Winter Hearts (14 page)

“What you’re saying is we might as well get married to women or live alone. Either way we’d be miserable. I want to live with you and be as happy as we allow ourselves to be.”

Impatient that he lacked answers, Luke stood up. “I’m going to do the chores.”

In the barn he fed Pretty Girl and Pip. The two horses cozied up to each other, noses touching. Animals needed company just like people, and the horses seemed to like each other. Luke cleaned up the dirt floor behind the cow and gave her fresh hay. “Maybe a couple of oxen could keep you company,” he said.

With the yard broom, he swept out the dirt from the barn floor. What about him? He deserved companionship too. Maybe they could do it if they kept to themselves, only went to town separately, and acted like they were looking for wives. After a few years the town would stop worrying about them and move on to other gossip…maybe.

His heart lighter than it had been in a while, Luke walked into the shanty to find the floor swept, the dishes washed and put away, and the empty pickle jar sitting in the middle of the table with freshly picked daisies in it. What a difference between now and last night when the house had felt empty. With Sam the shanty was a real home. “You went out picking daisies at dusk? I bet you didn’t take a gun.”

“Calm down. I picked them ten feet from the house,” Sam said.

Dusk gathered fast in the springtime, and it was near to dark now. Luke locked the door. There were still no curtains in the shanty, but it hardly mattered with no one around for miles. He lit the lamp and banked the fire in the stove. The nights were cool, but from now on they’d only need a fire in the stove for cooking and the weekly wash. “Let’s get ready for bed, and then I’ll rub you down with liniment.”

When they had washed and cleaned their teeth, Sam carefully folded back the quilt out of the way and lay naked on the sheet on his belly. Also naked, Luke sat on the side of the bed, poured the dark, smelly stuff into his hand, and began to rub it into Sam’s back and shoulders. Sam moaned at once, long, slow ahhhhs.

“Am I hurting you?”

“No, it’s wonderful,” he said, his voice soft and breathy. Luke smiled. It felt so good to make another man happy. “Don’t forget to rub my ass.”

Luke laughed and landed a sound slap on Sam’s firm buttocks.

“Oww!” he cried out and then laughed, making his ass bob up and down.

“You’d better keep still until I’m done, boy, because the sight of that ass is making me want to fuck it.”

“My whole body is too sore to do much tonight,” Sam said quietly.

When he was done with Sam’s back, Luke ordered him to roll over. Sam’s cock stood out straight. Trying to ignore it, Luke massaged his chest and arms, amazed at the younger man’s beauty, his smooth, hairless chest and slender hips. Luke was hairy and broader with thick muscles from heavy manual labor, and he liked the differences between them. But his gaze kept returning to Sam’s cock.

The desire to take it in his mouth overwhelmed him. With Holland he had been the younger man, madly in love, who had done mostly what he was told. Now he was mature and felt in some ways responsible for Sam, and right now all he wanted was to make the young man happy. He placed the liniment bottle on the tea chest and leaned over, taking Sam’s cock into his mouth, sucking powerfully. Sam cried out, his body stiffening. With only a few strong sucks, Sam’s sperm filled Luke’s mouth, tasting warm and silky. He swallowed it and looked at Sam, whose eyes were closed as the tension in his body released.

Luke put out the lamp and lay down beside him, drawing the quilt up over them.

The wedding quilt. Why couldn’t it still be his wedding quilt?

“Sam?” Luke pulled him into his arms.

“I’m still awake. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For the liniment rub. For sucking me. For being you.”

“Being me?” Luke asked. “An old grump?”

“You’ll probably always be an old grump, but I love you.” An air of expectation was left hanging at the end of Sam’s statement.

Luke knew that Sam wanted him to respond in kind, but he couldn’t. The words wouldn’t come. He’d take his gun to anyone who tried to hurt Sam, but the only way he could express his feelings just then was to say, “Are you sure you want to give up your claim?”

“Yes!” The surprise and happiness in his voice made Luke’s belly flip. “I’ll write to the land office and tell them the land is available for another claimant.”

“Not yet. We should hang on to your claim until winter. Then no one will be able to move there till next spring. It’ll give us longer to settle down before anyone finds out we’re sharing a house.”

“Yes. Yes, I see what you mean. Can I move in here tomorrow?”

