Chapter Ten
After an afternoon with Hunter, Dallas sat back in his office chair, feeling more accomplished than he had so far.
"It's really not all that hard," Hunter said. "I went over the plans with Roland yesterday for the new barn."
"I thought he was going to remodel the old one."
"Can't. Not enough square footage for what he needs to fit inside it. Besides, you'll still need a barn for the tools, feed, and other shit you will need for the ranch. That Jet, he's excited as hell that he's gettin' a new space to work. You'll have him for life if you're not careful."
"How's your son and husband?"
"Both are fabulous. Ethan's been trying to get up here to bring Zach. I miss that kid and I'm missing things he's doing, but we had some cows get sick and he's relentless when it comes to sick animals. Besides, I'm glad they can't come right now. I didn't need Ethan seeing the search parties spread out all over the place. Can't turn around without seeing fifty people."
"How did they get so many to look for Harrison? I mean, yeah, he was a part of the community, but no one much liked him."
"People join things. For this, hell, they're likely hoping the same would happen if they came up missing. Either way, it'll die off once the search is called off, and I heard from Dante that is today."
"It is," Dallas said, relieved. "Not that I don't want him found. I do, but not here, and not so anyone here can be blamed. This place is…special already."
Hunter's eyes shined as he asked, "You and those two fellas?"
"Nothing's happened since we talked about it, but it can't, really. We've been swamped. The construction workers, filling the bunkhouse with people that aren't ranch hands, the extra people around, having to watch the cattle when they're searching within a mile of them. This last week's been a mess."
Not that it was totally true. Things were happening, because they couldn't be in a room together without searching and finding the others, speaking through looks across the room, like a stupid dime store novel. Then there were the brushes of fingers across him when Ruben would walk by each morning to hit the bathroom. Marius licking his lips in Dallas's direction…
If something didn't happen soon, though, the sexual tension alone would suffocate them.
"And you have done a great job. Everyone's been sayin' it. That's nothing little, Dallas."
"I'm trying. I'm running to keep up and it's made me worry I can't handle it."
Hunter, that gorgeous man with eyes so black that when Dallas looked into them, he felt lost. He guessed that was why he liked Marius and Ruben so much. He didn't feel lost with them; he felt found. He kept staring at Dallas as he said, "You can always ask for help. Hire a second in command to help with the ranch shit until you get the books figured out."
"The books," he said in a rush as he started the computer and got the file up he had been scratching his head all week over. "Okay, this is weird. It was on the business books, so it must be part of the business. I'd love to figure out what this expense is in case it comes up again and I have to warn the money people."
"Sounds big."
"Well, going back over them, I see that he's paid this expense once a year for as long as the books went back. In fact, I'd like to pull those file boxes back out of the storage to get a look to see how far back the expense goes. Maybe you can see the number and let me know if you have one like it."
"I have very few once a year expenses except taxes, and even then, I spread most of them out over the quarters."
Dallas thought the same and found the taxes first thing. "It's not to the government. It's to a bank account."
"Uh oh, Dal. That could mean trouble. Not for you, of course. If they find out the guy got over a billion for this property, they'll be looking for him harder than Sheriff Dickly."
Dallas laughed at the nickname. "As long as that's not falling back on us. I really don't relish giving the bosses more bad news."
"Pull it up. Let's have a look."
Dallas did and searched out the transactions. "Here it is."
Hunter moved around the back of him, leaning over to look at the lines on the spreadsheet. "Fifty thousand, fifty thousand, then up to seventy-five thousand? No memo, no note, nothing to tell where it went. That's very weird. An auditor would catch that and run wild with it."
"Always the same day of the year. June twelve. What the hell is that date?"
"Not taxes, like I said. My dad would write in the memo, bloodsucking bureaucratic bullshit. I guarantee this old cowboy would do much the same." When Hunter retook his seat, he said, "Ask that computer guy, Neil, to take a look. Maybe he can find out what it is."
"How?"
"I'd just bet that somewhere in those papers, the number for the business account is shown. Even if it isn't, that man is a fucking genius with computers."
"Yeah, I'll ask him to come by. But isn't that illegal?" Hunter's head tilted to the side as he stared at Dallas, waiting for him to figure it out on his own. As he did, he laughed. "Mobsters, right. I'm sure this is tame for the computer guy."
