The Tin Star (4 page)

Ethan sighed. “I get that but, hell, you knew people here would never accept it, right? We live in the freakin’ Bible belt, complete with bigots, racists and chauvinists. If you aren’t a straight, white, Baptist male, you do your best to pretend you are and blend in.”

Jamie stood up abruptly. “Putting your head in the sand don’t make it right! How are people’s attitudes ever going to change if they aren’t forced to deal with it? I just don’t get your and John’s attitudes!” Fred ran from the laundry room to him, stared at him, then at Ethan, then back at Jamie, clearly trying to decide if there was a threat or not.

“Sit down.”

Jamie shook his head, but he sat down anyway. “You just don’t get it! It’s easy for you to criticize
me
. You won’t ever have to worry about hiding who you love. Hell, you can even get married! I can’t! At least not legally and not here.”

Ethan dropped his head into his hands.
Shit!
He did not want to get into this. Some other time and another place would be more appropriate. He knew where the kid was coming from. He did. He just didn’t agree. Didn’t make the kid’s opinions wrong necessarily, just ... not his. He looked up at Jamie.

“I see what you are saying, I do. Believe it or not, I even understand. But you ever heard of the path of least resistance? The question you need to think about is, do you really understand what you’ve done? We live in a little hick town. You will now be fighting this prejudice until the day you die ... or until you move away. Some people will accept you immediately, some will accept you in time, but the majority of people hereabouts never will. The attitudes aren’t going to change overnight or even in the next few years. In fact, I doubt we’ll live to see the day when gay men can walk hand in hand down Main Street without taking a whole heap of shit for it.”

“They have to be made to accept it. You
don’t
get it! You and John will never have to hide what you feel for your wives in public.”

Had he ever been this young and idealistic? Damned if the kid didn’t bring out his protective instincts. He wanted badly to keep him safe and shield him from the hatred he was going to face. And that, almost more than anything else about this whole situation, bothered the hell out of him. He’d never been stirred quite this way before.

Ethan finally held out his hand to Fred, who was still glancing back and forth between them uncertainly. “’S okay, girl. We aren’t going to start slapping each other around. Go lie down.” She did -- after she went back to Jamie -- settling down beside her master’s chair. That was one smart dog.

He faced Jamie. “Drink your coffee, kid. We’ll agree to disagree. I may not see eye to eye with your methods, but I’ll stand behind you. You have my word on it. I’ll be damned if I let you get your ass kicked or get run out of town. You have a place here and a job as long as you want it.”

“Thanks, Ethan ... for everything.”

“You’re welcome.”

They sat there drinking their coffee in silence. Ethan wanted to pull Jamie into his lap and comfort him, then felt like kicking himself for the impulse. But the image of Jamie in his lap wouldn’t go away. His cock evidently liked the idea, too; he groaned and shifted a little in his seat. That was one of the worst ideas he,
and his cock,
had ever had. Not only was Jamie a good eleven years younger than him, not to mention his best friend’s kid brother, but he had also outed himself.

“You okay?”

He looked up into a set of curious blue eyes. “Huh?”

“You groaned. Did you pull something fighting? You probably aren’t used to that kind of thing anymore at your age.”

Great!
He was getting a boner over the kid -- who thought he was too old to be fighting. He sighed. “Nah, I’m good. Listen, I’m going to bed. You and Fred make yourselves at home.
Mi casa es su casa
and all that.” He stood up and saw Jamie’s gaze slide down his naked chest to his groin and widen. The kid got a dreamy look on his face and his tongue darted out to wet his lips. He blinked up at Ethan, then quickly looked away, blushing, then glanced back.

His interest did nothing to cool Ethan off. His cock jerked and his balls pulled up at the avid attention. He knew he was hard, but was it really that damned noticeable? His jeans weren’t all that tight. Ethan looked down and, yes, it
was
that noticeable. He didn’t know whether to blush along with Jamie or laugh. Instead, he got a sudden urge to pay the kid back for his comment about his age.

He grinned down at Jamie and said, “Don’t start that! My willpower is pretty good, kid, but it ain’t that good. That’s all I need, for you to out me, too.”

Jamie’s eyes opened so wide, Ethan was afraid they were going to pop right out of their sockets. Then Jamie dropped his coffee cup on the table. He hastily jumped up to avoid spilling the hot beverage on himself, sending the chair clattering to the floor.

