It was the Friday-night barbecue at the Seven Plus dude ranch and the place was alive with the sounds of music and laughter. Tim Barrett, employed at the Seven Plus as a trainer, stood over at the bar, shooting the breeze with Seth Archer, his friend and fellow trainer who liked to tend bar at these shindigs, saying he wasn’t any good at socializing—which was a crock. Tim didn’t know anyone more outgoing than Seth. Outgoing—and nosy, especially when it came to Tim’s personal life. He was forever trying to set him up with this guy or that guy whenever they went out on the town, especially since he and Mike, their local veterinarian, had gotten hitched. Married life had made Seth even more convinced that it was what Tim needed too. It might irritate him some, but Tim was also sort of touched that Seth cared that much about him.
“Evenin’, guys.” Clint Hanson, and Sherry, his fiancée and also Royce’s secretary, arrived and Tim moved aside to let them get to the bar for some liquid refreshment.
“Hi.” Tim tipped his hat to Sherry and smiled. “Still putting up with this guy, huh?”
“’Fraid so.” Sherry winked. “He kinda grows on you, though, you know.”
“Hey.” Clint mock-glared at Tim. “Quit trying to steal my lady from me.”
Seth laughed. “You might need to worry, Clint. Tim doesn’t seem to be interested in guys these days.”
“Will you cut that out?” Tim tried to look stern, but his buddy’s sunny smile made it hard for him to appear even slightly pissed off. It really was too good an evening to let Seth’s teasing banter get under his skin. Besides, he knew that Seth, despite being an irritant at times, really did have Tim’s best interests at heart.
It was a perfect night in Northern California. Ribbons of gold and crimson stretched across the sky as the sun began to set. A dry, warm breeze caressed his face and he lifted his gaze westward to the visible peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains. There had been some light rain the last few days, tamping down the worry of fires in this heavily wooded part of the county. He figured he couldn’t find a better place to be than here at the Seven Plus. He’d never been so content as he was now, and even the lack of a regular boyfriend didn’t faze him that much. Sometimes, life was easier on his own.
He stood watching his bosses Parker Jones and Royce Chandler converse with two guests. Not for the first time, Tim admired both his bosses’ physical presences. Royce, tall and blond, managing to still appear elegant in worn jeans and a checkered shirt, a far cry from his law office attire of pressed pants, white shirt and power ties. Parker, shorter than Royce, but still every inch the leanly muscled bronco rider he used to be, his Stetson pushed back to show his dark curly hair and wide smile.
The two men they were chin-wagging with had just arrived at the ranch for a five-day visit. In that short length of time they hoped, like most of the ‘dudes’ who came to the ranch, to master the art of horseback riding and roping. Some managed to ride fairly well, but roping a steer, even a small steer, was generally a different story. There were show-and-tell yarns of bruised asses, elbows and knees from more than a few of the guests. But the predominant theme most nights after a day’s training was, for the main part, how much the guys had enjoyed themselves.
There were exceptions, of course. In Tim’s opinion, some people just didn’t know how to let their hair down and have fun—and isn’t that a darned shame—especially at the prices they were paying to be a guest at the ranch. Fortunately, the complainers were very much in the minority.
“Hey, Tim!” Parker waved at him to come join the group. “Want you to meet the boys you’ll be with tomorrow. This here is Jay Holden and Lee Jenkins. Jay and Lee, meet Tim Barrett, one fine horseman—bareback rider winner twice at our local rodeo, as a matter of fact. He’ll he training you tomorrow and you couldn’t be in better hands.”
Tim’s face warmed at all that praise while he shook hands with the two men. Parker liked to talk up his boys’ prowess, and there was nothing wrong with that, he figured. And just like Parker had intended, Jay and Lee looked very impressed.
“Wow, we can’t wait to get started,” Jay exclaimed. “We’ve been looking forward to this week forever, haven’t we, Lee?”
“You mean you’ve been looking forward to this forever,” Lee said, but gave his partner an affectionate hug around his shoulders. “Me, I’m looking forward to just relaxing more than anything else. Last week was a total bitch.”
“Jay and Lee are attorneys,” Royce told Tim. “So I know what he means.”
Tim grinned. “I think I have Stu with me tomorrow, so I’ll tell him to take it easy on you.”
“Not too easy,” Jay said, laughing. “I want him to be saddle sore like I’m sure I’ll be at the end of the day.”
Tim’s cell vibrated in his back pocket and he took it out quickly to glance at the screen. Mom… “Excuse me guys, my mom’s on the phone and it’s more than my life’s worth to ignore her call.”
