Ghost from the Past

by Carol Lynne

  Rio opened his desk drawer and pulled out several sheets of paper. “Take these home and fill them out. They’re just the usual, although there’s also a health insurance application. You don’t have to take the insurance, but it’s available. The Gym pays half the premium. If you have any questions, you can ask Mario. He’s a lot better at explaining stuff.”

  Rio realised he’d forgotten one thing. “Oh, and you can start tomorrow if you want.”

  “Yes, I’d like that.” Kit stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. “Is there a specific way I should dress?”

  Rio shook his head. “Wear what you want as long as you know you can clean in it.”

  Kit seemed relieved. “Thank you.”

  It suddenly dawned on Rio. “Did you think I was going to ask you to wear men’s clothing?”

  “A lot of places have,” Kit admitted.

  Rio rose and walked around the desk to stand in front of Kit. “I want you to be yourself here. I won’t lie and tell you that everyone will be accepting of you, but I have a feeling you’ve already crossed that bridge a time or two.”

  “Or three or four.” Kit clutched the hiring papers to her chest. “I think I’m going to enjoy it here.”

  “I hope so.” Rio opened the door. “I’ll see you in the morning. Eight o’clock?”

  “Eight is good,” Kit agreed.

  After Kit left, Rio went in search of Mario. He found his right-hand man instructing one of the new clients on the proper way to use the leg-press machine. Rio waited patiently while Mario finished.

  The more time he spent with Mario, the more he felt uneasy about the current situation at The Gym. Mario put his heart and soul into his job. There were days when Rio thought Mario loved The Gym more than he did.

  Mario stepped away from the client after a few more words of encouragement. “You need something?”

  “Yeah. I just wanted to thank you for pushing me beyond my comfort zone. I think hiring Kit was a good move.”

  Mario smiled. “I’m glad you decided to give her a chance, boss.”

  “Me, too.” He gestured towards the door. “I’m going to leave early. I have an appointment later, and I want to stop and talk to Nate first. Can you handle things here?”

  “Sure.”

  It was further proof that Rio needed to do something about Mario. “Thanks. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  * * * *

  The drive up the mountain to the lodge gave Rio time to get his emotions under control. The talk with Nate about bringing Mario in as a partner hadn’t gone as well as he’d hoped. In the end, Nate had asked if they could discuss it later, and Rio had reluctantly agreed. He still didn’t understand what Nate’s problem was, but Rio was sure to find out.

  Rio pulled in to the parking lot and cut off the engine. The conversation with Jack would be brutal, but Rio was glad he’d insisted on meeting in a public place. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust himself to be alone with Jack but why risk it?

  Upon entering The Grizzly Bar, Rio spotted Jack in one of the comfortable seating arrangements next to the fireplace. Rio wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans before making his way across the bar. “Hey.”

  Jack stood. “I’m glad you came.” He held out his arms, obviously hoping for a hug.

  Rio took a deep breath before accepting the gesture. After a brief hug, Rio sought the safety of his chair. His stomach began to churn as he watched the hurt expression on Jack’s face. Despite everything, Rio still held love for the man.

  “I take it you’ve made your decision,” Jack said.

  “Yeah.”

  Richie appeared at Rio’s side. “What can I get you?”

  What Rio wanted and what he should order were two entirely different things. “Just a coffee.”

  “I’ll have to make a fresh pot, so it’ll be a few minutes,” Richie answered.

  “That’s fine.” Rio waited for Richie to walk off before returning his attention to Jack. “I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear, but I’m happy with my life the way it is.”

  “I didn’t come all this way to be turned down.”

  “Sorry,” Rio mumbled.

  Jack stared at Rio for several uncomfortable moments. “You know I only did what I did to protect you, right?”

  “Sure,” Rio answered. “But I need you to know I’m still pretty pissed about it.”

  “Is that why you’re turning me down?”

  “No. Even if you’d told me the truth at the time, I still wouldn’t give up my family for you.” The shock of seeing Jack had screwed him up for a few days, but he’d quickly realised Jack was part of his past, not his future.

