Full Name: Augustus Alessio Reynolds
Nicknames: Gus
Gender: Cis Male
Pronouns: He/Him
Zodiac: Sagittarius
Date of Birth: December 4
Age: Fifty-Five
Occupation: Rancher
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Relationship Status: Married
Celebrity Look-A-Like: Patrick Dempsey
In town for: All his life
Current Housing: The Reynolds Ranch
Family Information:
Father: Bartholomew Reynolds
Mother: Alessia Reynolds
Siblings: Two siblings; brother and a sister
Children: Holden Reynolds, Twin 1 (tbn), Twin 2 (tbn), Aspen Reynolds
Pets: A whole ranch full of animals
Headcanons:
Popular in high school, played sports and was part of the junior rodeo
Dated Grace senior year and the two were Prom King and Queen
Did bull riding in his youth
Married Natalie Jackson after Holden was born
Lost his first wife
Married Grace and have been with her ever since.
Loves horseriding, bonfires, a good whiskey, a good cigar, hunting, fishing and the great outdoors.
Wanted Connections:
Younger Brother: I see his younger brother a bit of a rebel, he had more freedom than Gus did growing up and he didn’t want to live the ranch life.
Younger Sister: The two are very close, she is a wonderful lady.
Best Friend: Someone he grew up with, the two would cause shenanigans and they remained friends throughout the years
Employees: I view Gus as a nice, fair man to work for and he could use some more employees.
Biography:
Trigger Warnings: Death
PAST:
Legacy, it was a word Augustus learned early on. After all, he was the descendant of one of the founding families and it came with a lot of responsibilities and expectations. As the eldest son of the great Bartholomew Reynolds, it meant he was to inherit the ranch and continue the legacy.
It would be nice to say Augustus had a childhood like his two siblings, but no. From a young age, he was being groomed to take over the ranch, waking up at dawn and fulfilling chores before school. Although it was a hard childhood looking back, he is grateful for the experience and has a better understanding as to why his father was so strict on him compared to his siblings.
High school, that was when he started to have his freedom. During this time, he was king of the high school. Great in sports, participated in the junior rodeos and just an all around fun guy to be around. Often, he would have friends over at the ranch for bonfires and shenanigans (unbeknownst to his father). Hell, Augustus was known as a bit of a playboy…at least that was until senior year when he met Grace. And damn, he was struck hard by Cupid’s arrow. Needless to say, he was head over heels and the two had a romantic senior year and even were Prom King and Queen.
Senior ended and summer came, but their love went separate ways. Grace ended things, looking to the future and wanting to go to Law School and Augustus had the rodeo tour.
During that summer at the rodeo, making his own money he met a lovely woman named Natalie Jackson in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The two hardly knew each other, but fireworks went off the first night they met and nine months later Natalie gave birth to Holden. Soon after the birth of their son, they tied the knot at his family ranch and worked together.
On occasion, Augustus still did bullriding but he made his life on the ranch taking care of his wife and son. Tragedy struck their family when Natalie was out with one of the horses and a brain aneurysm raptured causing her to fall from the horse. It was hours before they found her and by the time they did, she was dead.
Sorrow filled the ranch, Augustus fell into a pattern of working from dawn to dusk, then drinking the nights away. He tried to be a good father, but he failed at several points during this dark time.
Eventually, he managed to get his life together and be better for the sake of his son. And something amazing happened, Grace returned to town. It started off with friends just catching up, but it bloomed into an amazing romance and the two were married and not long after they tied the knot, the twins were on their way and eventually their daughter Aspen.. Things were hard with a blended family, but they made it work.
PRESENT
Currently, Augustus runs the ranch with his eldest son Holden. He is slowly letting his hands off reigns and giving Holden more and more responsibility. He is a devoted husband and father and works to protect the community of their town.
He was three beers in by the time Gus walked through the door. Dominic could only imagine how the chat had gone over Holden's addiction and being sent off to rehabilitation. All the way in fucking Ohio. God, it felt like he was on the other side of the country. Well, when Dominic really thought about it, it was because his nephew was. He was even farther than he was when he was back in North Dakota. He now regretted not keeping in better touch with his nephew. And the rest of his family if he was being honest with himself.
