Stable Hill

by Jodi Payne

  The doorbell rang again.

  “I better get that. Excuse me a minute, Jeffrey.”

  He hurried for the front door, but this time he arrived seconds behind Emily, just in time to see the way she glowed when Brian smiled at her.

  “Hi, Em.”

  “Hi. You look amazing.”

  Oscar wasn’t sure what the criteria was for “amazing.” Brian was in jeans and a button-down shirt, and he had an odd little fuzzy patch stuck to his chin. He couldn’t remember if the kid had that a few days ago.

  “Hello, Brian.”

  “Hi, Mr. Kennedy.” Brian held out his hand to shake, and he shook it, getting a nice firm, confident grip. “Thanks for the dinner invitation. It smells amazing in here.”

  “Emily’s grandmother is making lasagna.”

  Sophie was setting the table in the dining room and smiled as Brian came in. “Oh, you’re right, Emily! He is cute!”

  “Oh my God, Soph.” Emily turned bright red.

  Brian laughed. “What? I am, actually. I am totally adorable. My mother says so all the time.” Brian winked at Emily, and she smiled back and relaxed.

  Hey, he might like this kid. Well played, would-be boyfriend.

  “Sophie, why don’t you call your sisters down and have a seat. I’ll be right back.” He headed back into the kitchen and walked in on Rose and Jeffrey laughing and singing the U of M fight song. He listened to them as they finished their choruses of “Hails,” loving the pure joy on Rose’s face.

  “Wolverines!” he called out when they were done, laughing.

  Jeffrey had one of Rose’s hands in both of his. “This lovely woman and I have found something in common. Her husband went to my alma mater.”

  “Small world.” He grinned at Jeffrey, noticing the way the man’s brown eyes absorbed the light in the kitchen. He had to tear his gaze away to speak to Rose. “Brian’s here.”

  “Oh, goodness. Yes, everything is done. Jeffrey, why don’t you stay for dinner? There’s plenty, and Oscar never has adult guests.”

  Wait, what? Wait. Did she just— “Rose.”

  “I’d love to, Rose. Thank you for the kind invitation.”

  He blinked. Wow, so smooth. Jeffrey was good at that. The two of them must have really hit it off, because not only were they on a first-name basis already, but Rose wasn’t given to spur-of-the-moment invitations like that.

  Jeffrey moved around behind Oscar to hang his suit jacket on the back of one of the kitchen chairs and pulled off his tie, rolled it neatly, and put it in his jacket pocket. With the top couple of buttons of his shirt open and his sleeves rolled up, he looked very ready to assist in Rose’s kitchen. “What can I do to help?”

  He looked so handsome, Oscar couldn’t help but admire. The crossover of dressy and casual really worked on him. If Jeffrey had any idea Oscar was looking, he didn’t let on.

  “Goodness, aren’t you sweet. Could you pull the lasagna out of the oven for me? You can put it right on that rack there. Thank you, Jeffrey.”

  Jeffrey got right to work, and the kitchen wasn’t really big enough for the three of them to be working at once, so he excused himself to make sure things were ready in the dining room.

  The twins seemed equally infatuated with Emily’s boyfriend. Zoe was looking out the window. “Is it a fast car?”

  “It’s… uh.” Brian glanced at Oscar as he came in. “I always drive the speed limit.”

  Oscar grinned and herded the twins into their seats. Jeffrey brought the lasagna out, hands gloved in Rose’s floral oven mitts. “Oh, put that here.” He cleared the way and tapped a trivet with his fingers. “Sophie, can you pull over another chair from the living room, please?”

  “Who are you?” Riley and Zoe asked at the same time, staring at Jeffrey.

  Oscar laughed. “Shall I do introductions? This is Mr. Stokes. He is the Realtor who is helping me sell Grandpa’s farm. Mr. Strokes—”

  “Jeffrey, please. Mr. Stokes is so—”

  “Stuffy. Like a teacher,” Zoe interrupted.

  He gave Zoe The Look. “Zo-zo.”

  “Totally stuffy. Please call me Jeffrey.”

  Zoe smiled at Jeffrey, and the little meter next to Jeffrey’s name in Oscar’s mind jumped from “handsome” to “hot.”

