by Andrew Grey
“Do…. Do.” Misty came running, and Emily sat down to pet her and get kisses, which only added to her happiness.
A cloud passed over Ky’s granite chiseled features. “I had a sister who died when I was about five and she was three. There was something wrong with her heart. They tried to fix it, but it didn’t work, and one morning she didn’t wake up. At least that’s what my mom and dad told me. We had a funeral and everything. After that, the baby things were packed away in the attic. Mom and Dad went on, but they rarely talked about Gina very much. I used to think that it was because she was so young and that they’d healed. But I know better. They just grieved for her quietly.” Ky sighed. “I found a baby picture of Gina in my mom’s billfold after she died. It was faded and old, but it had been with her all those years. I guess she kept the clothes because maybe she was hoping for another daughter.”
“I’m sorry,” Brodie said softly. “You said there were things in the attic, and I came across the box…. If you want me to put it all back, I can.”
Ky shook his head. “If there are things in there that Emily can wear, then let’s put them in the washer, clean them up, and let her put them on. I’d like to think my mom would be pleased to have a little girl use them.” He smiled.
Brodie gathered the old clothes together, got some of his own clothes that he’d already worn once, and found the laundry just off the kitchen. Dang, it was going to feel good to have clean clothes again. “You’re doing so much for us.”
“Not really,” Ky said in return, waiting for Brodie to come back once he had the washer started. “I have a couple of projects that I need to get done. As I looked closer, there was some wind damage that I need to get repaired. Part of the roof came off one of the sheds.”
“I’d help you, but someone has to stay here with Emily, and….” Brodie really wanted to be able to do something to pull his weight for all the help and to let Ky know he wasn’t some sort of slacker. While Brodie hadn’t done ranch work before, he’d held jobs and knew that money for things like food needed to be earned. “There’s no one to watch her.”
Ky nodded. “Ben is working on some fencing that needed fixing, and I sure could use some help with that roof or I’ll be up there all day in this heat.” He sighed.
“I really would help.”
“There is one person I can call,” Ky said, pulling out his phone. “My mother’s sister. She’s a good Christian lady and would never refuse to help anyone, but sometimes her help comes with a side of preaching and holier-than-thou.” He dialed the number. “Hey, Aunt Rita….” Ky listened for a while, and Brodie found himself something else to do. He didn’t need to be listening in. “No, I need your help. Is it possible for you to come to the ranch?” Ky wandered off toward the back of the house, and Brodie wondered just how much this favor was going to cost Ky. When he returned, Ky looked like he’d gone a few rounds.
“Was it as bad as you expected?” Brodie asked, and Ky shrugged as an answer. “I’ve got jeans and an old shirt for work.”
Ky plopped a hat onto his head. “You’re going to need a hat too. It will help shade your face from the sun. My aunt will be here in a little while, and she’s going to be head over heels for Emily, but don’t pay her any mind. Aunt Rita is still up in arms from when I told her I was gay after high school, and she told me to pray for the Lord to change me and help me find the right girl.” He rolled his eyes. “She will do anything for me, but she can’t understand why I don’t just settle down with a nice young lady, get married, have babies, and forget all that gay nonsense.”
Brodie snorted. His first thought was that Ky had just told him he was gay, which answered a big question and meant at least the looking wasn’t going to get him punched in the nose and thrown out on his behind. “I got one of those too. Only mine was Jacob’s mother, and you can imagine just how that went. She and my uncle were the older siblings, and they always thought they knew what was best for everyone. Drove my poor mother crazy until she just stopped listening to them. But you can figure how my cousins reacted to having a gay person in the family.” Brodie groaned. “You know, sometimes family just sucks… and not in a good way.”
“Amen to that.” Ky deadpanned. “I told my mom and dad, and they had a hard time understanding. But they tried, and they supported me anyway. Aunt Rita didn’t understand that either, and she made things hard for my mother until Mom just told her to back off.”
“Mom was okay. Dad… not so much. I think he just didn’t talk about it.” Brodie hurried in search of Emily and found her with the dogs. It seemed she was trying to get to the front door. Prince and King kept herding her away and back into the room. “Come on, little miss.” He lifted her off the ground.
