The Tin Star (28 page)

He grinned and grabbed the papers out of his filing cabinet. There was no time like the present to show Jamie how much he meant to him. Everyone had gone home at last, and they both could finally be alone. They had agreed to save their presents for each other for the morning, but he really had to give Jamie the big one tonight.

When he walked into their room, Jamie was just leaving the bathroom, buck naked, rubbing his hair dry with a towel. Ethan moaned and almost dropped the folder tucked under his arm.

Damn, what a beautiful sight!

And Jamie knew his reaction, too. The damn tease leered at Ethan. He tossed the towel toward the hamper, then strolled over to the bed. Lying down on his back, he began stroking his already semi-erect cock. “You see something you like, Cowboy?”

Ethan swallowed. Hell, yeah, he did. But no way was he going to let Jamie distract him this time. He was a man on a mission. He sat down on the bed beside Jamie and threw the covers over him.

“Hey!” The tone was both surprised and indignant.

“Hey, yourself.” He tossed the folder onto Jamie’s chest. “Merry Christmas.”

Jamie raised a brow and propped himself upright, then picked up the file and started to go through it.

Ethan knew the exact moment he realized what it held. Jamie gasped and looked up at Ethan, his mouth hanging open.

Ethan grinned. “Well?”

Jamie remained wide-eyed. After a few seconds, he looked back at the papers, then asked quietly, “Are you sure? This is a lot, Ethan.”

He reached out and grabbed Jamie’s chin, raising his face to see him. “Absolutely positive.”

“You really put the Tin Star in my name, too? This is half the ranch.”

Ethan dipped his head and brushed a tender kiss across Jamie’s lips. “It’s more than that, Blue Eyes. This not only makes you co-owner and full partner, but if anything should happen to me --”

Jamie knocked him over and rolled on top of him, papers flying everywhere and crushed between the two of them. His mouth ground down on Ethan’s, his tongue pushing for entrance.

“Not gonna let anything happen to you, Ethan. Not anymore, and not if I can help it.”

Ethan pushed him back up. “I love you, Jamie. We might not be able to get married, but we can make it near enough.”

Jamie blinked again, and suddenly tears were running down his face. “I love you, too.” He kissed Ethan and slid off him, leaned to the side. Before Ethan could protest, Jamie had reached into the nightstand drawer and pulled out a small, red velvet jeweler’s box. He wiped the back of his hand across his eyes, then smiled at Ethan.

“Now I don’t feel so goofy giving you this.”

Ethan took the box from Jamie.

“Well, open it already.”

Ethan grinned. “Impatient!”

Jamie snorted, snatched the box, opened it, flipped it around and put it back in Ethan’s hand. Inside were two gold rings, wide, masculine and attractive. Wedding bands.

His heart swelled with a wealth of feelings. He was not going to cry. Jamie was the emotional one, not him. But when he looked up at Jamie, he lost control. Something wet streaked down his cheek.
Damn!
He dropped the box into his lap and grabbed Jamie, hugging him tight, then kissed his throat.

Jamie kissed his neck, too. “Merry Christmas, Ethan.”

“Merry Christmas, Blue Eyes.”

Jamie pulled away first. He picked up the box again and removed one of the rings, holding it up in front of Ethan. “Look at the inscription inside.”

Ethan looked closely and read,
I love you, Cowboy. Forever your Blue Eyes.
More wetness hit his cheeks, dripping one by one off his face and onto the sheets.

Jamie slid the band onto Ethan’s left ring finger, then kissed his hand. Ethan smiled and wiped his eyes. He got the other ring and inspected it. No inscription. Yet. He’d take care of that later. He seized Jamie’s left hand and put the gold circle where it belonged.

Jamie waited about ten seconds before he tackled him again. This time, though, the urgency was gone. There wasn’t the rushed heat of coming together that they usually experienced. It was slow and easy, soft and sweet.

Making love.

Chapter Twenty

Ring.

Ethan managed to get one eye open before Jamie's arm thrust past him to attack the poor, innocent alarm clock.

Life was good. There was nothing quite like routine to make a man feel content way down in his bones. Especially when the normal had been disrupted so often of late. He was tired of waking up and finding Jamie already out of bed, too. But not today. Today, his Blue Eyes was still in bed, all snuggly. He reached for Jamie’s hand and kissed the gold band before wrapping his lover’s arm around his waist and grabbing the phone. “Hello?”