Parker chuckled. “Go take the call, Tim. Can’t have you in that kinda trouble.”
Tim connected the call while he walked away. “Hi, Mom, what’s cookin’?”
“Tim…it’s Talia.”
“Oh, hi, sis. What? You tryin’ to save money by using Mom’s phone?”
“Tim… Oh God, I don’t know how to tell you this.”
Tim frowned. “Just tell me, sis. Just let the words come out.”
“It’s Mom and Dad. They were in a car crash, and…” A sob cut her off and Tim’s stomach seemed to drop to his feet.
“Dear God. Are they okay?”
“No, Tim…they’re both gone.” His sister’s heart-wrenching sobs cut him to the bone. “Can you, can you come home right away?”
Jesus. “Yeah, I’ll—I’ll talk to Parker and get on the first plane tomorrow.” A numbness spread through him and his limbs trembled and gave way under him. His phone fell from his grasp and he slumped to his knees.
“Tim!” Parker and Royce were at his side, Parker’s arm around his shoulder. “What’s wrong, buddy?”
“My mom and dad—they’re…” He couldn’t say the words.
Royce picked up Tim’s phone. “Hello, Mrs. Barrett, this is Royce Chandler.”
“Royce, it’s Talia. I was giving Tim the news ’bout our mom and dad. They were …they were in a car crash and…and they’re dead, Royce. Is Tim all right?”
“He’s in shock, Talia, and I’m sure you are, too. Do you have someone with you?”
“Yes, Lloyd, my boyfriend is here. Can Tim come right away?”
“Of course. We’ll put him on the first plane out tomorrow.”
“Oh, thank you. Let me know what flight he’s on and we’ll pick him up at the airport.”
“Right, I’ll call you in the morning. And Talia…our condolences on your loss. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”
“Thank you.”
Royce ended the call. “How are you, Tim?”
“I’ll be okay… Just the shock, you know? The last thing I ever thought I’d hear.”
Seth hustled over to them. “What’s going on?”
“Tim had bad news about his folks,” Royce told him. “They were both in a fatal auto accident.”
Seth looked stunned. “Oh, my God. Tim, I’m so sorry.” He knelt by his friend’s side and held him.
“Come inside, Tim,” Royce said gently. “Parker, call Jordan and tell him he’s needed tomorrow. It’s his day off, but he’ll understand once you explain what’s happened.”
Tim groaned. “God, I’m sorry to be such a problem.”
“You’re not a problem,” Royce snapped. “Now come inside while I go online with the airline and get you a flight for the morning.”
“Anything I can do, Boss?” Seth helped Tim to his feet.
“Just schmooze with the guests. Let them know we’ve had some bad news, but everything’s all right and being taken care of.”
“Will do.” He gave Tim another hug. “Sorry, buddy. Mike and me’ll be here for you when you get back.”
Tim nodded and followed Royce into the house. Royce poured him a shot of Scotch and handed him the glass. “This’ll calm you. Knock it back. There’s plenty more where that came from.”
While Royce busied himself online booking Tim a morning flight to Reno, Tim tried to come to grips with the news of his parents’ deaths. Despite the fact that they hadn’t always seen eye to eye, had disapproved of his bronco riding, and had never known of his sexual orientation, he had loved his mom and dad, and this tragedy would leave so many things unresolved, so many words unspoken.
Memories pushed to the back of his mind for so long now flooded him with enough force to bring tears of remorse, and some bitterness, to his eyes.
‘Tim…’ His sister had stared at him, eyes wide with shock. ‘You cannot ever tell Mom and Dad about this. They will go ballistic. You know they will. They most likely will never speak to you again. Let this be our secret, Tim—no one else’s in the family.’
How well he remembered that day, years ago, when he’d come out to Talia. He’d been eighteen, Talia twenty. They’d always been close, ran around with the same circle of friends, so Tim had taken Talia’s warning to heart and had said nothing to his parents about the changes he’d been experiencing since puberty. The physical changes, of course, had been obvious. He’d grown taller, his body filling out with toned muscle as he exercised at the school gymnasium, played football and joined the wrestling team. His voice had deepened, the soft planes of his face hardening to a maturity so that when he looked at himself in the mirror he was quite pleased with what he saw.
“Okay, Tim…” Royce was standing in front of him, his expression of sympathy yanking Tim back to the present and his grief. “Gotcha on Delta’s nine-thirty departure. You’ll be in Reno around noon, so I’ll let Talia know when to pick you up.”
“Thanks, Boss.”
Royce put his arms around him and he let his head fall onto Royce’s chest when the floodgates opened again.
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