The Tin Star (3 page)

He held out his hand and Ethan took it. Instead of shaking it like Jamie had expected, Ethan pulled him against his chest in a sort of half hug and slapped him on the back.

Jamie’s breath caught. Oh, the man felt
good
. Jamie’s stomach clenched and his cock stirred.
Shit! Get a hold of yourself, Killian!
He’d always had a huge crush on Ethan, which he thought he’d been pretty good at hiding, but for some reason ever since he’d heard Ethan’s voice on the phone today, all his senses were on full alert. He was going to have to get a grip. It would never do for Ethan to see the effect he had on him, especially now that he and John knew that Jamie was gay. Before, Ethan might have dismissed it as nothing, but with his newfound knowledge of Jamie’s sexual orientation, it was highly unlikely he’d mistake if for anything other than what it was. And it would really suck to get thrown out twice in one day.

Ethan stepped back but didn’t let go of his hand right away. “How are you, kid?”

Jamie blinked, trying to concentrate on the conversation. That was odd; it seemed almost like Ethan was reluctant to let go. But finally -- and way too soon, as far as Jamie was concerned -- Ethan dropped his hand.

“Uh, okay, I guess. Thanks, Ethan. You won’t regret this. I’ll pull my weight.”

Ethan grinned. “I know you will. You’ve always been a hard worker.” He started walking toward the house, tilting his head for Jamie to follow. “You hungry? Why don’t you come in and eat some lunch. I was just about to put something together.”

Jamie kept stride next to Ethan. “But isn’t John inside?”

Ethan stopped and looked at him. “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

“Nah ... I just figure I’m probably the last person John wants to see right now.”

“Well, chances are he’s still asleep, but you should talk to him, and your sister, too. I think you’ll be surprised by what they have to say. Give them a chance, Jamie. Jules has already called in a panic to see if I’d heard anything from you. Your daddy phoned her.”

“What? Daddy called Julia?”

Ethan nodded.

“Damn!”

“Yeah, she was upset over you not answering your phone. Come on, Jamie, let’s get some lunch. Maybe John will be up by the time we’re done eating.” Ethan began walking again.

Jamie stood there and stared in shock. Was it possible that Julia
and
John were on his side?

That thought was cut off before it got a chance to really get going -- Ethan had just stepped up on the porch, wiping his boots on the doormat. Jamie’s eyes zeroed in on his butt. Damn, that tight ass looked good in a pair of Wranglers.

“You comin’, kid?”

“What? Oh, yeah!” Jamie peeled his eyes off of Ethan’s rear end and jogged up to the house. Man, working with Ethan was going to be hard ... literally! Hopefully, Daddy would get over his mad ... and soon.

Chapter Three

Ethan woke to the sounds of yelling and a dog barking. He didn’t even have a dog. He blinked his eyes open and looked at the clock. 2:13 a.m.

What the hell?
Oh, right! After John had woken from his stupor, eaten a meal and sobered up some, he’d gone and gotten Jamie some of his things from the Quad J. He’d brought Fred back with him, too.

“Call your dog off, you cocksucking faggot!”

That
had Ethan up and moving. He grabbed the jeans he’d worn earlier off the floor and hopped bare-assed over to the window as he struggled to pull them on. His bedroom overlooked the back of the house and gave him a clear view of the bunkhouse.

Two of the ranch hands, Jeff and Carl, were circling Jamie and Fred. Carl had something, some kind of rod, in his hand and was waving it at Fred. Jamie looked like he’d been dragged out of bed. He was in a pair of dark sweatpants and nothing else, while Jeff and Carl were fully dressed.
Wonderful!
he thought caustically.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Ethan got his pants up around his hips and took off down the stairs. He reached the bottom of the back porch just as all hell broke loose, and Bill stepped out of the bunkhouse with a shotgun in hand. “What the holy hell is going on out here?!”

Carl hit Fred with the stick, making her yelp. Jeff tried to rush Jamie, but Jamie side-stepped him and dove at Carl.

“Don’t fucking hit my dog, you piece of shit!” Jamie landed two good punches to Carl’s face before Jeff jumped him from behind. Fred growled and leaped to her master’s defense, grabbing Carl by the balls. He shrieked.

Carl had lost his weapon, there was blood running from his nose, and he was still screaming, trying to get the dog off him.

