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The timer on his phone rang and he went to the kitchen,
checking on the oven. The biscuits were just right and smelled delicious. He
pulled out the tray and placed them on a plate. Connor walked in, a towel in
his hand as he scrubbed his hair dry.

"It smells good."

"Sit down. I have some coffee going too."

The scrape of the chair echoed throughout the room, making
their silence even more pronounced. Mike placed the egg pan in the center of
the table and put the biscuits beside it. He brought over the pot of coffee and
two mugs. "Black?"

"I need a little cream with it today." Connor
served himself a spoonful of eggs and grabbed two biscuits. He took a bite of
the eggs and moaned.

Mike hid his smile as he placed the creamer beside Connor and
took a seat across from him. "You can't disappear like this."

"Why not?"

"You have a job that needs you."

"I quit." Connor filled his mouth with eggs and
dropped his head, acting like he was ignoring Mike.

"You still have a job there. I talked to
Shoemaker, he never actually
dropped you. You're still a Ranger. You need to work."

"I
can't." Connor put down his fork and pushed away from the table.

He looked
as if he was going to run away and Mike couldn’t let that happen. "Stop."

"Why?
Haven't you done enough?"

Connor's body rocked forward but before he could stand, Mike
jumped up and tossed his napkin to his chair. "Sit down and listen to
me," Mike roared. When he thought he really had Connor's attention he
spoke. "I had nothing to do with Riley's death. It was an accident."

"We were arguing about you," Connor whispered.

Mike was poised to say something else then he realized what
Connor had said. "What?"

Connor scrubbed his hand over his face, blowing out a huge
breath. "Fuck, I can't talk about this."

Mike walked around the table and took the chair next to
Connor. He almost placed his hand on Connor's knee then thought better of it.
"You need to talk about it. This isn't good for you. Sitting around drunk
all day isn't going to help you feel better or help you find what you're
searching for."

"He's dead. I'll never hold him again."

Mike touched Connor's shoulder and for a moment he thought
Connor was going to push him away, but he didn't. Connor's arms came around
him, crushing them together. Tears spilled down Connor's cheeks, dampening
Mike's shirt. The bitter wails were painful to listen to. In the months since
the crash he hadn't seen Connor cry—not like this. Of course the big guy had
pushed everyone away, living like a hermit instead of a normal human.

After he cried himself out, Connor pulled away, his eyes averted
as he sat back, trying like hell to act normal but failing miserably. Mike
stood and pulled Connor up with him. Heat filled Mike, but he wouldn’t let his
desire do the talking. "Go wash your face and we're going to take care of
a few things around here. Do you have your gun?"

"No, Lane and Gresh took it."

"Connor." Mike brushed his thumb over Connor's
cheek; compassion for the man filled him.

"I wasn't—I was and Lane knew. He took all of my
ammunition."

"What about now? Can I trust you?"

Connor blew out a breath and stared at the floor for a long
moment before raising his head, his gaze meeting Mike's. "I don't
know."

Mike felt as if he'd been punched in the gut. Connor was
lower than he'd originally assumed. "Promise me you'll wait and talk to me
if it gets too overwhelming."

For a second Mike thought he'd overstepped his bounds, speaking
out of turn. Then Connor nodded and picked up his mug of coffee, taking a big
swig. When Mike had taken the time off to drive out here he hadn't known what
he'd find, part of him had hoped he and Connor could hook up. What he hadn't
expected was to find the previously confident man so disturbed that he was
ready to kill himself. Any thoughts of getting a hotel in town were dashed.
He'd sleep on the couch here at Connor's place until he was sure Connor wasn't
going to do something stupid and harm himself.

*~*~*

Lane gazed at the progress they'd made, delighted to see the
siding finally going up on the house he, Gresh, Jump, and Bruce would occupy.
Gresh walked around the corner of the building and Lane raced over, excitement
bubbling out. "Babe, it's really taking shape."

