by Marla Monroe
Jeb sighed. “Yeah, for now anyway.”
“She’s proud of her ranch, man. I wouldn’t call her on it too much. It’s about all she has to her name. That ranch, and Robert, and me.” Kenny hung his coat on the rack and walked out of the kitchen.
“Damn it, Marshall. She shouldn’t have to do the heavy or dangerous stuff while we’re here. Otherwise, what’s the use of us helping her?”
“You have to remember that this is her ranch. Like Kenny said. She doesn’t own anything but this place. You said we were going to leave when we have enough money for our own place. Then what will she have?”
Jeb sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Marshall was right, but so was he. He didn’t want anything to happen to her, and he was afraid something would. It had scared him to death when he’d seen her lying with her head bleeding.
“We’re not leaving until we find out who’s bothering her and put a stop to it.”
“Damn straight we’re not.” Marshall huffed out a breath. “You better go make up with her. Otherwise you’re going to be sleeping alone in the other room in the cold.”
Jeb grinned. He supposed he had some groveling to do, but he wasn’t backing down on her shoveling snow. She could stand out there and watch if she wanted to, but he didn’t want her doing the heavy work.
He walked through the living room to the closed door of her office and knocked. There was no answer, so he knocked again.
“What do you want?” He heard her call out in a muffled voice.
“Can I come in? I want to talk.”
“I think we’ve done all the talking we can afford to do right now, Jeb.”
“I need to apologize for stepping out of bounds, Drew. Let me in.”
There was a shuffling sound, and then he heard the lock click and the door open a few inches. He waited, and when it didn’t open any farther, he pushed it open and walked in. Drew sat behind her desk with reddened eyes and a blotchy face. She was wiping her face with a tissue, and he felt like a total heel.
“I’m sorry I yelled at you, Drew. I had no right.”
“Fine.” She didn’t look at him.
“I know the ranch is yours, and you have every right to do whatever you want to on it. I care about you, Drew, and don’t like that you’ve had to do some of the things you’ve had to do. I want to take care of you while I’m here. Marshall and I both do.”
She looked up and Jeb saw so much in her face, pain, worry, and a very deep sadness. Had he put all that there?
“It’s okay, Jeb. I know.” She stood up and walked around the desk.
When she got to him, he enfolded her in his arms and hugged her. She held on to him as if she thought he was going to disappear. When she finally let go, she smiled and laid her head against his chest.
“I’m tired, Jeb. I’m going to bed now.”
“Want me to tuck you in?”
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine.” She left him in the office.
He heard her walk up the stairs and heard the bedroom door shut behind her. Still, he stood where he was, trying to figure out what had happened. She seemed to have come to some sort of decision, and he wasn’t sure he understood what it was.
“Jeb?” Marshall stuck his head in the door.
“Yeah?”
“Is everything okay now?”
“I’m not sure, Marshall. I think so.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
* * * *
The next morning, Drew woke before the men and slipped out of the bed to dress in the bathroom so as not to wake them. She slipped downstairs and found Robert already up and sipping on coffee.
“Hey, why are you up so early?” she asked.
“Thinking.”
“Yeah, me, too.”
“Have some coffee. It’s fresh.”
Drew poured a cup and sat down across from Robert and propped her head on one hand.
“Drew, have you thought about settling down with a man?”
“Yeah, but no one around here would have me, so it’s a moot point.”
“Well, there is Brett.”
“Bite your tongue.” She took another sip of coffee.
“What about Jeb and Marshall? Would you settle down with them if they asked you?
Drew cocked her head and studied him closely. “Why are you asking me that?”
“Kenny has been on me again about moving out here with him.”
“I think it’s a great idea. I wish you would build a house out here. I’d love to have you for neighbors. I’d give Kenny the land as part of his wages.”
Robert nodded and then looked away. “So I’m supposed to give up everything I know and move out here to be a kept man?”
“Good Lord, no. Why can’t you keep doing what you’ve been doing, only have your shop here? You can still make house calls as well.” Drew wasn’t sure where they were going with the conversation.
“If Kenny and I move in together, the town will boot us out. No one will use me for their horses.”
“I think you’re wrong. I think plenty of people will use you. Sure, there will be a few who will drag their horses over to Cullum but not many. Why do you care what other people think?”
“I don’t like it when they treat Kenny different. They sneer at him behind his back, and I’m sure they do the same thing behind mine, but it doesn’t bother me like it does Kenny.”
“I think Kenny would be much happier with you than without you and still having people treat him badly.” Drew sighed. “Robert, if I had a chance at happiness like you do, I’d grab it with both hands.”
“Seems to me like you do. I don’t see you grabbing onto those two men of yours.”
“It’s a little different, Robert. They are the ones who don’t plan to stick around. I want them to, but they want their own spread of land. I can’t fault them for wanting it, either. I love my ranch.”
“What if they settled down around here? Would you still see them?” Robert asked.
“If they still wanted to see me, yes, in a heartbeat.”
“Maybe I’ll think about moving in with Kenny. I’ll have to figure out what it would take to build a house and a barn for my tools.”
