Final Encore (9 page)

the east. He studied Bily, amazed at the fluidity with

which he moved as he spread out the blanket and

began to set up a picnic lunch. The man had thought of

everything. Ian could see how hard Bily was working

to make this day a special one, but little did Bily know,

Ian thought, just being here with Bily was special

enough.

Ian watched as Bily moved with a purpose, a

man who seemed to know exactly what he wanted in

life and was very confident that he was going to get it.

“Hey, stud,” Ian said with a smile.

Bily didn’t turn this time, thinking he wouldn’t be

caught again. When Ian repeated, “Hey, stud,” Bily

turned slowly and saw Ian smiling at him.

“I thought you were talking to Duke,” he said.

“Yeah, wel, I
was
talking to Duke this morning

when
you
turned around, but this time I was realy

talking to you.”

Bily felt his face turning blood-red. He smiled,

swalowed hard, and said, “I don’t know what you’re

talking about.”

“Oh, yes you do,” Ian said.

“Okay, so you saw me. I realy hoped that you

hadn’t.”

“Oh yeah, I saw you, and it took everything I had

not to laugh out loud. But I thought it would probably

come in handy later in the day, so I kept it to myself.”

Ian walked up to Bily and gently kissed his cheek. “I

thought it was very cute,” Ian said. “Let’s eat.”

Bily and Ian finished setting up the picnic lunch

and rested on the blanket side by side. Propped up on

one elbow, facing Bily and the amazing view, Ian

popped the top on a beer and offered one to Bily. He

accepted and in return said, “I also brought along a

bottle of wine, if you’re interested.”

“Let’s save the wine for later,” Ian replied.

With lunch spread out between them, Ian and

Bily sipped their beer as they enjoyed their meal. It was

Monday, and Bily hadn’t seen any other trucks or

horse trailers parked in the lot, so he felt reasonably

certain they were up there alone. After they were

finished eating, Bily packed what was left of lunch and

put it in his saddle bag. With the food between them

now gone, Bily slid closer to Ian and impulsively kissed

him on the lips, puled back, smiled, and kissed him

again.

Just then Bily heard a noise, like twigs breaking

under a shoe or boot.

“What was that?” he said as he turned his head in

the direction of the sound.

“What was what?” Ian asked. “I didn’t hear

anything.

They were both quiet for thirty seconds or so, but

they heard nothing.

Bily broke the silence. “It was probably just the

horses.”

He turned to Ian and said, “Now, where were

we?”

This time, Ian was the one who leaned in for a

sweet, gentle kiss. With his free hand, he reached up

and removed Bily’s hat. Ian ran his fingers through

Bily’s hair and rested them at the base of Bily’s neck.

He puled Bily closer, dropped his elbow, and roled

over on his back, puling Bily down with him.

Bily broke the kiss for just enough time to stare

into Ian’s eyes with warmth and a need he hadn’t

experienced in a very long time. Holding Ian’s stare,

Bily went in for a deeper, longer kiss, closing his eyes

as his tongue parted Ian’s lips. Ian’s warm welcoming

mouth accepted Bily’s tongue, and they began teasing

and tormenting each other while they lay stretched out

on a blanket in the late October sunshine.

When they came up for air, Ian said, “You sure

do know how to kiss a man, cowboy.”

“Much obliged, sir,” Bily replied.

They both laughed, and Bily gave Ian another

peck on the lips and glanced at his watch.

“Wow, it’s three o’clock already. Ian, you need

to know I could stay like this forever, man. In fact, I

wish I’d packed a pup tent and supplies for a stay-

over, but since my stupidity prevailed, we probably

need to start thinking about heading back. It’l take us a

couple of hours to get down to the parking lot and

another hour or so, with rush-hour traffic, to drive back

to the ranch. That wil get us back around six o’clock or

six thirty.”

Ian made a sour face. “Al right, al right, let’s go.”

He gave Bily another kiss and shot to his feet. “Come

on, time’s a-wasting, cowboy.”

They made good time on their way down the trail.

When they reached the river, Bily took the lead again.

Just as he was reaching the other side, he turned to

make sure Ian was behind him. Ian and Firefly started

to cross the river, but midway through, Firefly reared up

as something hit her on the rump, and an unprepared

Ian flew off her back. Like a cat, Ian tried to right

himself in mid-air to land on his feet. But unfortunately,

he was unsuccessful and landed with al of his weight on

his right foot, atop an uneven rock just beneath the

water’s surface, then fel on his butt in two feet of

water. Oh God, please don’t let him be hurt, Bily

prayed.

Like a flash, he was off Duke’s back and

splashing through the water to get to Ian. Firefly ran to

the other side of the river where Duke was waiting,

stopped and looked back as if to say “Oops, my bad.”

Ian was already trying to stand when Bily reached him,

laughing at Firefly’s expression. Bily was not quite

ready to laugh. He had to know if Ian was al right.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think so. A little stunned, but I think I’m

okay,” Ian answered. He tried to stand and felt a sharp

pain in his right leg. “Wow,” he said, “I think I messed

up my ankle.”

“Okay,” Bily said, “keep your weight off it and

hold on to me.” With one sweeping motion, Bily had

Ian in his arms and was carrying him across the river.

When they reached the other side, Bily lifted Ian even

higher onto Firefly’s back. “Can you ride?”

“Yeah,” Ian replied.

Bily simply said, “Hold on and I’l get you home.”

