It's not like I'm Gale Davidson or something." The woman scoffs.

"Okay." Cheyenne shrugs, knowing a chili competition is very unlikely to mess up a decade long friendship.

+++

"Hey, Hunters -- and Lamberts." Cordell greets.

"Hey, Cordi." Katherine sweetly smiles at him.

"Ah, you want a taste of this?" Landon asks.

"Uh... Cheyenne wasn't in charge, was she?" Cordell teases.

"Oh, ha, ha, ha." Cheyenne glares at him as he laughs.

"You're safe. She just did the cutting." Katherine says.

"You guys are mean." Cheyenne mumbles.

"I mean, you do suck at cooking." Randy adds in. Cheyenne glares at him. "Love you, mommy." He sweetly smiles.

"Mm-hmm." She hums, rolling her eyes once she looks away.

"I, uh, I would love to get a bite, but I gotta blind taste the final two." Cordell says.

+++

Katherine and Cheyenne loiter near the Walkers' table, passing time after getting eliminated in the previous round.

Liam is getting another pot of the chili and is walking back when Dan bumps into him right in front of their table. It causes Liam to stumble back and bump into somebody and the chili spills onto Liam's apron.

"Oh, my God. I'm such a klutz." Dan says. "I'm so sorry, William."

"What the hell?" Bonham asks, walking over with Landon.

"Oh, no." Randy mumbles, moving behind the table to stand by August.

"I must've tripped. I'm sorry." Dan says.

"You know what, I would accept that if it was actually an accident." Liam says.

"Excuse me?" Dan asks. "Are you suggesting that I did that on purpose?" He asks.

"Oh, I'm suggesting, Daniel, that you watch where you're walking." Liam says as Cordell tries to clean some of the chili off of his apron with a towel. "Or else did you forget what happened last time?"

"Oh, no, I remember your cheap shot." Dan says. "And I'm happy to go outside and finish what you started."

"Hey, hey!" Bonham yells, the group turning to him. "Why don't you take a run at me, Jethro, see how that works out for you."

"Dad! Daddy, dad, dad." Cordell tries to diffuse the situation.

"No, don't "dad" me, damn it. They started it, and I ain't having it." Bonham states.

"Okay, boys, settle down. This is supposed to be a friendly event." Gale says, standing between Liam and Dan.

"Until you entered." Abilene says as Liam stands behind the table again.

"Okay, how about this? Uh, in order to resolve this squabble, let's, uh, let's spice it up by upping the ante." Gale suggests.

"Good. You can start by paying for Liam's dry cleaning." Abilene says.

"Mama." Cordell tries.

"Look, clearly we are the front-runners, so what would you say to, I don't know, 5,000 more dollars? You Walkers have more than enough." Gale says.

"Okay, Gale, you're on." Abilene states.

"All right." Gale smiles.

+++

"All right, folks, listen up. We are down to just two chilis." Geri announces. "We've got Abby Walker's... and Gale Davidson's." The crowd cheers for the two. "So, this is gonna be a blind tasting. Winner takes all."

Geri puts a handkerchief over Cordell's eyes so he can't see which one he's tasting. Cordell tastes Abilene's chili first before tasting Gale's. He takes a few moments to decide before holding up the bowl of chili that contains Gale's chili. The crowd applauds.

Cheyenne winces, sharing a quick look with her mom.

"And the winner is Gale Davidson and her chili, the Barn Burner." Geri announces. A guy walks over with a giant check and another person gives Gale a trophy.

"Did this woman just name a chili after an event that killed her husband?" Randy whispers to his sister.

"It's looking like that." Taylor whispers back, nodding.

"That... that's not--" Randy frowns.

"Maybe it's just some dark humor." Taylor suggests.

"Kinda makes it unappealing." Randy mutters, Taylor nodding in agreement.

"Oh, thank you." Gale smiles. They get a few pictures taken. Geri hands Gale the microphone. "Thank you, y'all. Hey, thank... um, hang on. Just hang on one second." Gale steps onto the stage where the band was performing. "Here we go. Ooh. Okay. Ah, I would like to thank my opponent for making this such a stiff competition. Yeah, right there." Everybody claps.

"I would also like to thank the Walker family as a whole. Truth is, you are the reason I stand before you tonight. You know, when my late husband Marvin was taken from us and, um, we had to leave town, I, uh... I never thought I'd see Austin again. My life stopped for a minute there, but here we are. A grand return if I do say so myself."

The crowd cheers and applauds.

"Yeah. Oh, thank you. Uh... and so, um, in the spirit of giving, our family has decided to reinvest our winnings back into the community by building a horse rescue for any beautiful stallion or strong mare in need of a home. Yeah. Yeah." The crowd cheers.

"Thank you. My grandson has single-handedly been caring for a wounded horse." Gale says, going on to talk about how Colton is helping the horse.

"Single handed--" Taylor glares at the woman on stage, knowing that horse would be dead if it weren't for Stella.

"While others have turned this animal away, we will see that it is delivered to the rescue and sheltered for the rest of its days." Gale states. Everybody applauds. "Yeah. Thank you. Now that the Davidsons are back, I promise you we will not fault this city. Thank you." Gale says and the crowd claps and cheers.