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with you gone. The house is empty and the bed's cold, and I keep turning around to talk to you."

"Maybe we can make a fast trip next weekend," Jake suggested, knowing that it wasn't practical, that it wasn't really possible.

"Yard sale," Tor reminded him gently. "But…"

"You could…"

"Yeah."

"Do you think?"

"I'll talk to Elias," Tor promised. "If nothing else, I can help move some things."

"If nothing else?"

"And fuck you stupid."

"That's better."

There was a long pause and Jake took a deep breath, was about to speak when Tor said, "I love

you, Jake."

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The breath left him in a rush, the shock of the rarely heard words flowing through Jake like a wave

of heat. "I know," he said, his voice suddenly tight. "Love you back."

"I know." Tor cleared his throat and did it again, like he couldn't quite get air properly. "I should go."

"Okay," Jake said softly. "Good night, Tor."

"Take care of our boy. Take care of yourself."

"I will."

"Night, Jake."

Jake gently hung up the phone and slid onto his side on the couch, holding a pillow to his chest.

"Night, Tor."

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Jake was fairly sure his time management skills had utterly gone to shit when Jacob came home

from school and fixed him with a piercing look.

"Uncle Jake, what did you do today?" he asked, his tone almost aggressive.

Jake blinked and said, "Um. I washed the car."

"I was gone for over seven hours." Jacob's eyes narrowed. "You aren't watching soap operas, are you? They'll rot your brain."

Jake grinned. "No, I'm not watching stories on TV."

Jacob nodded sharply. "Good. So. What were you doing? Because I think you're getting a little stir-crazy."

No shit, kid, Jake thought. However, he didn't say it, opting instead to ask, "What makes you say

that?"

"You meet me at the door and ask me about my day before I'm halfway in. At first I thought it was

because you were worried, but Tressa says you could be bored. I said I didn't think so and she said

that you're usually a really busy man and there's nothing for you to do here. So now I want to

know. Are you bored?"

Jake bit his lip, half to keep himself from grinning and half to keep from blurting out that he was

barely clinging to reality, he was so hard up for something to do. "I'm fine, Jacob," he said, sounding unconvincing even to himself. "It's okay."

Jacob snorted, the sound so much like an adult Taggart that Jake was tempted to glance around to

see if Cath had snuck in. "Right." Jacob went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of apple juice for Jake and then the milk carton for himself. "Well, we don't have horses or cows here for you, but

there's got to be something."

Bemused, Jake shrugged. "Friday I'll get everything sorted for the yard sale. Next week I'll be taking anything we're not moving and get it dropped off at the donation places. Then it's packing up

and a day of house cleaning."

"Right," Jacob said, giving him that piercing look again. "So you have four days of nothing to do."

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Four more days that stretched out like an eternity. Jake grimaced. "Yeah."

Jacob poured his milk, carefully balancing the carton on his cast. "What do you do at home when

you have free time?" he asked.

"Only get about two hours in a day," Jake said gently. "And there's always something to do. Between the animals and the house and the paperwork, I never get real free time."

Jacob sighed and nodded. "Okay. Pretend then. What would you do for an hour or so a day, if you

had the time?"

Jake's first thought wasn't anything he was about to share with Jacob, but unfortunately the idea had

fully formed before he could stop it. He felt himself blush and said, "Watch TV, I guess. Or read.

But I can't do that for four days."

Jacob, thankfully, had been putting the milk away and missed the blush. "Why not?"

"It's just not who I am, Jacob. Can't sit still that long."

"Well, what did you do before you went to the ranch?"

Jake rolled his eyes. "You know I was in jail, kid."

Jacob's eyes widened. "Oh, right. Forgot. Well, they didn't have horses there, did they? What did

you do?"

Pulling out a chair at the table, Jake sat. "Do you really want to know this stuff, Jacob?" he asked.

Did he really want to talk about it, was likely the real question.

Jacob shrugged. "You must have had free time, right?"