What a mess things had become.
"Ya ain't messed up," he told his brother with a sigh, leaning forward to grab a beer and hand it over. "N'I offered ta meet up 'cause I knew wha'cha'd be like after a chat like tha' with tha fam'ly," he added in explanation of his texts as he took a drink. "How'd they all take it tha Golden Holden s'fallin' apart at tha seams?"
The first thing Gus noticed was the scent of beer on his brother’s breath, but he said nothing about it. Right now, all he could think about was the hostility from his children. He truly thought he was doing the best thing by maintaining his son’s alcoholism.
“Not well,” he simply responded.
The man swallowed the lump in his throat. “I should have listened to you back then, I was so blind to it all.” Gus admitted. He always viewed himself as a family man, one who put the family above all else. How could he have missed it? It was staring right at him in the face.
"i'm not always here to see aspen." she countered. in fact, she was a part of so many things for the members of this family. she could be here to see anyone. and still, he spat it out like she hadn't grown up on the same trails as his daughters. like there wasn't a space for her in the narrative that they were all still hopelessly clinging on to. it was only grease on a fire, something which was already alight.
"maybe i had a question for you." she looked at the cigarette. secret one, he wasn't supposed to be smoking. secret two, she still couldn't figure out why she was so angry at the scene in the record shop. but, he hadn't asked that in so many words. "can i have one?"
Gus let out a low, tired exhale through his nose, the cigarette paused halfway to his mouth as he studied her in the dim light. “Then who are you here for?” The man questioned curiously, although he told himself he should know better than engage any further. His gaze flicked briefly to the pack in her direction when she mentioned a cigarette, then back to her face. What Gus should have done was say no, but instead he reached out his hand with the pack for her to pluck one. “You know these things are bad for you.” He commented, offering the lighter to her.
He took another drag himself, slower this time, shoulders settling a fraction as the nicotine took the edge off his thoughts. “And if you’ve got something to ask me, then ask it straight. No need to play games.”
Ever since Holden and he decided they could be friends again, and the Reynolds had gifted him Bender officially for his birthday, Jesse came to the ranch more often. To visit Bender, mostly, and take him out for a daily ride. Today, they were making their way back from town, where he'd allowed the horse to trot through the streets and hold up traffic, just because. He smirked, giving the animal an affectionate pat-pat. He imagined Bender enjoyed causing trouble just as much as he did.
Jesse's head lifted at someone's voice. Gus. Damn, he got back here fast. Grace probably made him. The whole lot of them seemed to be in some crisis, meltdown mode to play damage control.
"Takes a hard head to know a hard head," he called over, referring to himself and Bender. They were two peas in a pod, him and this horse. Always had been, from the moment they met. Just this plain, angry brown stallion and a gruff kid with a chip on his shoulder. Jesse lifted his leg over and slid down from the saddle smoothly, taking Bender by the reins to walk him into the stable. "Shouldn't I be askin' you that?" he couldn't resist giving the other, older man.. his second father.. a bit of a look, because that could work both ways, really. But honestly, after the last couple of days he figured Gus probably had, he could see why he wanted a moment's peace from all of it. So Jesse didn't ask.
Instead, he shared.
Since Gus asked, and he hadn't told anyone else about it, yet.
"My da-- Ivan.. finally passed," he muttered, no longer looking at Gus as he set about unharnessing Bender. "Vera took him off life support the other day n' he's gone." Inisde, Jesse felt as hollow as he sounded. There was no relief in it. Just a dulled sense of shock. Ivan had seemed so impenetrable. Like a cockroach one couldn't stomp out. Now, there he went, without even a whimper.
“Indeed,” He commented with a playful smile as he watched Jesse with Bender. “Be odd if you referred to me as, kid,” he reflected. Right now, he just did not want to discuss all the backlash of the photograph. Everyone around him told him to ignore it, it would be yesterday’s news before he knew it. But all he wanted was the truth to be out there, for people to know he was not the kind of man that would cheat on his wife.