  “And this has nothing to do with that little talk I had the other night with Ryan?” Jack asked.

  Confused, Rio shook his head. “I didn’t even know you talked to Ryan.” Why wouldn’t Ryan have told him? “What did he say?”

  “Nothing important.”

  “It must’ve been something or you wouldn’t have brought it up,” Rio argued.

  “Just that he wasn’t giving you up.”

  Although Jack didn’t say anything else, Rio knew there was more to the conversation by the uneasy way Jack had asked the question. Rio sighed. Jack was once again keeping something from him. Irritated, Rio stood. “Anyway, I wish you luck in your retirement. Since there’s no longer any reason for you to stay, I reckon you should be getting back to Spain.”

  Jack laughed. “You don’t really think I’m just going to give up, do you?”

  Rio leant his hands on the table and stared into Jack’s eyes. “The answer was, is, and always will be, no. The longer you try, the more I’ll resent you. So do us both a favour and move on with your life.”

  Richie walked up to the table with a steaming cup of coffee. “Are you leaving?”

  “Yeah,” Rio answered. “Will you put that in a to-go cup for me?”

  “Sure thing.”

  Rio straightened before holding his hand out towards Jack. “Let’s part as friends.”

  The muscles in Jack’s jaw twitched as he stared at Rio’s hand. “Ryan’s really brainwashed you against me, hasn’t he?”

  Rio’s open hand clenched into a fist before slamming against the table. “You’ve pushed too far, Jack. Forget the friend request. Erase me from your memory, because I don’t care to ever see or speak to you again.”

  Rio walked off without a backwards glance. He stopped by the bar and handed Richie a few dollars. “Thanks,” he said, picking up the coffee.

  “Everything okay?” Richie asked.

  “Will be as soon as he gets his ass out of CattleValley.”

  “Friend?”

  Rio shook his head. “Not anymore.”

  By the time Rio reached his truck, his hands were shaking. He carefully set the hot coffee in his cup holder before he ended up spilling it all over himself. “Damn him!”

  Rio wished Chet had never contacted him in the first place to set up the meeting with Ghost. At least when he’d thought his old lover was dead, he’d been free to remember him fondly and with a great deal of love. Now all Rio felt was bitterness. He considered asking Ryan about the talk he’d had with Jack but pushed that idea aside almost immediately. It no longer mattered. Nothing concerning Jack should matter, but there was something niggling at the back of his mind. Something he wasn’t remembering about their time in the jungle. He wondered if it had anything to do with Ryan and Jack’s mystery conversation.

  After starting the truck, Rio pulled out of the parking lot towards home. With any luck he’d arrive in time to eat dinner with his men. Maybe he’d even get up the nerve to ask Ryan about the meeting he’d had with Jack a few nights earlier.

  Rio was halfway down the hill before he remembered what day it was. “Shit.”

  * * * *

  Instead of joining their friends at the long table, Nate suggested he and Ryan grab a booth for themselves. Taco Tuesdays were normally used to catch up on the latest gossip, but he had m
ore important things on his mind. “Has Rio called you yet?”

  “No.” Ryan took a sip of his beer. He reached across the table and threaded his fingers through Nate’s. “Don’t worry. Rio’s got his head on straight.”

  “You’re damn right I do,” Rio said, sliding into the booth next to Nate. He leant over and gave Nate a quick kiss. “Have you ordered yet?”

  Nate could tell by Rio’s hurried speech that something was wrong. “Are you okay?”

  “Yep. And as far as I’m concerned we can forget about Jack and get on with our lives.” Rio bent over the table to get a kiss from Ryan, who met him halfway.

  Nate exchanged glances with Ryan. It was nice to know he wasn’t the only one feeling like something was off with Rio. The big question was, did Nate dare push Rio for more answers?

  “It doesn’t look as if we’re going to get waited on anytime soon,” Rio said, drumming his fingers on the table.

  “We’ve only been here a few minutes,” Nate answered. It was Tuesday, one of O’Brien’s busiest days. “Why don’t you go up and give them our order?” he asked Rio.

  Rio nodded and slid out of the booth. “The usual?”

  “Just five tacos today,” Nate answered.

