23. Chapter Twenty-three

Chapter Twenty-three

Tim walked into the house at the Katydid on Christmas Eve, glancing around to take in the pure beauty before his eyes. Aunt Katie always loved Christmas and had, once again, gone above and beyond with her decorations. The ambiance automatically reinforced the holiday spirit Tim had coursing through his body, flooding his heart.

The holidays hadn't been a great time at his home but were even less so after the death of his mother. He'd been in the barn office working on updating the farm's records, becoming more aware they probably needed someone else part-time on staff to do it daily, though he wasn't about to suggest it to Uncle Josh. He just needed to figure out a better way to manage his time so he could handle everything at both places.

Aunt Katie had tried over the years to encourage him to embrace the holiday spirit, but Tim never really bought into her bill of goods, learning to be excellent at faking it so he didn't ruin her holidays. Christmas, she always said, was when she missed Shane the most because there was nothing like having your children home for Christmas.

Finally, Tim understood what she'd meant by her observations because he was looking forward to seeing Ryan's face on Christmas morning. He firmly believed his aunt was right.

Ryan only had half a day of school, so Tim planned to take him shopping in town for his few remaining gifts. Waiting in the back of the truck was a large, red, crushed-velvet bag full of gifts for Cindy and Rocky Whipple to be covertly left on their front porch, just as they'd done with the coat after Thanksgiving.

The personal gifts for Cindy were purchased with the aid of Jeri and Katie, while Farris March helped Tim arrange for the delivery of a new stove and refrigerator scheduled for that afternoon at the Whipple home, along with the installation of a new hot-water tank and an updated electric bill so the small family could have heat and hot water.

There was no trace of who it was coming from, but Tim was taking Ryan by the house, hoping they could see any proof the Whipples were okay. They'd also arranged for food to be delivered to the home in time for dinner that night.

Tim hoped it wasn't overkill, but Ryan had been the one to tell Santa what he wanted when Tim and Matt had taken the boy to Roanoke to do more shopping and visit Santa. It was Ryan's Christmas wish , as he'd told them, so they honored it. When Santa and his elf, Snowflake, started to cry as the boy explained the situation, it brought tears to Tim's eyes as well.

" See, I don't need nothin', Santa, but I got this friend, well he's my best friend, Rocky Whipple. I think you mighta lost his address since he and his momma had to move, and maybe you don't know how hard it is for them now ‘cause you get busy this time of year. See, she's real sick and she can't work. They had to move from their good house to a bad house, but his mom made it real nice. Trouble is, the stove don't work, and sometimes, the hot water thing don't either so he has to take a cold shower and he don't like it so he skips it more than he should.

" For my wish, I want Rocky and his momma to have a nice place to live that's warm and has lots of food and hot water. I want him to have clothes that fit him…well, I bought ‘em…actually, Tim bought him stuff to wear, but we're gonna make it out like you did ‘cause I know you prolly don't know his size since he hit a growth spurt. Anyway, I want his momma to get better so they can do stuff together again like they used to since he don't got a dad. I'm lucky ‘cause I got two dads who take care of me really good, so I wanna use my Christmas wish for Rocky and his mom. That's okay, right?" Ryan asked as he finished his request.

Tim and Matt were standing off to the side, and when Matt reached up to wipe his eyes, Tim couldn't help himself. "We have an amazing boy," he told Matt, who leaned down to kiss his cheek. It was an incredible moment, and there wasn't a dry eye among the crowd who was within earshot of Ryan's visit with Santa.

In search of sustenance, Tim headed into the farmhouse kitchen where Aunt Katie was at the stove cooking up a storm, which didn't surprise him at all. He was, however, surprised to see Mickey Warren in an apron with a knife in his hand chopping carrots.

"Well, well. Another cook-in-training at the knee of Chef Kathleen Simmons," Tim teased, slapping Mickey on the ass before he went to the fridge for a glass of sweet tea.

Aunt Katie laughed before she walked over to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Hello, Timothy. Stan Hanson called. He'll be here about one o'clock to deliver that stallion. He said you promised him cash for a saddle?"

