by Ari McKay
James’ smile turned conciliatory. “I’m terribly sorry, cousin,” he said in a tone that Stone wasn’t entirely convinced was sincere. “I didn’t mean to cause offense to you or your foreman here. I’m sure he’s been invaluable. Of course, I’ll take whatever accommodations you have available, and I’m grateful for them.”
Stone nodded curtly. “Well, then. Mary has supper ready, and we’ve been workin’ since sunup, so if you’re of a mind to join us for a meal, we’re eatin’ in the kitchen. Mary can make up that room in the meantime.” He turned and looked at Luke. “That suit?”
“Yes, sir, it suits me fine,” Luke replied, turning his back just enough to shut James out of their conversation without quite being rude about it.
“It suits me as well,” James interjected smoothly.
Stone nodded and headed for the kitchen. “Mary, we have a guest for supper.” He moved to the sink and began to prime the pump with suppressed aggression. He washed his hands, telling himself he needed to calm down and get his temper under control. James Rivers had gotten under his skin, but Stone knew he was no longer in a position where he could deck the man for being a jackass and get away with it. He probably should have sent the man packing at once, but it was too late to do anything about it now, except hope James kept his visit brief.
“Oh!” Mary’s eyes widened, and she smiled bashfully at James. “I’ll set another place, sir.”
“That’ll be fine.” Stone dried his hands and headed to the table. “Then if you don’t mind clearin’ Priss’s room, Mr. Rivers will be stayin’ with us for a spell.”
Mary was beaming at that, but Stone felt weary. He had someone in his house whom he didn’t much care for, forcing him to be social, and for some reason, the whole situation with Luke was suddenly eating at him again, probably because he had really wanted to punch Mr. Smarmy-Pants Rivers right in his elegant nose for insulting Luke. But he had to get through this somehow, so he clenched his jaw and took his seat at the table.
James claimed a seat without waiting to see where Luke would sit, lounging with indolent grace and casting flirtatious smiles at Mary as she served them.
“It all looks delicious,” he said, but as soon as Mary was out of the room, he added, “Of course, it’s quite different from what I’m accustomed to. I’d forgotten how simple and unsophisticated the fare is out here.”
Stone looked at Luke instead of James in an effort to keep himself from saying something rude. “Mary’s cookin’ suits us just fine.”
“It’ll suit me just fine, too,” James replied, showing little reluctance to dig in. “Although you really must visit me sometime and let me show you around Boston. You’d be amazed at all the advances we have in technology these days, and it does take such a long time to bring civilization out west.”
“We have indoor plumbin’ and an icebox here,” Luke spoke up at last, lifting his chin proudly.
“Do you?” James turned to him with an indulgent smile. “How grand.”
Stone normally didn’t talk much at supper, but something about this city slicker was pestering him. “It’s enough for us,” he said, taking a sip of the cold well water in his glass. “Trappin’s don’t make a man, and we’ve got all the civilization we want.” He caught Luke’s eye and kept his face perfectly straight. “I don’t reckon we’ve had a witch burnin’ in at least a month.”
“There was that near miss when old Mrs. Dawkins showed up in church with a wart on her nose, but other than that, yeah, I’d say at least a good month,” Luke replied, his expression admirably deadpan.
James laughed heartily, but somehow the sound rang false. “Touché, gentlemen. I stand corrected.”
“Copper Lake Ranch is right comfortable,” Stone replied. “Maybe we don’t know much better, but it’s home. That’s all that really matters, leastwise to me.”
“Of course. I’m sure it’s quite nice to have somewhere to settle down in relative comfort this far from civilization,” James replied. “I would miss the amenities offered by city life, but I can already appreciate the rustic charms of this area.”
Stone nodded, but didn’t say anything. Even when James said something complimentary, there seemed to be another meaning underneath his words. People like that annoyed Stone, and nothing he said was going to make a difference at all to this man. It was best to save his breath.
