Stable Hill

by Jodi Payne

  “Go on, ask him to tell you what he told me.” Russ was plating omelets and handed one to him, then picked up the other two.

  “This looks fantastic.”

  Russ met his eyes, gave him a strange, sad grin. “Thanks. I think you’ll like it.”

  “I know I will.” He followed Russ out into the dining room. “Come eat, Jeffrey. I got you more coffee.” Ask now? Ask after breakfast? Dammit. Having two lovers was complicated, and they hadn’t discussed any rules for this. He decided to wait and let everyone get some food in them before bringing it up.

  “Thanks, love.”

  They all sat down and he dug in, trying to ignore the tension and enjoy what really was a fantastic omelet. “This is great, Russ. Thank you.”

  Russ nodded. “My hungry man.”

  He’d gotten about halfway through his breakfast when he noticed Jeffrey was barely eating. He sighed. “Okay, what, Jeffrey? Tell me what you told Russ.”

  Jeffrey looked up sharply, eyes on Russ before moving to him. “All right. Are you serious about selling the farm?”

  What? “Of course. It’s not what I want to do, but I can’t afford to keep it.”

  Jeffrey looked at Russ again, then back at him. “I have a buyer.”

  “Oh?” Oscar turned his head slightly, eyes narrowing. “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

  “First Home Incorporated. They want to take the buildings down and turn the land into an adult housing community.”

  “A commercial buyer.”

  “Yes.”

  God fucking dammit. “We discussed this.”

  Jeffrey nodded. “We did.”

  “Then you already know my answer.”

  “Oscar. I think you need to seriously consider the offer.”

  He glared at Jeffrey. “No.”

  “See?” Russ interrupted.

  Jeffrey pushed back from the table. “Russ—”

  “All he’s thinking about is the bottom line, the dollar figures. He’s not thinking about what you want, Oscar.”

  Jeffrey put a hand up. “Hold on.”

  “You know what he wants! Why are you insisting on bringing people here that you know Oscar won’t accept? And while we’re at it, don’t you ever use me like that again. Oscar didn’t know they were coming, and you brought them anyway. I let them in, let them see the place, thinking you’d already cleared it with him.”

  “Wait. Russ, that’s not—”

  “Hey!” Oscar stood up, getting their attention. “I’m sitting right here, guys.”

  They both glanced at him and then away again. Russ poked at his breakfast, and Jeffrey picked up his coffee.

  He sat back down, looking from one to the other. Selling this farm was stressful on all of them, if for different reasons. The fact that it was coming to this only made him more convinced he needed to sell it soon. He needed it out of their hair so they could move on with their lives.

  “Tell me, Jeffrey. Explain it to me.”

  Jeffrey sighed and nodded. “I know what you want, Oscar, and I understand why. In a perfect world, I would find a buyer for this place who would love it for their own family like you do. But that’s just not the reality of the market we’re in right now, babe.”

  Russ snorted and took a bite of his omelet, and Jeffrey took another sip of his coffee.

  “The one barn is fantastic, the horse barn. But the other is only half-built, the little cottage over here needs a new roof, and I’m sorry, Oscar, but this house in its current state isn’t appealing to buyers.”

  Fuck. Okay, he tried to listen, tried to hear what his lover was telling him. “What are my options?”

  “Your…? Oscar.”

  He held a hand out to hush Russ. “Just give me the options, Jeffrey.”

  Jeffrey stared at him, glanced at Russ, then sighed. “None of them make financial sense.”

  “Money.” Russ snorted into his coffee mug. Neither he nor Jeffrey responded.

  “Jeffrey, I don’t care. I need to know what they are. I want to make a good decision. The right decision.”

  “Okay.” Jeffrey nodded. “All right. So the first thing you could do is put an addition on the house that includes another bathroom, paint the exterior, finish the basement, and upgrade the kitchen. That’s one option. Another is that I could lower the price of the property significantly, and I might find a buyer who could then afford to tear the house down after they buy and put up something else. Any way you slice this, it’s not going to turn out the way you want it to, and you’re going to lose money. The buyer who’s interested—”

  “The developer,” Russ added.