Gus went very still at the words.
For a moment, it was like the rest of the ranch faded out while his eyes stayed on Jesse, but the sharpness in them softened into something heavier, more grounded, like the news had landed somewhere deep instead of just in his ears. He pushed off the fence slowly, boots hitting the dirt with a quiet thud.
“Jesse…” Gus said, and there was no playfulness left in his voice now. Just steady, quiet weight.
He took a few steps closer, stopping near his second son. “I’m sorry,” he said simply. There was a pause for a moment as Gus studied Jesse. His jaw worked for a moment before he exhaled through his nose, glancing away toward the open fields. “You don’t have to stand there and pretend you’re fine with me. Not here.” His voice dropped slightly. “You’ve done enough of that your whole life. I know Ivan was not a good man, but you’re allowed to have whatever emotions you have from his death.”
sutton hadn't gotten around to checking on her family since the news broke out about her father and harriet seen lip locking. honestly she had been so busy working her twelve hour shifts, she has barely had any time to breathe. thankfully she was off today, her first day off in a good while and she was going to take advantage of that. maybe go bother saffron at work or see what she was up to, or visit her mother to check on her obviously. instead, there was something she had to take care of first, confronting her father.
stepping into the house, she let herself in thanks to a key given to her when she moved out to come and go as she pleased. she glanced around wondering where her father was as she took a seat at the dining table. her elbows rested on the table, hands folded up resting on her chin as she waited. soon she heard someone approaching, "father, please, have a seat." she gestured to the chairs at the table, "not at the other end, that's too far sit next to me." despite her playful demeanor, she was still serious underneath that. "thank you for joining me today, i'm sure you're curious as to why i'm here." she started before looking over at him.
there's a small silence between them before she continues, trying to find the right words without popping off. "first of all, pardon my french but respectfully.. what the fuck is wrong with you?" it may have came off sharper than planned but she was still processing what happened, "so we just mackin on your children's best friend's now? what is this a mid-life crisis.." a pause, "how old are you again?" she shakes her head getting off topic, "no but please explain to me what the fuck is going on? i've been so busy with work to even pay attention to what's been happening."
Gus’s jaw tightened the second she spoke again, that edge in her voice landing sharper than anything else had so far. He leaned back slightly in his chair, exhaling through his nose like he was forcing himself to stay seated at all. “Watch your tone,” he said quietly at first, controlled, warning more than anger, before his eyes lifted fully to hers. “I don’t care how upset you are, you don’t come into my house and talk to me like I’m some fool who’s been running around trying to humiliate his family.”
His hands pressed flat against the table again, this time with more weight behind them. “I didn’t ‘mack on’ anybody,” he said, voice rising just enough to cut through her accusations. “I didn’t go after Harriet. I didn’t start anything. That picture you’re talking about? It caught a moment, not the truth.” His gaze sharpened. “So before you stand there and accuse me like I’m guilty of something I didn’t do, you might want to consider asking me what actually happened instead of filling in the blanks with whatever’s got you worked up.”
He leaned forward slightly now. “Now what do you have to say Sutton?”
"The whole story?" She hissed at him, though she did lower her voice almost unconsciously following his order. Eyes narrowed on him, the accusation was clear on her face, was written all over it in big bold letters. "Just like you were going to let me explain about Mickey, right?! Huh? I think this is a little more substance than that, but no one is allowed to be mad at you without an explanation?"
Head shaking her breaths were coming in hitched hiccups, as she took a step back from the authority in his voice, in his telling her what she was going to do. "I have nothing now, Daddy."
"Not my best friend, not Mickey, not even you... I don't-..." It was hard to even look at him, because just the sight of his face now felt like a betrayal. "You're supposed to love me, Daddy... why are you tearing apart my life when I'm stuck here all alone?"
“Are you seriously comparing my marriage to your mother, the woman I have loved since I was seventeen to your fling with the Whitlock-Holmes boy?” A heavy sigh left his lips as he shook his head.