Ethan didn’t slow his pace. He jumped right into the fray, grabbing Jeff -- who was sitting on Jamie’s back with a handful of thick black hair, trying to beat the kid’s head into the ground -- and hauling him off Jamie by the shirt collar.

As soon as Jeff was on his feet, he turned on Ethan and swung. Ethan ducked and punched him in the stomach. Just as Jeff dropped to his knees, Jamie reached for him.

Ethan opened his mouth to tell Jamie to leave Jeff alone when a gunshot rang out. Everyone froze, including Fred. She let go of Carl and ran to Jamie, growling out a warning at Jeff, who was apparently too close to her master for her peace of mind.

The two other ranch hands spilled out of the bunkhouse, hastily tucking their shirts into their unzipped jeans, but they turned around when Bill waved a hand at them.

Jamie reached down and dropped a hand to her head. “Shh, it’s all right, girl.”

Ethan heaved a sigh of relief and dropped his hands to his knees, trying to get air into his lungs. “Somebody want to explain to me what the fuck is going on?”

Jeff clutched his midsection and scrambled out of Fred’s reach. Carl flopped down on the bunkhouse porch, holding his balls with one hand and his bloody nose with the other.

Fred finally stopped growling, and Jamie turned to look at Ethan. He pointed at Jeff and Carl. “I was sleeping when these assholes dragged me from bed and out here. They started yelling all sorts of filth --”

Carl interrupted. “Do you know why Killian kicked him out, boss? Do you? He’s a goddamned fag!”

Ethan wasn’t surprised they’d learned why Jamie had been kicked off the Quad J. Damned ranch hands were as bad as a group of old women in a quilting circle when it came to gossip.

Ethan couldn’t help himself. He knew it wasn’t going to cool anyone’s temper, but he grinned anyway. “Yeah, well, the ‘fag’ kicked your ass but good, didn’t he?”

Jamie chuckled beside him, and Fred punctuated the taunt with a bark.

Bill sighed and glared at Ethan. “That’s not helping, boy!” He looked back at the ranch hand. “Carl, I don’t rightly care who the youngster sleeps with as long as he does his job. I wasn’t aware you had been made ranch police.”

Ethan straightened up and took charge. “Jamie, get your stuff, then you and Fred go on up to the house. You can have one of the guest bedrooms.”

As soon as Jamie and Fred went into the bunkhouse, he looked at Bill. “Get these two off my property and make sure we aren’t going to have any more trouble from them.”

Bill gave a brisk nod. “You heard the man, fellas. Get your shit together.”

Ethan turned away and returned to the house. A chorus of protests followed in his wake, but he ignored them. No way was he going to keep those two assholes on. Disagreeing with a man’s lifestyle was one thing; dragging him out of bed from a dead sleep just to kick his ass because you didn’t like it was another matter entirely. He knew cowboys were a bigoted lot, but damn! He just hadn’t expected this, especially on his ranch. Oh, hell, maybe he had. Maybe that’s why he’d wished Jamie had kept his mouth shut.

Ethan ran his hands up and down his arms. Now that the excitement was over, he could feel the nip in the air. It was too late, or too early, depending on how you looked at it, to deal with this shit.

He was just putting the water in the coffeemaker when he heard Jamie and Fred come through the door.

“I’m sorry, Ethan.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Jamie. They had no right.” He switched on the machine and put the carafe in place, then turned around. Jamie was standing by the entrance and Fred was sitting next to him, wagging her tail. The kid had his cowboy hat on, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder, a pair of boots in one hand, two stainless steel bowls in the other and a bag of dog food under his arm. He was still in his sweats and barefoot, but he had put on a white tee-shirt that was about three sizes too big for him.

Jamie was nearly his size, albeit a little less filled out, but those baggy red sweatpants and the oversized shirt made him looked so damned sweet and innocent that Ethan could barely hold back a grin. He had the sudden urge to give him a hug. “You okay? Is she?” he asked, nodding toward Fred.

Jamie grimaced. “Yeah, nothing hurt but my pride. I should have expected something like that to happen. Guess I should never have never said anything in the first place, huh?”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t have.”

Jamie dropped his head and shuffled his feet.

Damn!
That air of defeat went right to his gut. He should’ve kept his own piehole shut instead of making the kid feel worse than he already did.

“Go put your stuff away. I suggest using the room next to mine; it’s the next biggest.” He grabbed the bowls and the bag of dog food. “Go on. I’ll take care of Fred. Come back down when you’re done, and we’ll have a cup of coffee and talk.”