  “Order the usual, and I’ll take up Nate’s slack,” Ryan told Rio.

  Nate watched Rio walk towards the bar. “What the hell is wrong with him?”

  Ryan kept his eyes on Rio. “I don’t know, but I’m sure as hell going to find out once we get home.”

  Rio was back with three beers. “Moby’ll bring the tacos over when they’re ready.”

  Nate took a sip of his beer. He was beginning to wonder if their little argument earlier in the day was the cause of Rio’s mood. “Do you feel like continuing our conversation about Mario?”

  Rio shrugged. “That’s up to you. You know where I stand.”

  “What’s this all about?” Ryan asked.

  “Rio wants to make Mario his partner in The Gym instead of me,” Nate supplied.

  “What? I never said anything of the kind,” Rio argued. “I told you I wanted to make Mario a partner. There was nothing said about him replacing you. Although come to think of it, I don’t know why you’d object. I mean it’s not like you give a rat’s ass about The Gym anymore.”

  Shocked, Nate’s jaw dropped. “What the hell do you mean by that? Do you think just because I don’t hang out there all day I don’t care?”

  Rio rubbed a spot on the table. “You don’t hang out there at all. As a matter of fact, I can’t remember the last time you came in or even asked about the place.”

  “Well excuse me for having other things on my mind. I’m not running a single business. I’m trying to run a whole goddamn town!” Nate was furious. When would Rio give him an ounce of credit for the amount of work running CattleValley required?

  Nate caught sight of Moby standing a couple of feet from the table with wide eyes and a tray of food. Nate clamped his mouth shut and took his fists off the table.

  “Sorry about that,” Ryan apologised to Moby.

  “No need,” Moby said. He set a platter of tacos in the centre of the table and handed each of them a plate. “Just give me a holler if you need more.”

  “Let’s eat,” Ryan urged.

  From the expression on Ryan’s face, he’d had enough arguing in public. The whole situation reminded Nate they still hadn’t taken the time to talk about their relationship issues in detail. Damn. What a fun way to spend the evening.

  Chapter Six

  After an hour of discussion, Rio had almost reached his limit. Sure The Gym was owned by all three of them, but he was the only one who loved the place. Ryan’s answer to the problem had been to split the shares into fourths, but Rio didn’t like the idea. Right or wrong, he wanted control. He couldn’t explain it, but knowing it couldn’t be sold out from under him meant the world to Rio.

  “Fine, if you don’t like my idea, you give it a try,” Ryan said, throwing a couch pillow at Rio.

  Rio caught the pillow and tossed it to the floor. “The two of you get twenty-five percent, Mario gets sixteen and two thirds percent, and I keep my thirty-three point three percent.”

  Ryan rose off the couch before walking over to straddle Rio’s lap. With narrowed eyes, he stared at Rio. “What’s really going on here?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Rio’s hands remained firmly planted on the arms of the chair.

  “Oh, I think you do. Why is this so important to you? And don’t give me that bullshit about Mario. This is about you. Why?” Ryan asked.

  “Because I care more about it than either of you, okay? The two of you have these big important jobs now, and all I have is The Gym. I thought it would be something Nate and I could share, but that hasn’t happened. I just—I just want the final say in any decisions regarding The Gym.”

  “What kind of decisions? Like whether or not to buy new towels?” Nate asked. “By all means, buy all the towels you want.”

  Rio closed his eyes before taking several deep breaths. Screaming at Nate wasn’t the answer, they’d already proved that. “It’s not about fucking towels,” he ground out. “I need this for me. To know that no one can sell it out from under me. I tried to figure out a way to buy the two of you out, but realised that wasn’t the right thing to do. So I thought this would be a good compromise.”

  “You think that by giving Mario part of our ownership, it’ll keep us from selling The Gym out from under you?” Ryan rubbed his eyes. “If that’s the way you really feel, you can take back my interest in The Gym.”

  It was obvious by the way Ryan slid off Rio’s lap that he was beyond hurt. “Fuck!” Rio yelled, pulling at his own hair. His men asked for honesty, but got their feelings hurt when they were told the truth. “I don’t want your share of the business,” he tried to explain. “I just need to know my share is safe. That I’m safe.”