He finished up his third piece of fried chicken and wiped his hands on his napkin. “I think Mary made apple pie.” He pushed back his chair and looked at Luke. “You want a cup of coffee with it?”
“I’ll get it.” Luke glanced at James, who looked disapproving.
“No, I’m up.” Stone didn’t care a fig what Mr. James Rivers thought. He crossed to the stove and fetched the coffee pot Mary had left out to keep warm, bringing it to the table and filling Luke’s cup. “How about you, cousin? Coffee?”
“Since you’re up,” James drawled, holding out his cup.
Stone filled it—resisting the urge to dump the whole pot in James’s lap—then poured his own cup before setting the pot in the middle of the table. He picked up the used plates, stacking them by the sink, and he brought the pie and three clean plates back to the table.
He took his seat and served a piece of pie to Luke and James before serving himself. Taking a bite of the pie, he glanced at Luke. “I need to make a supply run into town tomorrow. You want to go with me, or should I take Shorty?”
Luke poked at the apple pie with his fork, seeming to have little appetite for it, and kept his eyes on his plate. “I’ve got some work to do in the north pasture.”
“I’d be glad to accompany you, cousin,” James spoke up. “I’d love to see if Serenity has changed at all since the last time I was here.”
Stone was disappointed Luke didn’t want to go with him, but he was downright displeased at the thought of taking this new cousin of his instead. There didn’t seem to be any help for it; hopefully James would decide Serenity and Copper Lake were too backward and “rustic” for his city tastes and leave soon.
“Sure, if you want,” he agreed slowly. “I’m leavin’ at eight.” There was something wrong with Luke, and Stone wanted to know what it was. He was determined to have a private word with him before bed and find out what was going on.
“Of course.” James nodded, seeming unperturbed by the early hour. “We can take my rig, if you like. It’s one of the finest models ever made, and you really should have the experience at least once. Speaking of which, my horses need tending. Do you have a stable boy for that?”
Stone wasn’t impressed that James didn’t tend his own horses, but by now, he wasn’t surprised. “You can take your rig, if you want, but I’m goin’ to take the buckboard. I doubt you want sacks of flour and sugar in your nice buggy.” He cleaned his plate and then stood up again. “If you want to go to the parlor, I’ll get one of the wranglers to see to your horses. Luke, I want to discuss our chores for tomorrow.”
James didn’t look too happy over being dismissed, but he smiled and murmured, “Of course, cousin,” before excusing himself and returning to the parlor. Once they were alone, Luke pushed back his chair and stood up, regarding Stone warily.
“If you aim to make me go into town with you and Dandy Jim, I’ll want a day and a half’s wages at least.”
“No, I wasn’t goin’ to make you,” Stone replied, running a hand through his hair in agitation. “I’d rather not go myself, truth be told, but it’s too late now. Come on, let’s step outside. I need to see his horses don’t end up standin’ hitched all night.”
Once they were out in the cool, crisp evening air, Stone turned to Luke, his expression earnest. “Look, I know things ain’t been right between us since that night, but I’m tryin’, and I know you are too. But I can tell there’s more goin’ on now. What is it, Luke? If this city slicker makes you uncomfortable, I’ll send him packin’, cousin or no. I ain’t got much use for him myself, but I’m tryin’ to do what’s right by Priss.”
“What?” Stone was shocked, Luke’s words jabbing into him like a knife. It hurt like hell Luke could think such a thing of him, when all he’d tried to do was fight for him. “I’d’ve stood up for you, no matter if it was him or the preacher or anyone else sayin’ such things about you. Not because I care what people think about me, but because I won’t have you disrespected when you ain’t done nothin’ to deserve it. And the problem ain’t what people talk about. It’s what they do when they finish talkin’. There’s worse things than bein’ run out of town on a rail. Like gettin’ shot or strung up from a tree for not bein’ what they think you should be. I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt because of me.” He shook his head, cold emptiness filling him. “If you could think such things about me, I reckon you don’t really know me at all.”
