One of the horses came over to the fence and nudged at Jack’s arm. Riley reached past to pat the beautiful bay mare, and Max moved at the same time. All three of them patted and fussed, and the connection was instant and right.

Maybe there was something to this therapy that Riley hadn’t understood before.

He wanted to learn.

* * * * *

Darren watched Riley and Jack from side of the house. They were talking and then their little boy—Max?—ran over to them and climbed the fence. Darren didn’t mean to stare, but he wanted some of what they had.

Hell, Darren hadn’t even come out of the closet until he was eighteen for fear of what his family would say. His dad was old-school Texan, tradition in his blood, and Darren’s brother Hank, well he’d just been an asshole. When their dad died, the ranch had become his and Hank’s, but Darren didn’t want any part of it or the homophobia or the cattle or the horses. All he wanted was numbers and education and the chance to leave and make a life for himself.

He’d been so close, then his clandestine affair with Vaughn had become public knowledge and he’d had Hank on his back, heard the hate. But he’d been packed. Ready to move away from the Bar Five and the Triple-K, ready to see if Vaughn wanted to go as well. Arizona, Montana, those places always wanted cowboys, and Vaughn was the best there was.

Then came the court case, and Vaughn had left with Jack. Darren wanted so much to grab his bags and go, but he couldn’t. Hank was in prison, and Darren Castille was the only one left to run Bar Five, or rather what remained of it after Hank had cashed in so much for his defense.

He looked down at his suit and brushed it with his hands. Today was a big day, and he had to make this work if he wanted a chance with Vaughn. He went back to the trailer and let himself in.

“Why are you in a suit?” Vaughn asked as soon as Darren stepped inside. He was still in boxers, his hair messed, his eyes heavy with lack of sleep. Darren hoped to hell his face looked healthier than his exhausted lover’s, otherwise he’d never get the job.

“It’s a long story,” Darren hedged. The story wasn’t actually that long at all.

“All prettied up and ready for me to take it off.” Vaughn leered and took a step closer with hands outstretched.

Darren let out a very unmanly squeak of distress. “No touching,” he snapped.

Vaughn’s expression changed. He’d been sleepy and smiling, and now he was wary. “Darren?”

Darren held up his hands in an effort to stave off the reaction he expected Vaughn to have. “I have an interview, okay? At an investment bank in Dallas, in the accounts department.”

Vaughn’s mouth opened in a parody of shock. Then he closed it again just as quickly. Evidently he had no idea what to say.

“You’re here, okay? And I want to be here, and I don’t want to go home, but I can’t sit on my ass.” He waved around him. “The ranch, horses, there’s little to no accounting here.”

“If that is what you want to do.”

“Riley commutes to Dallas,” Darren said hurriedly.

“It’s not that,” Vaughn said on a sigh. “Just, is the city really what you want? You hate the city.”

Darren winced. He hadn’t expected Vaughn to be a blunt. “I hate the city, but I love you,” he defended.

“Then don’t go. Take a few more days to think about what you want.”

“You sound like you don’t want me staying.”

“I never said that.”

“I need to stay here in Dallas, with you.”

“Darren, what I said last night was true. I’m happy here in my work and with the people, but this place is missing something, it doesn’t have you in it.”

Darren smiled softly. “I want to be with you. I want to stay here, and I’ll do anything to make it happen.”

“You can stay in here with me as long as you need to, ’m sure Jack won’t mind. Just wait a bit before making a decision on what you’re doin’.”

“I don’t care what I’m doing, as long as I’m with you.”

Darren waited. He’d laid all his cards on the table, and now he had to leave Vaughn to think about it. He edged away from the window and picked up his keys, but he didn’t get to the door. Vaughn grasped his arm and tugged him back.

“Really?” he asked.

“Really what?”

“You want to make a life on the ranch? With me.”

Darren lifted his chin. “Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along?” He had, but he knew Vaughn hadn’t been listening, not really.

Vaughn worried his lower lip with his tooth, a sign that he was thinking. Then he sighed heavily, and Darren tensed. This was make or break. “I was waiting for you to want to go back, to the money and what is yours. But being honest, all I really wanted was for you to follow me here.”

A great weight lifted from Darren at that simple statement, and he felt so much lighter. “You’d best wish me luck with this interview, then.”

Suit or no suit, Darren held onto Vaughn, and they stood there for the longest time simply hugging. Finally they separated and Darren kissed his lover firmly.

“I’ll find you after,” he said.

“Good luck.”

Darren jumped the small height from the trailer to the road and left the D with a couple of hours to spare until the interview. He would use the time to find some kind of housing; after all, the two of them couldn’t stay in the trailer forever. If he got the damn position, that was.

* * * * *

The building he parked under wasn’t the tallest in the city, but it was impressive, at least fifty or sixty stories of glass. There was a security entrance and reception, and it all felt a little wrong, although he didn’t want to admit it. He’d made this gesture to find a job, and he could handle the glass and the city if it meant he got to go home to Vaughn at the end of the day.

The interview part went well, lots of questions about what he’d been doing before and comments about whether or not he knew this was an entry-level position. The practical part was easy enough, and he lost himself in figures long enough to make sure he made the best impression. They made all the right noises when he left, but his gut was telling him he hadn’t gotten it. He was overqualified with his degree, and he was too old for entry-level at this company. But he didn’t have the corporate experience to work at a big company at a higher level.

Frustrated, he stopped at the nearest Starbucks and ordered himself a latte. Only sitting in the window, people-watching, did an idea begin to form. He didn’t exactly need the money a nine-to-five job would give him. There was plenty left for a while after the purchase of the Bar Five, despite the mortgages Hank had taken out on the place and the lack of assets to sell other than the land. But that wasn’t his money. That was for something else altogether. That couple hundred thousand sat in his accounts, and he was using it to do something positive. Invest in the kids that Hank hurt.

So if I’m working for myself, how am I doing this? he thought. He hadn’t much thought past the idea of it, but now, maybe he should really think about what he could do. He pulled out his phone and opened the note app, listing the possible clients he could work for. Ranches. What I know. Vaughn would have to keep him in pasta and ham until he made any money, but that was beside the point.

His cell vibrated, and he knew who it was even before he answered. The company he’d just interviewed at. Apparently he wasn’t being called back for a second interview. He thanked them politely.

He’d known that would be the response. His heart hadn’t been in the interview. Not really.

The journey back to the Double D was a slow one. Not because of traffic, but because he was thinking and he needed the time and he doubled back on himself a few times. He even pulled into a diner and sat for an hour scribbling on a set of four napkins set out in front of him.