When the lesson ended, the guests dismounted and Brody told them to tie their horses up, and that someone would groom them—that is, unless folks wanted to learn how? Some of them did, and stayed behind, while others headed off in pursuit of other fun.
“Help me with this, Jamie,” said Brody as he arranged the willing guests with their horses. “Go fetch the box of brushes and hoof picks. It’s such a nice day, we can do this out here. Unless,” he added, looking at Jamie carefully, “maybe you could ask Leland for the afternoon off, if you’d rather not work.”
Not quite sure what he meant, Jamie shook his head.
“Oh no,” he said. “I’m doing my job. Leland would want me to do my job and I want to do it.”
The look he got as a response told him a lot, that Brody was pleased he didn’t trade in on the fact that Leland and Jamie had been hanging out together. Jamie might have imagined it, but there was respect in Brody’s eyes.
“I’ll get those brushes and stuff,” Jamie said, running off to fetch them.
They groomed horses in the corral, and then the guests had the pleasure of leading the horses up to the far field and letting them go for the afternoon. It was fun to watch the horses running across the field like four-legged kids let out to recess. Then Jamie had to go back to the corral and rake and shovel and haul manure, but that was fine.
He was getting used to the work and wanted to be at his best whenever Leland might walk past. Maybe he’d stop and say hello. Maybe Leland would stop and say something nice about the good job Jamie was doing. Maybe he’d look at Jamie with those beautiful grey-blue eyes, and Jamie’d see what he wanted to see. That Leland liked Jamie. Wanted to be with him. That those kisses they’d shared might lead to something else.
Jamie’s legs, especially his inner thighs, ached all afternoon, but he kept moving so they wouldn’t stiffen up. He knew he’d get used to riding, just like he’d got used to using all of his muscles.
All day, he missed Leland. At one point, in the long shadows of the afternoon, he saw Leland going away from the barn. But Leland never came close, never called Jamie to sit with him on the porch of the dining hall to take a break and have a cold, local-brewed root beer. And it looked like he would not offer Jamie another ride behind him when he went out in the evening to survey the ranch. It was as if Jamie had vanished from view.
What could Jamie do about it? He wanted to show Leland that he was a hard worker, wanted Leland’s attention, but he didn’t want to be one of those guys who went chasing after another guy, either. That wasn’t him at all.
Maybe he could pretend he was indifferent and stop looking for Leland everywhere. Or he could try something new. Maybe he could get brave and tell Leland how he felt. Walk right up to him and tell him.
Maybe he was a little obsessed, but being with Leland had been like staring at a gate that had suddenly opened right in front of him, and through that gate was a whole different world. A world full of good people and hard work, a world full of guests having fun, and clean sheets, and a room all to himself. And sweet kisses, while Leland held his face in his hands.
If Leland kissed like that, in a way that left traces of shivers across his mouth, what would it feel like when they were naked and in bed together? Would Jamie be able to linger and kiss those freckles on his shoulders? Would Leland let him kiss him everywhere? Anywhere?
He wanted to find out. He was going to do his best to find out. So that evening, when staff was setting up the lights for the dance after dinner, he rushed through the rest of his work and ate real fast, and went to his room for the longest, hottest shower, ever. He shaved carefully and brushed his teeth twice, just in case there was going to be more kissing.
In the damp fog of the bathroom, he did the best he could with his hair. When he swiped at the mirror so he could see, his hair was going everywhere like dark weeds around his face. Unless he took the scissors to it, but he didn’t have scissors, so he would have to go to the dance looking like he was.
He put on his newest, darkest blue jeans, along with the gently used cowboy boots, which, with the stacked heel, made his legs look long and powerful. At least that’s what he told himself as he looked down at his legs. As for the shirt, he pulled out the one he’d been saving, maybe even for this moment. It was a fancy dress shirt of some pale blue cloth and those pearl-snap buttons on shirts Leland always wore.
Piling all of this on, feeling a little bit foolish now wearing both a cowboy hat and cowboy bootsanda shirt with pearl snap buttons, he made his way to the front of the dining hall. There, the twinkling lights were strung, and the band was warming up on the porch. Someone had pulled out benches from the dining hall and placed them around the dance area.
He was very tempted to go grab a bottle of root beer and to plant himself on the edge of the porch again, or maybe on one of the benches, but he didn’t. He was breathing too fast, too hard, all worked up, and wanted to be standing and ready for when Leland showed up.
If there was going to be line dances, he was going to dance next to Leland. If there was going to be a couples dance, he was going to ask Leland to pair with him. And never mind the reality of it, that he didn’t know how to dance either dance.
But Leland would teach him. Leland would patiently show him. And then he would smile at Jamie and then they’d walk into the shadows, holding hands.
Blowing out a hard breath of jumbled feelings, Jamie grabbed a bottle of root beer anyway. Drinking it, he stood near the dance floor, watching the dancers line up as the band started playing, and waited, his heart pounding, for Leland to show up. And when he did, he was so handsome, Jamie’s heart sang to look at him.
Leland was wearing his red shirt with the pearl-snap buttons, the one Jamie liked especially well. Leland had on new blue jeans, and, yes, they made his legs look long, especially because he was wearing those cowboy boots of his that made his butt curve out.
While Leland was standing talking to Brody at the edge of the porch, his took off his hat and ran his hands through his blond hair, making it stand up. Then he saw Jamie, and those grey-blue eyes of his locked on him like a battleship locking on a target.
Jamie was the target.Him. Which meant that Leland wasn’t ignoring him any more.
His heart racing a million miles an hour, Jamie walked over to Leland, feeling like he was slicing through the air as he went. He had his intentions. He’d make his feelings known to Leland, who wouldn’t turn him down for a dance in front of everyone, would he?
“Hey, Brody, hey, Leland,” Jamie said as he went up to them. He took his cowboy hat off, too, and realized he was holding it the way Leland was, with one hand cupped around the crown, fingers holding the empty bottle of root beer. His other hand was tucked inside the crown of the hat, lifting it, twisting it, letting it fall, over and over.
“I see you’ve had some root beer,” said Leland, and when he smiled at Jamie, it was as though he thought Jamie should have all the root beer he ever wanted and then some. He wanted good things for Jamie, always.
“Yeah, can I get you one?” Jamie asked, feeling a little foolish for offering, as though they were on a date. They weren’t, but he wanted them to be.
“Let’s get one together.”
