Two Sides of the Same Coin (28 page)

Mike was coming out of the closet fast, or he just felt comfortable with our friends, so he scooted real close to Josh, batted his eyes at him, and said, “Well, Josh, darlin’, can I get you a beer? Gotta get you drunk enough to join us!” Josh turned about ten shades of red. The rest of us just laughed. Tim was waiting on us again tonight.

“Hey, guys, beer?” We all ended up ordering the rye ale. Mike ordered a couple of orders of onion rings and some hot wings. Tim looked at me and Mike and asked about last night.

“I ain’t gonna say I wasn’t shook up, but Porky’s gotta be the biggest coward this side of the Cascades.”

“Porky?”

Mike jumped in and said, “Yeah, that’s what Jeff was callin’ ’im the other night when he beat the shit outta ’im twice.”

“Twice?”

“Yeah, Jeff kicked ’im outta One Eyed Jack’s, and then Porky tried to pick a fight later.”

“I’d just heard about the later. Jeff, your beer’s on the house.”

“Thanks!” Tim went back behind the bar and began pouring the beers.

“You up for the weekend, Maria?”

“Yes, I am. I had a lot of fun last weekend doing the little rodeo with you.”

“I think a fun time was had by all, right, Mike, Sandy?” They both nodded. “How are you doin’ Maria? It must be really hard for you now.” She looked at me sadly, and a tear came from the corner of her eye.

“It is. It feels like someone ripped my heart out of my chest. Sometimes I just can’t believe that life is going on. Pedro would not want me to be sad though. So I try to appreciate him in everything I do; anyway, how’s roundup going, Jeff?”

“Hell, most of it’s done. We got the cattle in, and the beeves separated from the rest. Now it’s just herdin’ ’em onto the trucks.” Tim came back with our beers and took our food orders. I had the green chile cheeseburger, and Mike had the bacon cheeseburger.

We’d started eating when Maria asked me, “Jeff, José told me that you and Mike are doing karaoke. I would like to do a song; will you do one with me?”

“Sure, Maria, which song?”

“I was thinking ‘Picture’ by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. If that works and we want to sing again, maybe we can do ‘Whiskey Lullaby’ by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss.”

“Sounds good to me, I know and like both of those songs.”

“What are you gonna sing, Jeff?” Sandy couldn’t sing a note herself, but she and José and Josh would applaud and cheer us on.

“I was thinkin’ ‘Why Don’t We Just Dance’ by Josh Turner, ‘I Like it, I Love it’ by Tim McGraw, and ‘Friends in Low Places’ by Garth Brooks. Then my buddy here and me are gonna sing ‘Seven Bridges Road’ by the Eagles.”

“It sounds like a good lineup. You gonna sing anything on your own, Mike?”

“Yeah, Sandy, I was thinkin’ of ‘God Bless the Broken Road’ ’cause it reminds me of Jeffy, and ‘Chicken Fried’ by Zac Brown Band.”

“That sounds very good, boss, Mike, but why nothing Mexican?”

“You wanna get up with me and sing ‘Cielito Lindo’, José?” I asked.

“No, boss, people will think there is a wet cat here if I sing.” We all laughed. Tim came by again, and we ordered another round. We had just finished our food when the DJ guy came to set up his karaoke machine and mikes. He did his introductions and then asked who wanted to sing. I ain’t shy, so I got up first. I told the DJ to play “Why Don’t We Just Dance.” The music began to play, and I began to sing. I was having fun with it. Sandy, Maria, Mike, José, and Josh were all cheering me on, and the other folks in the bar seemed to be enjoying themselves. I noticed a group of middle-aged women over in the corner who really seemed to like the song. They had that tanned, expressionless look that seemed to say money and cosmetic surgery. When I was done, I tipped my hat. Everybody was clapping, so I figured I didn’t bust any eardrums or anything. I had just sat down at the table and was listening to everyone tell me they liked it, when Tim came over carrying a mug of beer and a shot of whiskey.

“This is from the ladies over there,” he said with a smile as he set it down. I raised my glass to their table, tipped my hat, and took a sip. I decided I’d better walk over there and thank them properly. I ambled over and sat in an empty chair next to them.

“Thank you kindly, ladies, I’m much obliged.” They giggled at this. Their names were Pam, Renee, and Carol. They were tickled to learn I was a real cowboy. Sandy walked over, and I introduced her. We invited them to join us. After some table rearranging and introductions, we were all chatting like old friends. Mike stepped up to the little stage then and took the microphone. It seemed to me he was smiling straight at me when he introduced himself and his song “God Bless the Broken Road.” I couldn’t stop grinning as he looked right at me when he sang.

