Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The ad went out at the end of August, and as Nate expected, there wasn't a deluge of responses. They were looking for someone who was a business manager, a marketing guru, an IT guy… all that with little salary and only the promise of a place to live and a horse. Even he couldn't see the benefit in it.

At least Gabe had got a handle on the finances, and they had managed to eke out what was left of their savings and bought themselves some more time. Hell, Nate even had a meeting with the prospective buyers of a small parcel of Crooked Tree land. That meeting had only lasted five minutes when they revealed they wanted to create a rival dude ranch, but he had at least tried.

Summer turned to fall, and before Nate knew it, October was there and he turned twenty-six on a beautiful fall day. His brothers took it in turns to tease him about his age for what felt like the entire twenty-four hours.

Finally, with Gabe snoring on the sofa and Luke crashed out in his bedroom, Nate had the house to himself. It was only 10:00 p.m., and he could be in Missoula by eleven. The last time he'd scratched an itch was more than three months ago, and he was feeling the strain. He couldn't be bothered. He had a nice beer buzz and a decent supply of porn saved to his laptop. He'd lose himself in a fantasy, pretend he was being pushed to feel, ordered to move, and maybe get off to what was in his head. He locked all the doors, checked the lights, and made his way to the large bedroom at the back of the house. It had been his parents' room, and years had passed before he felt comfortable sleeping in there, but when Gabe had wanted to quit sharing with Luke, Nate had moved so Gabe could have his old room.

Nate flicked the lock on the door in case either brother decided to walk in, then crossed to his laptop. Before long he had drapes pulled, was naked on the bed, and had his favorite scene running on the screen. He delayed coming as long as he could, using every trick in the book to keep himself on the edge, coming along with the twink who was being used by two tops. Timing his release was kind of sad really, but he'd had a lot of practice.

Sated, he pushed the laptop under the bed, then lay flat on his back. He wiped the cool mess with his discarded T-shirt and threw it into the laundry pile. Tomorrow would probably be a good day to tack on an extra half hour to get his dirty laundry sorted.

With his arms crossed behind his head, Nate stared up at the ceiling and closed his eyes.

"Happy birthday," he murmured to himself and slept.

November brought snow, and December added a wind chill that froze him through to his bones. It didn't matter, though. Nate could spend time in with the horses because they didn't have guests from November to February. He loved the horses and worked with Luke, who had mirrored Nate's passion. Of course, the passion hadn't entirely skipped Gabe, but the middle Todd brother was more of an academic. Since taking over the accounts for Crooked Tree, he'd had a kind of epiphany on what he wanted to do with his life. How a brother of his could—or would want to—become an accountant was something Nate would never get his head around. Ever.

Marcus came into the barn and stamped his feet on the floor to clear off the snow. "Freaking cold out there." He had on a thick sheepskin jacket and shrugged it off. It wasn't warm in the barns, but was comfortable to stand around in sweatshirts and jeans. "Thought I'd come in and check on you."

"You did?" Normally Marcus would come in and check on the horses without announcing it. Nate narrowed his gaze. Marcus looked a little nervous, and Nate knew enough to get that Marcus probably had something to say that Nate wouldn't like.

"We haven't had any replies to our ad. Sophie said we should think about getting in a recruitment company or widen the net to out of state."

Nate considered what Marcus had said. A recruitment company cost money, and it had been Nate who had suggested they get in someone who was local. Offering these two options had Nate in the position of choosing the lesser of two evils. "Best advertise as far as we can, then. Stick something on the website if anyone remembers how. Try Luke, he's good with computers. Use a company as a last resort."

"Okay." Marcus turned to leave.

Nate asked the one question he thought about at varying intervals. A question, or statement, with no real answer, but one that Nate had to get out. "Did Ethan say anything about coming home to work with us?"

"No," Marcus said simply.

"No, he said he wouldn't, or no, you didn't ask?"

"I didn't ask." Marcus stared at him pointedly.