"There you go."
With that done, Jace called and asked him to check on the employees" cabins. They were getting done quickly, and he was eager to get people in before cooler weather could impede the construction. He said goodbye to Hunter and was about to drive over to the cabins when Ruben and Marius arrived in the office together. He sat back down, smiling at the two of them. "This is a nice surprise."
"Are you free?" Ruben asked. "Marius has something for us."
"I'm actually not. Not yet. Can it be put off?"
Marius took out his phone. "Who are you having to see or talk to or deal with?"
"Nobody you can call to get me out of it. I just have to go check the cabins."
"That's okay, it's on the way," Ruben said, and Marius cleared his throat, causing Ruben to bite his bottom lip."
"What's going on?"
Marius sighed and set his phone back in his pocket. "Ruben, you have a big mouth. Once we start fucking, if we ever start fucking, I'm going to make sure it's full all the time."
Ruben giggled but ducked his head in guilt. "Sorry."
"I'm lost, here, fellas."
"Just come on. We'll ride with you to the cabins. Say, does that mean I'm getting mine soon?"
"You don't like the bunkhouse?" Ruben asked. "I think it's been fun having you there."
Marius poked his nose and said, "You can come stay with me whenever you like. I promise we'll have more fun there."
If there was any more talk of sex, he'd lose it. It had been too long. "Let's go."
Twenty people were working on three cabins at once. To Dallas's surprise, three of the cabins already looked finished, but when he asked the forewoman, Jody Mitchel, she said, "They're done, all right, but they have to set. Tile, paint is wet in places, the bathtubs were recently caulked. Give it a few days and you can move in the first of those."
She looked too delicate to be the 4X4 lugging thing that was carrying two of the squared boards herself the last time he'd seen her. Her arms were tiny, and she barely had a waist or tits. And he caught himself judging her strength by her looks and hated himself a little, but he didn't have time for guilt.
"When will these all be done, do you think?"
"Two weeks tops. They had great bones. A few needed new flooring, but most of these houses were built in the twenties. Beautiful tongue-and-groove floors that had been covered in carpet since the seventies." She pointed to the house on the end. "That one needed two walls replaced or the entire job would be finished sooner. It needed a new roof, had a major leak for years, by the looks. Also, the wiring needed replaced. Original cloth lined wiring. Scary shit. How this place didn't go up years ago, it's a miracle."
"Harrison was a cheapskate."
"I can tell. If these had better upkeep, it would have been nothing more than paint and grout. Still, good bones."
As she was talking about something to do with an order of sheetrock, Dallas's eyes glazed over as he turned them onto the construction workers. Their jeans were tight as they crouched and bent over while they worked, and in his mind, he pictured all of them with sweet holes that wanted him inside them.
Some had their shirts off and the sun was shining on their slick flesh, muscles rippling as they hefted stacks of roofing material from the ground to the others on the roof.
He didn't realize the other two were staring at the same thing until Ruben made a little groan and Marius whispered, "We need to get this courtship shit over with. I need to get laid."
For that, he had Ruben giggling, and it was a sweet sound that tore Dallas away from the lustful sight of the men working on the houses.
As Dallas got back into the truck, he said to the others, "I get that they're helping in other areas, but there are like fifty construction workers here, including the ones from Redbud and Billings. That's twenty over there."
Marius whistled loudly, and Ruben slapped his leg. Dallas turned to them, not buying their fake innocent faces a bit. "What the fuck?"
"Just…just go. We'll direct you."
Dallas was at his wit's end, but he started the truck and got it rolling over the dirt road. Once he got to the fork in the road, he stopped to ask which way. "To the left, we're going back to the ranch. The right only heads to Harrison's old house. Which way."
"And how much land is between here and any of that, smart ass?" Ruben said, poking Marius as Marius laughed again.
"You two are up to something. Is this about the…what we still haven't done?"
"You mean fucking," Marius corrected him.
"Not just fucking. The other stuff."
"He means," Ruben said, exasperated, "My first kiss with you guys."
"Which generally leads to fucking. Sorry, but those guys drove me up."
Dallas had to turn back to stare out the windshield so they wouldn't read it all over his face, but Ruben was laughing anyway. "Yeah, Dallas looked like he was going to get dehydrated from drooling."
