Stormy Glenn - Blaecleah Brothers 06 - Cowboy Convenience

Blaecleah Brothers 6
Cowboy Convenience
COWBOY CONVENIENCE
Blaecleah Brothers 6
Stormy Glenn
MENAGE AMOUR MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
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COWBOY CONVENIENCE Copyright © 2013 by Stormy Glenn E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-063-3

First E-book Publication: May 2013

 

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COWBOY CONVENIENCE
Blaecleah Brothers 6
STORMY GLENN
Copyright © 2013
Chapter 1

Seamus Blaecleah’s heart beat a little faster as he watched Sheriff John Riley’s truck pull to a stop in the driveway. He didn’t know why the sheriff was there, but Seamus was pretty sure it wasn’t to see him.

Sheriff Riley had been avoiding Seamus for the last few of weeks, ever since they had kissed. The man almost went out of his way to stay clear of Seamus. Something about that made Seamus’s heart ache just a little. Another part of him said it was for the best. Wanting the handsome sheriff would only bring him grief.

Seamus wiped his hands on a kitchen towel, tossed the towel on the counter, and then walked to the front door. The sheriff was just climbing out of his police vehicle when Seamus opened the door and walked out onto the porch.

“Afternoon, Sheriff.”
“Seamus.” The sheriff glanced around. “Are your folks around?” “Sorry, Sheriff, they went into town a couple of hours ago. I don’t

expect them home until later tonight. Is there something I can help you with?”
“What about Rourke and Billy? Are they around?”
“No.” Seamus frowned. “What’s this all about, Sheriff?”
“I have some news for them on Ira Thornton.”
Seamus cringed at the mere mention of Ira Thornton’s name. The man was bad news and had been for years. Ira was currently sitting in a prison cell after being found guilty on two counts of attempted murder, one count of assault, and one count of kidnapping. Seamus thought more charges should have been placed against the man everyone had thought was Billy’s father, but that was all the evidence the sheriff had been able to get on the man.
“What news, Sheriff?”
“Ira Thornton and another inmate escaped custody while being transferred to another facility. They knocked the guard out and took his car. He hasn’t been spotted in the area, but I still thought it best to come out here and warn you all.”
Seamus felt the blood drain from his face, his heart pounding so loudly in his chest that he could hear it in his ears. “How in the hell did that happen?”
“Ira reported sick to the infirmary. Whatever was wrong with him was enough for the prison doctor to send Ira to the hospital, along with another sick inmate. They escaped while en route.”
This was not good, not good at all. Seamus had no doubt that Ira would come right back to Cade Creek and try to make good on the threats he had leveled against the entire Blaecleah family. The guy had said that the Blaecleah family would pay. Seamus feared the guy would keep his word.
“I appreciate you coming to warn us, Sheriff. I’ll make sure Ma and Da and everyone else gets the word.”
The sheriff gripped the brim of his hat and gave Seamus a curt nod. “You do that.”
Seamus almost whimpered when the sheriff turned and started back for his truck. He didn’t want the man to leave, especially knowing that this might be the last time he saw John in a long time.
“Can I offer you a cup of coffee, Sheriff?”
“Thank you anyway, Seamus.” Short curly blond hair brushed across the sheriff’s bearded cheeks as he shook his head. “I need to be getting back to the office. No telling what might happen if I’m gone too long.”
There was nothing Seamus could say to that. If the sheriff didn’t want to stick around, Seamus couldn’t force him. Seamus gave the sheriff a smile he didn’t really feel and watched the man climb back into his vehicle.
With the swiftness that the sheriff turned his truck around and peeled out of the driveway, Seamus would have thought the guy was trying to escape from a plague outbreak or something.
Seamus watched until the sheriff’s vehicle disappeared then walked back inside the house. He was really getting tired of feeling like he had some sort of disease whenever he was around the sheriff.
It was a kiss, one simple, passionate, earth-shattering kiss—partly spurred on by fear and adrenaline after the sheriff’s car had blown up and partly due to the incredible attraction Seamus had for the handsome sheriff.
He’d been lusting after the man since the sheriff took over the job from the former sheriff. Seamus just never did anything about it until the day John came to help them when Ruben’s mother tried to kill them all.
She had wanted custody of Ruben’s daughter, Alani, so that she could gain the infant’s inheritance. When threats and intimidation hadn’t worked, she had tried to kill them. Elijah, Ruben’s lover, had been shot, the sheriff’s car blown up, and the rest of them had been in fear for their lives.
Seamus had discovered that kissing the sheriff was just as good as looking at him. The man had rocked Seamus’s world then shattered it when he said they needed to talk and then walked away and never came back.
Seamus would have left it alone and chalked it up to too much adrenaline if the sheriff hadn’t started avoiding him immediately afterward. So the sheriff wasn’t really interested. So what? It had been an honest mistake. That didn’t mean the sheriff had to treat Seamus like he had a communicable disease.
Seamus sighed and pushed a frustrated hand through his hair. He supposed it didn’t matter anyway. He’d be leaving soon, and he would only see the sheriff when he came home for the holidays.
He had thought long and hard about his decision to leave the family farm. It was a hard one. He was born here, right upstairs in his Ma and Da’s bedroom. All of his brothers except Lachlan, the oldest, had been born here. Lachlan was born in Ireland before Ma and Da came across the sea.
This was Seamus’s home, his family.
Even after his brothers found their lovers and got married, they all stayed, living in their own houses on the ranch. Everyone was staying except Seamus. He needed something more in his life, something he couldn’t find here on the ranch or in the town of Cade Creek, which was really too bad. He would have given serious consideration to giving his dream up if the sheriff had been interested. He wasn’t, and Seamus was leaving.
He just had to tell his family.

