Timing

by Mary Calmes

  “Stefan Joss?”

  “Yes?”

  “This is Gracie Freeman.”

  I sighed as I ducked under the tent and started across the grounds. It was cooler away from the crowd of people. “Hey there, Mrs. Freeman.” I smiled into my phone. It was nice of her to call and remind me that I had a life beyond ranches and cowboys, a life that I would be returning to in the next forty-eight hours. “How are you, ma’am?”

  “I’m sorry to call so late, Stefan, but I had to speak to you.”

  “No, it’s fine,” I assured her. “What’s on your mind, ma’am?”

  She took a breath. “Could you come by and see me first thing tomorrow morning instead of waiting until Monday?”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Yes and no… would you come?”

  “’Course.” I yawned. “Whatever you need.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” I assured her. “What time would you like me?”

  “Nine?”

  “Absolutely, I’ll see you at nine.”

  “Oh, that’s wonderful,” she breathed out. “Thank you, Stefan.”

  “May I ask what you’ve decided to do?”

  “Yes… I’m going to sell you the ranch. I spoke to my neighbors today, and they were all very persuasive.”

  “Oh, why do I not like the sound of that?”

  “No, no.” She chuckled. “No one is threatening me—no one would do that.”

  “Okay.”

  “You don’t sound pleased.”

  “I’m pleased.” I sighed. “I’m just surprised.”

  “So was I, really.”

  “Well, I’ll see you in the morning, ma’am.”

  “I’ll see you then, Stefan.”

  After I hung up the phone, I took a deep breath before calling my boss. He didn’t pick up, so I left a message and gave him the good news. I called him out on his lie about other people going to see Mrs. Freeman as well.

  “You didn’t have to make up shit to make me go see the nice lady,” I scolded him, laughing at the same time. “You could’ve just told me the truth—you know I would have done it anyway. I’ve known you over four years, Knox; I would hope you’d know me better by now.”

  When I finished, I turned around to look back at the party tent. I was surprised to find Rand standing there, staring at me. He looked good, all rumpled from his evening. His shirtsleeves were unbuttoned, his collar undone, giving a glimpse of the white T-shirt underneath, and the thick, glossy black hair had fallen into his eyes. He looked like he’d been ravished, and that thought made my mouth go dry.

  “Was it your idea to drive my mom and uncle home?”

  The question, so casually spoken, was illuminating for me because in that moment I understood with absolute clarity what I meant to Rand Holloway.

  Instead of just simply going with what he had been told, instead of accepting things at face value, Rand was checking. We had a plan, and as far as he knew, I was changing it because of what his mother had said. I thought he wanted to change it because he had been holding his ex-wife’s hand earlier. Both of us were making assumptions. But just before everything blew up, just before we fell back into old habits of thinking that we knew what was going on in the other guy’s head, right before everything ended… he was checking.

  “No,” I called over to him. “It wasn’t my idea.”

  “Okay.”

  “And Jenny?” I asked.

  He cleared his throat. “Jenny came to make sure I was okay… she’s gettin’ remarried.”

  Oh. “Your mother thought you guys wanted to be alone… she thought you were leaving early. She asked me to drive her and Tyler back to the house.”

  He nodded, hands shoved down into the pockets of his tuxedo pants.

  “So I guess I’ll give your mom Charlotte’s keys and you can run me back over there tonight so I can grab my stuff and pick up the rental car.”

  His gaze on me was unwavering.

  “Would that be all right?”

  “Yep,” he agreed, digging the toe of his boot into the dirt. I had to love a man in a tuxedo and polished cowboy boots. Not many could pull it off. “That sounds about right.”

  “I’ll look for you after Charlotte and Ben leave.”

  “Good,” he said, turning to go.

  And just like that, everything was back on course. “Rand.”

  He looked over his shoulder at me.

  “Thanks for making sure what was going on. I wouldn’t have.”

  “I know,” he said solemnly, changing his mind about leaving, instead crossing the twenty feet or so of yard separating us.

  I waited as he closed in on me, wondering about the scowl on his face. “Why’re you mad? I’m not mad, and I’m the one that should be.”

  He stopped inches from me, so close that I had to take a step back, or would have, if he hadn’t grabbed hold of my arm to keep me there.

  “Rand?”

  “Why should you be mad, and why would you just go ahead and assume the worst of me? I’m the one who should be mad at you for thinking whatcha did.”

  “Oh?” I snapped back at him, irritated now, rolling my shoulder so he had to let go or hold tighter. “And what exactly did I do?”

  His hand tightened as he took another step closer, and I had no recourse but to tip my head back to meet his gaze. The man was big, and it was not the time that I wanted to be reminded.

  “You don’t just go round thinkin’ the worst of people, Stef. That dog don’t hunt.”

  It took me a minute. “What?”

  “You know what I mean!” he growled at me, his other hand moving to the back of my head, fisting in my hair. “Don’t just think bad shit about me. I ain’t a bad man.”

  Somewhere in the evening between me thinking he wanted out of our previously agreed-on plans and his ex-wife telling him she was getting remarried, Rand had been reminded that he could be an asshole.