“You’re being dramatic Aspen, you have your family who will always be there for you.”
It was a struggle to maintain his composure, especially when his youngest was looking at him as if he was responsible for everything bad that had happened. “I do love you Aspen, more than you could possibly know. You are acting as if your friend kissing me is my fault. Acting as if I would hurt your mother like that, that I would tear our family apart and for what? Some kiss?”
"Ever the charmer, Gus Reynolds." Voice soft as she drank in that way he still looked at her, the way it hadn't changed at all since the moment they'd first met. The way he loved her so completely. Stepping into him and his lips was easy, so natural as to be instinctive, but her return of his kiss was enthusiastic, arms coming up around his neck to keep them there for a moment longer. "Oh, I know. I can see it every time you look at me." Whispering the words back at him she stole one more lingering kiss from him. "I've missed date night."
Gus let out a soft breath against her lips, like the words themselves had loosened something in him, and his hands stayed steady at her waist as if he wasn’t quite ready to let go yet. “Missed it too,” he murmured, voice low, his forehead briefly resting against hers. His thumb brushed a slow circle at her side as his gaze held hers, tired in a way that never quite left him lately but warmer now that she was here. “Been thinking about this all day,” he admitted quietly, a faint, almost boyish smile breaking through. “About you coming in here, about stopping everything just to hold you for a minute longer.” A sly smirk forming along his lips.
the lights in the barn were on, and she would settle for anyone. she could drive the knife in, turn her hurt inside out, and they would all be there for brunch the next day. the whole family always gave it a pass, asked about her family, wondered where her siblings were. a myriad of insecurities which couldn't be named too loud, lest the public hear.
she could ask saffron about her dating life with a smile, grace could tell her all about the election. she would kick holden's teeth in for sleeping with her and then ignoring her so completely, if he was the face that appeared in the doorway. dominic, bart, little lost sheep este, all ripe for the picking. and gus...
"quite the late hour for you to be working." she greeted the patriarch. they'd been friendly enough since she played along so nicely with dungeons and dragons. but those texts grace sent her weren't friendly. they were scared, and she could do anything with scared. "spent too long redecorating?"
The ranch had finally gone quiet after the dinner of meeting little Eliie. Holden, Valentina, and the baby had left a couple of hours ago, but Gus still felt like he could hear the soft little noises the little one made while sleeping in his arms. He stepped out into the cool night air with a hand shoved in his jacket pocket, making sure nobody was following before pulling out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. The habit was a bad one, and he knew Grace would have his ass if she caught him, but lately it felt like the only thing that slowed his mind down.
The lighter clicked, the end of the cigarette glowing as he took a long drag and exhaled toward the dark sky. That's when he noticed movement near the barn doors and nearly muttered a curse under his breath. Quickly lowering the cigarette to his side, he straightened and forced a casual expression onto his face. "Quite late for you to be out here" he responded towards Harriet, curious as to why she was here of all places. “Aspen is in Rome,” he pointed out. Not caring much, he brought the cigarette to his lips and took another drag. “Why are you here of all places?”
"She's probably just scared, Gus." That hard edge to his voice wasn't hidden by his control, if anything it was sharpened, and it had Grace instantly on edge. She hadn't seen him this upset in quite some time, and especially not Aspen.
Bear hugged to her chest as she looked at her husband with incredulity. "Who's to say it's just a fling?" The gossip made it sound like it had been going on under their noses for some time, but she had a feeling that wouldn't make things any better. "Don't you think this is a little extreme?" Looking into the box at the growing mess of objects in there she picked up a framed family photo from on top, worried about the glass and heart aching at all their smiles together. "She still our daughter, you're overreacting."
Gus barked out a humorless laugh and shook his head, finally straightening up from the box. "Scared? Grace, she's a grown woman, not some teenager sneaking out after curfew. She packed her bags and flew halfway across the world after being caught with a Whitlock-Holmes. You know damn well what that family has been to ours for generations." His voice wasn't raised, but the hurt beneath it was impossible to miss. "And she didn't even have the decency to tell me herself."