“Do… do… do.” She became more ardent until Brodie sat down and Misty jumped up next to them. Apparently Emily had decided that Misty, Prince, and King were all her dogs.
“If you want, I can watch her so you can go changed, and then we can get to work as soon as Aunt Rita gets here,” Ky offered, and Brodie agreed.
He went to the bedroom, found a pair of jeans, and pulled them on, along with his oldest shirt, and met Ky, who was playing with Emily.
The front door opened, and a bird of an older woman came inside.
“Aunt Rita,” Ky said, getting up and giving her a hug. “This is Brodie, and this little princess is Emily. Brodie and I need to fix the equipment shed roof.”
“And you want me to watch the baby?” she asked with a slight smile. “When you told me you needed help with a girl, you didn’t say she was two. You know you and I are going to need to talk about your future and your immortal soul.”
Ky caught Brodie’s gaze, and Brodie was glad to have been warned.
“Aunt Rita, my soul is just fine, and we’ve had this conversation before. You believe what you want, but don’t foist it off on me. Will you watch Emily for a few hours? I need to get this done before we get more rain.”
She sighed dramatically. “Yes, of course I’ll watch her.”
“There’s a sippy cup of juice in the refrigerator if she wants something to drink,” Brodie told her. “I don’t have snacks specifically for her, but Emily isn’t fussy. She eats almost everything.” He hugged Emily, and then she squirmed to get down to play with the dogs.
“Go get your work done, and we’ll talk,” she said.
Brodie had no idea what he was in for, but he needed to help Ky at the ranch. Ky had fed him and given him a roof over their heads. It was the least he could do.
Ky led him out of the house, and they went around to the shed and got to work.
Brodie was more tired than he could ever remember being in his life. The work was hard, and the heat made it tougher. He drank tons of water and sweated it out almost faster than he could drink. But they got the roof patched and the side wall reinforced. Sweat ran down his entire torso, plastering his shirt to his skin. Brodie pulled it away, and it sucked right back into place. For as miserable as Brodie felt, Ky looked sexy as hell. Yes, his shirt was just as wet as Brodie’s, but it was thinner and accentuated his nipples and the fine lines on his belly. Damn, that shirt just seemed almost painted on Ky, and Brodie wanted to be the one to pull it off to reveal the sexiness underneath.
“I think that’s about all we can handle for today.” Ky drank a bottle of water and tossed one from an ice bath in the cooler to Brodie, who drank it down in a few gulps. He grabbed a few pieces of ice and let them melt in his hands, then placed the cool water on the back of his neck.
“D-did you get f-finished?” Ben asked, looking as hot as they felt and even dirtier, if that was possible.
“Yeah. It’s done. Go check that the horses have water and feed, then come inside to cool off. We’ll get something to eat too.”
At the mention of food, Brodie’s belly rumbled loudly. It seemed he’d worked up quite an appetite.
“Let’s go,” Ky told him. “You did great.” Ky smiled. “I know you’ve never done this kind of wor
k before, but you took to it quickly and we got it done.” He sighed, but his smile remained, and Brodie soaked up the praise like a sponge. Compliments of any kind weren’t something that came his way all that often.
As soon as the air-conditioning hit his skin, he sighed and felt cold.
“It looks like you worked hard,” Aunt Rita observed. “I figured you all would work up an appetite, so I brought you over some of my brisket, with mac and cheese, and made some fresh coleslaw. Little Emily here approved of all of it, so you know it’s good.” She smiled. “That little girl is just an angel.” Emily sat in the high chair, playing with some of her toys and eating Cheerios. “You boys get showered up and have some more to drink. I’ll get the food ready.”
“Ben will be in soon too,” Ky told her. “And thank you.”
If Ky felt anything like he did, Brodie was going to eat and probably fall asleep. The work had been hard, and the sun was brutal and unrelenting.
“Brodie, go on and shower.”