When he was done, he gave kind of a shy smile and tipped his hat. When he came back to the table, I gave him a high five. Pam called Tim over and ordered Mike a beer and shot. It turned out they were three friends who were up from Seattle for a girls’ weekend. Renee got up and sang some pop song. I didn’t recognize it, but Sandy did. We all applauded, and then Mike and I stood up. We walked over to the little stage and asked the DJ guy to put on the music to “Hillbilly Bone.” We began singing it quite loudly. Mike and I do a good job of singing together, and it seemed like we had rehearsed the song, even though we hadn’t. We got lots of applause.

When we got back to the table Carol asked us, “Where did you guys learn to sing? We always hear stuff about singing cowboys, and it seems to be true.”

Mike leaned into me, and I answered, “I reckon just from singin’ to the cattle on herdin’ days.”

Mike jumped in and said, “Yeah, it keeps ’em calm; they don’t stampede.”

Pam laughed and said, “Just think of the story we’ll have to tell the girls back home, serenaded by two genuine hunky, handsome young cowboy studs.” Sandy laughed quite loudly at this. The ladies looked at her quizzically. Maria grabbed my arm and dragged me up on stage. We launched into “Picture.” I thought we did a great job. Maria and I were able to harmonize together very well.

As we got back to the table, I helped Maria to her chair. Renee looked from Maria to me.

“Sandy tells us your heart’s taken, Jeff. You and Maria sing beautifully together. I can tell you care about each other quite a bit.”

“Jeff is a brother to me. I love him just like a brother, but I am not the one who has stolen his heart.” Maria smiled at me. In that moment, I realized again just how lucky I was to have her and my other friends in my life.

“Well, if it’s not Maria, who’s the lucky girl?” I snickered and Mike turned all red.

“That’d be me.” He was bright red, but had a huge smile on his face. José, Maria, Sandy, and Josh all clapped and were clapping us on the arms and shoulders.

Renee looked at Mike and at me.

“You guys are really gay?”

“Renee, we’re not only gay, we’re downright jolly!” I couldn’t help myself with that.

She looked a bit unsure but smiled at us.

“If that doesn’t beat all. This isn’t a place I’d expect to find a gay couple.”

“Hell, Renee, we belong here. We both love this place. If you look around, you see the people at this table who are our best friends in the world. Believe it or not, we fit in here.”

Sandy had to jump in too. “My dad’s the sheriff here, and he was just tellin’ both Jeff and Mike to take care of each other and watch out for each other. We’d been bettin’ how long it would take them to shack up and then get together once they met.”

Mike started coughin’ on that one, and I managed to stutter out, “You bet on us?”

“Yeah, boss.” José’s smile was huge. “I won the pool on when you’d first shack up.”

“Hell, no wonder you was so happy.” I gave him a sour look. Sandy laughed.

“Yeah, but I won about the getting together. I thought that once you shacked up, Mike wouldn’t spend another night in the bunkhouse, and he hasn’t.” Mike was bright red. I must have been too.

“Well, folks, I’m really happy our personal lives can provide you so much entertainment.”

Everyone laughed including Carol, Pam, and Renee.

We sat and watched and listened to the other singers for a while. It was fun and some of the people, both tourists and locals, had good voices. Several young guys who had worked with the forest service sang “Tubthumping” by Chumbawamba and did a great job. Right after that, Mike and I got up and sang “Seven Bridges Road” with no accompaniment.

Mike and I sang to each other. Our voices seemed to complement one another. We got back to the table, and Pam smiled at us.

“Okay, watching you two together, I can see your heart is stolen, Jeff, and yours too, Mike. Did you guys meet here?”

“Yeah, we did. We just sorta fell together.”

“Although we do have the feelin’ that Jeffy’s dad mighta tried to fix us up.”

Mike had spoken the suspicion that both of us had. Sandy snorted.

“Jeff, Mike, he did hope the two of you would end up together. He told me you two are two sides of the same coin. If you didn’t end up together, you’d both be worse off for it.”

“Then why in the hell didn’t he tell me?”

“Keep your pants on for once, Jeff. I reckon he just never found the right time. And Mike did need some work.” Both Mike and I were speechless. A couple of tourists got up and sang “Bring it on Home” by Little Big Town. Renee, Carol, and Pam had been buying us more beer and whiskey, and we were both feeling a bit toasty.

“You all sounded great, and it was so much fun sitting with you and visiting. I’ve gotta say you have really made our evening. All of you are a very special group of young people.”