“Ethan.” John’s voice broke. Then he cleared his throat and tried again. “Ethan, Daddy had a heart attack.”

Ethan sat up, the warm, snuggly feeling leaving him. Jamie blinked up at him, startled awake by Ethan’s abrupt movement, but still groggy. He stroked Jamie’s face absently.

“What? When? Is ... is he alive?”

Jamie sat up, suddenly wide-awake. “Who? What happened? Is John all right?”

He nodded, whispered, “John’s fine,” and pulled Jamie in close.

“He’s still alive, but on his way to have a triple bypass done. I’m at the hospital with Julia. I don’t expect y’all to come, but I wanted to let you know.”

“We’ll be there in about two hours. Is there anything you need us to bring you?”

“Not right now. Call me on my cell when you’re on the road.”

“All right, John. Bye.”

No sooner had he hung up than Jamie went into “Julia mode.”

“What happened? Who’s dead? Where is John? Where are we going? What does he want us to bring?”

Ethan took a deep breath. He knew what Jamie had said about how he felt about his dad, but Ethan still couldn’t be sure how he was going to react to this news. After all, Jacob was still his father.

“Your daddy had a heart attack. He’s going to have bypass surgery.”

Jamie stared at him without saying a word, then lay back down.

Okay. He hadn’t expected tears exactly, but ... Oh, hell, he didn’t know what he had expected. Fuck it. He wasn’t even entirely certain what he himself felt.

“Jamie?”

“What?” He pulled the covers up and appeared to make himself more comfortable.

“You, uh, you going to get dressed so we can go to the hospital?”

“Hadn’t planned on it, no.” He turned onto his side, away from Ethan.

Ethan was at a loss from Jamie’s reaction and didn’t know what his next steps should be. Was Jamie upset? In denial? Shocked?

So he lay down beside Jamie and spooned himself around his lover and kissed his stubbly cheek. He was pretty sure that Jamie would talk to him eventually, give him some clue as to how to act. His Jamie wasn’t one to keep things to himself, which was good. Ethan was never going to have to wait long to find out whenever he screwed up. Jamie would let him know.

“He never loved me, Ethan. Didn’t even like me. Why? I was his kid, not Mama’s, but he only tolerated me for her. If she hadn’t wanted me, hadn’t loved me, he’d have gotten rid of me.” He stopped talking for a moment. “So why do I feel bad? Why do I even care what happens to him? I shouldn’t. Hell, the man is probably responsible for nearly killing you. But I somehow can’t bring myself to wish he were dead. Why is that, Ethan?”

He kissed Jamie’s cheek again and squeezed him tightly. “Because he’s your daddy.”

“But it doesn’t matter to him that I’m his son. To him, I’m just his one big mistake.” Jamie rolled over, nestling closer. There were no tears in his eyes, no sorrow, no hatred, just wonder.

“You are no one’s mistake. You are the best thing that ever happened to that old bastard and, quite frankly, I'm glad he's too stupid to notice. Otherwise, we probably never would have found what we have together.”

Jamie kissed his nose. “I guess I should go to the hospital. If for no other reason than to show support and be there for John and Julia, who do love me.”

Ethan nodded. “Yeah, they do. Almost as much as I love you.”

* * * * *

When they walked into the waiting area they were surprised to see Grayson Hunter sitting and talking quietly to John and Julia. He smiled when he saw them.

Jamie wrinkled his brow and glanced at Ethan.

Ethan shrugged. “Let’s go find out.”

The sheriff stood up, held out a hand to Jamie, then Ethan. “Sorry about your dad, Jamie, but I do have good news for you both.”

“Yeah?” Jamie asked.

“Oh, yeah! Come have a seat. I just got here, so you haven’t missed anything. John and Julia will need to hear this, too, as it sort of involves your daddy.”

Jamie started to question him, but Gray was already walking over to a bank of chairs, Ethan hot on his heels.

“I got a visit this morning from Carl Blake. He came to tell me that Tom Cooke shot Ethan.”

Ethan stilled. Looked at Jamie, then the sheriff.

John stared and Julia gasped.

“What?” Jamie was almost afraid to believe that this crazy mess might finally be over.