He didn’t have to be told twice and hurried down the hall. In the bathroom, he stripped, started the water, and stepped under it, desperate to be clean and to get cool. Still, as tired as he was, it had been a good day, and he and Ky worked really well together. Which was awesome. Ky was a hard worker, but he also kept the work moving at a good pace so neither of them got worn out too fast. Brodie washed his hair and did a final rinse before turning off the water and reaching for a towel. He wrapped it around his waist, cracked open the door, and peered out into the hall.
Brodie figured he’d just sneak to the room he was using to dress. He probably should have gotten his clothes first, but his mind hadn’t exactly been functioning on all cylinders. And maybe it still wasn’t, because somehow Brodie took one step out of the bathroom and ran into a wall of muscle. His cheeks heated as two arms held his shoulders.
“Hey,” Ky said gently.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you,” Brodie murmured, his gaze traveling upward. He swallowed when his brain clicked on the fact that Ky was shirtless and probably on his way to the bathroom. “Though how that’s possible, I’m not sure.” Because he sure as hell was seeing him now, and he was about to embarrass himself half to death as a certain part of his anatomy took a decided interest in just how close Ky was.
“As long as you’re okay,” Ky whispered, and leaned a little closer. Brodie knew he should probably take a step back and just escape to the bedroom, but his feet stayed right in place, as did Ky’s hands. He liked the way Ky touched him, his rough hands warming Brodie’s still-damp skin. This was a completely different kind of heat, and it seemed to radiate from inside him.
Brodie’s gaze latched onto Ky’s, and he stared into deep-brown eyes flecked with hints of gold. Damn, the man was sexy as all hell, and the longer they stayed like this, the sexier he became, especially with the musky male scent that seemed to fill the air. Every time Brodie inhaled, he got another intense bombardment of it, and damn, he wanted to bury his face at the crook of Ky’s neck just to get more of him.
Ky’s hands slipped away, and Brodie took a step back because he knew it was the right thing to do. Still, he found it nearly impossible to look away from Ky’s eyes. “I need to get my shower, and I think you should probably get dressed,” Ky whispered, his gaze lowering, and Brodie chanced a downward look himself before half jumping to the bedroom, holding his towel in place, and closing the door quickly behind him. Nothing made things deflate quite as quickly as panic, and here he’d been in the hall in only a towel, dang near flashing just about everything. Somehow the towel had stayed in place, but there was very little left to the imagination. Not that Ky seemed put off by Brodie’s display of manhood.
Still, he dressed quickly and joined Emily and Aunt Rita in the kitchen. She was already heating everything up, and as soon as Brodie sat down, she slid a plate and some iced tea in front of him. Ben was already at the table, digging in.
“Ma’am, this is really good,” Brodie said, barely stopping between bites. “You made this yourself?” She smiled and nodded, and he ate quickly, his body craving food. The mac and cheese was so good too—creamy and rich.
“Emily already ate, and she should be about ready to go down for her nap,” Aunt Rita said.
Brodie nodded, continuing to eat, feeling better and more human with each bite. He could think once again and wasn’t just acting on instinct to get him through. He was grateful to Aunt Rita for cleaning up Emily and putting her down for her nap.
“Where do your people come from?” she asked after she returned and told him that Emily was already asleep.
“Illinois. Though Ky might have told you that Jacob Tyler is my cousin,” Brodie explained.
“Well, we won’t hold that against you,” Aunt Rita said, and Brodie liked her a little more. “But you have to know what my nephew is like, and….”
“Your nephew took in two people caught in a storm and has tried to help us.” He set down his fork. “I know you’re religious and all, but I think God judges us by our deeds and the way we treat other people. Ky helped Emily and me, and he hasn’t asked for anything in return, other than for me to help him today.” He held her steely gaze. “That’s pretty Christian in my book.”
She nodded. “I’ll give you that. But what about his unholy ways with other men? I assume you know about that.” There came the holier-than-thou, right out in the open.
“Of course I do. He and I are the same in that regard.” He wasn’t going to sugarcoat it for her. “And before you ask, no, nothing has happened between Ky and me. He’s a good man.” Brodie left out the sexy as hell part.
“What I don’t understand is why you don’t put that aside and act like everyone else. Find yourselves nice girls and settle down. Get married and have children?” She seemed earnest about her question, and Brodie decided to answer her seriously.
