Texas Pride

by Kindle Alexander

  The cell on her desk rang. Rich. Enabling the voice altering device, she answered on the fourth ring. “I said I would call you when I found something.”

  “Your time’s coming up and we’re out of money. What’ve you found?” There was fear in his voice, and Dunc smiled. There was that internet group reputation at work.

  “Fuck off! You’ve wasted my time.” Dunc disconnected the call and scrambled the number. As she sat staring at the screen, her heart began to pound. She had what every other news agency wanted on the planet, a link to Austin Grainger being gay. No way was she giving the information up for a measly ten thousand dollars. Try ten million dollars.

  Dunc worked faster now, the drink and adrenalin kicking in. She narrowed in on the IP address and pulled up Kitt Allen Kelly’s background in a few keystrokes. As the pieces fell together, a smile tore across her face. Now, what tabloid would pay the most for what she had?

  ~~~~~~

  The stars twinkled as Kitt lay on his sleeping bag, trying to get some shut eye before his midnight shift of watching both the cattle and the kids began. He tucked himself away from everyone while he tried for sleep. It was their last night out. He was dirty, gritty, and still fully clothed.

  He dropped his cowboy hat over his face, but quickly punched it off when only images of Austin appeared behind his closed eyes. Austin smiling, sulking, angry, disappointed. It didn’t matter which look, they all clouded his mind. He was so in love with Austin. The hiding made everything harder. It was a depth of love he felt deeply in his soul. Austin proved every single promise he’d ever made to Kitt. He stuck around. They were solid, and it sure did seem their futures were tightly woven together.

  Kitt crossed his arms over his chest and adjusted his body, trying to get comfortable on the hard ground. The smile formed easily. His life couldn’t be any better than it was right now. A shooting star shot across the night sky, and as Kitt closed his eyes to sleep, he sent a wish to the heavens. No matter what happens, let Austin stay just like this in his heart forever.

  ~~~~~~

  After so many months of pulling off this secluded, private, and secret home, Austin couldn’t believe he stood on his front porch with the local law enforcement, Sheriff Wilson. A man he’d apparently gone to school with. Sheriff Wilson was a few years older than Austin, and he stared hard trying to pair the right kid in his memory to this man.

  Wilson grew into a full-fledged old man. Despite his age, he’d apparently been sheriff of this community for quite some time. He was balding, with deep gray in his hair and didn’t take too kindly knowing Austin lived here and he had no idea.

  It was early in the morning, the day after Verne’s hospital run and a full investigation began. Austin supposed by the time the sheriff made it to his door, he’d known Austin lived in the area. Wilson didn’t seem surprised when he opened the door, but the sheriff also wouldn’t come inside the house. The entire interview took place on the front porch. The sheriff asked the usual questions. What did Austin see, what occurred from his perspective, how he helped in getting Verne to the hospital.

  Jose stopped by last night to let him know Verne survived, but was in very critical condition. It didn’t look good. His blood alcohol levels were high and that tied the hands of the hospital staff on treatment options. Per the sheriff’s update this morning, Verne was still in about the same condition. Life support kept him alive, and they were trying to find any next of kin while hoping for a miracle.

  “So how it’s all looking from here?” Austin asked, his arms crossed over his chest, his stance matching the officer in front of him. He was concerned about his men. None were detained last night, but he’d called his attorneys preparing to fight any charges filed against them.

  “Every story’s holding together. Your ranch hands all have proper ID and up to date permits to carry concealed weapons. Right now, it looks like Verne brought it on himself, but it’s still under investigation. Verne was intent on causin’ harm, and Jose could’ve been killed. Texas law allows for this kind of thing. Besides, Verne wasn’t supposed to be within thirty miles of the place. If Kitt had been there, this might have been a very different story. Off the record, it’s a good thing your men were watchin’ the place. I try to keep my men close to here,” the sheriff said, dropping his eyes back to the pad and finishing up his notes. He flipped the small spiral closed and tucked it back in his pocket. The sheriff didn’t make any movement like he planned to leave, and Austin stood there watching him.