Hunter nodded. “I arrested Tom Cooke for attempted murder before I headed over here. It seems that Carl had loaned Tom his new rifle. When he heard about Ethan getting shot, he put two and two together and got scared. He didn’t want to be charged with the shooting or as a possible accessory to attempted murder, given how most people in town know he’s threatened one or the both of you at least a couple of times since y’all chucked him off the Tin Star.” His smile looked menacing. “The conversation Melissa Hatcher overheard a few months ago between him and Tom Cooke wouldn’t help his case much, either. So he came and told me all about it. I’m not sure if y’all know this, but all new guns sold in the U.S. are now shot beforehand. The ballistics are kept on record in case a crime is committed with the gun. I got the ballistics report back this morning. They compared what we found to what was on file and confirmed that the shot was fired from Carl’s gun.”

“So our daddy had nothing to do with it?” John leaned forward, almost smiling.

The sheriff shook his head. “Not exactly.”

“Not exactly?” Jules looked as puzzled Jamie was sure they all felt.

Hunter held up a hand. “Let me finish. Carl claims that your daddy had them cut the fence and write the graffiti on the tractor. He says your daddy also bought the drugs Jeff slipped into Jamie’s drink --”

“Son of a bitch!” Ethan gritted his teeth and started to stand. Jamie wasn’t sure what his cowboy might do, but he yanked him back down beside him. He nodded at Hunter to finish.

“Apparently, they were trying to scare Jamie, not do him any real harm -- or so Carl says. But he swears that neither he nor Jacob, nor Jeff, for that matter, had anything to do with damaging Jamie’s truck or almost killing Ethan. Said he spoke to your daddy this morning and told him that he was going to tell me. He thinks that’s probably what gave Jacob a heart attack.”

John took in deep breath of air and let it out slowly. “Carl did leave the office just before Daddy collapsed. Told me he’d come in to talk to Daddy about business.”

Hunter nodded. “Good. Then this confirms Carl’s story.”

Jamie sat back. Holy shit! “Does this mean it’s over? Are you sure Tom was the only one involved in the shooting?”

“Pretty sure. Carl was damned convincing, but I’m going to work on Tom. You can count on it.” He looked at each of them. “Carl swears that his, Jacob, and Jeff’s intent was never to hurt Jamie but to run him off. I’m pretty good at reading people, and I think he’s telling the truth. Got the same vibe from Jeff. Both of them are in custody, charged with destruction of private property and assault ... for now. Your daddy will be charged with the same. As for Tom Cooke, he still had Carl’s rifle in his possession, and Jeff and Carl are willing to testify to the fact that he’s had it since the night Jamie’s truck was vandalized.”

The sheriff continued, but Jamie didn’t hear him. He was ... happy? Relieved?

Part of him was glad that his daddy hadn’t wanted him dead, after all. He looked at Ethan. “Well,
does
this mean it’s all over?”

Ethan nodded. “It means
this
is over.”

He knew what Ethan meant. There was still going to be hatred and prejudice, and maybe even more trouble, but this particular chapter in their lives was over. And damned if it didn’t feel good!

Epilogue

The steakhouse opening was a huge success, if a little boring. The investors had eaten a nice supper at the restaurant, then moved their party over to one of the ballrooms at the Sheraton so there could be dancing. Which was where they were now.

Ethan was feeling full and mellow, watching people mingle and dance and just plain have a good time. Everyone was turned out in their best clothes and looking sharp. He thought he was dressed pretty exquisitely, too. He’d pulled out a charcoal-gray, pin-striped suit for the event. His black boots and black felt hat looked really good with the gray. And the tie ... He grinned. Okay, he was being a bit ridiculous, but silly or not, it hadn’t gone unnoticed by his Blue Eyes that he’d worn a red tie, the man’s favorite color.

“What are you smiling at, gorgeous?” Julia slid an arm around his waist and dropped her head on his chest.

He looked down at the low-cut, long, blue dress she was wearing. It matched those Killian eyes to perfection. “Just happy, I guess. You look damned beautiful yourself, darlin’. I can already see that we are going to have to escort you home to make sure you get there unmolested.”

She snorted. “You better not! I don’t want to get home unmolested.” She waggled her eyebrows and pointed. “You see that man over there? The one in the navy blue suit? Is he hot or what?”

His look grazed past navy blue and landed on gray. Gray suit with matching gray cowboy hat.
Fuck yeah, he’s hot!

Jules chuckled. “I know where you’re looking, and that isn’t the one I was talking about.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but that one is the best-looking man here.”

She chuckled. “Yes, but I have it on good authority that he’s gay.”