Tim smiled. "Oh, wait until you see him, Aunt Katie. He's a magnificent beast, and I'm sure Matt would be willing to breed him to some mares here at the farm if you and Uncle Josh were interested. He's a beaut," he told his aunt excitedly. Tim couldn't wait to see the stallion in the barn at the Circle C. Seeing the bull rider on the back of the large horse would make his day.

Aunt Katie pulled Tim into the dining room with a somber look on her face he wasn't exactly thrilled to see. "Tim, hon, what if this gift is too much? What if Matt didn't spend as much on you for Christmas? You've only been together for a few months, you know, and he might not think you'd give him something so expensive for your first Christmas together. You don't want him to be embarrassed at your extravagance, do you?"

Tim knew her to be the head of reason, but in his heart, he knew he'd done the right thing by purchasing the animal. The stallion was a gift given with love. That had to mean something.

He took a calming breath before he spoke because he knew she was only thinking of him. "Aunt Katie, please don't worry about it. I told Matt I wanted a Kenny Chesney CD for Christmas, and I meant it. I don't care about him reciprocating, trust me. I've got him and Ryan, so I'm all set with gifts," Tim explained with a splitting grin on his face. He meant every word.

He went back down to the barn, leaving Mickey and Katie in the kitchen with their cooking chores. The Christmas Eve celebration was set to be at the Katydid. Christmas Day was scheduled to be at Jeri and Marty's house, after Matt, Tim, and Ryan spent the morning together before joining the families. Tim had offered his lover time alone with his son, but…

" So, uh, I was thinking maybe I should stay at the Katydid on Christmas Eve to give you and Ryan time alone on Christmas morning. He might appreciate it being just the two of you, and then I'll see the two of you later," Tim suggested as the two of them were working in the office in the house one day in early December.

Matt glanced up from the computer screen where Tim was teaching him how to go about updating the website in the event of changes on the ranch if Tim was unable to handle the task himself. The look on the bull rider's face wasn't exactly happy.

Matt pushed the chair away and pulled Tim into his lap, staring deeply into his eyes. "Why do I gotta learn this shit? You're not goin' anywhere, right? We said we'd sit down and discuss how much I owe you for the work you've done here at the ranch after the first of the year. You ain't gonna leave us, right?"

Tim was alarmed by Matt's inquisition, so he hurriedly answered, "No, Matty, not at all. I just wanted to make sure you could. I was thinking about a ‘what-if' scenario. If I was hit by a bus, could you continue to maintain the system here and keep things up to date? That's all, baby. I'm not goin' anywhere."

" Well, that ain't exactly true now, is it? You don't wanna be here when Ryan opens his gifts on Christmas mornin'. I still don't understand why?" Matt bemoaned before he pushed Tim off his lap and hurried to stomp down the hallway.

Tim followed after him, finding him in the kitchen pouting like Ryan. The man looked so sad and adorable. Tim wanted to smack himself for hurting him. "Okay, stop pouting. I'm sorry, Matty. I just wanted to give you and Ryan this holiday together because I know he's been gone for these last few Christmases, and I thought the two of you would want time together without me. I love you both so much, and I honestly don't want to be away from either of you, but I don't ever want to infringe on your father-son time."

Matt set his jaw before the large man took Tim's face into his hands and stared into his eyes, mesmerized. "I've told you I love you. You've told me you love me. We fuck like rabbits when we can get a hot fifteen minutes because we love each other and want to show each other how we feel, right? Is there somethin' I'm missin'?"

Tim laughed. "No, baby. You're right about all of it. I'm sorry." No more talk was had about Christmas plans. They were set and they included the three of them living at the Circle C.

Tim ended up in the barn office trying to catch up on a little work while he waited for Charlie-the-stud to make his appearance. He was excited about the arrival of Matt's gift, so he pushed Aunt Katie's words out of his mind and prayed he wasn't making a big mistake by purchasing the huge stallion for the man he loved. God knew he wasn't exactly confident in his choices all the time.

When Hank knocked on the door of the office, Tim saw a smile on the cowboy's face. Tim hurried from behind the desk to meet the man on the step and eagerly asked, "Is he here?"