Gresh smiled, his lopsided grin leaving Lane feeling like
he'd made it to heaven already. Since the accident, Gresh had changed
physically. Emotionally things were better between them. They had bonded so
much during Gresh's recovery it was as if they'd always been together. Verbally,
Gresh sounded slow, but when given the chance to concentrate he was as smart as
he'd ever been.

The day Lane had found Gresh staring at himself in the mirror
he'd realized how upset Gresh was over his looks. Lane assured him that the
burn scars, the cuts and the scrapes didn't bother him. He loved how Gresh
looked. The scars gave Gresh a bit of a rakish appearance that Lane adored. Of
course it had taken a few weeks for Gresh to believe him, but eventually his
husband had stopped being so worried about his physical infirmities. The cane
Gresh needed for balance was a problem on the farm. Really it wasn't the cane,
just the balance issues. More than once Gresh had taken a tumble because of the
uneven ground. The first few times it had scared the shit out of Lane, now they
took it in stride. Of course all the cowboys immediately went to work making
sure the area around the house was smooth. When the crew was out to pour the
pad for the house, they'd poured a cement walk from the house to the barn and a
few of the other buildings, giving Gresh a level walkway. Now when it rained,
they could walk to the barn without getting muddy.

Gresh had been pissed, thinking they were treating him like a
baby, but really the concrete path and the other adjustments had made
everything easier for everyone. Gresh finally admitted that the concrete path
had been a great addition and wasn't mad about it anymore.

"Do you think Jump and Bruce will really like living in
the same house with us?"

"Yeah, I do. You know, the way we designed it, with
Bruce and Jump in one wing and me and you on the opposite side of the main
living areas, it's more like two houses."

"I love the idea of the media room."

"Yeah, I can't wait to sit and watch some movies with
you."

"Really, that's what you're looking forward to?"

Lane cracked a huge smile, his dick waking up. "I'm
really looking forward to fooling around with you as we watch movies. I keep
thinking about that impossibly huge couch we ordered. It's big enough for us to
stretch out on, lying side by side."

Gresh smoothed his hand down Lane's back and he arched toward
Gresh's hand. "I love you."

"I'm glad you never gave up on me."

Lane grew serious. They'd discussed it a few times, but with
Riley's death they'd not gone as deep as they eventually would on the subject.
"I meant what I said in the hospital. I know he's dead and it's easy to
say I would never have gone back to him, but babe, I really meant it. You, no
one else. Everything, every breath, every heartbeat is for you."

Gresh gazed across the ranch yard, staring at the other
cowboys. "I'm glad we have such a huge bunkhouse and I know we can go use
one of the cabins when we don't have guests, but I don't feel right about it. I
want to take you somewhere away from here."

"Where were you thinking?"

"Bahamas. I want to spend a week on the beach with you.
No Miller business. No ranch worries. No care in the world except for each other."

"Yeah, we need to get away. Somewhere that we can cut
loose."

"I know the other guys are okay with us because they
have their own man, well some of them do, and they like that we're a couple,
but I don't feel like I can really be with you in the bunkhouse and the cabins
don't feel like home."

Lane stepped close to Gresh and licked his chin. "We
need to make those plans soon. I want you so much. Tonight we'll need to do
something, but I want you all over me, wild with lust and not holding back.
Will you make some reservations for us? Something private."

"Yeah. I'll make a few calls and see what is
available."

The door of the bunkhouse banged open and laughter spilled
out. Lane turned and saw Jump and Bruce walking arm in arm down the path to the
barn. He thought of the guys as brothers. It had taken Bruce's mom and dad a
bit of time to accept Jump as family, but they were okay now.

Chapter Two

Jump waved at Lane and Gresh as he and Bruce made their way
to the barn. He loved Lane like a brother and was glad he and Gresh had worked
through any issues they had. Since Hamilton's death, Jump's life had changed so
much. He'd started classes at A&M University in College Station. He was
getting a degree in business administration, hoping to use it to help him run
Miller.