  “Okay.” He cleared his throat. “So. Jeffrey, this is my family. The twins are Zoe on the left and Riley on the right, that’s Sophie, and this is Emily and her… friend who happens to be a boy, Brian.”

  “Oz!” Emily protested, but Brian laughed.

  “Wow. You set the bar high, Mr. Kennedy.”

  Oscar gave Brian a pat on the shoulder. “You’re doing fine, Brian. Jeffrey, have a seat.”

  Rose brought out a salad, and Oscar took the bowl from her.

  “Oh, thank you, darling. I’ll just get the bread.”

  “You sit, Rose. I can get the bread. Jeffrey, would you like a glass of wine?”

  “If you’re having some, I’d love a glass. Thanks.”

  Oh, he was definitely having wine. How many men was he going to have to work to get off his mind this week? It was like he’d been asleep for three years and suddenly something in him just randomly started working again, like Mother waking the crew aboard the Nostromo.

  He got the bread on the table and poured wine for Rose, Jeffrey, and then himself.

  “So, Mr. Kennedy, what do you do?”

  Oscar raised an eyebrow. “I’m a compliance officer for American Express.”

  “A what?”

  “He makes sure the bank is following all the government’s rules,” Sophie clarified for Brian.

  “That’s basically it, yes.” The food went around the table, everyone helping themselves.

  “That sounds complicated.”

  “It can be. It’s brain work for sure.” And most people found it boring as hell to talk about. “What are you into, Brian?”

  “Me? Uh… I don’t know. Right now, I’m finishing my college apps.”

  “He plays the violin. He wants to go to music school,” Emily said proudly. “He’s so good. You can tell him, Brian.”

  “Music school? Sounds great.” Maybe the kid really had talent. Of course, he would give his own kids the practicality lecture first, but if one of his girls had talent and drive, he’d be supportive.

  Brian looked up from his lasagna. “Yeah?”

  “Sure. Do you love it?”

  “I do.”

  “I played the violin.” Everyone at the table turned and stared at Jeffrey, and Jeffrey casually sipped his wine.

  “What? Did you really?” He probably could have phrased that better.

  Jeffrey glared at him. “Yes, Oscar. I really did. I still pick it up sometimes.” The words were stern, but the smile and the way Jeffrey’s eyes twinkled betrayed the sarcasm.

  “Sorry.”

  Brian was interested. “Did you go to music school?”

  “I didn’t. Sometimes I wish I had. I hope you find the right conservatory.”

  “I hope I can get in.”

  Jeffrey shrugged. “Takes drive and a little luck.”

  So, wait. First Jeffrey won Rose over, and now Emily’s boyfriend too. The man didn’t have to try, didn’t have to make small talk. Jeffrey just fit right in.

  And the guy was hot.

  The rest of dinner was really nice. There was lots of conversation from everywhere. Jeffrey and Rose traded stories about their alma mater, Emily and Brian talked about college worries and a round of midterms that was coming up soon. The twins sang everyone a song they’d learned at school. Rose’s lasagna disappeared from the pan like vultures had been at it. There was nothing left of the bread either, and the adults polished off a bottle of wine.

  Brian, the whole reason for this get-together, was pretty relaxed and seemed like a nice kid. So when Emily wanted to know if they could go hang out in her room, he agreed.

  “Just leave the door open.”

  “Oz!” She rolled her eyes at
him. “Fine. Let’s go sit in your car, Bri.”

  Rose looked at him and laughed.

  “Thanks for dinner, Mr. Kennedy. Grandma Rose.” Brian gave Jeffrey a wave, took Emily by the hand, and out the door they went.

  “His back windows are tinted,” Jeffrey offered, helpfully.

  He snorted. “Yeah, yeah.”

  “Come on, girls. Reading and bed.” Rose herded them toward the stairs. “It was lovely to meet you, Jeffrey. Do come around again.”

  “I will. A pleasure meeting you too, Rose. Dinner was out of this world. Good night.”

  Rose smiled, looking pleased and charmed, and disappeared up the stairs after the girls.

  He started gathering dishes off the table. “You are one smooth operator, Mr. Stokes.”

  “She is darling.”

  “She is, and a lifesaver too. I couldn’t do this single-dad gig without her.” Okay, that was maybe too much information to share with his Realtor. Damn the wine.