“Ma’am….”
She rolled her eyes. “Call me Aunt Rita, for goodness sake. We’re talking about sex, after all.”
And that was the crux of it. “But we aren’t. Are we? We’re talking about marriage and who someone like Ky or myself should spend the rest of our lives with. And how we should try to be happy. That’s what you’re trying to control. Sure, sex is part of it, but only one part. Why should I be unhappy, and make some poor woman unhappy, for the rest of our lives? I am the way I am, and God made me this way. So excuse me if I choose to believe that you’re wrong. I know what the Bible says… what you think it says. I went to church plenty growing up.”
“I see…. Then you know what it says about men lying with men,” Aunt Rita told him.
“Yes, I do. But Aunt Rita, it also tells me that I should love my fellow man, and I have to say that I intend to take that part very literally.” He grinned and tilted his head slightly. Aunt Rita tried to be stern, but the corners of her mouth turned up anyway. “Seriously, if you want the truth, it says we should care for each other and love each other, and to not judge each other, a lot more than it says anything about lying with men.” He began eating once again.
“Aunt Rita,” Ky said as he came into the kitchen. Brodie stiffened and then relaxed as Ky rested his hands gently on Brodie’s shoulders. “Don’t give Brodie a hard time. He’s been through enough.” Ky kneaded slowly, and Brodie took a few bites of brisket to keep from groaning.
“It’s okay, Ky. She and I were discussing things and the choices we make in life.” He placed a hand on Ky’s. “And how we have to make the ones that will allow us to be happy. After all, it’s not like she made a decision to be straight. She just was. Your aunt got married because she fell in love with your uncle, and….”
Ky snickered, and even Aunt Rita seemed amused.
“What?”
“Our marriage was arranged by my father. He and Oliver’s dad made an agreement to combine the cattle operations. Oliver and I getting married was part of that.” She shrugged. “All I can say about that whole thing was that Oliver at least had the sense to keep his extracurr
icular activities quiet. The old goat also had the decency to die early, or I swear I’d have poisoned his whiskey.” So Aunt Rita wasn’t quite as upstanding as she liked everything to think. “He was a drunk, and a mean one at that. I stayed because half the ranch was mine by rights. And now it’s all mine.”
Brodie sat back as Ky’s hands slipped away, but he immediately missed that touch. “Then why aren’t you looking over your own place?”
“I have the best foreman in Texas, and he manages the ranch, while I manage him. Sometimes he and I go in circles like cats in a cage. But every now and then you have to fight about something. It makes me feel alive.” She got Ky a plate and placed it in front of him. “Your cousin tried to buy my ranch from me too. Like I’d sell to that old rattlesnake. He has some notion about putting together a megaranch here to rival the King Ranch or something.” She shook her head. “The man has delusions of grandeur, if you ask me. I told him to pound sand.”
“He could still do it,” Brodie said.
Both Ky and Aunt Rita shook their heads. “He doesn’t have enough water. He wants Ky’s place for the springhead, and he wants mine because of the watering hole. It isn’t like Ky’s, which bubbles with some force. Mine is just where water seeps out of the ground. It creates a pond, but it’s just enough for my operation, and Jacob has been coveting both water sources for a long time.”
Brodie finished eating and sat back, his belly wonderfully full. He was still tired, but could already feel his energy returning. “Doesn’t he have his own water supply?” It seemed stupid to try to have a ranch without one. “His ranch is really prosperous.”
“Jacob has three large retention ponds. When it rains like it did the other night, those ponds are geared to capture the water from a large area and hold it. So even if it doesn’t rain for a while, he can use that water. However, over the past few years, the dry periods have lasted longer and his ponds have run dry. Then he needs to pump water, but that gets expensive, because the wells are hundreds of feet deep. Even some of those shallower wells are going dry. The spring here on the Circle K is upstream, if you will, of Jacob’s land. And he can’t dig any more deep wells without government permission, which he isn’t going to get. So he’s trapped, and the only other source of water he has is the creek from Ky’s spring, but that isn’t going to let him keep expanding the way he wants.”