  “No, you’re not a bad man,” I said, putting my hands on his hips, sliding them up under his rumpled, untucked tuxedo shirt to the hot skin and rippling muscles underneath. “And I am sorry I didn’t come ask you what was going on. I do assume the worst, always have. It’s a terrible habit. I’ll work on it… forgive me.”

  I felt the muscles clenching under my wandering hands, heard his breath falter, saw the way he was looking at me, like I was food.

  “I thought maybe you wanted Jenny’s legs wrapped around you in bed,” I murmured, taking a breath before I leaned forward and kissed the pulsing vein on the side of his neck. “But I’m thinkin’ now it’s me you want under you… am I right? I’m just checking.”

  He didn’t answer. He grabbed me instead, crushing me against him, his face buried in my shoulder, arms like steel wrapping me up. I had my answer.

  Long minutes later, he let me go and followed me back into the tent. I didn’t worry that anyone would have thought the embrace odd. It was a wedding, after all, which all manner of weirdness could be attributed to. Being overly emotional or drunk covered a multitude of hallucinations. No one would have thought twice about Rand Holloway hugging me in the dark.

  Inside, I took Charlotte’s keys to Rand’s mother and told her that Rand was driving me back to the house to collect my stuff because he was going with me to see a client in the morning. I was surprised when her face lit up and she took hold of my arm.

  “Oh thank God,” her breath rushed out. “You keep that girl away from him, Stef. I can’t stand the doubt and self-loathing she plants in him.”

  “I thought she was a nice girl,” I reminded her of her words earlier in the day. “You said that she was sweet and a homemaker and—”

  “I know what I said.” She slapped my arm. “But it’s crap. She broke the man’s spirit with whatever she did or said, and I don’t want her back, you hear?”

  “Yes, ma’am.” I grinned at her. “I’ll protect him.”

  “See that you do.”

 
I hugged her tight, and she gasped at the sudden movement. “She told Rand she’s getting remarried. She just wanted to tell him.”

  “She’s full of crap—she came to tell him she’s gettin’ hitched to see what his reaction would be, and that’s all.”

  I eased her out to arm’s length. “You’re so distrusting.”

  Her head snapped up so she could look up into my eyes. “Stef, I know my children well, and if you think I don’t know what’s good for them and bad for them… you’re a fool.”

  I nodded, my hands dropping away from her.

  “When I first met you, I didn’t understand about being gay. I was certain that given enough time, Charlotte would wear you down and you two would be married.”

  I was going to say something, but she lifted her hand to stop me.

  “I understand more now. I’ve gone to meetings and such.”

  Why? What would prompt her to attend meetings about being gay?

  “Don’t look at me like that,” she warned me. “I need to be… I know what’s fixin’ to happen, so just don’t you be so sassy.”

  Me? “What’d I—”

  “I love you,” she said suddenly, hand on my cheek as she stared up at me, daring me to say even a word. “You are a good boy, Stefan, contrary as all get out, but still… very good. Whatever happens, I approve.”

  Air. I needed air. “You—”

  Her hand fell off me, and she turned and walked away without another word. I really was in The Twilight Zone, I just knew it. Before I had a chance to recover, Rand walked by, grabbed my bicep, dragged me over to a table, and shoved me down into a chair before taking a seat beside me. Looking around at the group, there was no one I knew except Jenny, and we had never been properly introduced.

  “This here is Stefan Joss, Char’s best friend,” Rand grunted, his thigh plastered against mine under the table. “Stef, this is my ex, Jenny Stover, and her cousin Kim, and my cousin Travis, and his wife Donna.”

  “Nice to meet you all,” I greeted them.

  “Your speech was the best one,” Kim assured me.

  “Thank you.” I accepted the compliment because I was hoping it was true.

  “And you look amazing,” Jenny said, her voice smooth and lovely. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tan tuxedo before.”

  I arched an eyebrow for her. “Gotta be different.”

  Her smile was warmer than I expected, genuine. “Absolutely.” She sighed before turning to Rand, her hands closing on his bicep. “Come dance with me.”

  He had no choice: she was tugging on his arm, and everyone else at the table was urging them on. As he started standing up, though, the music died, and the DJ apologized before he said that the bride needed her best friend out on the dance floor.

  “That would be you,” Rand said to me, tipping his head toward the floor.

  Standing up, I made my way through the crowd of people to find Charlotte on the dance floor with her hand out to me. I heard the first chords of “Cruisin’” as she grabbed me.

  “You’re insane,” I assured her.

  Her arms lifted, locking behind my neck as she stared up into my eyes. “And you will always be my first love.”

  I took her into my arms as the song began, my eyes locked on hers. It had to be confusing for some people, the way she looked at me, the way I held her, since the love was there, a tangible thing that anyone could plainly see.

  When the song ended, I bent and kissed her forehead, and there was cheering.

  “One of these days,” she said wickedly, “before I die, I will get a real kiss from you, Stefan Joss, and I will know what the big deal is all about.”