They'd begun this conversation so many times but never got any further than this. Ethan was like an open sore for Marcus, and if Nate was honest, he hated asking, but if only Ethan could make the effort to get over what had happened He'd make a good addition to Crooked Tree.

"Did you get your results back yet?"

"Not yet."

"Really?" Nate blurted the word in disbelief. "I thought you had them done a while back now." He wished he could trust Marcus would tell him the truth, but he got the impression Marcus was keeping secrets to not load up any more stress on Nate.

Marcus shrugged with that "what can I say" expression. "I'll place the ad." He grabbed his jacket and walked out into the cold.

A swirl of snow entered the barn as Marcus left, and Nate watched until it melted on the ground.

Christmas passed in a blur, and January was the beginning of making ready for the March opening. Nate was always restless at this time of year. Four inches of snow had fallen over the weekend and covered the ranch in a beautiful fresh crystal blanket, with foot-deep drifts that softened the landscape. Nate had chores, fences to mend, and places to be, but always at the back of his mind he worried they hadn't found someone to help move Crooked Tree into the new year.

He was on the roof, fixing the wood under the shingles on his house. Okay, so a snowy day wasn't the best day, but Nate was suffering, quite literally, from cabin fever. Luke was up there with him, following instructions and making a damn good job of things. Luke had settled to studying, and thankfully there hadn't been any more pot incidents. Well, none that Nate had found out about, anyway.

"You thinking about college at all?" Nate asked as Luke passed him nails.

"What makes you ask that?"

"Saw some brochures on the table."

"Maybe." Luke refused to meet his eye.

Nate didn't push. The worst thing he could do with Luke was push him. Each of the brothers had a pot of money in trust for education that reverted to them at age thirty if they hadn't used it. It wouldn't be enough to cover Luke's whole time at university, but it was enough to get a start. Nate's own money was likely to go straight to the ranch, but he had three years left yet to get to it. He waited to see if Luke would add any more. His brother's face was screwed up in concentration and a million thoughts were telegraphing in his green eyes. Taking a deep breath and exhaling noisily, he finally looked directly at Nate.

"Thought maybe if I studied marketing or something like that, I could come back and help Crooked Tree," Luke offered. "Like Gabe will on the accounts."

"Uh-huh. Is that what you want to do?"

"Help Crooked Tree?"

Nate guessed his brother was being deliberately obtuse. "Study marketing and business. What about your photography and your art?"

Luke ducked his head. "Shit like that doesn't pay the bills."

Nate cuffed his brother around the head. They'd had this conversation before about Luke resigning his talent to the bin all the time. Nate knew Luke didn't do it because he was looking for praise; the young idiot genuinely thought his talent wasn't useful.

"Not everything is about money," Nate reminded him gently.

Luke huffed a laugh. "Everything is about money. Did you actually want to leave Gabe and me when we were kids to go earn money on the circuit? No, it was 'cause we needed the money."

"That's different. I loved what I did."

"That wasn't what I said. You're lucky you made it out after three years with all your bits intact, but you had to choose money over staying here with us." Luke wasn't accusing. He looked deadly serious, though.

Nate recalled Luke at nine, crying with nightmares, and Gabe, dry-eyed and solemn. "I guess I did." Crooked Tree couldn't support them then, not until their parents' life insurance paid out two years after they died, not without extra income. "I was there as much as I could be."

Luke grinned at him. "Of course you were. I love you, big brother," he said.

Nate smiled back. "I love you too, kid. Now pass me another nail." Luke gave him the nail, and only after a few minutes did Nate add the last point. "Study what you love. Don't be unhappy."

Luke looked to be thinking of a reply but was interrupted by Marcus calling up from below.

"Someone called about the job," Marcus yelled.

"Someone qualified?" Nate shouted down.

Marcus shrugged, "I didn't ask."

"And?"

"He said he'd call back when he'd thought about it."

With that, Marcus hurried away. "This could be good news," Luke said with enthusiasm.

"Yeah," Nate answered with a little less animation. He looked Luke in the eye. "Fingers crossed."