His gaze shot back to Ethan. The blush was gone, now he was pale as a ghost. He stared at Ethan as if he’d sprouted two heads.

Ethan barely held in a satisfied grin. He went and put his cup in the sink. As he walked out the kitchen door, he called over his shoulder, “Night, kid. Clean that up before you go to bed.”

Chapter Four

“I can’t believe you never told me about Ethan,” Jamie whispered into his cell phone, careful not to be overheard by the other two ranch hands.

“It wasn’t my secret to tell, Jamie, any more than yours would have been had I known. Frankly, I’m surprised he told you. As far as I’m aware, Jules and I are the only other people who know, and the only reason Jules does is because she saw him out on a date when we were all in college.” John sighed. “Look you have more important things to worry about. I heard what happened last night. That was just the beginning, Jamie. Are you sure you want to stay around here?”

“Hell, yes, I’m staying here. This is my home! I have no intention of leaving because of a bunch of asshole bigots. Hold on a sec. I gotta go after this calf.”

“What?”

Jamie pulled the phone away and tightened his grip on Spot’s reins, ignoring his brother. Spot, in turn, tried his best to ignore Jamie’s demand to follow the calf.

“Damn it, Spot! You’re not gonna win, so you might as well mind me, you obstinate pain in the ass!” He heeled the horse in the ribs, making him trot along after the stray animal. Once Spot decided to quit fighting him, they herded the calf back into the main group of cattle without much effort. As they fell back behind the herd, Jamie spoke into the phone again. “You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. What are you doing?

“I’m helping Hayden and Ed move the cattle to the west pasture. When are you gonna get George over here for me? I’m having to ride Spot.”

“What’s wrong with Spot?”

“Aside from the fact that he’s a thief, and he only listens to Ethan?”

John chuckled. “A thief?”

“Yes! He stole my hat and my bottle of water! I went out to call him in, so he waltzed into the corral. Came straight to me and snatched my hat right off my head. He pranced around for ten damn minutes before I finally got it back. Then, damned if he didn’t grab the bottle of water I had on the fence post and tease me with it for ten more minutes. It was practically forever before I got him in the barn and saddled up.”

John’s chuckles turned into full-out laughter, forcing Jamie to pull the phone away.

Ed rode up beside him and grinned. “Just wait till you have to fix a fence with him along. He’ll steal your tools, too.”

Jamie looked over at the pale, freckle-faced cowboy and groaned. Ed was only a few years older than he was and had bright red hair and a thin, wiry frame. The other man had a reputation as a heck of a good ranch hand and a nice guy. And if this morning was any indication, his good name was well earned. While they had saddled the horses, Ed had made a point of remarking that he “didn’t have a problem with gays” and offered him a handshake.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope! Last time Ethan and I strung up new barbed wire, Spot took off with the wire cutters. Took Ethan five minutes of cussing and fifteen minutes of chasing to get them back. The rascal loves to play keep-away.” Ed grinned, then rode off a little ways to give back Jamie some privacy for his call.

Jamie shook his head and rolled his eyes, then lifted the phone. “When are you bringing George to me?”

John sighed again. “I’ll bring her tonight.”

“Good. Bring me some more clothes, too, and find Fred’s toys.”

“Grrr.”

“Don’t growl at me. It’s not like I can come get the stuff myself. Daddy’d likely shoot me on sight.”

John snorted. “Yeah, he probably would. Okay, I’ll see what I can do. I’ve gotta look into hiring a new foreman on top of everything else I have to do today.”

Jamie started. They were already looking to replace him? That didn’t sound good ... not at all. “At Daddy’s insistence?”

“Hell, yes! You don’t think I want to, do you?”

“Nah. I knew better, I was just thinking out loud, I guess.”

“I’m sorry, Jamie. I don’t want to hire anybody else, but I can’t do your job and my own. Daddy has been very vocal about the fact that we need a new foreman.”

“Doesn’t sound like he’s going to accept this, does it?”

John let out a ragged breath. “I don’t think so, kid.”

Jamie shivered and looked up at the sky. It was nice out today, almost hot, but he still felt the chill from John’s words. What if his dad never allowed him to go back home?