"If you mean a huge black stallion with four white socks and a long mane and tail, then he's here. There's also a man here who's expectin' a little cash," Hank told him. Tim went back to his coat and grabbed the envelope from the pocket because he'd taken out a few thousand dollars as backup.

He walked out of the office to see Uncle Josh chatting with Stan Hanson. Tim walked up and smiled, shoving his hand toward Mr. Hanson. "Pleasure to see you again. How's Charlie?" he asked as he walked to the side of the trailer where the stallion was standing patiently.

"He's doin' just fine. I was gonna have him shod for ya, but I talked to Josh, and he told me Matt's a farrier, so I just had him perdied up a bit. I got him vet checked before I brought him over, so here's the health certificate along with the registration transfer papers. You can sign ‘em and send ‘em to ASHA. Where do ya want him?"

Tim looked at Uncle Josh, who chuckled before he responded. "It's the American Saddlebred Horse Association, which y'all will wanna do if you're gonna breed him. We got stall three ready for him." Tim followed Stan to the trailer. When the large horse backed out, Stan handed Tim the lead rope.

He froze for a second, but he remembered not to allow himself to show fear around the stallion. Horses picked up on nerves and reacted in kind, as Uncle Josh had explained to him more than once, so Tim took a few calming breaths before he turned to the stallion, rubbing his right hand along the horse's neck. "Well, Charlie, welcome to the Katydid. Your home is gonna be at Circle C, but that will take a few days," he whispered to the gorgeous animal as he moved to brush his hand over Charlie's face and nose.

The horse snorted, but he didn't move an inch, which made Tim relax even more. He'd made a wise and wonderful purchase.

Thankfully, when Tim walked down the hallway with the large stud horse following behind, there was no uprising amongst the other occupants of the large barn. As Tim looked around for the first time that day, he could see there weren't many horses in the stalls, not full as it had been the day before when he was helping. He turned to Josh and spun his finger. "What gives? Where's everybody else?"

Uncle Josh chuckled. "You're bringin' a huge stud horse in here and some of the boarder mares are in season. I don't want him takin' down my barn to get to ‘em." His uncle wore his usual smart-ass grin.

"Shit, am I going to have to worry about that with Josie?" Tim asked, not having thought about the female donkey who would be residing at the Circle C after the holidays. He'd considered the stalls in Matt's barn, and they weren't bad. They were solid, but if the stallion really wanted out, he doubted the cedar boards would contain him.

"Since you brought it up, I'll just tell ya. In the future, it will be a problem, but that stallion can spend a lot of time out in the pasture over the winter if he has a blanket on him. He'll grow his winter hair, and he won't give a shit about the cattle.

"Now, when it gets icy, Matt needs to bring him inside, so he doesn't fall and break a leg. Just keep Josie at one end of the barn and Charlie at the other or take her up to Marty's for a few days when she's in season. She gives off a different scent, and she's too small to breed to that stud. It should be fine, son," the wiser man explained.

Tim looked at Uncle Josh and took a deep breath. "Did I make a mistake buying Charlie for Matt? I mean, if he and Ryan can't go riding together, why'd I buy him the horse?" At that point, he felt totally defeated about his Christmas surprise, but he'd made his bed, and it was time to lie in the damn thing. Josh didn't offer him an answer about making a mistake before Stan and he left the barn to go to the house for coffee. It only made Tim feel worse.

After Stan Hanson left the Katydid, Tim walked down the hallway of the barn to stall number three where Ebony Prince Charles seemed to be getting acclimated to his new surroundings. The stall was much larger than the one at Stan's farm. Tim was happy the horse seemed to be at ease with his new digs.

"I know you're a big stud, but so is my boyfriend, which is why I thought the two of you would be well-suited. I didn't take into consideration the fact you're used to getting lucky on a regular basis but that won't be happening too much for you in the future unless I can come up with an idea to find you a little company. I suppose I didn't think things through very well." Tim felt like a total failure about finding the appropriate gift for the man he loved.

Tim jumped when he felt a hand on his back, turning to see Mickey Warren standing beside him. "He's a prime piece of horseflesh, that stallion. I'd bet Matt Collins would be thrilled to have such a fine animal to ride." Mickey joined Tim at the stall door.