  “Being the sheriff around here, it would’ve been common courtesy to notify me of this many armed men in my county.” Wilson continued, his eyes trained on Austin.

  “It was more of a stayin’ completely hidden kind of deal, Sheriff. We never intended to do more than keep unwanted attention off my land.” Austin never broke the direct stare. He wasn’t going to apologize for being here, or the last few months. They were the best of his life.

  “I should’ve been warned of anything unseemly trackin’ the area.” The sheriff added as he pulled his cowboy hat from under his arm and tugged it down on his head.

  “I need this to stay quiet. We’ve had no trouble here. If I get some, I promise you’ll be the first to know. I’m stayin’ hidden, and no one’s talkin’ about me anymore. Pretty soon it’s not gonna matter. I’ll be just like every other citizen around here.”

  “I guess that’s about it for now. Thank you for your time, Austin. Tell your parent’s hello for me.” With that, the sheriff retreated down the steps and headed back to his patrol car.

  On so many levels, this was the exact reason why Austin had chosen here to hide. No one treated him any differently because of his celebrity status and certainly not the sheriff who’d just walked away from him.

  As he walked back inside his too quiet house, Austin looked around with nothing to do. It had been three very long days since Kitt left, and the cattle drive still wasn’t over. The sheriff had made it clear, in his prediction of what could have happened if Kitt had been around. Did Verne have it out for Kitt? On top of everything else Kitt dealt with, he had a focused enemy intent on destroying him? How had Austin never known about this in all these months he and Kitt spent together?

  Austin wanted Kitt home, tucked away safely, never to walk outside again. The sheriff said it was a good thing his men were keeping an eye on the Kelly’s place. He didn’t like that at all. Verne had come after Kitt. If his men hadn’t been there; if Kitt had been at the barn alone…Austin’s heart seized in his chest at the thought. Kitt always carried his rifle in his saddle, but what if it hadn’t been close at hand when Verne pulled up? Did Kitt know the severity of Verne’s intentions? Verne could have easily pulled the trigger on Kitt. The pain of potential loss crushed his soul, and it took a full second to push it aside.

  Reminding himself it didn’t happen that way, Austin forced himself to do something functional today. What could have been didn’t matter right now. He needed to get his mind off the what if’s until he could get Kitt safely home. Both ranches were pretty much in lock down, only doing the minimum needed.

  Austin decided he could kill a couple of hours doing some checks on his market reports and checking in with his dad. He ended up talking to his mom and all of his brothers and sisters trying to kill more time. Even in all those conversations, Kitt stayed foremost in Austin’s mind.

  About noon, Austin went to feed the animals. All the yearlings were locked up tight in Austin’s barn. Even hurt, Jose felt better about keeping a close eye on them himself. He dropped hay in the feeding troughs, and then drove the property. An unknown call came through on Austin’s cell. At the same time, several messages popped up on the screen of his phone. He bypassed the unknown caller opting for the messages, hoping they were from Kitt, that he’d gotten signal somewhere along the way. He smiled running a finger over the screen and brought his pick-up truck to a stop in the middle of the pasture. He didn’t want to miss a minute if Kitt had time to talk. The phone number of the mess
age he’d opened came up as unknown, but the image that greeted Austin wasn’t. It was a picture of Kitt. It was one from his email, the one where Kitt stood partially nude outside his log cabin.

  For a long second, Austin sat there confused looking down at the photo. Sliding a finger across the screen, Austin pulled up the next message. It was the picture of Kitt bending down to kiss Fisker. Jealousy raked his heart and for a minute more, he wondered why he’d put these on his phone. The next message was the deed for the land he lived on. Clarity came crashing in as he saw the New York area code on the phone number. He opened the next incoming message as his phone alerted him of a voice mail from the same number.