  I smirked, and she giggled before the DJ announced that the car had arrived to take the bride and groom away to their honeymoon. Being ready to call it a night myself, the novelty of her wedding having worn off hours ago, I gave her a tight squeeze before turning her toward Ben as he jogged across the dance floor to us. I was surprised that he had to hug me before he left, and I watched them as the crowd surged around them to see them off.

  Outside on the gravel driveway, everyone clustered around as they climbed into the limousine, and Charlotte blew kisses before the door was finally closed and the car rolled away. When I turned to go back inside, I was suddenly face to face with Ben’s father.

  “She’s Charlotte Cantwell now, sir… she’s a member of your family.”

  “Yes, she is, and I’m very proud.”

  I smiled and went to move by him, but he stopped me with a hand on my arm.

  “You let me know if you ever think about leaving that big fancy firm you’re with now, Stef. I could use a man who knows people and the value of things.”

  It was really a very generous offer, as Ben’s father owned a very large, very financially sound real estate development company. “Thank you, sir,” I said, taking his offered hand.

  He tightened his grip when I tried to let go. “What you think you know about me is not the case, Stef. I realize what I said the other day left you thinking a certain way about me, and I am sorry about that. I was upset and spoke out of turn; those were not my true feelings on the Holloways. Furthermore, you being gay does not concern me in the least, and for the record, the insurance at my company covers domestic partners as well as spouses.”

  I was stunned. I had thought poorly of him after his comment about Charlotte’s family, but he loved Charlotte. Clearly he liked her immediate family, as evidenced by his interaction with May and Rand, and apparently he really liked me and didn’t care who slept in my bed.

  “So you call me if things change with you, Stefan. I would love to talk to you about what you want your future to be.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  “Don’t confuse this conversation with me being nice. I am very serious about making money and truly believe you would be an asset.”

  “Thank you again, sir.”

  “No, thank you, Stef,” he said, patting my arm. “You’ve been a good friend to Ben, and I value that more than you know.”

  I was watching him walk away when Rand stepped up beside me.

  “What was that about?”

  “He just offered me a job.” I turned my head to look at him. “Weird, huh?”

  The bemused expression on his face made me smile.

  “That Mr. Cantwell is a smart man. He sees Char, he sees you…. Very smart man.” He exhaled, reaching out to fiddle with my collar.

  “So,” I teased him, “you ready to go, cowboy?”

  “Yessir,” he said, nodding, tucking a long piece of hair behind my ear, his fingers sliding down the side of my neck.

  We went to say good night to his mother and Uncle Tyler, and they said they would see us for breakfast in the morning. May was going to spend the night at the house where the wedding party had been staying and then drive over to the ranch in the morning. I told her that she should just follow us back and we could get our things and drive over to the ranch together. Tyler thought that sounded logical. The look Rand shot me would have killed me, but I waggled my eyebrows at him, and he couldn’t hold the scowl.

  On the way out, Jenny and her cousin asked Rand for a ride, but May said that neither of us, neither car, was going back toward Lubbock. We were all headed back out to the ranch.

  “And we all know how much you hate the ranch, dear,” May said, patting her arm as she walked by.

  I looked at Rand as he succumbed to a coughing fit.

  “God, your mother just hates me now,” Jenny said sadly, looking at both of us.

  “Can’t rightly blame her,” Tyler said as he walked by.

  She gasped, and Rand grabbed my arm to yank me after him.

  I heard her gasp for the second time and snorted out a laugh. “You’re making her think bad things when you manhandle me.”

  “So what?” He sighed. “She didn’t want me. She don’t get no say.”

  As I walked out with him, I wondered about the story of Rand and Jenny and whether I eve
n had the right to ask.

  Chapter 8

  IT WAS late, or early, depending on how you looked at it, but at one in the morning, Rand, his mother, Tyler, and I were all in the kitchen having sandwiches. All of us had showered and changed, and we were all in sweats and T-shirts, even May. I had made her sit while I prepared snacks and served everyone. As I was moving around the table, I told her that she should think about dating, since she was still hot. Tyler choked, and Rand nearly spit out his milk.

  “Stefan Joss!” She laughed at me. “My goodness, but you do just speak your mind!”

  “What?” I asked as I took a seat beside Rand.

  “Are you insane?” Rand was incredulous. “My mother does not date!”

  “Why not?”

  “Because she’s my mother!”

  I looked at Tyler, who had made a noise like he was dying.

  “What he said.”

  “That makes no sense,” I assured him, my eyes flicking back to May. “You should date.”

  She took a deep breath. “Actually, I am.”

  “What?” Rand gasped before he started coughing.

  “That’s great.” I beamed at her. “Tell us all about him.”

  “You’re what?” Rand barely got out, coughing harder.

  “I think something went down the wrong hole.” May giggled.

  Tyler thumped Rand on the back as I laughed at him.

  “You’re such a prude, man. Your mother’s still young, and sex is a very natural part of any relationship that she would be in.”

  He had to put his head between his knees.

  May slapped my leg, trying for all the world to look serious. “You’re going to kill him.”

  I shrugged. “You need to date and have sex and live your life. You just aren’t allowed to dress like Ben’s mother.” I shot her a look.