  “Yes, Russ. It is a commercial buyer, but their offer is above asking, and they’ll forgo building inspections because they’re going to remove them anyway. That’s going to save you some costs too, Oscar. And you can sell everything salvageable yourself too. The horses, the equipment, they don’t want any of it. If you’re looking to use the proceeds to put the girls through college, this is the way to go.”

  “And, of course it makes you some money too.”

  “Russ.” He put a hand on Russ’s. He would never make an issue of Jeffrey’s right to a commission.

  Jeffrey just shook his head. “Of course I’m going to make some money, but I’ve already lowered my usual commission. I need to take something. I’ve spent a lot of time on this sale, and I do have to pay my rent.”

  “Russ, let’s be fair. This piece is a business arrangement, and we have to keep these things separate to some degree.” He watched Jeffrey, doing his best to reserve judgment and let the man speak.

  “Oscar, if you were nobody to me, if you were just another client and I was looking to make a giant sale, I’d have convinced my client this was the way to go a long while ago. I’d have told them I wouldn’t find a residential buyer. This would have been over by now. But I know how important the farm is to you, and I’ve tried. Longer and harder than I would have for anyone else. I’m not suggesting this lightly.”

  Oscar nodded. He wasn’t happy, but it couldn’t be easy for Jeffrey to tell him things the man knew he didn’t want to hear either.

  “There is one other option that might make more sense. You could sell the house in Ardmore instead.”

  “What?” Emmett’s house?

  “I could sell that in a heartbeat. Great neighborhood, good schools. I could get you a good price.” Jeffrey raised an eyebrow.

  He shook his head. No, that was Emmett’s house. The girls were raised there and would have to be uprooted, the farm needed work and upkeep. He had no idea how the schools were. While he loved the farm, that made no sense.

  “I can’t afford that either.”

  “Well, you have your options now. I’m just asking that you think about it seriously. This is, as you said, a business deal. You have to let the emotional attachment go. If you’re selling, it’s not going to be yours anymore, you know? They could decide to renovate the house on their own. They could turn around and resell it. They could do anything they wanted to.” Jeffrey looked at him seriously. “You need to think about your goals, you know what I mean? Your reasons for selling. Make a decision you can live with.”

  He didn’t want to lose the farm for himself. He needed to sell it for his family, and his family always came first. When he thought about it that way, that simply, it was really a no-brainer decision.

  “Does it matter to anyone that I’m losing my job in this deal? I mean, this is all well and good for your family, Oscar, and for your rent, Jeff, but I’m left out in the cold here. It took me a good long while to find this job, and I don’t know what my next one might be. Not to mention, I’m losing fourteen friends who are living out there in that barn. And I’m losing the only place I’ve called home since I left South Carolina.” Russ pushed back from the table and stood up, shaking his head. “I know it’s not about me, but this is.” Russ gestured to the three of them. “Y’all will be perfectly fine after the sale, right? A little more cash
in your pockets, a little less stress on your shoulders. But what about me? I’ll be homeless and unemployed.”

  “You can move in with me,” Jeffrey offered quickly.

  “I don’t want a handout, Jeff. I need a goddamn job.” Russ stomped off with his plate into the kitchen.

  Jeffrey stood up and followed Russ. “It’s not a handout, Russ. I love you.”

  Oscar watched them go, not really meaning to tune out their discussion, but damn, he had a lot to think about.

  Think about your goals.

  That was the best advice right there, wasn’t it? There was a reason he’d put the farm on the market, a good reason and long before there was anything between any of them. He had a family to support, and as much as he loved both of these men, he had a responsibility to those girls. To Emmett’s girls. The only right decision was the one that benefited them the most.

  He loved Russ, and he certainly understood what losing a home felt like. Losing the farm was sad. It was closing a beloved chapter of his life. But those girls had entire lives of their own ahead of them. He and Jeffrey would never just abandon Russ—Russ wouldn’t be homeless, wouldn’t want for anything, and would have time to find another job. They’d figure something out.