He looked around the pasture. It was beautiful, so it would certainly be no hardship staying on here, but ... it wasn’t home. No, he couldn’t think like that. He couldn’t think of not going home again.

“I gotta go, John. I’ll see you tonight. Thanks.”

“Welcome, bro. Later.”

Jamie replaced his phone on his belt, then rode on in silence.

Ed drew up even with him again. “We all carry phones. You should get a hands-free thingy like the rest of us.” He pointed to the earpiece he had in place. “Does yours do pictures? If not, you need to get one, else Bill will go crazy.” He chuckled. “Bill got him one of them and made us go get them, too, so he can send us pictures of things around here. He sends pictures of everything, things he wants fixed, things we fixed already. He and Ethan go nuts at the cattle auctions, sending pictures back and forth of the stock for sale.” Ed shook his head, grinned, then trotted back to his side of the herd.

The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. They got the cattle moved, then rode the fence back, checking for breaks or spots that would need repairs soon. Halfway back, Bill called Hayden’s phone to tell them that he had their lunch ready.

When Jamie, Ed, and Hayden rode up to the house, Ethan was standing in the yard with a sandwich in one hand, a yellow tennis ball in the other and Fred watching his every move.

Jamie felt his heart pound in his chest at the sight of Ethan. If the man’s obvious enjoyment from playing with Jamie’s baby girl didn’t do it for him, the man himself sure did. He wore a ball cap, a pair of cutoffs and red tee, and white sneakers. Damn, the man had great legs! Someone should tell him to cut his jeans off higher up than mid-thigh.

Ethan threw the ball and Fred went bounding after it. Ethan laughed at the energetic puppy, and Jamie felt the sound shoot all the way to his soul. He was starting to get hard just from watching Ethan play with his dog.

Jamie blinked and mentally shook himself. He’d had a crush on Ethan for as long as he could remember. Then, when he was older and most of the guys in his class had been drooling over the varsity cheerleaders, he’d been jerking off to fantasies of Ethan. Still, in all that time, he’d never dreamed that Ethan was gay. Now that he knew, it was not helping his infatuation. If anything, it made it much worse.

A chuckle interrupted his thoughts. He glanced over as Hayden moved up beside him. “That dog of yours is something else. You got yourself a good pup there. I heard what she did for you last night. Wish you would’ve yelled out or something. Any man that would try to hurt a dog for protecting her master ought to get his ass and more kicked. Listen, you have any more trouble like you did last night, you give a shout.” He paused, then shrugged. “I don’t rightly understand how you don’t like women ... what’s not to like? But I don’t think that oughta be reason to hate someone, either. A man shouldn’t be dragged outta bed for nonsense like that. Life is too damned short.”

Before Jamie could form a thank you, Hayden winked and rode on ahead into the barn.
Well, hell! How do you like that
? The man hadn’t said two words to him all morning, so he’d just assumed Hayden had a problem with him, but now it looked he and the remaining men on the Tin Star were gonna get on just fine. Sure was nice to know, and it took a little of the sting out of his and John’s conversation earlier. Getting his mind off of Ethan’s legs for a few minutes also had helped his boner go away.
What a bonus!

Jamie took Spot into the barn, unsaddled him, brushed him down, and fed him. Then he went in search of his own nourishment.

Ethan and Fred were still playing ball, while the other men sat at the picnic table where Bill had sandwich fixings laid out.

The foreman looked at him and grinned. “Sorry about the fare, kid. We don’t have a housekeeper like y’all do up at your daddy’s spread. We pretty much fend for ourselves around here.”

“That’s all right. Nothing wrong with sandwiches.” Jamie grabbed a paper plate and started putting his meal together.

“Good! ’Cause we eat a lot of them. You cook?” Ethan asked hopefully as he sat down at the table.

Jamie looked into deep brown eyes and his belly knotted up. “A little.”

Ethan nodded and took the ball Fred brought to him. “Great. If you’re real nice to me, I’ll let you cook us supper tonight.”

Jamie blinked. Bill and Hayden laughed.

Ed protested, amusement clear in his voice. “No way! If he can cook, you’ll have to share him. In fact, we’re all coming up to the house to eat! ’S only fair!”

Ethan chuckled. “Oh, no! You guys get your own cook! He’s living in my house, so I oughta get something out of it” He grinned at Jamie, whose gut clenched in reaction.