They could see Charlie was perfectly calm as he grazed on the hay Mickey had left for the horse earlier. He took a drink from the water fountain mounted in the stall before he lazily walked over to the door, hooking his head over the top and snorting at the two of them.

"Dude, that's just gross," Mickey teased as he wiped the snot off his jacket onto Tim's coat.

"Stop it," Tim whined as he moved away before he felt a tug on the back of the hood on his zip front hoodie. He turned to see Charlie had snagged it in his mouth, pulling Tim back to the stall door.

Mickey laughed. "Oh, seems he likes ya, Tim. He doesn't want you to get away."

"I'm guessing he wants to know what the hell he's doing here with somebody as lame as you looking after him," Tim teased in return.

They both laughed as they headed toward the office for coffee after Tim freed himself from Charlie's teeth. How he and the stallion would get along, Tim wasn't sure, but he hoped and prayed buying that horse for Matt was a good idea.

Aunt Katie had given him doubts, and it made him sick to his stomach. He was only trying to do something for the man he loved, but suddenly, he wasn't so sure of his choice.

The two men walked to the house together, but before they went inside, Mickey stopped him. "I gotta thank ya for all the support you gave me with Josh and Katie. I doubt they'd have given me a shot if you and Matt hadn't been in my corner. I hope we'll become better friends in the new year. I'd like to hang out with you guys sometime if that's possible. You didn't know me from anyone, but you gave me the benefit of the doubt and I wanna prove to you your trust wasn't misplaced."

When Mickey enveloped him in his strong arms, Tim didn't hesitate to return the grip. He knew the man hadn't been off the farm since he'd been jilted by his former lover, Jackie, and Tim was sure Mickey had missed physical contact, even of the innocent type. He'd be glad to help a friend with an affectionate hug when needed. Everybody needed a hug now and again.

Tim sat in his F-150 waiting for Ryan to come out of Holloway Elementary. He'd heard the bell ring, but he was so excited to take the boy to the Katydid to see Charlie and ask his opinion regarding whether Matt would appreciate the stallion, he was fidgeting in his truck seat.

Tommy Morrow ran out of the building toward the bus, and Tim knew Ryan wasn't far behind their neighbor because Tommy's classroom was next to Ryan's. When Rocky Whipple walked out of the building alone, Tim worried. As far as he knew, the boys were best friends, and Ryan was dutiful about walking his friend to the bus to ensure nobody messed with him, even though Rocky was much larger than Ryan.

He noticed Miss Blankenship walked out of the building to wave goodbye to her students as the buses pulled away, and he felt an uneasiness in his gut. He still hadn't seen Ryan, so he pulled out of the carpool line and parked in the visitor parking lot. He hopped out of the truck and dodged the buses, trying to catch the teacher before she returned inside. When he touched her shoulder, she turned to him and smiled brightly. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Moran. Did Ryan forget something?"

Tim's blood ran cold. "Did Matt pick him up? He was busy at the ranch, and I had some things to do this morning, so we didn't exactly catch up."

They hadn't explained their relationship to the teacher, and standing on the sidewalk outside the elementary school didn't seem the right time to do it, so Tim remained vague. He knew a lot of the parents thought he and Matt were just good friends, and Tim was fine with it, opting for whatever caused the least number of problems for Ryan at school.

"His, uh, his mother and grandmother picked him up. They said Mr. Collins was running late due to a problem, so she agreed to pick up Ryan since they were having an old-fashioned, family holiday at the ranch. It sounded like they were preparing for an exciting holiday," Cecelia Blankenship explained.

Tim felt his stomach fall into his boots before it attempted to creep back up and cause him to lose his lunch. "Okay. Do you remember, uh, what time did she pick him up?"

The woman stared at him with concern on her face. "Did I do something wrong, Mr. Moran? Mrs. Collins showed me the papers to verify she had joint custody of Ryan, and I didn't question them. She and her mother picked him up an hour ago, just as our holiday party was ending."

Tim could barely contain his stomach, but he simply smiled at her and offered a reassuring nod. "I'm sure things are fine, Miss Blankenship. Merry Christmas," he told her before he sprinted to the F-150 and climbed inside.