  He was going to sell the farm.

  He got up and made his way into the now-silent kitchen. Jeffrey had his arms around Russ, who was leaning into Jeffrey’s chest, looking as sad as on the day of Dad’s funeral.

  Jeffrey gave him a helpless look that sat awkwardly on Jeffrey’s face and settled uncomfortably into his strong shoulders.

  Oscar set his plate down and looped his arms around them both. Jeffrey raised an eyebrow at him, and he gave his lover—and his Realtor—the nod.

  Chapter Thirty

  JEFFREY PARKED out in front of the Stable Hill farmhouse, next to Russ’s truck, and grabbed his duffel bag off the front seat as he climbed out of his car. He let himself in the front door, knowing the place was never locked, and went upstairs to the bedroom, where he quickly changed out of his suit and into jeans, a T-shirt, and a pair of hiking boots. It was that or sneakers, and these at least looked like he belonged outdoors.

  He ran his fingers through his hair and headed back downstairs, this time going out the back door toward the stables. It was a beautiful day, and the place was busy, though honestly, he wasn’t a barn guy, and he couldn’t tell what was going on. There were guys sitting at a picnic table, sorting through what looked like reins maybe. There were guys in the barn carrying rakes and hay. The stall doors were all open, and there wasn’t a horse in sight.

  Russ was in sight, though. His lover had on a dirty baseball hat, a pair of sturdy jeans, and a T-shirt with a sweat stain on the front. He was standing by a small stack of hay bales.

  God, Russ worked hard and looked damn good doing it.

  Jeffrey took a few steps closer. “Hey, babe.”

  Russ looked over, dark clouds forming in his green eyes, then picked up a bale of hay, fingers tucking under the wire. “I’m working.” He took the hay into a stall, cut the wire free, then brought it back out and tossed it into a pile.

  “I was wondering if you had time for some lunch.”

  Russ picked up another bale. “Nope.”

  Shit. Okay. Russ was more upset with him than he’d thought. “Already had your peanut butter and jelly, huh?”

  “Yep.” Russ dropped that bale in the next stall over and cut the wires, adding them to his pile.

  “I texted you earlier, but you didn’t get back to me.”

  “I’m working.”

  “Where are the horses?”

  “Turnout.”

  He sighed and tucked his hands into his pockets. “Seems busier than usual around here.”

  “Yep.” Another bale, another stall.

  “Is there something special going on?”

  Russ glared at him. “The guys are going through the tack and the equipment to see what we can sell. I figure it won’t be much use to the over fifty-five crowd.”

  Ouch.

  “You know, I did the best I could.”

  “I’m not questioning that.”

  “This farm is costing Oscar money every day it’s not sold.”

  “I know. I’m not questioning that either.” Russ picked up another bale and carried it to another stall. This time he followed Russ in.

  “Can we just talk a minute, please?”

  Russ sighed and wiped his forehead on the shoulder of his T-shirt. “Well, you’ve got me cornered, so talk.”

  “You’re going to be fine, you know. You can move in with me and then find another job. Move in with me and stay, I mean. I’d like that.”

  “You’ve got it all figured out, huh?”

  “It makes sense, Russ.”

  “It might, but you’re not the one being told how this is going to work. You have a place, and a job, and selling this farm is going to make you a little money. Selling Stable Hill puts me out of work and out of a home.” Russ shook his head. “What happens next isn’t up to you.”

  “Russ, it’ll be okay. You will move in with me. We’ll make sure you’re good.”

  “Did anyone ask me if I wanted to? If I wanted you to make sure I’m good?”

  He blinked at Russ. “Well, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  What did I don’t know mean? “I’m not sure I understand.”

  Russ shrugged. “I applied for a job.”

  “Yeah? That’s great. Where?”

  “Tennessee.”

  Wait.

