“Cowboy poetry,” Leland said with a firm nod, though Jamie could see it scared him a little to admit this. While Jamie had no idea what cowboy poetry even was, if Leland wanted to recite it to him, he was going to let him. “And I’ll do my best not to get too bossy.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let you,” Jamie said, though it was a sure bet he’d do anything Leland ever asked him to do, any time he asked.
“We can’t drive like this,” Leland said, kissing Jamie on the mouth, his hands on Jamie’s hips.
“No?” Jamie asked, teasing.
“It’s dangerous,” Leland said, firm. “I might get distracted. You need to buckle up.”
Jamie smiled at the idea of how dangerously distracted Leland might become with Jamie on his lap in a truck going sixty miles an hour, but he obediently slithered off Leland’s lap. Buckling himself in his own seat, he lifted the well-wrapped strawberry-rhubarb pie to his lap, his arms carefully around it.
Leland drove them back to the ranch at a fast clip, kicking up dust and cruising those back roads like someone who’d done it all of his life. He had one eye on the road and one eye on Jamie, appraising him in that way he had, but now what Jamie saw reflected in those eyes was a glow of acceptance.
They were going to try, the two of them. As to where it might lead, Jamie had no idea. Only that, in that moment, he felt about as good as he ever had. Safe. Wanted.
At the ranch, three people came up to Leland the moment he parked the truck and got out, dragging his attention away from Jamie and onto his job. Which left Jamie with the responsibility of what to do with the pie.
Getting out of the truck, he took the pie to his room and put it on top of the dresser. Then he changed into a grubby shirt and went back out to see where he could help out.
At the back of the dining hall, Levi needed him to help carry in some bags of ice from the delivery truck, as the ice machine was still broken. Then Brody needed him to help groom half a dozen horses in the barn, as the guests that had just ridden had no desire to get dirty, but hurried off to clean up for dinner and the dancing later.
Jamie was busy right until the dinner bell and barely had time to get cleaned up before the guests rushed in. The dining hall was lively and bustling with activity as he got his tray and sat at a table with some ranch hands. And of course he scanned the dining hall for Leland again, but this time it felt comfortable and right. He didn’t need to hide what he was doing anymore.
Leland was at a table with some guests, saw Jamie, and waved. Jamie waved back and smiled, feeling like a kid in high school who has just made friends with the most popular kid for miles, even if he couldn’t always sit with him.
“You two make up?” asked Clay, nudging Jamie with his elbow as he sat down with his tray next to Jamie.
“What?” Jamie asked, putting off answering by taking a very large swallow of his iced tea.
“Yeah, you know what I’m talking about,” said Clay, nodding, those dimples firmly in place as he chewed and smiled at the same time. “Who made the first move, him or you?”
“He did,” Jamie said, not hiding this, though he had to struggle not to squirm in his seat. It all felt still so new between him and Leland. “Though I don’t think I should talk about it at all.”
“Actually, you can and you should,” Clay said, nodding. “There’s no need to hide what you and Leland have. We’re all on this ranch together for months at a time. And maybe nobody knows what Jasper gets up to in that cabin off all by itself, but as for everybody else? Yeah, you catch a cold and everybody knows. You forget to tie a shoelace, and we all laugh, but then we help you tie it before you trip. Get it?”
“I guess so,” Jamie said as he looked over to the table toward the front where Leland was talking and laughing with guests.
He’d never been courted before, but he needed to learn to share Leland with others. Leland had a big job, running the ranch, and lots of obligations on his time. It had been that way before Jamie had shown up and it would be that way after—except theaftermight include him, now. He shivered, doubts clamoring for attention inside of him. It was almost as scary to be wanted as it was to be on his own.
“If he hurts you, I’ll kick his ass,” said Clay, conversationally as if they were talking about something else altogether.
“Nobody kicks him,” Jamie said, though he knew what Clay was trying to get at. He and Leland were in the courtship phase, and he knew, just knew, that Leland would turn himself inside out to avoid hurting Jamie.
Jamie had a sudden vision of Leland standing below his window, throwing light pebbles at it to get him to open the window and sneak out, like one of those old black and white movies they used to make.
Only he wouldn’t have to sneak. Leland would let Jamie know when and where, and Jamie would come down those stairs, two at a time. Or maybe Leland would knock at his door and he would come out. All kinds of dreamy scenes whirled around in his head as he ate his dinner.
If he kept smiling like he was, then it wouldn’t only be Clay making observations and sharing his opinion, it would be everybody else who worked on the ranch. Could Jamie handle it, being part of such a big family? He had no idea, but he guessed he was going to find out.
31
Leland
On Friday night after dinner was through, Leland sought Jamie out near the dining hall, looking at every face beneath the twinkling fairy lights for the one he wanted. Jamie. He wanted Jamie.
Guests were chatting and laughing as they danced and swirled and stomped in enthusiastic lines, excited about it being their last night, drawing out the moment, as if they longed to rearrange their entire lives and stay on the ranch forever.
Leland found Jamie up near the porch where the band was playing. Jamie was helping Levi with the ice, pouring it from plastic bags bought at the grocery store into the barrel. Leland cursed under his breath. He needed to follow up on the issues the ice maker was having, and he had some harsh words to share with that repairman. The last thing he wanted was extra and unnecessary work for his staff.