"Me too. Fine asses, fine dicks."
"You couldn't see their dicks, Marius."
"I could. I have special powers. All Italians can tell a big dick from a mile away."
Ruben and Dallas looked at each other before laughing. "That must be a compliment for us," Ruben said.
"It is," Marius commented, then slapped the dash. "Head right, blondie."
"Right? There's nothing over there!"
Marius looked in his eyes and Dallas's protests left him. They were hypnotic, those eyes, they could make a priest leave the church and start hanging out in bathhouses.
He took the right hand road, and they teased and flirted the entire drive. Again, no jealousy prevailed his enjoyment over it. They were sweet together. Marius had his arm around Ruben's shoulders and pointed to a hawk that was flying off on his side of the truck. "That's pretty, ain't it?"
"Sure is. My grandfather had a beaded vest with the feathers of a hawk just like that. It's been in the family for over a hundred years."
Learning anything about the two was comforting to Dallas. In the past, it was more of an annoyance. Why learn things about someone you'd likely break up within a week when he pulled out to another ranch or rodeo? He didn't feel that way with Ruben and Dimples. Quite the opposite.
That suddenly scared him. To be taken from uncertainty to something he wanted and was sure about, at least as far as it had gone, was a little terrifying. Then he looked over to see Ruben smiling like he'd just won the lottery, and that fear waned into a slow, burning ache in his gut. And that, he was sure, would ease more until it disappeared.
"You guys think this place is gonna take off?" Marius asked.
Ruben answered after a big shrug. "I think so. All the gay men I've met on ranches, hiding, having to sneak off into the sticks to fuck? I think they'll find out about this place and beg to be on the payroll. Though, if this goes under, finding another job will be hard."
Dallas was happy to dispel that. "Jace brought that exact thing up at one of the meetings. For references, even if someone just wants to quit and move to another ranch, they're giving out a company name that won't automatically point to this ranch. It's one reason they want the resort and ranch separate on paper. Dante owns the land, but he casually leases it to the cattle ranch."
"So…what's it called then?" Ruben asked.
"On paper," Marius explained, "It's called Matthews Ranch. That's Blaine's maiden name. Wait…if it's a guy, is it still a maiden name?"
"I don't know," Dallas said with a laugh. "I guess it's not, because men aren't maidens."
"Neither are women. Can you see me calling my sister a maiden? She'd kick me in the balls."
"I'd pay to see that," Marius told him with a wink.
Dallas moved the conversation away from kicking balls. "Well, I doubt I'll ever have to worry about that. Especially not if I have two guys."
"You already do," Ruben said proudly.
"We haven't kissed yet. What if I'm terrible at it?"
"He's not," Marius whispered to Ruben loudly. "He kisses like he wants to fuck you right then and there."
"Oh? Nice."
As they neared Josiah Harrison's old house, Dallas slowed to a crawl. The place was alive with activity, and the sounds of hammering and saw blades whirring were loud, even a couple hundred feet away. "What the hell? Why are they getting this place done?"
"Maybe it's for Dante and Blaine. Their house won't be done for a long time," Marius said casually.
"Right," he said, sighing. "It'll be good to get more sorted out, but I thought they were working on the places for the employees first."
Marius slapped a hand over Ruben's mouth, which made Dallas turn. Sure, he was curious why Dimples had done it, but more than that, he noticed how that aroused Ruben. His eyes fucking rolled back into his head and man, did that get Dallas going. "Kinky."
"You have no idea," Marius said with a wink.
Dallas put the truck back into drive and closed the distance to the house. Marius jumped out as soon as the truck stopped rolling, and Ruben was quick to follow him. Dallas noticed Jace's truck was there, his partner, Roland's car, too. That wasn't a huge shock, as Roland was the architect. He ran around all day to the different sites, whether or not they were being built.
The house was a real farm style place. There were two stories and gables on the roof that let light into the attic. The porch was wide and ready for chairs so the occupant could look out at the land. It was a great place.
It was repainted, which was great, because it had needed it badly. As Dallas noticed the soft, muted green and the stark white trim, he knew they'd made a splendid choice in colors. The porch wrapped around the north, east, and south of the house, with the west holding big picture windows around the front and side. It was a great house, good bones, as Jody Mitchel would say.