  Shit, where did the air go? Jeffrey forced himself to take a breath. “Ten… nessee?” What? No.

  Russ nodded. “Busy barn, forty horses. They breed and give lessons. Fancy operation. Pay’s really good.”

  “Oh.” Think. Change his mind.

  “I’d been thinking about it before we all… got together. It’s not a new idea. This place had started to feel pretty much like a dead end for me after Jonas died. Some of those horse farms in Tennessee and Kentucky are grand.”

  “I’m sure. So… that’s better than moving in with me.” He didn’t care for the ache in his chest.

  “I’m not a teenager, and I have some pride, Jeff. It’s solid work and a good situation, where people aren’t making decisions for me.”

  “Offering to help and making decisions for you are not the same thing.”

  Russ looked at him for a long moment. “Are you going to let me out of here? I have work to do.”

  He stepped aside wordlessly, letting Russ by. “Don’t go to Tennessee.”

  “Why not? You and Oscar have this all figured out. You’ll be fine.”

  “Really?” He stepped close to Russ, right into his space. “Is that what this is about?”

  “Yes. It is. Partly. And the other part is about this farm. Why doesn’t anyone understand what I am saying? Why can’t one of you listen? I understand that it’s not really mine, I don’t have any kind of money in it, but it’s my home all the same. I’m… rooted. I put down real roots here.”

  He didn’t know what to say. Oscar was selling; the man had set his priorities and that was that. How could he not respect needing money for those girls? He reached for Russ and pulled him into a hug, not letting go when Russ made a halfhearted attempt to protest.

  “And then there’s Angel. Jonas left her to me when he died. I’d have to find a place to board her, pay for her boarding…. I mean, if I found the right job, I could keep her on that farm.”

  Angel. Did he know about Angel? That had to be the horse Sophie was talking about Sunday night.

  “I’ll help you with Angel too.”

  “Jeff—”

  “I love you and I want you to stay. Oscar loves you. You brought us all together, baby. We don’t work without you.” That was the truth. He and Oscar were hot as fuck in bed, and they loved each other, but on their own, the two of them weren’t enough. They were a triad, not a couple. Every piece mattered.

 
Russ gaped at him, blinking for a moment, and then finally shook it off and looked away. “I’m… I need to get back to work.”

  Jesus Christ.

  “Promise me you’ll think about this.”

  “I’ve done nothing but think about it. I’m thinking. I’m also working. You need to go.”

  Fuck. The lawyers were all involved now. Oscar had signed the Letter of Intent first thing Monday morning. Late this afternoon Oscar’s attorney sent him a final copy of the Purchase Agreement, and it was ready to be signed. Oscar probably had it in his hands right now. They’d set a deadline of this coming Monday to get the deal done, and then it was just a matter of getting the money sent around and the real estate papers signed. The farm was already all but sold.

  He understood Russ’s feelings about handouts, but he hadn’t intended any such thing. He wanted Russ to know how important this was to him. How important Russ was to him, their relationship was…. He wanted to live together. All of them one day, when Oscar was able, but until then, why should he and Russ live apart? Russ could move in, and he’d give Oscar a key so his lover could come when not with the girls. His apartment could serve as their new place. It could work. He really thought it would work.

  Russ had gone back to the bales of hay, picking them up and dropping them in each stall down the lane, no longer acknowledging his presence. He sighed and turned back up toward the house, feeling… sad. And a little panicked. Maybe a little heartbroken.

  This is why he didn’t do relationships. He hated feeling this way. Who needed this uncertainty and worry? Who needed to lose sleep over someone else? Multiplied by two?

  By the time he’d gathered up his things upstairs, he wasn’t sad anymore; he was frustrated. Keyed up. He needed a drink.

  He got in his car and raced down the drive, so ready to tear up the town. He stopped at the end of his driveway, flipped to Grindr on his phone, and stared at it.

  Yeah, right. Who was he kidding?

  He sighed and deleted the app.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  OSCAR LOOKED at the paperwork on his passenger seat, feeling sick to his stomach.