  “She told me some more about Emmett. Such an awful loss. I’m so sorry. She thinks you’re a wonderful father.”

  He knew that. He was fairly confident that the fierceness with which he loved those girls made up for most of his shortcomings. They were his sun and moon, even more so after losing Emmett. “She doesn’t give herself enough credit. She moved in here a few weeks before we lost Emmett, and she never left.”

  “Lucky. She’s a damn good cook.”

  He laughed. “That she is. I had to learn to eat carefully to keep the waistline in check.”

  Jeffrey brought dirty dishes in from the dining room, and Oscar washed. He started to suggest that Jeffrey didn’t need to help, but decided to let himself be selfish. He was enjoying the man’s company. It was nice to have another man in his kitchen again.

  Jesus, hadn’t he just blown off Russ? That had been a hell of a kiss too. What was he doing?

  They finished the dishes together and cleaned up the dining room. Jeffrey even helped him put the extra chairs away. All this domestic stuff was easy and wonderful, but it was starting to break his heart.

  Jeffrey seemed to know when it was time to go.

  “The paperwork I brought is on your desk in the kitchen. Why don’t you just bring it with you on Tuesday?”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Thank you again for a nice evening. Your girls are lovely. And I think you could do worse than that boyfriend.”

  “Oh, I definitely could. Tinted windows notwithstanding.” He grinned, but it faded a little and an awkward silence fell between them as he saw Jeffrey out the door.

  “Well… good night?” Jeffrey looked at him, brown eyes searching his, and reached for him.

  God, he could, he really could. He wanted to, but—

  He took a step back. “Yeah. Good night. Thanks for indulging Rose.”

  Jeffrey’s face fell. Oscar knew he was blowing it, first Russ and now Jeffrey. “Yeah. Rose. She’s something else. Night.”

  Shit.

  Jeffrey tossed his jacket on the front seat and climbed into his car.

  Oscar stood in the doorway and watched as the fancy Mercedes taillights disappeared.

  Dammit.

  Emmett, I wish you could tell me what I should do, baby. What you’d want me to do. I don’t know what’s right anymore.

  He had feelings for Russ and a hard-on for Jeffrey and didn’t know how to handle either one.

  Chapter Eleven

  ALL OSCAR had been able to think about all morning was how much money today was going to cost him. He turned up the radio to distract himself, got on the road straight from work, and headed out to the farm.

  Jeffrey was at the house with a contractor, a carpenter, and whoever else, poking through the barns, evaluating the indoor ring Dad never finished, and checking out the foundation on the little cottage on the property that hadn’t been used since his grandparents lived in it years and years ago.

  It seemed so ironic that he was going to have to put money into a farm he needed to unload as soon as possible. Jeffrey had reminded him that the return would be much greater, and while he knew that was probably true, it didn’t stop him from wincing at the idea of out-of-pocket costs when things were already fairly tight.

  He sighed, put on some Springsteen, and drove, trying not to obsess about it. His mind wandered instead to Emily and the colleges she was looking at, two of which were Ivy League. That brought him back to the money issues, so he moved on to her boyfriend. Brian seemed like a genuinely nice kid, but Oscar had been seventeen once. Nice or not, he knew what was on that boy’s mind. He’d tried to have the safe-sex talk with Emily, but that went over like a lead balloon. She insisted she knew it all, and at this point he wasn’t sure he had much choice but to hope to hell that was true.

  Still, Brian had been a gentleman, and he’d treated Rose with respect, so there had to be someone decent in there.

  Right?

  That train of thought got Oscar thinking about Jeffrey again, only this time about how he’d said he played the violin. That was wonderful to know about him but seemed to be so incongruous with the rest of the guy’s life.

  Bet he looks good with a violin in his hands, though.

  Oscar could picture it, sleeves rolled up, shirt unbuttoned, eyes closed and brow furrowed, moving with the notes he was playing. Shirt unbuttoned a little more….

  He snorted as he pulled off the highway and headed up the access road to Stable Hill. Good grief. Wasn’t he trying not to obsess?

  Oscar had been so stressed about what was going on without him at the farm that he’d left work a couple of hours early to head out here, hoping to catch the guys Jeffrey had brought in and hear what they had to say firsthand, instead of filtered through a Realtor. He trusted Jeffrey; it wasn’t about that. There was just something about looking a contractor in the eye and understanding what they were thinking that he felt would be reassuring, especially if the estimates came in high.

