“The job’s yours if you want it, pending the usual legal stuff.” He checked his watch. “You can start in an hour. This will be your first field.”

Tom’s mouth fell open. He was apparently floored and not afraid to show it. He scrambled to stand, and Riley used the desk to copy him. Finally Tom extended his hand.

“Thank you, sir, you won’t be disappointed.”

“Riley. Call me Riley.”

“Thank you, Riley.”

All Riley could think was No, thank you, Tom.

* * * * *

Of course he hadn’t counted on the Jack factor, the fact that Jack had met Tom in a not altogether innocent situation. Riley spent most of dinner talking about the new manager, how Kathy had been right about Tom’s instincts, and Jack grew quieter with each moment. Riley didn’t put two and two together until they were loading the dishwasher and Jack was utterly silent and kept looking at Riley with a worried expression on his face.

“What is it?” Riley asked carefully. He’d not seen this expression before, and he had to admit it concerned him. Was Jack apprehensive about Tom having access to CH? Or did he fear Riley having a young gay guy working with him?

Hayley had her homework spread across the table, and Riley could see she was watching her dads with absolute fascination. Evidently Riley wasn’t the only one to notice that Jack was acting very strangely.

“You okay, Jack?” Riley asked when Jack didn’t reply. But he did let out an unmanly oomph when Jack grabbed his hand and dragged him out the kitchen door and over to the first fence to the fields.

“I don’t know where to start,” Jack began. He released Riley’s hand and leaned on the fence looking out over pastures, his eyes locked on something in the distance.

“You don’t think it’s a good idea to bring in a manager?” Riley asked. He was going for the first option as he hoped this wasn’t a jealousy thing.

“No, that’s a really good idea.”

Riley sighed. “But you don’t like the idea of Tom?”

“No, Tom’s a good guy. He’s hung out with Beth before. Shit, Riley.” Jack turned to face Riley and forced his hands into his jean pockets. “Look, this was a long time ago, but I was with Tom for a bit.”

“With him. You mean with him?” Riley could feel his eyes widening and something akin to an urge to murder in his chest. Jealousy froze him, and he had to shake it off.

“One day, is all.”

Riley nodded. “One day, one night?”

Jack looked sheepish and stared down at his feet, scuffing the toe of his left boot in the dirt. “It was a long time ago. He was only twenty-one, I damn near cradle robbed him. He was drunk; I was drunk; it was easy.” He looked up at Riley and waited. “It was never anything more than that, and it was years ago.”

Riley pushed down the stomach sinking-sensation of having a name for one of Jack’s exes. Then he manned up and decided to be absolutely honest with his husband.

“I’m not worried. If that is what you think,” Riley said immediately. “We all have exes.”

“It meant nothing.”

“Didn’t matter if he was the love of your life then, we’re together now, and that is what is important.”

Jack sighed. “I just wanted you to know, so you didn’t find out later and think that he was… I don’t know… using you or something.”

Riley relaxed his stance and leaned against the fence. He’d never seen his husband quite so awkward before, and it was kind of cute with a side helping of sexy. Who Jack had been with before Riley was neither here nor there. Jack and Riley were forever, and nothing from the past would destroy that. Riley considered two options: he could tease Jack and pull this out for a long time, in which case he could see his big cowboy all kinds of embarrassed, or he could just put Jack out of his misery now. He chose the latter; after all he loved his husband too much to fuck around with his head.

“I’m thinking back to the interview, and he never once mentioned your name or used any kind of connection to you or Beth to get the job. He was just honest and enthusiastic, and he has a very good instinct for the oil business. You know what sold me on him?”

“What?”

“I handed him a map, and he set it out on the floor.”

Jack pulled his hands out of his pockets and tugged Riley close to him. “Just like you,” he said with a hitch in his voice. “Come to think of it, he reminds me of you in a lot of ways, the fire in his belly… He was wasted at Santone.”

“Apparently he knocked Josiah Junior to the floor after an inappropriate pass.”

Jack appeared suitably impressed. “Yep, he’s just like you.”

They kissed briefly. “Thank you for telling me,” Riley said.

“I could give you a list if you like, of the guys I’ve—”

“Hell no,” Riley interrupted. “’Cause then you’d want my list, and hell, that list isn’t pretty.”

Hand in hand they retreated to the house, Hayley looking up when they came in. “You okay?” she asked with a small frown. The question was for both of them, but she was looking at Jack.

Riley deliberately leaned down and kissed Jack on the cheek, and she relaxed and smiled.

“Everything is fine.” Then he slid into the chair opposite and turned her book to face him. “History, eh?” he asked. And all too soon he was embroiled in a discussion about the Cold War and relaxing back into being a daddy.

Jack watched for a while, then left when Liam came in with soil samples for analysis. The two of them left discussing alkali counts, and Riley didn’t think he could be any more in love with his gruff tough cowboy. But somehow, tonight, seeing the vulnerability and the honesty in Jack made him feel like the luckiest man alive.

Chapter 4

The days until the court case dragged for Jack, let alone poor Liam, who grew more and more tense as the days approached. Marcus not only lived in the apartment with Liam, but he also made odd trips out to the ranch at the weirdest of times of the day, and Jack knew he was checking in on Liam.

Jack hadn’t officially told Liam he was taking a trip down south with him or that Robbie was going as well. He’d arranged for someone to cover the ranch, and when that final piece of the puzzle fell into place, Neil promising to come oversee everything, it was time for Jack to tell Liam exactly what was happening.

He found Liam cleaning out Solo’s stall, singing something under his breath and in a world of his own.

“Can I have a word, Liam?” Jack asked. He wished he’d made more noise in his approach, but it was still comical when Liam jumped so high he nearly ended up hitting his head on the low beams.

“Jesus,” he cursed, then placed a hand over his mouth when he realized what he’d said in front of Jack.

Jack held up his hands in a gesture of apology. “Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry,” Liam immediately replied. He was always doing that, apologizing for things that he had no control over, like jumping because he was surprised, or like yesterday when he’d been singing and Robbie asked him to sing quieter ’cause he was scaring the horses. Robbie had been joking, but even Jack couldn’t fail to notice that Liam had gotten a hell of a lot quieter since then.

“Can we talk?” Jack asked again and watched as Liam placed the shovel carefully to one side and brushed himself down. He was a little pale, and added to his jumpiness, he looked like the axe was going to fall.

“Yes, sir.”

Jack sighed inwardly. He’d given up asking Liam to call him Jack, and they’d settled into this weird kind of respect thing Liam had going on. “I just wanted to let you know Robbie and I will be going down to Laredo with you next week.”

Liam opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. He brushed his hands on his jeans again and looked everywhere but at Jack.

“Why?” he finally blurted out. “I promise not to mention you in a bad light or—”

Jack snapped. He knew he shouldn’t, but the anger he felt at the people who had hurt Liam was enough to push him over the edge. “Like I’d think that. We’re going because if they try one little thing to drag you down and discredit you, then you’re going to need me and Robbie in your corner. Okay?”