His eyes dropped briefly to the family photo in her hands, his expression tightening. "I'm not saying she isn’t my daughter." The words came out quieter this time. "That's the problem. She is my daughter, and she chose him anyway."
The evening sun hung low over the ranch, painting everything in shades of gold and amber. Gus had been sitting on the fence outside the stable longer than he had meant to, his attention fixed somewhere far beyond the pastures. The man looked thinner these days. The weight had been coming off him steadily for months, first from worrying about Holden, then from a very short-lived Italy trip, then from the mess waiting for him when he got home. It seemed every time he managed to put one fire out, another sparked up somewhere else. The sound of hooves on packed dirt pulled him from his thoughts, and he watched Jesse lead Bender toward the stable. The horse looked as healthy and stubborn as ever, a faint smile tugged at Gus's mouth despite himself.
"Still can't believe that horse ended up listening to you," he called out in a playful manner, his voice carrying easily through the yard. "You remember the first month after we brought him home? Thought he was gonna put every fence builder in Carroll into early retirement." The smile lingered a moment before settling into something softer. Watching Jesse with Bender always brought back fond memories. Back when things had felt simpler.
He stepped closer, slipping his hands into the pockets of his work jacket. For a second he simply watched Jesse finish settling the horse in, grateful for the normalcy of it. There weren't many normal things left these days. "How are you holding up, kid?" he asked. "And don't give me one of those answers where you tell me you're fine just because everybody else has enough on their plate." His gaze drifted toward the stable door before returning to Jesse. "You've had quite the year too. Thought maybe I would check in and see how you're really doing?"
The silence growing between them was unnerving. But for the first time, Holden felt the effects of his medications positively. As fast as his heart was racing, it was as if his anxiety hit a ceiling. His father looked about as worse for wear as he knew he looked. Don't worry about me. Gus' words replayed in Holden's mind, his worry spiking at the sight of his frail frame and the obvious toll the stress the last few months had taken on him - the guilt Holden felt over it unforgiveble.
"I know," he said simply, swallowing thickly. His grip tightened on the fence railing, and he had to avoid his father's disappointing gaze. This was even worse than his intake. "But it felt like I was needed more here," he added almost knowingly, bringing his eyes back to Gus. "N'I got wha' I could outta tha' place. They did their job," he went on, hopeful the admission would ease some of his father's disappointment.
Gus' jaw tightened slightly, his eyes dropping toward the dirt for a moment before returning to Holden. It came as no surprise that Holden came back, because he felt needed here. But, Gus felt in this instance Holden needed to take care of himself first and that meant staying the full time at the facility.
The older man let out a slow breath through his nose, one hand settling on the top rail of the fence as he looked out over the cattle instead of directly at Holden. "You being needed here is not the point," he said quietly. "The ranch would have survived. I would have survived." Whether that was entirely true was debatable, but Gus said it anyway. His weathered face softened slightly as he finally looked back at his son. "You're telling me they did their job, then I'm glad for it. But…" He paused and let out a sigh deciding that it was already done and over with. "Take the week to get things handled then you can start back up at the ranch."
Even now it came second nature to ignore the words coming from Dominic’s mouth while he headed towards the doors. The winds were too fierce, Augustus struggled to open one and anytime he got it partially open it would slam shut. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. A word he rarely used, but in this instance he felt it was needed. When he finally propped one door open, the rain fell hard each drop feeling like a lashing.
Before he knew it, his brother was there helping with the doors and if looks could kill Dominic would have been dead on the floor. He would have argued that it should be him that stayed with the doors, but there was no time dealing with Dominic. That would have to come later. He hurried back and began unleashing the horses, hoping this was the right call. That he would be able to round them up afterwards.
Once it was all said and done, he assisted Dominic with closing the doors. “Just for your edification, it is not about playing the hero. It is about protecting my property and doing what is right. Anyone playing hero around these parts, it is you.” With that he grumbled and walked away to be near the other animals that belonged to the ranch.