  The message was simple: ‘This is Chrissy from Enquiring Minds Entertainment News. We know you’re in Texas. We know you live next to Kitt Allen Kelly, and we know these were in your email. You have until the morning to agree to an exclusive interview to set the story straight before these hit every major market around the world. Even if you can stop us in the States, you can’t stop us worldwide, but it’s your choice how this plays out. Call me.’

  Austin’s heart physically stopped in his chest. They knew. They hacked his email and they knew.

  Seth’s call broke the image on Austin’s phone. Julie, his publicist called at the same moment. Both must have gotten the same message. He answered one, then the other, putting them on conference as he sat in his truck right in the middle of the pasture, his heart at his knees. The cattle made their way to his truck, eating the hay from its bed.

  “Where’s the breech?” Seth asked.

  “My email.” Austin’s heart now hammered in his chest. It wasn’t just that they’d found him. They’d found Kitt too. “Goddamnit!”

  “Austin, we ignore it and let it happen. They have no real proof. A couple of pictures of another man naked, none of this implicates you. They have no proof you’re involved. It’s two men who aren’t you, kissing. We can get you off the property.”

  Seth stopped her flow seconds before Austin could. “That’s his boyfriend.”

  “So? It changes nothing. There’s no proof in any of this that Austin’s involved. We’ll get you across the world and make this a lie they’re trying to put on you.”

  Austin could hear Julie typing away as she spoke, already outlining everything just said.

  “Kitt’s still gonna be outted,” Austin said lamely.

  “He looks like a big boy. A real big boy.” Julie chuckled. The typing stopped and he could feel her eyes staring at the picture he’d secretly snapped. There was absolutely no proof, but he knew in his heart she stared at his Kitt.

  Austin’s tone turned hard. “I’m not hangin’ him out to dry. This will ruin him, and it’s my fault those pictures were taken. He doesn’t even know I still have them.” Dread filled his heart. He stared out his front window, but saw nothing other than Kitt’s life being ruined, and in return, Kitt pulling completely away from him. And that was the very best case scenario in this deal he came up with.

  “Austin, this is easy enough to sweep under the rug. Pay this cowboy off. He’ll be fine,” she said. Austin stayed silent for several long seconds. “Austin, you still with us?”

  “He won’t take my money. Seth, get me a car and a flight to New York. I’ll take care of it,” Austin said, ready to end the call.

  “From where?”

  “Good point. Change in plan. Get me a helicopter here on my property in thirty minutes. I have to try and find Kitt. He’s helping the school out. I wanna leave Dallas within the next ninety minutes.” Austin put the truck in gear and drove slowly through the cows surrounding his truck.

  “I’m advising you not to do whatever you’re thinking of doing,” Julie said.

  “Don’t respond to Chrissy or anyone, period. I’ll be back in touch.” Austin disconnected the call and dropped his head to the steering wheel. What was he going to do? Was this the best plan? Nothing else came to his mind, and he’d have the entire flight to consider every option. Palming his phone, he quickly dialed a number.

  “Well it’s about damn time you returned a phone call!” Donnie Cliffs of the Late Show answered on the first ring.

  “I need to be on the show tonight, but it has to be on the DL. I mean, way down low. No one knows I’m on until you call me out. If you do it, I promise tomorrow’s gonna be a boom for you.”

  “Alright, can you get here by six?” Cliffs asked.

  “I’m gonna try.” Austin popped his head up, driving again.

  “See you then.”

  Austin dialed Kitt’s number, not allowing himself to think about his actions. The call immediately went to voice mail. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I’m leaving a note on my kitchen table explaining more. I’ll keep you posted as I go. I just wanted you to know that I’m here for you no matter what. Even if you never wanna see me again, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of and everything’s yours, Kitt. The horses, my land, the farm, it’s all yours. I love you beyond anything reasonable, more than life itself. You’re everything to me, and I’ll regret this for the rest of my life. I’m so sorry for what I’ve done and what I’m about to do.”

  Austin disconnected the call and drove straight back to the house. He’d have no more than twenty minutes to shower, dress and get to the helicopter. He got ready in ten, and took the other ten to write his note.