Roland came down the steps from the porch smiling like he'd found gold where they were breaking ground. "Roland, are you okay?"
"I'm not crazy," he said, just as Jace came out the front door. Roland waved him over, and Jace laughed all the way down the steps. "Tell him."
"Why me?"
Marius growled, "Fuck. I'll tell him if you two don't."
Before any of them could, Ruben yelled, "This is your house!"
They all glared at Ruben, who shrunk into Marius's side. Dallas was too confused to know what they were talking about. "What do you mean?"
Jace sighed as he said, "Dante and Blaine wanted you to have it."
Roland continued the explanation. "They thought it was important to have the manager of the ranch have a home of his own, not some little cabin with the other employees and certainly not the bunkhouse. This way, you can get away from everyone and relax for a few hours a day, no horses, no cattle, no hands."
"Except one, hopefully," Ruben said, then shrunk back to Marius.
Roland winked. "We thought of that, Ruben."
"See the reason we are showing you now instead of the big reveal once it was finished is that you might want some changes to the place, keeping in mind the other man or men that may come into your life," Jace said, nodding toward the house. "Come in and see what we've done."
Dallas was overwhelmed. He'd never in a million years thought he'd ever live in a house like this. He was perfectly content with a bunk of his own. He had no clue what he'd fill the house with.
Turns out, he didn't have to worry. As they entered the living room, freshly painted a creamy terra cotta color, shining new hardwood floors of a lighter color, he saw the entire room filled with furniture covered in plastic.
High ceilings, crown molding, and that surprised him, that he knew what the do-dads were called, an open, airy feeling. "This is beautiful. I…"
"Aw, ain't he cute? He's ready to cry," Dimples teased. "It's not yours completely. Dante and Blaine technically own it, but the furniture is yours. If you ever need to move away, you take the furniture, the electronics, everything. That's a sign-on bonus."
His eyes moved to the couch that was visible under the clear plastic. It was beige and looked to be suede. "You know this will be dirty in a week."
"Cum stains, right," Dimples mused.
"We'll use sheets if we fuck in here," Ruben said, and Dimples kissed his forehead for the thought.
"That's not what I meant."
He was taken into the kitchen, and there was more plastic covering the new stove and the island counter. It was clean, white and black tiles on the floor, bright white tile on the walls above the counters. The rest of the room was papered in a simple leaf pattern, the green and white easing the room from being too stark.
"I love this room. I can't cook."
Ruben chimed, "I can."
"He's got the Mexican cuisine and I've got Italian. I can make a baked ziti that will make you cry."
Dallas's smile toward them was sincere. He could picture them living there with him, and that was totally insane. He hadn't even kissed Ruben, and Marius and he had shared exactly one. "Getting ahead of ourselves."
"Not really. We can leave after we fuck and cook," Ruben offered with a wink.
Marius pushed him playfully. "Yeah, stop trying to box us in, blondie."
Roland grabbed his hand and led him from the kitchen down the little hall beside it. "Back door is in there along with the back stairs, laundry room and what they called a breezeway. You can come in after a long, dirty day and strip off your clothes and throw them right in the washer or hamper and then head up the back stairs here," he said, pointing to the door in front of them.
After they walked up the stairs, he smelled paint and varnish, but also felt a breeze blowing through. "Repainted all the rooms, or will, once the bedroom is finished. Come this way."
The end of the hall upstairs led to the main bedroom, and when Roland opened the set of double doors, obviously recently hung and brand new, Dallas blinked in awe. "This is huge."
"Thanks," Marius said. "Oh, you mean the room."
After rolling his eyes in Marius's direction, he stepped inside the room and saw that it was still being painted a pleasant, very light blue. "If you don't like the colors, we can change them," Roland hurried to say.
As he rubbed the back of his neck, his nerves kicking into high gear, he gushed, "I love it. Roland, it's beautiful."
"We knocked down the wall that was over here. It was a small bedroom and there are two more down at the other end of the hall, so it wasn't needed. This way, you have a nice big closet, the room is two feet wider and your en suite is right through that door."
"En, what?"
"Bathroom off the bedroom," Marius said. "Peasant."
Ruben opened the door to peek inside. "A shower and separate tub. Very nice."