With that, he turned and headed toward the stable, wishing the earth would open up and swallow him whole. It’d be a damn sight easier than living with knowing the person he cared about most in the world thought he was lower than a snake.
He heard Luke’s footsteps as he hurried to catch up with him, and felt Luke’s hand on his arm to stop him—the first time Luke had voluntarily touched him since their one night together.
“I’m sorry,” Luke said, lowering his hand quickly. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just….” He blew out a sharp sigh. “It ain’t easy. You give me fancy gifts and go on about how much you trust me, and you get madder’n a wet hen at Dandy Jim ’cause of how he treats me, but for all of that, you won’t share my bed. I know it’s ’cause you’re scared of what could happen, but it don’t make things any easier on me to know I’ve got to listen to all that and still keep my distance like it don’t mean nothin’.” He frowned and leveled an accusatory finger at Stone. “And if you think it won’t make tongues wag if you keep actin’ like a protective beau like you did tonight, you’re foolin’ yourself. Dandy Jim may be soft, but he ain’t stupid or blind.”
Stone would have liked nothing better at that moment than to push Luke up against the wall and kiss him senseless, but that was out of the question. He was beginning to wonder if it would be easier to stop fighting and let it happen. At least he and Luke would be happy for a while, until it all fell apart.
“I take your meanin’,” he replied with a sigh. “And I ain’t tryin’ to make anything hard on you. I just hate seein’ a man who ain’t fit to lick your boots actin’ like he’s better’n you, sayin’ things to try to make you feel bad. He may be Priss’s nephew by marriage, but I can’t claim that man as kin. Maybe tomorrow I can get him to go right back east in his fancy rig and leave us alone.”
“I wouldn’t mind seein’ the dust of his shoes, that’s for sure.” Luke glanced back at the big house with an uncharacteristic scowl.
Stone nodded. “Well, I’d best get Ray or Jake to get his rig taken care of. I don’t recall the last time I met anybody I had so little use for.”
“You ain’t goin’ to get any disagreement out of me. At least Mary’s taken a likin’ to him, or else we’d be in a mess of trouble. Then again, maybe havin’ to eat Charlie’s cookin’ instead of hers might make him decide to head back to Boston a lot quicker.”
“That’s worth considerin’.” Stone smiled slightly. At least Luke was joking with him a little again, which was better than silence. “I should ask Mary if she can make a humble pie. I think he needs to eat a whole one by himself.”
“If he didn’t turn up his nose at it.” Luke took a step back, eyeing Stone. “Anyway, I guess I’d better be gettin’ back to the house.”
“Right.” Stone repressed a desire to sigh at the visible retreat. “I’ll be in directly. I won’t abandon you to our ‘guest’.”
“He ain’t our guest,” Luke retorted. “He’s your guest. That ain’t my house, this ain’t my ranch, and I ain’t family. I’m the foreman, that’s all.”
Stone looked at him. “I’ll try to remember that.” Then he turned and headed toward the stable. Whatever awaited him when he went back to the house, he felt certain he wasn’t going to like it much at all.
14
IF ANYONE had asked Luke if he was happy before Stone came along, he would have said yes. He’d thought he was happy at the time, because he had a place to live, a job, and a little family. He didn’t own the house he lived in, but he had a room he didn’t have to share with anyone else, and for him, that was pure luxury. Looking back, he knew he’d only been content, which wasn’t the same thing as being happy. He’d learned the difference the night he spent with Stone. That was when he’d learned what real, bone-deep happiness felt like.
Since then, he’d been struggling to get back to content, but he hadn’t made it there yet; he wasn’t sure he ever would. Sometimes, he thought leaving Copper Lake was the best answer for both of them, but he knew he would carry Stone with him wherever he went, just like Stone carried his pa. Staying might not help him fall out of love with Stone any quicker, but at least it would let him help Stone build the kind of stable, responsible, respectable life Stone seemed to want.