  The helicopter landed close to the house. He was out the door, running to the copter with his head ducked low before his security team could even surface to find out what was going on.

  ~~~~~~

  A plane waited for Austin as he landed at Dallas Executive Airport. There was little time to spare. Seth, who was the most metro sexual, most uncowboy kind of guy, arranged for a stylist to be on the plane, along with a hairdresser and make-up artist. When Austin questioned it, Seth’s exact words were, ‘Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? You need this’. The entire time they worked on Austin, he was on the phone with Seth, Julie, and all of his attorneys trying to find any other feasible alternative out of this mess.

  No one came up with anything to stop the pending photo campaign from going worldwide. Immediate injunctions would stop the United States publications, but it was a global world now. Kitt would be plastered all over the entire world. It would easily seep into the United States even without a United States entertainment company featuring the story.

  None of Austin’s staff, other than Seth, could understand why this had Austin so worked up. To them, this was nothing more than another round of the same rumor that had plagued him for years. No one got how much Austin changed since meeting Kitt. He’d become honorable. This landed squarely on Austin’s shoulders, and he wouldn’t slink away from it. He should have deleted those pictures. Hell, he shouldn’t have even taken them, and no way would he leave Kitt to deal with this on his own.

  Once it became clear that no amount of talking would sway Austin, Julie became a dog with a bone helping him with exactly the right words to say as he spoke to Donnie Cliff tonight. Austin’s whole game plan came down to him getting the word out first. Maybe no one would care about Kitt’s photos if he was honest with the world. If Austin was lucky, it might only be a passing interest as to who the guy was that finally caught his eye.

  After a four hour flight, and a whirlwind of activity, Austin was back to having solidly blond hair again. His dark tan didn’t need any sort of spray refresher, but he was plucked, clipped, cut, manicured and pedicured all before being outfitted in a tailored, classically cut, modest, yet expensive as hell, suit.

  Austin ran late getting to the Late Show. Donnie stood on stage, already doing his opening monologue as Austin arrived in studio well after eight. It gave Donnie’s staff very little time for edits before the program aired. Donnie held the show as long as he could, well past the point of anything safe, just to get Austin on as his guest tonight. There was no time for them to talk first, or for him to prep Donnie before he took the stage. Tonight, they’d wing it.

  It
wasn’t ten minutes after Austin came to the theater that he walked out on stage, waving his hand to the audience, his sexy signature grin in place. He casually shook hands with Donnie, waved at the band, and then the audience again. They went wild having had no idea he was planned for the show tonight. Several minutes passed with the audience standing and applauding just for him. He waved, bowed, smiled, and Donnie stood beside him trying to get a hold of the audience. Nothing worked until they got it out of their system and were ready to sit again.

  It was the standard late night talk show set-up: a desk for Donnie with a couple of chairs to the side for the guests. Austin took a seat to Donnie’s right. He sat casually, hoping he pulled off the calm exterior of a man with easy confidence, not showing the reality of his heart frantically hammering in his chest. Internally, his focus centered on Kitt, but he kept the outward calm like he’d been trained to do. After the first couple polite pleasantries, Donnie just looked at Austin, not sure what to say. Donnie was a trained comedian, his timing perfect, and he got a big laugh from the audience as the two of them sat in silence, staring at one another.

  “So…whatcha been up to since we last saw you, oh, eight months ago?” Donnie finally asked.

  “Well, I’ve been farming. I bought a farm in Texas.” Several Texans from the audience hooped and hollered at the mention of their home state. Austin could tell Donnie hadn’t been expecting a truthful answer, and was now trying to piece the right questions together to get to exactly why Austin sat before him.

  “Really now? Farming. Aren’t you from Texas?”

  “Yep. I bought some land in the same area I grew up. It’s a little secluded out there, but about the same area.” Austin crossed his leg over the other, making a show of getting comfortable. He looked at Donnie like he was a simple, simple man. It caused another round of laughter from the audience.