* * * *

“Ma, Da, I was wondering if I could talk with you for a moment?” Seamus was nervous. He felt like he was telling his folks he’d flunked every class in high school. He timed his request for after dinner when his folks would be relaxing on the front porch, his brothers off doing their own thing.

“Sure, son,” Da said as he gestured to the chair next to him, “have a sit and tell us what’s on your mind.”
Seamus quickly sat down. He rested his arms on his knees and folded his hands together. “I’ve kind of been thinking about something for awhile now and I’ve come to a decision. I’m leaving the ranch.”
As soon as Seamus spoke his words, he held his breath and waited for the fallout. When Ma just continued to knit and Da just sat rocking in his chair, Seamus began to wonder if they had even heard him.
“Ma, Da, I’m leaving the ranch, moving.”
“We heard ya, son,” Da said.
“You don’t have anything else to say?”
“You said you’d come to a decision, Seamus,” Ma said, glancing up briefly from her knitting. “You’re a grown man. If you choose to leave the ranch, that is your choice. We’ll keep your room for you, of course.”
“I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
Ma smiled. “We’ll still keep your room for you, Seamus.”
“Don’t you even want to know why I’m leaving?”
“If you want to tell us, we’ll listen, son,” Da said.
Seamus wished he’d kept his mouth shut. His reasons for leaving sounded right when he mulled them over in his mind. Trying to put them in some semblance of order to explain them to his folks was another story altogether.
“I want a family, Ma.” Unfortunately, the man he wanted that family with didn’t want him. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but not all things turned out happy in the end. Seamus had a strong suspicion that John Riley was his legend. He just didn’t see a happy ending for them like the rest of his family had found.
“Of course you do, son.”
“I’m not going to find that here.”
“You never know what you might find until you look for it, Seamus.”
“No, Da.” Seamus shook his head, resigned to having to look outside of Cade Creek for what he wanted. “I’m pretty sure I’m not going to find it here.”
Seamus was almost positive of it. He’d been looking for ages. There was no way in hell that he would find what he was looking for here. The Blaecleah brothers had too much of a reputation in Cade Creek. Everyone knew who they were.
And everyone knew Seamus was gay. It didn’t leave him much room to find someone that hadn’t been dated, flirted with, or at least kissed by one of his brothers. There just weren’t that many gay men in Cade Creek.
“Do you know where you’re going to go, son?” Ma asked.
Seamus shrugged. He hadn’t really thought that far ahead. His mind had been too consumed with leaving. “I don’t know yet. I’m still kind of looking into that.”
But he knew who he could call.
“Yancy said I could crash on his couch for awhile if I needed to.” Well, Yancy had actually offered Seamus a spot in his bed, but that wasn’t what Seamus was looking for, not yet. He wanted to figure out what he was going to do with his life before he got involved with someone new. His heart was still bruised from the good sheriff’s rejection.
“Is that a wise decision, son?” Da asked.
“I like Yancy.” Seamus chuckled. “He makes me laugh.” Yancy was a good guy. He had certainly stepped up to the plate when the Blaecleah clan had been attacked by Janice McCallister, Ruben’s mother. He had helped track the shooter down and was instrumental in keeping them all alive.
“Laughter is good,” Ma said. She smiled and reached over to pat Da’s thigh. “Your father always makes me laugh.”
“But is it enough?” Da asked. “There’s more to life than laughter, son.”
Seamus blinked at his father, just staring at him. “I’m just crashing on his couch, Da, not moving in.”
“Uh-huh.”
Seamus was pretty sure his folks were nuts. They had almost all of their sons either paired off with someone or married. Seamus was the lone holdout. It wasn’t that he wanted to be a holdout but more like there were no takers.
He had thought for awhile that the sheriff would be the one, but that was obviously wrong. Yancy had offered to take the sheriff’s place, but Seamus didn’t think the man was serious. Yancy’s offer was mostly sexual in nature, and as much as Seamus found the man attractive, he wanted more than a quick roll between the sheets.