He glanced over at Jake, who was riding the fence with him that day. Stone had refused to let him go out alone since the blizzard; fortunately, Jake wasn’t much of a talker, and so Luke didn’t feel obliged to start up a conversation, instead retreating into his own thoughts once more.
As winter turned into spring, he’d been riding enough to break in the saddle Stone had given him for Christmas. He’d sold his old saddle to one of the hands and dutifully used the new one, not because he wanted to but because he didn’t want to seem ungrateful. He understood what Stone had been trying to do, and he appreciated it. But even though it was indeed the finest thing he’d ever owned, he would have given away both the saddle and Mist in a heartbeat if it meant he could be with Stone. He took neither pride nor pleasure in the saddle, not when it represented the greatest loss of his entire life.
He was careful to avoid mentioning that Stone had given it to him as well, but for someone who was so damned worried about people talking, Stone was showing a considerable lack of discretion. Sometimes, Stone seemed hell-bent on treating Luke like his lover in every way short of sharing his bed. Luke had tried to remind him to be more careful. Giving Luke expensive presents and referring to “their ranch” and “their house” wasn’t exactly going to make folks think Luke was nothing more than the foreman, especially since they hadn’t known each other all that long. He thought maybe Stone understood what mixed messages he’d been sending to Luke and to everyone else, and he hoped Stone would back off and quit treating him like he was special. It was only making it harder for Luke’s wounds to heal, and besides, if Stone was afraid of what would happen if people started talking about them, then he damned well needed to stop giving them reasons to talk in the first place.
Before he could continue down that depressing line of thought, he noticed cattle grazing in the distance outside where the Copper Lake ranch fence ought to be.
“Shit! Looks like we got ourselves a break,” he said as he spurred Mist into a quicker pace. Jake kept up easily.
When they reached the far end of the pasture, he could see a fair bit of the fence had been torn down, as if the cattle had stampeded right over it, and he looked around to see how many remained inside the fenced area, dismayed by how few he saw milling around.
“How many head did we have out here?” he asked.
“About a hundred, I think,” Jake replied. “Looks like most of them are gone.”
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“Well, let’s see how many we can round up,” Luke said grimly. “Maybe they ain’t gone too far. We’ll get them back inside the fence, and then I want you to get more men and supplies so we can get this fixed before nightfall.”
“Mr. Harrison said I wasn’t to leave you alone.” Jake gave him a dubious look.
“Ain’t no blizzard goin’ to blow up today,” Luke retorted, not bothering to hide his exasperation. “I’ll be fine, and if I ain’t, I’ll take the blame so you won’t have to.”
They were only able to round up about twenty of the escaped cattle, and Luke began giving serious thought to suggesting Stone build up the horse-breeding angle, maybe even focus on breeding race horses. Beef prices weren’t as good now as they had been a few years ago anyway, so it might be a good time to diversify.
Once they got as many cattle as they could find back inside the fence, Jake took off for the ranch, and Luke started repairing the fence, trying to salvage as much as possible. It wasn’t long before he heard riders approaching, and he glanced up to see Jake had returned with a few hands and a wagon full of supplies. And Stone. For once, Luke was glad to see him; something wasn’t sitting right about the damage he’d seen to the posts, and he wanted another pair of eyes on it.
“Looks like we lost eighty-some head or more,” he said. “I reckon we could send some men out lookin’ farther than Jake and I went, but I don’t know how lucky we’ll get in findin’ them after this long.”
Stone looked grim as he swung out of the saddle to look at the damage. “Damn.” He glanced along the length of downed barbed wire and broken-off posts. “They must have been spooked. We’ll have to move the rest of the herd into the lower pasture until we fix this.”
Luke glanced at the other men, waiting until they were busy unloading the wagon, before pulling Stone aside. “I ain’t so sure it was spooked cattle. Look at the marks on that post,” he added, pointing to one of the broken posts on the ground. “Do they look funny to you?”
