the east. He studied Bily, amazed at the fluidity with
which he moved as he spread out the blanket and
began to set up a picnic lunch. The man had thought of
everything. Ian could see how hard Bily was working
to make this day a special one, but little did Bily know,
Ian thought, just being here with Bily was special
enough.
Ian watched as Bily moved with a purpose, a
man who seemed to know exactly what he wanted in
life and was very confident that he was going to get it.
“Hey, stud,” Ian said with a smile.
Bily didn’t turn this time, thinking he wouldn’t be
caught again. When Ian repeated, “Hey, stud,” Bily
turned slowly and saw Ian smiling at him.
“I thought you were talking to Duke,” he said.
“Yeah, wel, I
was
talking to Duke this morning
when
you
turned around, but this time I was realy
talking to you.”
Bily felt his face turning blood-red. He smiled,
swalowed hard, and said, “I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”
“Oh, yes you do,” Ian said.
“Okay, so you saw me. I realy hoped that you
hadn’t.”
“Oh yeah, I saw you, and it took everything I had
not to laugh out loud. But I thought it would probably
come in handy later in the day, so I kept it to myself.”
Ian walked up to Bily and gently kissed his cheek. “I
thought it was very cute,” Ian said. “Let’s eat.”
Bily and Ian finished setting up the picnic lunch
and rested on the blanket side by side. Propped up on
one elbow, facing Bily and the amazing view, Ian
popped the top on a beer and offered one to Bily. He
accepted and in return said, “I also brought along a
bottle of wine, if you’re interested.”
“Let’s save the wine for later,” Ian replied.
With lunch spread out between them, Ian and
Bily sipped their beer as they enjoyed their meal. It was
Monday, and Bily hadn’t seen any other trucks or
horse trailers parked in the lot, so he felt reasonably
certain they were up there alone. After they were
finished eating, Bily packed what was left of lunch and
put it in his saddle bag. With the food between them
now gone, Bily slid closer to Ian and impulsively kissed
him on the lips, puled back, smiled, and kissed him
again.
Just then Bily heard a noise, like twigs breaking
under a shoe or boot.
“What was that?” he said as he turned his head in
the direction of the sound.
“What was what?” Ian asked. “I didn’t hear
anything.
They were both quiet for thirty seconds or so, but
they heard nothing.
Bily broke the silence. “It was probably just the
horses.”
He turned to Ian and said, “Now, where were
we?”
This time, Ian was the one who leaned in for a
sweet, gentle kiss. With his free hand, he reached up
and removed Bily’s hat. Ian ran his fingers through
Bily’s hair and rested them at the base of Bily’s neck.
He puled Bily closer, dropped his elbow, and roled
over on his back, puling Bily down with him.
Bily broke the kiss for just enough time to stare
into Ian’s eyes with warmth and a need he hadn’t
experienced in a very long time. Holding Ian’s stare,
Bily went in for a deeper, longer kiss, closing his eyes
as his tongue parted Ian’s lips. Ian’s warm welcoming
mouth accepted Bily’s tongue, and they began teasing
and tormenting each other while they lay stretched out
on a blanket in the late October sunshine.
When they came up for air, Ian said, “You sure
do know how to kiss a man, cowboy.”
“Much obliged, sir,” Bily replied.
They both laughed, and Bily gave Ian another
peck on the lips and glanced at his watch.
“Wow, it’s three o’clock already. Ian, you need
to know I could stay like this forever, man. In fact, I
wish I’d packed a pup tent and supplies for a stay-
over, but since my stupidity prevailed, we probably
need to start thinking about heading back. It’l take us a
couple of hours to get down to the parking lot and
another hour or so, with rush-hour traffic, to drive back
to the ranch. That wil get us back around six o’clock or
six thirty.”
Ian made a sour face. “Al right, al right, let’s go.”
He gave Bily another kiss and shot to his feet. “Come
on, time’s a-wasting, cowboy.”
They made good time on their way down the trail.
When they reached the river, Bily took the lead again.
Just as he was reaching the other side, he turned to
make sure Ian was behind him. Ian and Firefly started
to cross the river, but midway through, Firefly reared up
as something hit her on the rump, and an unprepared
Ian flew off her back. Like a cat, Ian tried to right
himself in mid-air to land on his feet. But unfortunately,
he was unsuccessful and landed with al of his weight on
his right foot, atop an uneven rock just beneath the
water’s surface, then fel on his butt in two feet of
water. Oh God, please don’t let him be hurt, Bily
prayed.
Like a flash, he was off Duke’s back and
splashing through the water to get to Ian. Firefly ran to
the other side of the river where Duke was waiting,
stopped and looked back as if to say “Oops, my bad.”
Ian was already trying to stand when Bily reached him,
laughing at Firefly’s expression. Bily was not quite
ready to laugh. He had to know if Ian was al right.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I think so. A little stunned, but I think I’m
okay,” Ian answered. He tried to stand and felt a sharp
pain in his right leg. “Wow,” he said, “I think I messed
up my ankle.”
“Okay,” Bily said, “keep your weight off it and
hold on to me.” With one sweeping motion, Bily had
Ian in his arms and was carrying him across the river.
When they reached the other side, Bily lifted Ian even
higher onto Firefly’s back. “Can you ride?”
“Yeah,” Ian replied.
Bily simply said, “Hold on and I’l get you home.”