He let the indignant scoff fall easily from him. "You think m'playin' hero tryin' ta keep yer ass alive?" Dominic hadn't needed an answer. Even after all these years Gus still couldn't see it. He shook himself free of what little he water he could and stalked off after his brother.
"Don't'chu walk away from me Augustus Alessio Reynolds," he demanded, their father coming through in his voice. He had done the very same all those years ago when he'd tried to help with Holden. It was what their father always did when his own cries for help attention went unanswered. What women did when their shared vice became too much. It was what everyone did in his life and he was done allowing it to happen.
"For fuck sake Gus, for once will ya jus' fuckin' accept tha' fact tha'cha don' always have ta do shit alone. N'f'it really is jus' 'bout protectin' wha's yers, then take tha fuckin' help ta make sure tha' happens n'you make it ou' alive," he argued. "You n'dad are exactly tha fuckin' same. Think I ain't shit jus' cause m'a drunk, but I still know righ' from wrong. M'yer brother. Despite wha'cha may think I still love ya n'I ain't gonna let'chu risk yer life jus' 'cause yer still holdin' a grudge."
“By definition you need grandchildren to be a grandpa,” he responded with an amused expression. “We went over this when you were younger, Santa is make believe.” Sometimes, he wondered how he managed to go down these rabbit holes with his daughter. Most likely because he always placated her, but she was his baby girl.
“Tell me, what have you been up to besides getting that movie role? I hardly see you around the ranch anymore. I feel like I see your friend Harriet more than I see you.”
"I know that Daddy, it's a Hypethetical or whatever. A like .. what if." Chuckling at her old dad's silliness, Aspen rolled her eyes and have his leg a little thwack with one of the couch's decorative pillows. "Not everything is so serious."
Shaking her head at him, she gave another shrug as she filled with the n moisturizer that would follow his face mask. "Mostly filming, really. It was really hard going two hours each way, so I've only been coming home my weekends off. I never knew how much really goes into a movie."
Over the last several weeks, Augustus had been taking over the responsibilities of his son and maintaining his own on the ranch. In his spare time, he often spent it in Holden’s apartment going through things, cleaning out the alcohol and other things stashed in the place and well learning more and more about his son. It was rare when he was in the big house, only coming in late in the evening once Grace was asleep and slipping into their marital bed. However, he needed a drink and the good bourbon was in his study.
That was when he heard the knock at the door. Who could it be on a Monday night? The man made his way towards the front door and was stunned to see Ryker standing there on the front step. “Ryker,” he softly said, confused. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
Ryker lingered on the step for a second, hands loose at his sides like he hadn’t quite decided whether he was welcome or not. Almost like there was some kind of tension sitting in the air. “What?..” he said at last, brow lifting slightly. A faint dry humor slipped in as he glanced behind Augustus then back at him. “Am I not allowed to visit you anymore?” Not making assumptions, but maybe it was that he didn't like that his daughter hung out at the club so often. Still, they were both adults and Saffron was one of his closest friends.
He shifted himself slightly exhaling through his nose. “I was in the area,” Ryker added with a softer tone. “Thought I’d check in. See if you were still alive, or if you fell down the stairs and couldn't get up." Letting that sharp sense of humor slip in, then clearing his throat. "I haven't heard from you in weeks, what gives?"
Gus stood outside Holden's apartment door for several moments before knocking. The trip to Rome and right back again had left him running on fumes, exhaustion settling deep into his bones. Three months of carrying the ranch alone while Holden was away had already worn him dangerously thin, the weight loss becoming impossible to hide now. His clothes hung looser than they used to, his face more haggard, dark circles shadowing tired eyes that hadn't seen a proper night's sleep in weeks. The last few days had only added to it all, the photograph, the accusations, the whispers he knew were spreading through town, but most of all the disappointment of his family.
Things were quiet as he waited, one hand resting on the brim of his hat while the other remained shoved deep into his jacket pocket. A faint smell of cigarette smoke clung stubbornly to him despite every effort he had made to cover it before coming over. It had become a habit that he picked up during the long days and longer nights at the ranch, usually he smoked alone where nobody could see, another thing he kept tucked away from the people he loved.