Stunned at what had just happened, Ian couldn’t

speak; he simply stared at Bily, trusting that he was

going to do exactly that. Bily mounted Duke, walked

over to Firefly, lifted the reins, and led Ian and Firefly

back in the direction of the parking lot, both men

soaked to the bone. Neither one of them noticed the

figure of a man hiding in the brush and watching the

events unfold.

When they reached the parking lot, the sun was

starting to sink behind the mountain and the air was

significantly cooler.

“Don’t move,” Bily said. “Let me get the truck

started and the heat going, and once I get you settled,

I’l get the horses unsaddled and loaded.”

“No way,” Ian replied. “We’l do this together.

After al, I’m the reason we’re wet.”

“We don’t even know how bad your ankle is

hurt. You should keep your weight off it,” Bily insisted.

“I can manage,” Ian said. “Let me at least help.”

Bily saw the need in Ian’s eyes to help and said,

“Okay, but promise me you’l take it easy. No weight

on that foot.”

“Deal,” said Ian with a look of relief.

Ian held both horses while Bily unsaddled them.

Bily made sure they were cool enough to be

transported, secured their blankets over their backs,

and loaded them into the trailer. When the trailer was

secure, he helped Ian into the truck, closed the door,

and ran around and climbed in the driver’s side. The

cab was warm and welcoming.

As Bily puled out of the parking lot, he opened

his cel phone and pressed the speed dial button for

Jules. When Jules answered, Bily explained what had

happened and asked him to have someone meet them

at Nashvile General to pick up the horses and get them

back to the ranch.

Hearing this, Ian protested, “I’m not going to the

hospital.”

“Jules, let me cal you right back, I have a

stubborn patient here. Ian,” Bily said after closing the

phone, “we need to get that ankle checked out.”

“I’m sure it’s just a sprain,” Ian said. “A little ice

and it’l be fine.”

“I would feel much better if we had it looked at.”

“I understand how you feel, Bily, and I

appreciate it dearly, but I’l be fine, I promise.”

“Since you’re in a promising mood, then,” Bily

said, “promise me that tomorrow you’l go to your

regular doctor to have it looked at.”

“Deal,” Ian said.

Bily caled Jules back and told him not to worry

about meeting them at the hospital; they would be back

at the ranch in about an hour. Jules assured Bily that a

couple of ranch hands would meet them and take care

of the horses so he could get Ian home.

When they reached the ranch, two men Bily

recognized were waiting for them. One of the hands

unloaded the horses and took them back to the stables

while the other unhooked the trailer from Bily’s truck

and removed the saddles and tack. Bily helped Ian out

of the truck and to his Escalade, putting Ian in the

backseat on the driver’s side with his legs spread

across the seat. He started the car and pressed every

button on the computerized dashboard until he found

the heat.

“Ian, wil you be al right for a few minutes?”

“I’l be fine,” Ian replied.

“I’l be right back,” Bily said, and he closed the

back door.

He quickly took the golf cart to the bunkhouse

and grabbed a change of dry clothes, a pair of

sneakers, and a bag of ice. When he got back, he took

the blanket they’d used for lunch from the horse trailer

along with his saddle bag. He opened the front door

and tossed the saddle bag to the passenger side

floorboard. “Stil okay?” he asked Ian.

“Stil okay,” Ian responded.

Bily ran around and opened the back passenger

door, gently lifted Ian’s right leg, and placed the roled

up blanket under his ankle. He unlaced the top few

rows of Ian’s boot and then puled as tight as he could

and retied the knot, hoping to keep the sweling to a

minimum. He laid the bag of ice over the boot and said,

“I don’t want to take your boot off until we get you

home, but this should help until we get there.”

Hopping into the driver’s seat, Bily said, “Let’s

get you home, handsome.”

Ian smiled and said, “Okay, cowboy.” And with

that one statement, Bily’s heart melted.

Bily drove down the dirt road toward the ranch

gates. It was a pretty bumpy ride, but he did his best to

avoid any potholes and unnecessary bouncing.

“How’s my patient doing?”

“Good,” Ian replied. “But I can feel it sweling.”

“Are you sure you won’t let me take you to the

hospital?”

“Positive,” Ian replied. “But do you know where

you’re going?”

“Come to think of it, no,” Bily said. “Where do

you live?”

“In Westhaven, about an hour south of Nashvile.

Take I-40 east to I-65 south and I’l direct you from

there.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes. “Bily?”

Ian said.

“Yes, sir,” Bily replied.

“I’m sorry about this. Some first date, huh?”

“Nonsense,” Bily said. “I’m feeling very galant,

almost knight-like, and I like it.”

“Yeah, but you’re stil soaked through to your

boots and you’re being such a gentleman.”

“I’m not being a gentleman, I
am
a gentleman.

I’m realy enjoying taking care of you.”

“As strange as it sounds, I’m enjoying being taken

care of. Is that crazy?” Ian asked.

“No way, pilgrim,” Bily said in his best John

Wayne voice.

IAN continued to give Bily directions to his home, and

in just under an hour they puled into Ian’s garage. Ian

lived in a beautiful three-story Colonial rowhouse at the

end of a cul-de-sac. Bily got out of the SUV and

opened the door behind him to get Ian out. Because the

garage was under the rowhouse on the lower level, Bily

again scooped Ian into his arms and carried him up the

flight of stairs to the main floor of the house. While stil

in Bily’s arms, Ian opened the door, and they pushed

their way inside. Bily’s eyes widened as he entered

Ian’s house. The door leading up from the garage

opened directly into a great room the size of Bily’s

bunkhouse at the ranch. To the right was the living area

with a large stone fireplace on the far wal. Built-in