Cord shoved his hand through his hair and nodded. He was barely sleeping. The “radio silence” just wasn’t settling well with him.
“Yeah… You’re right. I should go.”
“Good.” Pete pulled a paper from his back pocket and thrust it toward him. “The reservation’s already made and paid for. You leave in three hours so you better shove some shit in a suitcase and get on the road to Gillette.”
“You were awfully sure of this.”
“I
am
awfully sure of how you feel about Sully. You should have gone with him in the first place.”
“You’re probably right.”
“Moon and I heard you pacing at three a.m. last night. We’ve been worried about you, too.”
Cord gave Pete a half-smile. Pete, Moon and Sully were his family, though not related by blood or marriage. He wasn’t sure what he’d do without any of them; that was one reason he’d felt so guilty lately. More and more, he wanted something beyond just working this ranch, employee to someone else. He wanted his own space, his own operation. The flipside of that would mean leaving Pete and Moon—and maybe Sully. Sully seemed comfortable here. Cord wasn’t confident he’d leave this known for the unknown even if they were a couple.
Of course, no one was privy to these aspirations, so it would take Sully by surprise. Cord had kept them secret, mulling them over and over the past few months, unsure how to deal with them. That only made things worse. Once before, he’d fallen victim to loss due to being hush-hush, and that worried him. He’d been afraid of hurting someone he loved back then. In the end, he had. Now, it seemed history was repeating itself and he was afraid of losing Sully. Would he never learn?
He needed to get to Sully and…
Well…he didn’t quite know what he would do yet. He’d think about it on the plane then stand by Sully through this. Afterward, they’d have to discuss the future. That thought struck dread in him.
He started gathering the tools and supplies he’d brought out to repair the fence.
“Don’t,” Pete said, stopping him. “I’ve got this. Take the ATV to the house, and I’ll get this stuff in the truck and take it back.”
“Thanks,” Cord said. He gave Pete a hug. “I appreciate this.”
“Don’t worry about it. Go take care of our guy.”
Cord tipped his hat then dashed for the all terrain vehicle. He had a lot to do and less than three hours to do it.
* * * *
“Hey, stranger.”
Taking a deep breath, Sully closed his notebook where he’d made observations about Kally Kin for the past week. Things were going well with her, but not so well that he’d call his progress a success. She was still volatile and unpredictable and sometimes, she still wouldn’t let anyone near her. He had a long way to go.
He’d stayed with her hours every day so she got accustomed to him—hell, he had nothing else to do here. From early afternoon to mid afternoon, he spent with the horse and the rest of the day until Gran wore out around eight-thirty, he spent with his grandmother and sometimes Brian.
He’d been sitting on the ground outside Kally Kin’s stall, leaning against a post, the horse hanging her head over the door as if to read over his shoulder, when he’d heard someone walking toward him. He looked up at the man standing over him now.
An older, handsomer Griffin Thomas peered down at him through the chocolate brown eyes that used to make Sully melt. He looked good. He’d filled out and wasn’t the lanky boy he’d been ten years ago. He still looked like the GQ Cowboy, though, from his perfectly worn designer jeans to his shiny black boots. He held a black Stetson in his hand, leaving his dark artfully unruly locks bare.
“Griffin, hi,” Sully said as he slid awkwardly to his feet, Griffin standing too close to make the transition easy. As if realizing this, the man took a couple steps backward.
Kally Kin was having none of it. She backed away from the door, snorting and nickering in displeasure. Though he didn’t look, Sully heard her stomping one of her front hooves.
“Brian told me she’s improving,” Griffin said, looking dubious. “Doesn’t look like it.”
“She has a bit to go, but we’re getting there,” Sully replied. He walked toward the front of the stable, knowing Griffin would follow. He wanted to get the horse’s owner away from the agitated animal so she’d settle. He wasn’t suspicious of her reaction to Griffin. She seemed to behave the same way with everyone but Sully, and sometime after she’d been sold, she’d developed some negative horse vices, particularly pawing the ground and cribbing—gnawing on the wood of her stall. Brian assured Sully she hadn’t been doing that before leaving
Verus.
“I guarantee you she is heading in the right direction. It’s just going to take some time.”