Jamie left the kitchen, and Fred followed her bowls, tail still wagging cheerfully.

Ethan put one bowl in the sink under the faucet and set the dog food and other bowl on the counter. He turned the water on, then petted Fred’s head.

“That’s a good girl! Going to Daddy’s rescue like that. Let’s see if we can find the good girl a treat.” Fred must have understood, because she gave him a happy bark and sat up really pretty. Ethan chuckled and scratched behind her ears. He’d always loved dogs.

He turned off the water, then went to rummage through the pantry. There was some beef jerky in there somewhere. When he found it, Fred gave him a bark of excitement and nearly knocked herself over with the force of her wagging tail. He laughed and tossed her a piece. “Here you go, pretty girl.”

By the time he got Fred’s bowls to the laundry room right off the kitchen, the coffee was ready. He poured two cups and sat down at the table to wait. He didn’t know what the kid took in his coffee, so he left it black.

Jamie came back and flopped down in the seat across from him. He glanced at the laundry room where Fred was eating and smiled. “She convince you she was starving to death?”

“Nah. Just thought she deserved a little something. She’s a good dog.”

“Yes, she is. You don’t mind having her in the house?”

Ethan took a sip of coffee and shook his head. “No. I miss not having a dog around. It damned near broke my heart when Mutt died, but I’ve been thinking about getting another. I teeter between missing the companionship and keeping my heart intact. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah. It’d just kill me if something happened to Fred. Fortunately, she’s only a year old, so we’ve still got a lot of years together.”

Ethan looked at the large German Shepherd and let out a low whistle. “Damn, she’s gonna be big! You know big dogs grow until they’re two, right?”

Jamie grabbed his coffee and took a sip. “Yup, I know. She ever grows into her paws, she’s gonna be a monster.”

“You got that right.” Ethan sipped from his mug. “You have a female dog named Fred and a mare named George. I know George is short for Georgia, but you keep it up, you’re going to have people thinking you’ve got some perverse fondness for giving females male names.” He winked.

Jamie grinned. “Fred is short for Frederica. I figured she’s a German Shepherd, so she should have a German name. I went online and researched German girls’ names. I liked Frederica, but it’s a mouthful so I call her Fred for short.” Suddenly sober, he glanced at Ethan. “Besides, now people will just attribute it to the fact that I like men better than women.”

Ethan leaned back in his chair and studied him. Jamie’s body was long and lean, muscled without being bulky. At present, Jamie looked several years older than his twenty-one years. The Killian black hair that had a tendency to curl when it got long was hanging in his eyes, which looked tired. There were also bags under those pretty peepers, which were a paler version of his brother’s, a crystal-clear blue so light they appeared almost colorless at certain angles. His dark eyebrows and high cheekbones emphasized his good looks, and he had a strong chin, complete with a shallow cleft. A bit of stubble that hadn’t been there this afternoon covered his cheeks, and though he was tan from being out in the sun, his complexion was otherwise fair. John’s younger brother had grown up into a damned fine-looking man, and the fact that he was exhausted didn’t diminish those looks any.

Ethan’s gut clenched at his thoughts. Why had he never seen the kid as a man before? Never mind. This wasn’t the time.

“Jamie, I won’t lie to you. I don’t think your being gay should be anybody’s business but your own. Still, you know how damned ornery your daddy is. You should have known what he’d do if he found out.”

Jamie started to argue, but Ethan held up his hand. “Let me finish. I think you should have stayed in the closet, figuratively speaking, but you damn sure don’t deserve how you’ve been treated. Not just by your daddy, but by Carl and Jeff, too. Hell, it even pisses me off that John didn’t stand up for you to your daddy right away.” Ethan suddenly grinned and took another sip of his coffee. “But he’d probably be living here and working with us, too, if he did.”

Jamie smiled, but it didn’t reach those blue eyes. “Yeah. Hell, I was just surprised that John didn’t take issue with me. I kind of expected Julia to be supportive, but I really thought John would be as mad as Daddy. I guess he probably feels like you ... that I should have kept it to myself.”

Ethan nodded. “John’s no bigot. Never has been.”

Jamie seemed to mull that over a bit. He was quiet for several moments, then he whispered, “I couldn’t ... I couldn’t do it. Couldn’t continue to pretend.” Those baby blues looked like they were pleading with him to understand.