Jake nodded. "Worked most of the day, but I was taking classes and getting sober, so I had a lot of things to do. Did schoolwork, went to see the doctors, spent some time in therapy sessions. Not

every day, but there was structure. I went from one thing to the next."

Jacob merely nodded and drank his milk.

"There was time in the gym or out in the yard--you lock up all those men, you make sure they exer-

cise. And at night there was TV and reading and talking and card games." There was a hell of a lot more than that, but there wasn't any power on earth or in hell that would make Jake tell Jacob about

that.

"So… you can read for a while," Jacob said. "Then go outside and do something. Play solitaire for a bit. Go shopping. Maybe it's not so much that you can't read all day as it is you miss having a list

of things to do. Sure, you're not busy here, but there's stuff to fill time with. Just don't watch the

soaps. And don't beat my high scores on the PlayStation."

Jake stared at his nephew. "Who are you and where did that kid go?" he asked. Jacob's ability to 68

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reach out and touch him wasn't exactly unexpected, but this particular expression of the boy's love

for him was something Jake hadn't seen coming. He'd been prepared for a hug, for maybe--

eventually--a serious talk about serious matters. He hadn't once thought that Jacob would have the

urge to take care of him.

Jacob flushed but didn't look away. "I don't… I want you to be happy, Uncle Jake. Not crazy."

Jake laughed and nodded. "Okay. I don't blame you. I'll make myself a schedule, then."

"Yeah," Jacob said with a grin. "Too bad we don't have a time clock. No slacking off when you're on duty, y'hear?"

"I hear you, Jacob," he agreed with a grin. "I hear you."

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Friday evening Jake was putting the second of two takeout orders of Chinese food in the oven to

reheat when Cath came out of 'Lissa's room, a box in her arms and her eyes watery.

"Okay?" he asked gently, taking the box and moving it to the pile by the back door. Most of 'Lissa's things would be donated on Monday, both Jake and Cath agreeing that they couldn't bring themselves to sell her clothes and more personal items. Picture frames and knick-knacks that didn't have

a lot of sentimental value were fine, but there was just something about the idea of watching

strangers try on her coats that made them both wince.

"Yeah, fine," Cath said with a sigh. "Everything's out of her room now, except the furniture. You get to move that in the morning, unless you want to bring people in to see it."

"We'll see how it goes." Jake reached out and tugged her into his arms. "Sit awhile, Cath. Have something to eat."

She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder for a long moment. "When's Tor getting here?"

"Soon, I think. He said he'd be around to help take the tables outside so we can just set up in the morning."

Cath sighed again and hugged him hard. "All right, then. I'll get Jacob and we can eat; he's making sure he's got everything he doesn't need in the next week ready to be boxed. I think he's hoping Tor

will take some of it back with him."

Jake was hoping so, too. It would mean less boxes he'd have to help take into the house, and the

fact that Jacob was actively participating in moving was something he wanted to encourage. They'd

had a week of slowly sorting things out and Jake thought that both he and Jacob were ready to be

done so they could move on a bit.

The three of them ate in near silence, the kitchen and living room an organized chaos Jake tried to

ignore. He'd been working steadily toward the upcoming yard sale all week, but living in the disor-

der was unpleasant.

It just wasn't right. Nothing about the two weeks he'd just lived through was right.

He took the plates to the kitchen sink and was running the water when Jacob silently passed him,

his soccer ball braced between his cast and his side. Cath, just as silently, joined Jake at the sink,

drying cloth in hand. He wanted to say something, anything, but they all seemed stuck in limbo,

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each of them lost in their own heads.

The dishes were done and Cath was putting the last of the glasses up in the cupboard when the

kitchen door opened and Elias sauntered in, a broad grin on his face.

Jake stared at him, then at Tor who was following in Elias' wake. "Exactly who the hell is running my ranch?" he demanded, something tight in his belly letting go. He grinned right back at Elias and shook his hand, then tugged him closer. "It's good to see you," he said quietly.