“I don’t know what happened with her…” Griffin shoved his hand through his hair and looked around the stable. They had several beautiful horses housed here, though most were in the pasture right now.
“Could be any number of things. I’ve finally got her under control enough that I’m having the vet come out tomorrow to examine her. He’s been here a few times already from what I understand, but he hasn’t been able to get close enough to her to do more than a cursory examination. He might have to tranquilize her—I’m not letting him out of here without knowing she’s one hundred percent.” More and more, Sully was getting disgusted with the local vet. Had this horse been back at the
Flying D
, their vet, Verity, would have gotten Kally Kin diagnosed and treated by now. There would be no waiting around like this. Hell, if something was horribly wrong with Kally Kin, waiting could mean the difference between her life and death. After working with her, he was more certain than ever that her irritability stemmed from something medical, rather than being a training problem.
Griffin made a face, indicating he didn’t like the idea of sedating the horse, but he didn’t argue. They stood there stiffly for a few moments. As Sully shifted his stance, he wondered if Griffin would bring up the past. He wished he wouldn’t.
“I missed you,” Griffin said simply. “How’ve you been?”
“Good. It didn’t take me long to get back on my feet. I’ve been living in Wyoming.” He dropped his notebook on the utility bench near the stable entrance and nodded to the foreman who was in the office nearby. The man grinned and gave him and affable nod in return.
All of the staff working at
Verus
now seemed to be cut from a different cloth than those who’d been here ten years ago. Brian hadn’t been lying about cleaning house. Apparently, he’d been careful about who he’d hired as replacements. Sully felt as comfortable here with these men as he did back in Daly.
A pang of wanting thrust through him when he thought of home. He missed Cord. He hadn’t replaced his phone yet, but he couldn’t understand why Cord hadn’t returned his call. More so, Cord never seemed to be around when Sully tried to reach him.
Shoving down his thoughts and not wanting to be overheard by the staff, he waved a hand toward the door then headed outside, with Griffin on his heels. They walked along the fence of the corral beside the building.
“What have you been doing out there in Wyoming?” Griffin asked, wrinkling his nose as if Sully had been holed up in the uncivilized backwoods.
Sully shook his head, smiling as he stopped and leaned against the white-painted, split-rail fence. He rested his arms on the top rail and stared out over the lush, green pasture where several of the Irish draughts were grazing. A long, blue-gray ridge of the Appalachian Mountains loomed in the distance, like guardians of the land, fencing them in.
“I work on one of the ranches out there. About an hour from Gillette.”
“Training horses?”
Sully looked over at a pair of the white and silver horses running in the distance. “No.”
“Really? That’s surprising. Back…well, then…we could hardly get you away from them. Hell, I didn’t even go to the house looking for you today. I knew you’d be out in the stable. Don’t they know you’re background? How good you are at—?”
“No, not really,” Sully interrupted. He’d discussed his qualifications with his current employer’s father back when he’d hired on, but he wasn’t so sure that information had been passed on before the man had died or if the son had looked at the employee files afterward. Sully just did his job well, and nobody cared about his past. “Did you just come out to see Kally Kin?” he asked. “I can tell you what I’ve been doing with her.”
“No, not really,” Griffin echoed. “I wanted to see how you are. If… Well, I know it’s been ten years, but I wanted to see if anything was still there.” He waved a hand between them. “You know…here between us. You took off so fast and things never had a natural progression—you know to get deeper or die out.”
Looking at Griffin, Sully wondered what there had been back then. Sure, Griffin was drop-dead beautiful, but he didn’t get Sully’s blood roaring like a certain other cowboy did. Sully stuck his hands in his pockets as just the thought of Cord stirred his cock. “I’m seeing someone back home,” he said. “More than that. We’ve been together for eight years.”
And hopefully, we’re staying together,
he thought, remembering how distant Cord had been the last few months. Cord claimed nothing was wrong, but Sully was beginning to believe Cord was thinking of ways to end their relationship yet keep things cordial at the
Flying D
. Maybe, that was why he hadn’t called…
“Hmm. So, it’s serious then,” Griffin observed, nodding. “Okay.” He shrugged. “I’d still like to be friends again. I miss that. Do you think you’d have time to go to dinner sometime? We could go into Lexington instead of eating at the
fishbowl
in town. Catch up and all that.”
