AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And then in with the boss?”
Hugo’s face went blank, and he held Wyatt’s gaze with more intensity than he expected. “That didn’t develop right away, and it’s private. Between me and him. But I will stress that what Brand said is true. On the job, we are boss and employee. We don’t take it to work. We do our best to keep it in here and at the family house. And if our arrangement is going to bother you, Brand needs to know right now.”
“It doesn’t bother me. My family isn’t very gay-rights-friendly, but I don’t share their views. It’s part of the reason I needed to get away, find my own path.”
Hugo tilted his head to one side but didn’t press, thank God. “If you ever need to talk about directions on that path, I’m a good listener.”
“Thanks, man.” He was really starting to like Hugo and his quiet way of accepting things. It also made him wonder how much of Brand’s distant past Hugo knew about and how many secrets Brand might be keeping from his boyfriend.
Do you know he might have given up a kid in high school? Do you?
“So you said you were pretty new to this life,” Hugo said. “How new is that?”
Wyatt explained his story again, a bit more briefly this time, including some of his experience working with his stepfather, and the chance he had now to explore something new. He left enough meaning there so Hugo seemed to catch on he wasn’t just talking about the ranching life, but also himself as a person. “Even if it doesn’t work out, I’m really grateful to Brand for giving me a chance.”
“Like I said before, Brand is a fair boss. None of us are rolling in cash, but no one gets into this life to get rich, not unless you’re one of the huge cattle barons down near Corpus Christi, of which we definitely are not. Just a family operation trying to keep things going for the next generation.”
“Speaking of, I’m curious how many siblings Brand has. You said it was a family op, but he only mentioned his father and one brother working here.”
Hugo took a bite of his protein bar and chewed, possibly buying time to figure out how much to share. It was information Wyatt would learn at some point anyway, so why bother to hide it? “They are a family op, yeah. The youngest brother Rem works here. Brand’s got one older brother who works in California, and two younger sisters who are both married with kids. I think Rem’s on the roster tomorrow, and I’m sure you’ll meet Leanne and Sage at some point. Wayne and Rose make it a point to introduce all the new hires to the family.”
Interesting. Wyatt would get a chance to observe his Maybe Family in action sometime soon. The idea both intrigued and terrified him. And what if Brand really was his Maybe Daddy? Did that mean Wyatt could inherit a share of this ranch one day?
No, that was impossible, wasn’t it? His grandparents said his bio dad signed away all legal rights to Wyatt, so did that mean Wyatt had no legal rights now? He probably should have looked in to that before he came here, but coming had been an impulsive decision he needed to live with and navigate now that he was here.
Besides his two left feet, impulsiveness was his other serious vice, and he needed to work on both before he did something to blow his cover.
“Hey, dude, you okay?” Hugo asked.
Wyatt blinked at him, surprised Hugo had finished his snack. How long had Wyatt been staring into space? “Sorry, yeah. That’s cool, I’d like to meet the rest of the Woods family. And the other guys who work here, obviously.”
“Obviously.” He glanced at his phone. “They should be back from the line soon. Did Brand introduce you to the horses yet?”
“Yeah, we took a tour of the barn, saw the horses and the equipment. The section in the back is cool. What’s calving season like?”
“It can be intense, for sure, up all night waiting for a heifer to give birth.”
They talked for a while about the process of insemination, gestation, and preparing the barn for the impending spring births. Wyatt soaked in the information, genuinely fascinated by it. He’d enjoyed his biology classes and learning about reproduction and the miracle of life. “I’ve never seen a cow give birth, but I assisted my stepfather with a few horses,” Wyatt said. “It’s an amazing thing to watch.”
“Yeah, it is.”
A dog barked in the distance, and a deeper woof seemed to answer the call from the porch, probably the German shepherd who hadn’t approached Wyatt when he first drove up. He’d forgotten to ask the big beast’s name.
“I hope you like dogs,” Hugo said with laughter in his voice, “because when Michael and Jackson are both working, we’ve got plenty around the ranch. Brutus lives here, and he’s Brand’s dog, but the other two come and go with their owners.”
An odd chill wormed through Wyatt’s gut. What were the fucking odds that the Jackson Hugo had just mentioned (who owned a dog!) was the same Jackson from last night? No way. Except his Jackson had hedged on what exactly he did for a living, and had only talked about doing this-and-that and odd jobs. He must have lost control of his expression, because Hugo leaned forward, his face a mask of concern. “You aren’t afraid of dogs, are you?”
“No, I’m not.” Wyatt worked to school his expression and his surprise. “Sorry, I’m fine. My stepfather was a vet, remember? I’m cool with most animals. Not a huge fan of snakes and lizards, but if it’s got fur or feathers, I’m down.”
“Great, sounds like they’re coming in, so let’s go meet your coworkers.”
Yeah, let’s prove there’s more than one Jackson in this dusty county, please.
He left his phone on the table to complete charging—who knew what accommodations Brand had in mind or when they would pan out—and followed Hugo outside. He was getting a little tired of following people around, but that would be his new normal for a while as he learned the ropes of Woods Ranch and his job here.
Hugo led him toward the big red barn. In the distance, the sound of hoof beats drew Wyatt’s attention to the western horizon. Two men on horses were heading in their direction, accompanied by two smaller specks that had to be a pair of dogs. They all moved at a canter, he was pretty sure, making headway without hurrying. Hugo stopped near the mouth of the barn, and they waited, squinting in the direction of the lowering sun.
That damned sun made it difficult for Wyatt to see the faces of the two men in the saddles. They were equally tall and broad, both wore hats, and Wyatt had stupidly left his own hat behind in the bunkhouse. Raising his hand to shade his eyes was tacky so he stood next to Hugo and tried not to squirm.