We all chorused, “Thanks.”

“Jeff, Mike, Sandy was telling us about how you guys are thinking of making part of the ranch a dude ranch.” Renee was talking now.

“We’re thinkin’ on it.”

“She also told us about what you did for that little boy and his parents and the other guy. Pam, Carol, and I are honored to make your acquaintance.”

“Hell, weren’t nothin’ special. We just wanted to make the folks happy.” I was about ten shades of red. I continued on, “I’ll tell you what, ladies. If you are up for it, when I do start takin’ dudes, you got a friend of the family discount. That sound okay to you?”

They all chorused yes, so we exchanged contact information. By this time, Mike and I were more than just a bit drunk. Josh wasn’t far behind us. Luckily, José was totally sober and so were Sandy and Maria. I had my hand over the back of Mike’s chair. His hand was on my knee. It was nothing overly demonstrative, even nothing two straight men wouldn’t do. I did want to touch him bad. I could see he felt the same about me. Everyone began urging us to sing one final song. Maria and I did “Whiskey Lullaby.” It was a sad song about people who loved each other dearly, but couldn’t get it together, so they drank themselves to death.

It served to quiet the rowdy bar down just a little. Sandy smiled at me.

“By the way, Jeff, Maria and I are comin’ out to the ranch tonight,” Sandy said.

“What?”

“Yeah, we thought we might get to see you and Mike eatin’ breakfast in just your long johns.” She laughed and looked at José and Josh, who had the good sense to look away. She then launched into an explanation for the ladies. That made me figure it was time to go. José and Josh agreed. We bid good night to Pam, Carol, and Renee. Sandy and Maria followed us out. It had been a fun evening. As we walked out to the trucks, I went over to Sandy and put my arm around her.

“I am really happy we still hang together, Sandy. I can’t really imagine life without you.”

“Well, we’ve been friends since the third grade, so I feel the same way.”

The girls got in Sandy’s truck, and the rest of us got in my truck. I was in no shape to drive, so was pretty glad that José had offered to be the designated driver. Mike and I poured ourselves into the back seat. He leaned against me, and I put my arm around his shoulders.

“You have fun tonight, buddy?”

“Hell yeah, Jeffy. You?”

“Most fun I’ve had in a while with my clothes on.” José and Josh snickered, and Mike snuggled into me. Life was good.

“José, Josh, you guys have fun too?”

“Yes, boss, it was very much fun.”

Josh added. “I had a great time, Jeff. Renee told me she thinks cowboys are hot. She gave me her cell phone number.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I guess you and Mike here got her all primed, but neither of you is available. I’ll have to use you guys to help me pick up women.”

Mike chuckled, “It don’t say too much for your skills with ladies if you need a couple of gay guys to help you pick up women.”

“Mike, I am open minded. Whatever works, works. I ain’t gonna look a gift horse in the mouth.” I had to laugh at this. The night was clear and cold. I was looking forward to gettin’ between the sheets with Mike and keeping each other warm. As José was getting closer to the turn off to the ranch, it looked like a motorcycle came from the road to the ranch. It was dark and over a distance, but the rider looked fat. He was long gone toward the mountains by the time we took the turnoff. I could see motorcycle tracks in the dirt of the road in the headlights.

As we got closer to the ranch house, I saw cattle in the yard and trotting back to the pastures behind the ranch house. The beeves in the holding pen were still there, but milling around nervously.

“Shit! That fat son of a bitch Porky knocked the fence to the holding pen where the heifers were down! How in the hell did that fat fuck find out where I live?”

Chapter Twelve

I
SAT
at my desk in the office, going over the paperwork and the checks we got from the beeves we sold. I had enough to meet the bills and pay the boys, and a bit more; it could have been a great deal worse though. We made a small profit despite the stock stolen by the rustlers. It struck me that I’d mentioned a while ago to Mike we needed to get supplies. I reckoned we could do that tomorrow. There was enough fresh meat in the freezer from two beeves I kept out, and quite a bit of pork I had gotten from the butcher in exchange for a beef.

It had been a busy week. I still had to laugh when I thought about that asshole Porky trying to cause problems with the cattle. He was so stupid though. He busted through the holding pen with the heifers, calves, and bull on the inside of the cattle guard. Which meant the cattle would stay on my property, and all we had to do that evening was herd them toward the pastures. Every one of us, including Sandy and Maria, got saddled up and herded the cattle toward the pastures. We had planned on doing that after selling off the beeves, but it just got done early. We had the fence repaired the next day, so no lasting damage was done.