Stunned at what had just happened, Ian couldn’t
speak; he simply stared at Bily, trusting that he was
going to do exactly that. Bily mounted Duke, walked
over to Firefly, lifted the reins, and led Ian and Firefly
back in the direction of the parking lot, both men
soaked to the bone. Neither one of them noticed the
figure of a man hiding in the brush and watching the
events unfold.
When they reached the parking lot, the sun was
starting to sink behind the mountain and the air was
significantly cooler.
“Don’t move,” Bily said. “Let me get the truck
started and the heat going, and once I get you settled,
I’l get the horses unsaddled and loaded.”
“No way,” Ian replied. “We’l do this together.
After al, I’m the reason we’re wet.”
“We don’t even know how bad your ankle is
hurt. You should keep your weight off it,” Bily insisted.
“I can manage,” Ian said. “Let me at least help.”
Bily saw the need in Ian’s eyes to help and said,
“Okay, but promise me you’l take it easy. No weight
on that foot.”
“Deal,” said Ian with a look of relief.
Ian held both horses while Bily unsaddled them.
Bily made sure they were cool enough to be
transported, secured their blankets over their backs,
and loaded them into the trailer. When the trailer was
secure, he helped Ian into the truck, closed the door,
and ran around and climbed in the driver’s side. The
cab was warm and welcoming.
As Bily puled out of the parking lot, he opened
his cel phone and pressed the speed dial button for
Jules. When Jules answered, Bily explained what had
happened and asked him to have someone meet them
at Nashvile General to pick up the horses and get them
back to the ranch.
Hearing this, Ian protested, “I’m not going to the
hospital.”
“Jules, let me cal you right back, I have a
stubborn patient here. Ian,” Bily said after closing the
phone, “we need to get that ankle checked out.”
“I’m sure it’s just a sprain,” Ian said. “A little ice
and it’l be fine.”
“I would feel much better if we had it looked at.”
“I understand how you feel, Bily, and I
appreciate it dearly, but I’l be fine, I promise.”
“Since you’re in a promising mood, then,” Bily
said, “promise me that tomorrow you’l go to your
regular doctor to have it looked at.”
“Deal,” Ian said.
Bily caled Jules back and told him not to worry
about meeting them at the hospital; they would be back
at the ranch in about an hour. Jules assured Bily that a
couple of ranch hands would meet them and take care
of the horses so he could get Ian home.
When they reached the ranch, two men Bily
recognized were waiting for them. One of the hands
unloaded the horses and took them back to the stables
while the other unhooked the trailer from Bily’s truck
and removed the saddles and tack. Bily helped Ian out
of the truck and to his Escalade, putting Ian in the
backseat on the driver’s side with his legs spread
across the seat. He started the car and pressed every
button on the computerized dashboard until he found
the heat.
“Ian, wil you be al right for a few minutes?”
“I’l be fine,” Ian replied.
“I’l be right back,” Bily said, and he closed the
back door.
He quickly took the golf cart to the bunkhouse
and grabbed a change of dry clothes, a pair of
sneakers, and a bag of ice. When he got back, he took
the blanket they’d used for lunch from the horse trailer
along with his saddle bag. He opened the front door
and tossed the saddle bag to the passenger side
floorboard. “Stil okay?” he asked Ian.
“Stil okay,” Ian responded.
Bily ran around and opened the back passenger
door, gently lifted Ian’s right leg, and placed the roled
up blanket under his ankle. He unlaced the top few
rows of Ian’s boot and then puled as tight as he could
and retied the knot, hoping to keep the sweling to a
minimum. He laid the bag of ice over the boot and said,
“I don’t want to take your boot off until we get you
home, but this should help until we get there.”
Hopping into the driver’s seat, Bily said, “Let’s
get you home, handsome.”
Ian smiled and said, “Okay, cowboy.” And with
that one statement, Bily’s heart melted.
Bily drove down the dirt road toward the ranch
gates. It was a pretty bumpy ride, but he did his best to
avoid any potholes and unnecessary bouncing.
“How’s my patient doing?”
“Good,” Ian replied. “But I can feel it sweling.”
“Are you sure you won’t let me take you to the
hospital?”
“Positive,” Ian replied. “But do you know where
you’re going?”
“Come to think of it, no,” Bily said. “Where do
you live?”
“In Westhaven, about an hour south of Nashvile.
Take I-40 east to I-65 south and I’l direct you from
there.”
They drove in silence for a few minutes. “Bily?”
Ian said.
“Yes, sir,” Bily replied.
“I’m sorry about this. Some first date, huh?”
“Nonsense,” Bily said. “I’m feeling very galant,
almost knight-like, and I like it.”
“Yeah, but you’re stil soaked through to your
boots and you’re being such a gentleman.”
“I’m not being a gentleman, I
am
a gentleman.
I’m realy enjoying taking care of you.”
“As strange as it sounds, I’m enjoying being taken
care of. Is that crazy?” Ian asked.
“No way, pilgrim,” Bily said in his best John
Wayne voice.
IAN continued to give Bily directions to his home, and
in just under an hour they puled into Ian’s garage. Ian
lived in a beautiful three-story Colonial rowhouse at the
end of a cul-de-sac. Bily got out of the SUV and
opened the door behind him to get Ian out. Because the
garage was under the rowhouse on the lower level, Bily
again scooped Ian into his arms and carried him up the
flight of stairs to the main floor of the house. While stil
in Bily’s arms, Ian opened the door, and they pushed
their way inside. Bily’s eyes widened as he entered
Ian’s house. The door leading up from the garage
opened directly into a great room the size of Bily’s
bunkhouse at the ranch. To the right was the living area
with a large stone fireplace on the far wal. Built-in