"You, too. Holding up all right?" Elias patted Jake's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, his eyes suspiciously bright.

"Yeah," Jake nodded. He let go of Elias and nodded his head to Cath. "Cath, this is Elias. My sister, Cath."

"Miss Taggart," Elias said, swiping his hat off his head. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Cath looked a little bewildered, but she smiled. "Thank you. Please call me Cath. And Tor, you get your ass over here and give me a hug."

Tor snorted and tossed his own hat on the counter and headed to her, but veered suddenly and

wrapped himself around Jake. "Hey, you."

"Hey, you." Jake wrapped himself right back and probably wouldn't have let go in any rush if Jacob hadn't come in, calling Tor's name.

"Later," Tor whispered and let him go, opening his arms to give first Jacob and then Cath both tight hugs.

It took a few minutes for everyone to get sorted out and settled down, for Cath to get snacks out

and order up some dinner for Tor and Elias, and for Jake to get the coffee pot on. Jacob and Elias

introduced themselves to each other, Elias being a little stand-offish and quiet and Jacob a little

shy, but then Tor settled it all by telling Jacob that Elias was going to be in charge of Jacob's barn

work.

They both looked a little terrified at that, and Jake hid a grin. His man was brilliant, really.

"So, what are you doing here?" Jake asked, glancing at Elias. "And seriously, who's running the ranch?"

"Kirk and Tommy, but Bobby's really taking care of things," Elias said. He shrugged a shoulder.

"Nothing major going on, just their usual work--it'll be fine."

Jake nodded and looked at Tor. "So?"

Tor sighed. "Got a mess of things to do next weekend, Jake. Vet's coming out, got fence to fix and cows to move to fresh pasture. Be real hard to get away."

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"Impossible," Elias said softly. "Could spare Tor, but not the truck, not without--"

Jake waved a hand. "All right. I hear you. So I take it you have a plan of some sort?"

Cath and Jacob were sitting at the table, eyes and heads turning as they tried to follow the conver-

sation, looking like they were at some fancy tennis match.

"Got my truck out there," Tor said, pointing toward the driveway, "with the trailer. We're going to help out with the sale tomorrow, deliver all the donations, take what Cath wants moved to her

place, and take everything Jacob needs back with us. His bed, desk, all that."

Jacob looked at Tor, but didn't say anything.

"And then," Jake drawled, "Jacob and I get to stay in a house empty of everything but a few dishes and our clothes?" Well, that sucked.

Elias winced. "Brought you a nice tent," he mumbled. "And sleeping bags and air mattresses. Least you have running water."

Jacob's eyes widened. "Seriously? Cool!" He grinned and looked at Jake. "You can sleep in the house. I'm going in the tent."

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After Elias and Tor had eaten, and after Jacob had claimed a few more empty boxes for his stuff,

Cath headed home to get a good night's sleep. "I'll be back by seven in the morning," she said, rolling her eyes. "So you make sure everyone is up and the coffee is on. I wasn't born to keep these

hours, you know."

Jake showed Tor and Elias all the separate piles of things, pointing out everything that had to be

moved out to the yard in the morning and what had to be loaded for drop-off, and then the three of

them sprawled out on the couch, half watching Jacob play his video game and half sleeping.

Jake was hardly surprised to find himself leaning into Tor's side, though he didn't remember doing

it. Tor didn't seem to mind, one arm sliding over his shoulders as easy as anything, fingers petting

Jake's arm.

"You'll be home on Friday?" Tor asked quietly.

Jake nodded. "Yeah. I'll make sure we can drop the rental off in town on the weekend, though we

might have to go out to the airport to do that. It'll work out."

"I'm done with school on Thursday at noon," Jacob put in, glancing over his shoulder at them. He was sitting on the floor, his good hand flying as he manipulated the joystick tucked up against his

cast. "We can go then, can't we?"

Jake shook his head. "Could, but we won't. I want you to have at least the afternoon to see your

friends."

Jacob shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me."

"It will."