Yeah, the local diner offered no privacy but lots of speculation. “Downtown” Blue Grove was about four times the size of Daly’s main strip, but it still qualified as tiny. “I’d like that. I’m free tonight, after seven.”
“It’s a date then,” Griffin announced, with a grin. “For friends,” he quickly added, holding up his palms. “Just for friends.”
Sully laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “Relax. I’m not that touchy. So…tell me what’s happening over at the equestrian academy?”
* * * *
The day flew by and before Sully knew it, he was waiting for Griffin to pick him up for their ride into Lexington.
Brian came in while Sully paced the foyer. He was covered in mud and limping slightly. “Gran around?” he asked, just inside the door.
“She’s in the family room watching
Wheel of Fortune
.”
“Oh good. I’ll be safe then.” Without warning, he started stripping off his clothes.
“What happened to you?”
“Fixing a fence on the back line and the ground gave way beneath it. Sucked me right in for a second—just long enough to cover me in muck.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah…a day in the life, right?”
“Yeah…right.”
“Wow! Dinner and a show? Bonus!”
Brian and Sully swiveled their heads toward the voice, realizing belatedly that Brian hadn’t fully shut the door behind him. Brian adjusted his bundle of clothes to hide his groin that was covered in only thin, cotton boxers. “Griffin, get the fuck out,” he growled.
The man made a tsking sound. “Is that any way to talk to a customer?” he teased.
“You’re not a customer right now. Go!”
Taking pity on his brother, Sully headed for the door and steered his friend outside.
“Sully,” Brian called quietly as Griffin headed down the porch steps.
“Yeah?”
“A date? Really?” he whispered in almost a rasp. “I thought you had a guy back home, something serious.”
Guilt poked at Sully before he reminded himself that this wasn’t a date. There was nothing to feel remorseful about. “Just friends having dinner and catching up,” he said. “I
am
serious about Cord.” He glanced down at Griffin and his fancy yellow sports car that looked completely out of place here. “I won’t be back late,” he told his brother then hurried down the porch steps.
“Brian’s a hunk,” Griffin commented, as Sully climbed into the vehicle. “I’ve speculated on what he hides beneath all his plaid shirts and Wranglers, but I never guessed it was…so much.”
“Oh God, don’t,” Sully groaned. “That’s my brother, remember? Let’s talk about anything else…anything but that.” He didn’t want to hear Griffin rhapsodizing about Brian.
Griffin just laughed, and Sully suspected he’d been baiting him.
As if they were old friends who’d never been parted, they picked up conversation with ease, cart-wheeling from one topic to the next on the drive to Lexington and throughout dinner. Griffin told him about running the academy now and the expansions he was making there. His father was still around, but he’d “retired”. That didn’t stop him from giving his ten and a half cents about everything Griffin did for the business.
Personally, Griffin had been in and out of relationships but couldn’t say he had anyone special. Through it all, Sully mused at how much he’d been taken with Griffin when they’d been younger, but now… Nothing.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Griffin said as they finished their meals, “but I was hoping when I saw you today, it would answer my question about why I don’t get invested in any of my relationships. I was kind of wondering if it was a lost love kind of thing and if I was holding out for you.”
“And?”
“Nothing. No spark.” He glanced down at his lap. “Socrates says there’s no interest.”
“Socrates?” Sully laughed.
“Socrates knows all.”
Sully shook his head. “Talk about being led by your dick. Geez, Griffin.”
Griffin looked slightly chagrined for half a second. “I know. I know. But hey! We’re not even thirty yet. Lots of playtime left. How can you be so serious for one guy? I mean…eight years. It’s like an eternity. Did you play the field at all?”
“This might be why we never had sex,” Sully observed, eyes opening to the vast disparity between them. “Socrates isn’t that into me and our life philosophies are just too different—which is just fine for friends, not so much for lovers.”
“Yeah. I suppose. Truthfully, though, I could settle down if I ever found the right guy. I think the chances of that are nil though. He’d have to be pretty spectacular, and there aren’t any princes or Hollywood hotties coming to Blue Grove and looking for their Prince Charming—me—if you know what I mean.” His half-grin was a self-effacing grimace. “So I take what I get.”