“Sure. We’ll go and collect your furniture in the morning. We can store some of it in the barn. This place is too small for two sets of furniture. We can use your two rocking chairs, though. And I want us to keep using my bed.”

“Because this is where we first loved each other?” Sam asked. Luke could hear the smile in his voice.

He blushed furiously, grateful it was dark. “It’s a really comfortable bed. That’s all I meant. And we should take your shanty and the barn apart and bring the lumber here.”

“Why not leave them for the next claimant? It might be a family with children. Having a barn and shanty already set up would help them,” Sam said.

“Lumber is expensive, and you paid for it,” Luke said. “It’s nice to be charitable, but you take care of yourself first, and then you’re in a position to take care of others.”

“I think we should leave the shanty and the barn. We have our home here. Let someone else have that home.”

Confused by such generosity from a man no wealthier than himself, Luke said, “How much money did you save to come out here if you can afford to give away good lumber, not to mention the labor we put into it?”

“I saved some.” He kissed Luke softly on the lips. “It will take more labor to pull it down again. We’ve got better things to do with our time.”

“If that’s what you want,” Luke said.

“I’m just so happy you want me.”

“I always wanted you. I’m concerned about how folks will treat us, that’s all. I don’t want either of us beaten up.”

Sam kissed him, just a peck. “Unless you’re planning to invite half the town over for a party or something, no one is going to know we’re living together. I won’t tell anyone.”

“What about Morley? He came by unexpectedly the other week. He wants you for one of his girls.”

“Josephine, the elder girl. She was so embarrassed at him shoving her at me.”

“He’ll be by again,” Luke said. “I think he suspects something.”

“Kind of,” Sam agreed.

A flutter of fear gripped Luke’s belly. He didn’t want anything to ruin their happiness. “What did he say?”

“No, nothing. He didn’t say anything. I think he’s just suspicious by nature. Luke, thank you.”

“For what? You’re young, handsome, and everyone in town would like to add you to their family. I’m the one who benefits from having you in my life. What can I possibly give you back?”

“Well, the fun and games are wonderful.” Sam chuckled. “But mostly, just being you is plenty.”

“What does that mean? You say the strangest things, boy.”

Laying a gentle hand on Luke’s cheek, Sam said, “You are decent and honest and upright. You’re a good man. You take nothing for granted. I know you don’t give your heart easily, and even though you haven’t said it, I know you’ve given your heart to me. I’d trust you with my life.”

“You
can
trust me.” Luke kissed Sam tenderly on the mouth. “If this turns ugly, we’ll move on, but pray it doesn’t, because I want to stay here. I want the independence of my own land. I’m not as young as you. It’s easy for you to move on, but I can’t keep doing that.”

“I know,” Sam told him.

“I want to stay here and settle down. I want to live a normal life. The kind of life that men with wives think they are entitled to, yet men like us aren’t for some reason.”

“We are entitled to be happy,” Sam said very firmly.

“Yes, but we have to be careful and not do anything stupid that will give people the idea we’re more than just a couple of bachelors.”

“I know. I’ll be careful. But tell me you’ll give us a chance.”

“I will. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. Just promise me one thing. Holland lied and lied to me. You tell me the truth even if you think I won’t like it. You hear me?”

Luke expected an instant response, but for some reason it took Sam a bit longer to reply, “I promise.”

Chapter Twelve

Summer

The days and weeks blended one into the next, as seamless as the curtains Sam sewed for the window and the new sheets he stitched for their bed. Luke was so happy he was scared. If he lost this idyllic life, he didn’t think he could go on.

The shanty was so homey now with a combination of Luke’s few pieces of plain furniture and several fancier pieces from Sam’s place. They cuddled each night in Luke’s bed while Grandma’s quilt kept them warm.

Between the two of them, and the pair of oxen they had bought, they’d plowed and sowed sixty acres. Not bad for the first year on the land and far more than Luke could have done alone, even with oxen. Sam was gaining in strength and precision every day and was a good help in the field. But as the sun neared its zenith each noon, he could hardly wait to get back to the shanty to make their dinner and tend the vegetable garden. Luke would work on for another hour and walk back to the shanty for his dinner.

