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“I’m not into orgies like you guys.”
Burke winked at me, and Damon complained, “Who said you had to join? You catch ‘em, we’ll orgy ‘em.”
Damon was brazen and that was Burke’s word for him, but he was funny and more than that. The first night I arrived in his home, he didn’t know me from anyone, heard my story, and was heading to the door to fight Jeffery. Joel was right on his heels, declaring he’dfeed ‘im to Theo’s pigsbefore the night was over.
That was the first night I realized I wasn’t alone in the world, and Damon’s brazen teasing of me confirmed that, in a strange way. “Okay, I’ll catch ‘em, you orgy them. Can orgy be used as a verb?”
“The way we use it, fuck yes,” Damon said before slapping me on the back and then climbing back on his horse.
As he rode off, Burke sighed heavily, “He’s…something.”
“You all are. Thank you, for everything.”
Burke’s brow rose. “You’re leaving?”
“If I get this job with the mayor, hopefully, he’s going to pay more than the diner, and I should be able to, yeah. You’ll get your attic back.”
Burke smiled and said, “Don’t sell yourself short. From what I hear that man is plenty rich. Make him pay, and then do a good job for him. Never forget, this is a small town, with the small-town attitudes. We try to keep what we do in that barn on the down-low, and still, people know. So far, we’re good. One person causes too much of a fuss, we might not be. Same will go for you. If you fuck up somehow, even if you don’t realize you’re fucking up, this town could close off to you.”
I knew what he was saying was true. Not to mention, I wanted to do a good job for Kendrick, for many reasons. If I could admit it to myself, I was terribly attracted to him. That would be as far as it went, however, especially if I worked for him. I knew how to separate work from other parts of my life.
“Thank you, Burke. I won’t fuck up.”
It took me several times to find the right outfit in the morning. I wanted to look professional, but I was trying for a job with a kid, so I didn’t want to look stuffy. I settled on a dark gray shirt and khaki pants with gray loafers. Casual, but not jeans.
Then I wondered if I should wear jeans. I was in farm and ranch country. Weren’t jeans like…the uniform?
I asked Burke, and he agreed to the gray shirt and khakis. “Settle down. If you don’t get it, you still have the diner gig and the weekend gig at the club. You got plenty of tips for the bachelor party, right?”
“Right. I did, yeah. Okay, just nervous.”
Joel came into the kitchen with us and grabbed a cup out of the cabinet as he noticed my clothes. “Ya goin’ to a fun’ral?”
“I look like I’m going to a funeral?”
Burke slapped his hand over Joel’s mouth. “No, Kanan, you look like you’re going to a job interview.”
Joel was giggling behind Burke’s hand, so Burke dropped it and grabbed him in a headlock.
“Ya look good as all hell,” Joel got out between giggles.
I knew Joel didn’t lie, so I relaxed a bit. “Thanks, both of you. I don’t know why, but I want this job.”
“Joel, babe, go take care of your chores and get Damon to come back for breakfast at eight-thirty.”
“Yessir,” he said, still laughing as he headed out the backdoor.
Burke turned to me and kept his voice low. “Do you want the job or the man?”
It was an honest question that deserved an honest answer. “I’d be stupid to want a straight man with a family right after I just got dumped by the guy that I thought was my forever.”
“That’s not an answer, Kanan.”
“It’s the only one I have right now.”
Burke smiled sadly. “I guess it’ll have to do. Just…protect your heart. That’s what I, what we all, care about.”
I drove using the GPS on my phone and realized how big the valley actually was. It was almost five miles from Burke’s place to the mayors, and it was an even prettier drive than I’d seen so far. Lush fields, sunflowers by the thousands, and the dark green of the evergreen trees just lulled my nerves until I could almost breathe.