Drew smiled. Maybe things were looking up. If they settled close to her, she wouldn’t be as lonely when the men left. Just thinking about them being gone was enough to bring tears to her eyes and a knot in her throat.
“I’m going to sit outside while the wind isn’t blowing. I won’t go off the porch.” She stood up and carried her cup to the sink.
When she turned around, Robert was pulling on a coat.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting my coat on. I’m not leaving you outside by yourself. Someone is trying to hurt you, Drew.”
She sighed and slowly pulled on her coat and scarf. She pulled her gloves out of her coat pocket and pulled them on. She nodded at Robert, who opened the back door. She went first and brushed off a chair to sit on. The crisp cold air burned her lungs with the first deep breath she took. After that, she managed to take smaller ones.
“Beautiful out here right now,” Robert said in a near whisper.
“It is, and it’s quiet as well. I can’t wait for the clouds to move on so I can look up at the stars with snow under my feet.”
“I just want to have a nice little house where Kenny and I can be a family. Somewhere that doesn’t care if we’re gay or not. I’m fine if people really don’t think it’s right, as long as they leave us alone.”
“I think you should give it a chance here, Robert. I honestly believe that fewer people than you think will throw up a ruckus about it.”
Drew leaned back in the chair and thought about what Robert had asked her. If the men did settle down around here somewhere, would she be their sometimes lover? Yeah, she would. She loved them, so there wasn’t any reason to lie to herself and say she didn’t. She’d take them any way she could get them.
“Come on, Drew. It’s cold out here. Let’
s go back inside like normal people.” Robert stood up and held out his hand.
Drew smiled and let him pull her to her feet. They walked back in the house and pulled off their gear. Robert poured them both a fresh cup of coffee and handed one to her.
“Is this the lull between storms, or is it going to clear up now?” Robert asked.
“I’m thinking we lucked out on this storm. I think the worst passed just south of us. Let’s go try the TV and see if we can get anything on the satellite now that it has quit snowing.”
They settled on the couch to watch the weather after Robert added wood to the fire. The weather station confirmed what she’d decided had happened. The worst of the storm had crossed just south of them. They could expect another three to five inches of snow during the day and then clear skies afterward.
“There you are,” Marshall said, clomping down the stairs. “You left me and Jeb in the bed together. He tried to hug me,” Marshall complained.
“Would have done you good,” Robert teased.
“Not when he hasn’t shaved yet.”
“Now what are you complaining about?” Jeb’s voice came from above them.
“Shave before you hug on Marshall,” Drew called up.
“Naw, he likes it rough,” Jeb said as he followed Marshall down.
“Coffee is in the kitchen, guys,” Robert told them.
“Kenny still in bed?” Marshall asked.
“Yeah. He’ll be down soon,” Robert predicted.
“Don’t suppose I could talk either one of you into cooking biscuits and gravy, could I?” Jeb looked from Drew to Robert and back to Drew again.
“Food, food, food. Is that all you think about? You were still hungry last night when we went to bed.” Drew’s face grew warm as soon as she realized what she’d said. “I’ll fix it.”
She jumped up and hurried to the kitchen to hide out. She couldn’t believe she’d said that in front of Robert. They were probably all sharing a good laugh at her expense now.
Thirty minutes later, she had breakfast on the table for the men. Everyone showed up after one call that is was ready, including Kenny. They made short work of breakfast. Robert took over cleaning up while they discussed the plans for the day.
“Marshall and I will check the herd and feed them. Kenny, you and Drew see about the horses this morning.”
Jeb pulled on his coat and scarf before pulling Drew into his arms for a kiss. She returned it but broke it off quickly. She grabbed Marshall and stole a kiss from him before opening the door and headed for the barn. Kenny caught up with her about halfway and grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Hey, don’t go running out like that again. We need to stick together.”
“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I just want to get out and check that everything is okay.”
They opened the barn door and inhaled the sweet smell of hay and the not-so-sweet smell of manure. It all meant home to her. How could she fault the men wanting their own place to call home?
“I’ll muck, you brush and feed,” Kenny said.
She thought about her options while she took care of the horses. If she knew how they really felt about her, she could offer to sell them the ranch, and they could all live on it together, but she was almost certain they wouldn’t accept it.
What if she sold it to Kenny and Robert and took to the road with them? She could do that. But she wouldn’t be as happy until they had their own ranch again. Besides, she still didn’t know how they felt about her. She could be making all these plans centered around two cowboys who liked her just fine as a bedmate but not as anything more permanent. Finding that out would hurt. It would hurt a lot, but she would survive. Should she ask them how they felt about her, or leave well enough alone?
Drew was no closer to an answer by the time she’d finished the horses than when she’d begun. She waited on Kenny to finish forking new hay into the last stall before she opened the bar doors and held them for him to wheel the wagon out, full of the dirty hay. She followed him around back where they dumped the mess in a compost pile of sorts. It took both of them to wheel the thing through the snow. Finally, Kenny just dumped it as close to the pile as he could get and used the pitchfork to transfer it to the pile.