“Look, the peas are ready. I added mint to them,” Sam said when Luke stood at the open shanty door.

Luke scooped a dipper of water, poured it into the bowl they kept on a small bench by the door with a bar of soap in a tin cup, and washed himself. Fresh peas were good, but it was Sam he wanted. In a couple of long strides, he took Sam into his arms and kissed him long and softly. “I missed you.”

“It’s only been an hour. Sit down. I made a meat pie with potatoes and carrots in it,” Sam said against his mouth.

Sam’s excitement about his cooking and sewing always made Luke smile, and he was sure to praise him. “Smells as good as it looks.”

Sam steered him to the table and made him sit, so Luke obeyed. He was hungry, but he was hungrier for his…what was Sam? His man, his partner. What did you call your other half when he was a man like you?

“The cow is giving so much milk I need to buy a butter churn,” Sam said.

“Do you know how to churn?” Luke looked at him. Sam had always appeared confident, but he was confident about other things now: his ability to make a home, to cook, all the things he enjoyed doing.

Hell, he’s more accomplished than me. I’ve taught him how to plow a straight furrow and sow grain, how to build a fence and tend a vegetable garden. Yet he can cook and sew curtains and sheets as well.

“I think I can figure it out,” he said with a grin as he served the dinner. “What are you smiling at?”

“I was just thinking how clever you are. All the things you can do. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be living like one of those crazy old hermits you hear about living in a dugout with a couple of dogs.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty nifty at lots of things.” Sam sobered momentarily to say grace. Luke remained silent, only joining in at
Amen.

“Eat up.” Sam did not begin at once to eat but waited as always, watching Luke. “How’s the pie?”

It was very appetizing. The pastry was light, and the filling was fragrant and delicious. “I don’t know.” Luke shrugged. “I guess it’s not bad.”

Sam laughed. “You liar.”

Luke reached across the table, taking Sam’s hand, a thing he did freely now. “It’s really good. I’d be eating yesterday’s food every other day without you, and it wouldn’t be good food.”

Sam gripped Luke’s hand tightly. “I noticed Barker’s Grocery had some nice new gingham cloth in the store last time I was in town. I want to make a tablecloth.”

“What for?”

“To make the table look pretty.”

“It’s just something else to wash,” Luke pointed out.

“Old grump.”

Luke squeezed his hand again. “All right. Tell me what you want. I’ll pick it up. I need to go into town to get a couple of new steel blades for that old mowing machine of mine. Now the wheat is growing and things are quieter around here, I can catch up on jobs I haven’t had time for yet. I want the mower ready for harvest, and I want to get that corral built, a nice big one, so the animals can graze without us having to keep moving their picket lines.”

Sam protested at once. “No, I want to go into town too. I want to pick out the cloth myself.”

Luke met Sam’s gaze. “I thought we’d agreed we weren’t going into town together.”

“It’ll be fine. At some point we have to live without worrying.”

“People like us can never live without worrying,” Luke told him. He scraped up the last piece of pie with his fork, ate it, and thought for a minute before saying, “I guess you’re right.”

Sam finished his meal and then cleared away the dishes and stacked them on the shelf above the dry sink. “I’ll wash those later. Change your shirt; it’s stained with dirt from the field.”

Luke stared at him for a moment. “Change my shirt? It’s not Sunday, and I’m not going visiting. I’m going to the hardware store to buy a couple of new steel sections for the mowing machine.”

Sam smiled at him as he unbuttoned his own shirt and hung it on the back of the chair. “At church last Sunday, Mr. Power, the tailor, said he was having shirts ready-made to buy. He said the Ingram daughter was going to work for him sewing the buttonholes. Let’s buy you a new shirt, and maybe I can get you to come to church with me this Sunday.”

“I am not wasting money on a new shirt,” Luke said firmly. “I’ve got two work shirts. That’s enough. And I’m not going to church either, so don’t ask.”

“All right. I won’t ask. Kiss me.”

“I’ll do that.” Luke pulled Sam into his arms, happy that they now had curtains even if they hadn’t had a visitor in the entire time they’d lived together. You just never knew who might come by. He ran his hands over Sam’s smooth, bare back. “Handsome boy,” he whispered in Sam’s ear and then shoved his tongue in, knowing Sam loved that.