  He pulled into the driveway and parked next to Jeffrey’s Mercedes but didn’t see a contractor or anyone else’s truck. He must have missed them.

  Dammit.

  He climbed out of the minivan but stopped in the driveway and looked around. Dad had been inspired when he decided to build the main house right here. It was a beautiful spot. The sun was low and setting on the back side of the house, he knew, but the view from here was all long shadows and bright colors on the fields and the treetops. Beautiful.

  He smiled and let himself in. The front door was unlocked, as it had been his entire life. But the scene inside wasn’t anything he’d seen in the living room before. The sounds were all new too.

  “Fuck, yeah.”

  His Realtor was standing, shirtless and pants open, back against the living room wall. Jeffrey hissed and looked down at another man.

  Russ?

  Russ was licking and biting at one of Jeffrey’s nipples with a hand down Jeffrey’s pants, the other holding on to Jeffrey’s hip.

  Oh. God.

  He stood in the doorway, staring. He couldn’t help himself, though he knew it wasn’t right. He should leave now. He should tell them he was standing there. He should break them up—this was his father’s living room, right? He should… he should do something… he….

  Oh, Jesus.

  They were beautiful together.

  “Mmm.” Jeffrey hummed, and then his eyes flicked up. Deep, deep, brown eyes locked with Oscar’s. A hot, knowing grin tugged at the corner of Jeffrey’s lips, and he licked them as that smile grew wider.

  Oscar was frozen in place. His feet felt heavy, cemented in the spot he was standing. Jeffrey held their stare, tangled long fingers in Russ’s hair and pushed down.

  “Yeah.” Russ moaned and knelt, then licked the bulge in Jeffrey’s open jeans through bright white cotton briefs.

  “Come on,” Jeffrey mouthed soundlessly across the room to him.

  Oscar’s skin broke out in goose bumps, nipples growing stiff and hard. He licked his lips
and swallowed back a moan.

  “Come. Here,” Jeffrey whispered again, extending a hand out, beckoning, palm up, toward him. The other hand was still combing through Russ’s tousle of blond hair.

  He wasn’t sure what he was feeling. His dick was liking this, though—his balls had begun to ache, and he was half-hard, his cock filling enough to make his pants uncomfortable.

  He knew he had a real connection—a pull, a longing, a need for each of these men, though he didn’t quite understand how that was possible. Emotion was coiling tight in his chest and making it hard to breathe, and there was an all too familiar stinging at the corner of his eyes. What did it mean? What was it telling him? He didn’t know what to do with any of it.

  But some part of him must have known, because his feet were moving slowly toward them.

  Later. He needed this contact so desperately. He could sort it out later.

  He put a shaking hand in Jeffrey’s, and that dark gaze held him, smiling at him again, but something softer was in Jeffrey’s eyes now. Jeffrey pulled him a step closer, and then closer still, until Russ was trapped between them, and their lips met in a light, sensual kiss.

  “Oscar.” That was Russ’s voice. “Oh my God. Oscar.”

  Russ stood up slowly between them and stole his kiss away from Jeffrey. Oscar made a sound that was more of a whimper than a moan and looped an arm around Russ, pulling the man in close. He was aware of Jeffrey moving around to his back, starting to undress him, damp lips running over his bared shoulders and warm hands settling against his abs.

  The kiss left Oscar reeling, and he gasped as Russ released him to pull off a worn T-shirt.

  “I… I—”

  “Shh,” Jeffrey hushed him in a soothing tone and placed a kiss between his shoulder blades. “We’ve got you, Oscar.”

  Oh God. Oh dear God.

  He swayed a little, and they caught him—Jeffrey a strong, steady presence at his back and Russ cupping his jaw with one hand and looking into his eyes.

  Every nerve was suddenly alight, buzzing, and every touch of Jeffrey’s lips and Russ’s fingers set another little bit of him on fire. He had no desire, let alone the will, to resist them. His fear was countered by their reassurance and his reservations replaced with guileless need. It was foreign and forbidden, but it felt so right. Their single-minded seduction was absolute. Inescapable. He surrendered willingly and completely.