He made a hasty U-turn in the parking lot and gunned it out to the ranch. He prayed the boy was home and his mother and grandmother were there waiting to ambush Matt for whatever past indiscretions they deemed him guilty.

Unfortunately, Tim's gut kept telling him that wouldn't be the case, and he knew this was a horrific turn of events. It was going to be bad, for sure, but he prayed it wasn't the worst-case scenario he imagined—the two women taking Ryan away where they could never find the boy.

Tim grabbed his cell from the console where it was charging to call the ranch, disregarding the law against talking on one's cell while driving. "Circle C." Danny answered.

"Hey, it's Tim. Is Ryan around? I was supposed to pick him up from school to do a little last-minute shopping, but I think he forgot. The bus should have dropped him off by now," he explained to the ranch foreman.

Danny answered too quickly, in Tim's opinion. "Naw, the bus came by but didn't stop. Are ya sure he isn't at the school?"

Panic seized Tim's chest, but he tried to tamp it down and keep his shit together. "Is Matt around?" He left no room in his voice for confusion regarding the severity of the situation.

"He's on his cell phone right now. Hang on for a hot minute." Danny put the call on hold.

The various scenarios running through Tim's head were too much for him to contemplate as he drove out to the ranch. Bertie and her mother weren't supposed to be in Holloway, much less picking up Ryan at school on Christmas Eve without any notice. The sooner he got home to see the boy in the house, safe and happy, the better.

"Hey, babe. What's wrong?" Matt asked, not waiting for Tim to respond. "I've got a cow in labor right now on Christmas Eve. How weird is…" the cowboy joked.

Tim broke in. "Matty, is Ryan home?"

"No. You told me you were pickin' him up for his last round of shoppin'. Is somethin' wrong?" Matt suddenly sounded concerned. Tim knew it wasn't something to explain over the phone, so he didn't.

"I'll be there in a few minutes." His heart was pounding out of his chest because he had visions of a repeat of three years prior when Bertie Stanford took Ryan away from Matt. Tim wasn't sure how the man would recover from the pain once again.

Tim was kicking his own ass for not giving the watch he'd had made especially for the boy as an early Christmas gift. He thought maybe he was being paranoid because it had an embedded GPS chip, which really seemed fucked up as he thought about it.

He'd had a feeling something bad was lurking around the corner and would take them by surprise since he'd heard Matt's story, so he ordered the watch to be on the safe side. It had Raphael, Ryan's favorite Ninja Turtle, on its face, but Tim worried Matt wouldn't be happy with him for the gift after he explained its value. He didn't want to upset Matt, so he'd held off giving it to Ryan early.

Just another day and they could have found the boy quickly, without any trouble. Second-guessing himself would never happen again.

As he approached the Circle C, Danny and Matt exited the barn, both on their cell phones. Tim stopped the truck and hopped out, sprinting over to Matt and taking his arm to stop his pacing.

"Thanks, Rob. They were at the school at eleven-thirty, or so Ryan's teacher told me when she called. I appreciate anything you can do to help. I have no fuckin' idea where they went, but I'll try to think of a place and call ya back." Matt said goodbye to the person on the other end of the line.

"Matty, I'm so sorry. I just didn't…" Tim offered before he totally lost his shit and started to cry. He felt as if it was his fault for not giving Ryan the watch as he'd wanted to but hindsight was twenty-twenty.

Tim wasn't sure what else he could have done to avoid the situation. Long before he'd shown up at the school to pick up Ryan, they'd already taken him.

Matt engulfed him in strong arms. "Baby, it wasn't your fault. They were gonna do what they were gonna do. We just gotta get him back. His teacher called me after you left the school so upset, and she told me what happened today. I decided to call the Colonel. He's got access to resources I'm sure we don't even know about, and he said he'd look into it."

Tim swallowed and stared into the bull rider's azure eyes, trying hard to regain his composure. Falling apart and crying like a fucking baby would do no good. It was time for calmer heads to prevail.

"I have money, Matty. I can find us some more resources, I swear. I'm sure Uncle Josh, or maybe Ronni, knows people who can help us.

Matt leaned down to kiss his lips softly. "I love you, Timmy. We'll get our son back, I swear."