"The bed will be in tomorrow, we're hoping. Nice king size with a mattress that is more comfortable than a cloud," Jace told him. "Roland picked the same one out for us. Big beds are needed for folks like us who need a little extra room for that extra man."
Dallas felt like he was being pushed into having a triad, and he was worrying he'd only want to continue with Ruben and Marius because of that. Then he looked over at them both and realized he didn't care. If it didn't work, well, it would hurt, but he liked them too much not to at least give it a shot. "This is perfect. Thank you, all. I need to thank Dante and Blaine."
"Which is why they're not here," Jace said. "They are dealing with the law, and Barry is keeping them quiet. They haven't left that trailer of theirs in days, except to walk their dogs."
"They have dogs? I love dogs. Harrison hated them," Ruben said with a growl.
"Well, they plan to get some for the ranch. They've left that up to Dallas."
Dallas was overcome and felt like he'd hyperventilate, but he contained that for the moment and took a deep breath. Jace sensed it and pulled him to the side. "This is a lot. I get it. You've gotten thrown into the deep end since you got promoted and you've been amazing at juggling. Then you add your own drama to the mix with liking those two. I was you not long ago. New job, new place to live, and not one but two guys that are driving you crazy. Man, don't let it pile on you. Take some time for yourself to figure out your own head."
He hadn't had the time to plan a romantic second to kiss one of the guys he liked. How would he ever have the time to be with two men? "That's easier said than done."
"Yeah. I know. Listen, we'll go check the cattle tomorrow together and we can talk."
"I'd like that."
"Until then, well, the brand-new fridge downstairs has a bottle of champagne, a bowl of strawberries, and if that doesn't fill you up, there are three plates of food waiting to be warmed in the oven. Just take the plastic off. I'm getting the workers out of here. Take the rest of the night to just relax. If you want the time for yourself, your guys are already prepared for that."
"My guys," he said, as if he couldn't believe it, but it was true. They were his if he wanted them. They'd made that clear enough.
Jace shook his hand and whispered, "We'll talk tomorrow."
"See you then."
As they waved to everyone who was leaving, Marius came up behind him and slid his hands around to wrap his waist. "We're alone."
"I noticed."
Ruben pulled them both into the house and took the plastic off the couch. "You two sit. Talk! This isn't some ploy to get you to fuck. If that's what Marius says, he's lying."
"Gasp! I'd never lie!"
"Lord," Dallas said, laughing.
"I'm going to pour champagne, and start warming the food," Ruben said as they took a seat on the couch, Marius sitting far enough from him to make him wonder why he wasn't sitting closer. Then he realized he'd wonder equally if he'd sat too close.
Ruben leaned over and whispered, "There is no pressure here. Not even for a kiss. We just wanted to help you celebrate."
Dallas turned to look at him, but he was already on his way to the kitchen. Marius chuckled and said, "You are as pale as a ghost, blondie."
"It's all just a lot. I've led a very…simple life."
"And I haven't. This ranch is a huge change for both of us." Dallas looked over at him while Marius clenched and unclenched his fists as he went on, "I'm used to being able to order Chinese at midnight. There are clubs and bars where I can get my dick sucked by some random guy whenever I need to get off. There was noise and cars and lights. Here is so fucking dark, you see every goddamn star in the sky at night."
"I'm sorry, Marius. I have been secretly feeling sorry for myself because everything in my life is changing so fast, I can't keep up."
"It's okay, Dallas. I get it, but just the opposite, I guess. Ruben is probably feeling pretty overwhelmed, too. He went from having this mysterious, secret crush on a guy at work and home and then he realizes his crush is gay and now most of the people around him will be and he's thrown in the deep end of the pool. I guess we should be happy he wants us and hasn't figured out that there will be hundreds of men more beautiful than even we are to suck and fuck."
"Damn. I never thought of that."
"You want that?"
Dallas laughed and said, "Not the hundreds of guys. I'd never…I mean, I've done a bunch of guys, but it gets old not having anyone to wake up with."
"That's what we have in common. Both of us in organizations and careers that kept us in the closet pretty firmly, only to be shoved into a completely different reality."
"At least we…at least we can take a little comfort in that. I don't think I was quite ready for it, but now that I'm here, I'm enjoying it, as much as it absolutely terrifies me."