“Let’s shovel a path over to the house. It’s gotten pretty tough to walk through it now.” Drew grabbed one of the snow shovels, but Kenny took it from her.
“You’re either going inside or over where Marshall and Jeb are. You’re not shoveling snow.”
“You’ve been talking to Jeb haven’t you?”
“Come on. I’ll take you over to them, and you can discuss it with him.”
Jeb walked up and smiled. “I think we’ve already had this conversation, haven’t we, Drew?”
“Fine. I won’t shovel snow. I’ll go inside and get warm.” She started to turn around then stopped. “How are the cows?”
“Doing fine.” Jeb leaned on the shovel.
“Everyone is accounted for?”
“They’re all up and eating,” Jeb told her.
“Great. In another couple of days, we need to ride out and look for the others. The snow should start melting tomorrow if the temperatures rise enough.”
“Which means it will refreeze into ice at night. We’ll be lucky if we don’t fall and break something,” Kenny complained.
“Don’t go borrowing trouble, Kenny.” Drew popped him on the arm and headed off to the house.
She stomped her boots off at the back door and opened the kitchen door only to come face to face with Brett.
Chapter Sixteen
“What in the hell are you doing here, Brett?” she demanded, pushing past him.
“Is that any way to treat a neighbor who’s come to make sure you’re doing okay after all the snow?” He crossed his arms and turned around when she slammed the door.
“Where’s Robert?” she asked.
“Is that pervert here, too?” Brett spat the words out like they left a bad taste in his mouth.
“Robert is a friend of mine, and you’re not. I’d be more than happy if you would leave now. You’re not welcome on my land.”
“Might not be your land much longer, Drew. Don’t you think you should consider my offer before you lose it?”
“Which offer, Brett? The one where I marry you and sign over my land to you, or the one where I just sell out to you for a fraction of the worth of the land?”
“Either one. I’d be plumb happy if you’d consent to be my wife.”
“Over my dead body,” Jeb and Marshall both said.
“What is it with you, Drew? Do you have to collect perverts and convicts like pets? Or are you fucking them all? Is that it? I’m not perverted enough to marry you?”
“That’s right, Brett. You’re too soft for me. I like my sex down and dirty, and you’re just not man enough to give me what I need. Now get out of my house and off my land.”
“You’re going to lose this land, Drew. Don’t come begging to me when you do.” He walked through the living room and slammed the front door.
“How in the hell did he get in? That door was locked,” Jeb demanded.
“Where’s Robert?” Kenny asked, sounding worried.
Everyone looked at each other and began calling out for him. A few seconds later, Kenny came down the stairs. “He was in the shower. Had no idea anyone was in the house. He says he didn’t unlock any of the doors other than the back door when he and Drew went outside.”
“Has the bastard got a key to the house?” Marshall wondered out loud.
“I guess it’s possible. He and my husband were friends as long as he was alive. He didn’t make himself a nuisance until after he died and I refused to sell.”
“Sounds like we’re going to have to get the locks changed. If we hadn’t been here and you were all alone there’s no telling what he might have done.” Jeb stomped over to the living room door and locked it.
“Well, he’s gone now. If you’re going to shovel snow, y
ou might as well get out there. I’ll figure out what sort of supplies we’ll need when we can get out later in the week. I figure this will be cleared up enough by Thursday or Friday to run to town.”
“Soon as we locate those missing head of cows, we’ll go into town together,” Jeb said.
“I’ve got business at the bank as well, so we’ll be there most of the day by the time we pick up supplies.”
“Come on, Marshall, let’s get to work on that snow. It’s not shoveling itself.”
She watched her two men bundle up and step outside, letting in a blast of cold air in the process. She immediately sought the warmth of the fireplace before getting to work on her list. She let the heat seep into her bones then commandeered Robert to help her go through the pantry for canned goods and fresh perishables.
Kenny watched on seemingly content to observe them, though he did put in his two cents worth occasionally. “How about we look at butchering one of the older cows for meat for the rest of the winter?” Kenny asked.
“I’ve thought of that. Only thing is, I hate taking them to Jim’s. He gouges me ’cause he knows he can.”
“I didn’t know he did that,” Robert said, coming down the stairs. “I’ll take care of his ass. Don’t you worry about it. He owes me money for handling his horses, and I know his sister.”
“Robert, I hate for you to get mixed up in my problems. You’ve had more than enough of your own.”
“Oh, this would be my pleasure. I’ve put off dealing with him for his sister’s sake, but I’ll be paying him a visit now.” He smiled at Drew and did something she’d never seen him do in front of another person before. He wrapped an arm around Kenny and squeezed him before letting him go.
Drew pretended it was nothing new and handed him the list to add to it.
“Soon as the weather clears up enough, and we can get one of the cows down to him in the trailer, we’ll do it.”
About that time, the men stomped in the house with a cloud of snow at their feet. Robert immediately began to fuss at them and took the mop to mop up the melting snow.
“Uh, sorry, Robert,” Marshall said.
They removed their coats and gear and hung their hats on the pegs.