“I need to go pack,” Seamus said as he pushed himself to his feet. He really didn’t want to have this conversation with his folks, especially when it included who he might be interested in, and that seemed to be right where this conversation was headed.
“When do you plan to leave, son?” Ma asked.
“I thought I would head out to Yancy’s tomorrow. It’s the weekend, and he said he would show me around a bit. I’ll be back by Sunday.”
“Make sure you get home in time for Sunday dinner, Seamus,” Ma said. “And bring Yancy if you want. If you’re going to be staying with this man, I think we should get to know him better. We didn’t have enough time to really get to know him when he was here before.”
Seamus smiled, glad that his folks seemed to be taking his decision to move so well. “I’ll ask Yancy.” He was pretty sure that Yancy would agree to come to dinner. The man had raved about Ma’s cooking for days after staying for dinner after the attack by Janice McCallister.
“I’ll make fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy,” Ma said.
Seamus shook his head in amusement as he walked into the house. He wondered if there was much that ruffled his folks. They always seemed so calm about everything, even one of their brood leaving. The only time Seamus had ever seen either of his folks up in arms was when one of their children were in trouble.
And then all hell broke out.
Seamus feet felt heavy as he climbed the stairs to the bedroom he had lived in his entire life. He pushed the door open and stared around the room. Considering that he had lived in the small room for more than thirty years, it was clean and well organized.
Maybe he had OCD or something. He hated things being out of place. Disorganization drove him crazy. He liked everything in its place, organized, clean. Even his books and videos were placed on the shelf in alphabetical order.
Yep, he had issues.
Seamus walked over and sat down on the side of the bed and reached for his cell phone. His hands trembled as he dialed Yancy’s phone number. He knew the man had readily invited him to come stay whenever he wanted to, but actually making the phone call was daunting.
“Hey, Yancy,” Seamus said when he heard someone on the other line pick up. “This is Seamus Blaecleah. Is that invitation to use your couch still open?”
Yancy’s deep, sexy chuckle slid through the phone line. “Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer my bedroom?”
Seamus laughed. “Not at the moment, Yancy.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing, honey.” There was a husky note to Yancy’s voice that any other day would have made Seamus swoon in delight. Just not today. “I can promise that my bed is a lot more comfortable than the couch.”
“Yeah, well, I’m probably not a real good judge of what’s comfortable and what’s not right now.”
“Well.” Yancy sighed deeply as if seriously put upon by Seamus’s denial of what he was offering. Luckily, Seamus knew it was all bluster. Well, he hoped it was bluster. “If you’d prefer the couch, then I guess I’ll just have to accept that.”
“Thanks, Yancy.”
“It’s no problem, honey. I have to work tonight, nasty divorce case, but I’ll be home most of tomorrow. When will you be in?”
“I’m just going to pack a bag for now. I’ll get the rest of my stuff when I come back for Sunday dinner, which reminds me, Ma wants you to come for Sunday dinner. She says since I’m going to be staying with you, she wants to get to know you better.”
“Sunday dinner?” Yancy’s voice came out in a tiny squeak as if someone had just told him he was going to have bamboo shoots shoved under his fingernails.
“Ma’s making fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and gravy.”
“Fried chicken?” Yancy’s voice was much stronger when he replied this time. “Oh, I am so there.”
Seamus grinned. Yancy was pretty much one big stomach. “I thought you might say that.”
“So, when can I expect you, man?”
Seamus gripped the phone tight in his hand as the realization that he was really planning on leaving the only home he had ever known washed over him. “I should be there around noon tomorrow.”
“Okay, Seamus, see you then. If I don’t answer the door right away, just knock louder. This gig tonight might take a few hours, so I might be sleeping in tomorrow.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.” Seamus hung up the phone and dropped it onto the bed beside him. His heart sank as he glanced around his bedroom. How long could it really take to pack up a lifetime of possessions?