  Nate crossed the room and wrapped his arms around Ryan. He gave Ryan a soft kiss before looking at Rio. “I think the reason this is upsetting to me and Ryan is because we always considered The Gym a family business—our family’s. Bringing someone else in is hard enough to accept, but knowing you want to diminish mine and Ryan’s percentage hurts even more. It has nothing to do with the money or the business itself. It just feels like you’re trying to break away from us.”

  Rio shook his head. “No. I’m just protecting myself in case I wake up one day and find the two of you have decided to go on without me.”

  Ryan was the first to move. He knelt in front of Rio before shaking his head. “I know this whole thing with Jack showing up again has you spooked, but there is no way in hell I’ll ever leave you. Question Jack and his motives all you want, but don’t paint us with the same brush.”

  Nate crawled into Rio’s lap. “How can three people who obviously love each other so much be so insecure?” Nate kissed Rio’s cheek. “Would this be a good time to talk about the other things that are bothering you?”

  With Nate’s ass nestled against his cock, Rio began to think of what else he’d like to do. “We can talk about it later.” He ran his hand down Nate’s back to grope his ass.

  “Nope. First we clear the air, then we fuck,” Ryan cut in.

  “Okay,” Nate agreed. He turned to look at Rio. “What else has been bothering you? I know my work schedule is getting to you, but at least that should slow down until I start getting deep into plans for Cattle Valley Days. What else?”

  “Laundry,” Rio said.

  “I thought you enjoyed doing laundry,” Nate said.

  “Whether or not I enjoy it isn’t the problem. I used to do it because the two of you were so busy and I wanted to do something nice. You know, to help out. But now you’ve come to just expect it. No thanks, nothing. And it’s not just the laundry. It’s everything around here.”

  Nate and Ryan exchanged looks. “We do do that, don’t we?” Ryan stood. He leant over and kissed Rio. “I’m sorry.” He burie
d his face against Rio’s neck. “Would it help if we devised a chore schedule and stuck to it?”

  Rio used his free hand to play with Ryan’s hair. “We don’t really need a schedule. I just need the two of you to do what you can, when you can, and when you can’t, I need you to at least acknowledge that someone else has done it for you. I know the two of you have demanding jobs. And despite the way I act sometimes and the things I say, I’m proud of both of you.”

  “We have a lot to work on,” Nate said. “But I think the biggest thing is to remember what’s important to all of us.”

  “Fried chicken?” Rio asked, trying to lighten the mood. He was tired of always arguing with the men he loved. Now that he’d discovered what he really wanted with the rest of his life, he was anxious to get on with it.

  Ryan chuckled before biting Rio on the neck. “Is that our cue to stop talking and start fucking?”

  “We don’t have to stop talking, but I’d rather not heap on a lot of serious stuff at one time. Maybe it’s better to take problems as they come up.” Rio squeezed Nate’s ass. “It’s late. Let’s go to bed.”

  Standing, Ryan held out his hand. He hauled Nate off Rio’s lap. “Oh, I don’t work until noon tomorrow. I thought I’d see if I could borrow your truck to go into Sheridan to pick up some feed for the horses.”

  “Sure.” Rio winked at Ryan. “I can always take Nate’s convertible in to work.”

  “Over my dead body.” Nate punched Rio in the arm. “However, if you’re nice to me for the rest of the night, I’ll drive you to work.”

  Rio groaned when Ryan’s phone began to ring. He’d know that particular ringtone anywhere. “Emergency. You’d better get it.”

  Ryan pulled the phone out of his pocket. “Yeah,” he answered, crossing to the far end of the living room.

  “What do you think that’s about?” Nate asked. He pushed the bottom of Rio’s shirt up high enough to uncover Rio’s nipples.

  “I don’t know, but from his expression, I’d say we’re on our own tonight.” Rio’s cock filled as Nate began sucking and playing with his pierced nipple. He reached down and unzipped Nate’s suit pants. The soft wool drifted to the floor as Rio picked Nate up.