Gresh and he had spent months deciding what to do with Miller
Enterprises. There were so many parts of the company he didn't know what to do
with it or how they could handle it all. They'd sold off so many subsidiaries
and trimmed the business down to something manageable. The huge house in
Houston was gone as well as Hamilton's two condos. They'd sold off more than
half of Miller's holdings, leaving behind something he was proud of and
something he hoped Gresh was proud of too. What was left of Miller was still
huge and Gresh had told Jump more than once that he had faith that he would be
able to manage the entire company once he got his business degree. Gresh wasn't
interested in running the business full-time since he had his own companies
that kept him busy. It had taken some convincing but once Jump got involved
with Miller and the inner workings of the business, he figured out he liked it.
Gresh had encouraged him to get his degree and take over in four years. Of
course that meant he was busy all the time, but Bruce had decided to go back to
school too.

They were planning on running the business together. It
excited him, working with his husband. When Bruce had quit his job at the
sheriff's office, Brody had been angry, but he got over it fairly quickly.

"You're deep in thought," Bruce interrupted his
musings.

"Just thinking about the last few months."

"It's been crazy. Hell, we haven't been married for long
and it seems like years ago."

"Has it been too crazy for you?" Jump still worried
that Bruce would think he was too much trouble.

Bruce opened the barn door and pulled Jump inside, pressing
him to the wall. "If you get to be too much, I'll just tie you to the
bedpost and turn you into my sex slave." Jump laughed but Bruce's hand on
his dick made the laughter die quickly. "Fuck, babe, I can't get enough of
you."

"Bruce, fuck me."

"Here?"

"Yeah."

The sound of the door opening at the other end of the barn
stopped their kiss. Bruce cursed then glared at Jump. "Tonight. We're
going to have to go camping out on the range tonight. I need to get wild and
there are just a few too many men living in that bunkhouse."

Jump groaned and pushed away from Bruce. "I need to
study. You can go out on the horses alone but I think our ride together will
have to wait for another time if you want me tonight."

Bruce's brows pinched together. "Can you take the night
away?"

"Only if I go study now."

Bruce popped Jump on the ass and he yelped. "Ouch, that
hurt."

"Go study because I want a piece of that tonight and I
don't want you distracted by books or anything else."

Jump smiled over his shoulder and winked. "I promise,
when the sun sets tonight, I'm all yours."

Bruce howled as Jump raced out of the barn and to his books.
His grades were good and he wanted to keep it that way. Tonight, he'd make
Bruce remember exactly why he'd married him. Not that the man had forgotten,
but the stress they'd encountered over the last few months was more than most
people did in a lifetime. It would be four years before he was out of school,
but tonight he'd bring back some of the fun, making sure his lover knew just
how important he was.

*~*~*

Kip hefted the bale of hay into the bed of the truck,
wondering where the hell Jamie had gone off too. Everything had been great up until
two weeks ago. Now Jamie was sneaking off, doing things behind his back and
answering with non-answers when questioned about where he'd been. He didn't
like it one bit but had been too afraid to say anything.

He saw Jamie's truck coming up the road and he wondered where
he'd come from and what the hell he'd been doing in town—if he had been in town.
Kip didn't want to think about Jamie with someone else, but he'd been honest
about his desires for women. Maybe he'd found a girl to spend his time with and
he was over the gay thing.

Jamie stopped near the bunkhouse and hopped out, racing
inside without saying anything or even waving. Forcing a discussion on the
issue wasn't his way, but he would have to say something. If this continued the
way it was, he would go crazy with jealousy.

Michael rounded the corner of the barn, his smile wide.
"Kip, let me help you."

"Thanks."

He had five more of the small bales to load into his truck
before driving out to the pasture to drop them for the cows. Calving season was
upon them again and Jamie had wanted to provide a little extra food for the
mammas and maybe a little warmth for the babies if they found the bails
comfortable.

With the hay loaded he thanked Michael then stopped,
wondering if the guy knew anything. "Hey, have you seen what Jamie has
been doing in town recently?"