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"You can leave again," Tor said, leaning in to kiss Jake quickly.

"But I'm hungry," Jacob said, reaching for the potato chips.

Tor laughed at him and Jake stepped neatly away. "All that hard work."

"I got blisters!" Jacob said indignantly, holding up his hand to show them.

Jake nodded sympathetically. "Wrap 'em up before you start tomorrow," he said. "They'll toughen up, but you don't want them to bleed."

Jacob made a face and left, taking the chips with him.

"I don't think he liked making postholes," Tor said mildly.

"That's okay. I
hate
making postholes. Does he know why we need a bigger corral yet?"

Tor shook his head. "Not unless you told him."

"I think we can wait on that. At least until he's back in school."

"All right," Tor agreed, moving closer again. "Now. Where were we before the eating machine came in?"

Jake grinned and reached for him. "You were admiring me and were about to suggest we take a

walk."

"I was?"

"You weren't?"

"I was. Let's go for a walk."

Jake winked and allowed himself to smirk before leading Tor to the door. He had a feeling he was

going to sleep better than he had the night before.

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The following day started much the same as the first, although Nick ate more at breakfast. He and

Jacob settled into their homework easily while Jake and Tor did up the breakfast dishes, and by the

time Jake headed out to the barn, Jacob was getting Nick's help with a chemistry question.

"As long as we don't go back in there to find them bleeding," Tor said as he helped Jake turn out the horses, "I'll be happy."

"I'll be happy if we get some real work done today," Jake said, looking around the tidy barn. "It looks nice, but I feel like I lost a day."

Tor grinned at him. "Y'all can help with the postholes."

Jake glared at him but he knew full well that he'd be working on them before the day was out. They

had a powered posthole digger and auger bits, but only one; it actually went faster if they had one

person working the machinery and two or more digging more holes by hand. He didn't hold out

much hope of sweet-talking Tor into letting him run the digger.

He was right, of course. By noon all four of them were digging holes, Jacob and Nick taking turns

with the machinery while Tor and Jake worked by hand. It didn't seem quite fair to Jake, but the

way both boys were developing blisters there wasn't a lot of choice. Over lunch he thought furi-

ously about what else he could do, but the determined look on Tor's face said that he wasn't getting

out of digging damn postholes.

"When we finish expanding the corral," Jake said, leaning on a shovel, "we're never doing this again."

Tor flashed him a grin and nodded, sweat shining on his arms and staining his T-shirt. "Next time, we make the hands do it."

"Hell, yes," Jake said emphatically. "Tomorrow, they're doing this. I'm going out on River. This sucks."

Two heads swiveled toward him. "Can we come?" Jacob asked, his eyes pleading. Nick didn't say anything, but matched Jacob's look with one of his own and added an air of utter exhaustion that

almost looked genuine.

Jake sighed and looked at Tor. "Fences?"

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"The fences should be fine," Tor grinned. "They don't break
that
much. Could always take them out and check the back pasture, though. See if it's ready for us to move part of the herd."

Jake nodded slowly, rolling his eyes when Jacob whooped and Nick grinned. "All right, settle

down," he said, trying not to smile.

Jacob and Nick went back to digging their hole with renewed enthusiasm, certainly more than Jake

had. The breaks all four of them took became more frequent as the day wore on, and at about four

o'clock Elias and his crew rode into the yard, looking dusty and dry.

"Hold up," Jake said to Jacob and Nick. "How about you two go help with the horses, yeah? That's enough digging." He didn't have to tell them twice, and he caught Tor looking at him with a grin as the boys hurried into the stable. "What?"

"Nothing. Except you're getting damn soft. They had another half hour in them, at least." He

winked and glanced down at the hole he was working on. "This is my last for the day, Boss."

"Oh, shut up," Jake said mildly, shaking his head. "See you in a bit."

"I'll be here."

Jake wandered into the barn, nodding with approval as he saw both Jacob and Nick helping out

with saddles and tack. "Not bad," he said as Elias came up to him.

"Yeah, they know what to do," Elias agreed. "How's the digging going?"

"Slow. Hard. Annoying as ever."

"Not my favorite job either," Elias grinned. "How many left?"

"Only a half dozen or so. We can start on the posts and boards next week." For the next few minutes Jake and Elias talked about what needed ordering and what work had to be done, sketching out

a rough plan for the following week and double-checking who was going to be working on what

over the weekend.

When they were done, they stood for a moment watching Nick and Jacob taking care of Shelby,

laughing at something one of them had said.

"Getting along pretty good for a couple of yahoos who were trying to kill each other day before

yesterday," Elias commented dryly.

"I was just thinking that," Jake said. "I was also wondering why some smart ass who hates queers hasn't so much as blinked at me and Tor."

Elias nodded slowly. "Gonna ask him?"

Jake thought about that for a moment. "Shouldn't."

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"Nope. But you're gonna."

Jake shrugged one shoulder. "Maybe. But not like that." He made a slightly more honest attempt to convince himself to leave well enough alone. "It's not really my business."

Elias snickered and gave him a long look. "Maybe not," he said, taking a step back. "But it might be an idea to make sure
they
get to the bottom of whatever started this."

Jake was still thinking about that when Tor came in, wiping his face off with the sleeve of his shirt.

"Jacob," he called. "C'mere a second."

Jacob nodded and came to stand with them and Jake raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Tor said, looking hot and exasperated. "Christ, you worry. Just need a hand unloading the truck; Tommy's back."

"Oh. All right." Jake looked away and Tor sighed.

"Hey, relax," Tor whispered in his ear as he walked behind Jake. "You'll get ulcers." He kissed Jake's cheek, high up by his ear and kept on going, Jacob following in his wake after giving Jake a

rueful smile.

Jake rolled his eyes and looked back at Nick, who started petting Shelby again, studiously not look
-

ing anywhere else. "Pretty much done for the day," Jake said, keeping his voice low and mellow.

Nick nodded and gave Shelby a final rub before coming out of the stall. He looked around the barn

for a second and then asked, "Anything else you want me to do?"

"Nah," Jake said. "Can go sit on the porch, if you want. I'll find something cold for us to drink."

Nick nodded but didn't move and Jake stifled a sigh. "That bothered you?" he asked after a long moment.

Nick shook his head and then looked up at Jake. "Actually, no. It was… y'all are…" He narrowed his eyes, looking frustrated.

"Normal?" Jake suggested.

"Married," Nick countered, his eyes glancing away. "You act like my mom and dad, most of the time, but with more cussing."

Jake laughed, not able to stop himself. "Sorry," he said, and Nick shrugged and grinned. "Bad lan
-

guage kind of gets to be a habit."

Nick nodded and they started walking toward the far end of the stables. "As long as I don't do it

around my mom, I'm okay."

"Moms can be that way," Jake agreed. "You and Jacob seem to be getting along," he added on be-151

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fore he could stop himself.

Nick nodded and Jake could see his face flush. "Yeah. I was a real jerk to him."

Jake could hardly argue with that. "How come?" he asked, slowing their pace a little. "I mean, even before just now, you weren't exactly looking to puke every time me and Tor were in the same

room. You don't act like you got that kind of hate in you."

Nick stopped walking and looked at his boots. "I don't, I guess," he said quietly. "I was mouthing off, and I just didn't stop. I couldn't… I was angry and I kept talking and pushing."

Jake stood facing him, knowing those feelings. Not being able to shut up, aggression pouring out.

"How come?" he asked quietly.

Nick sighed and didn't look up. "He walked in there on the first day of school like he owned the

place. Everyone's always going on and on about him, how sad it all is. And it is, I know that. But he

just… took over. Plays soccer, gonna make the football team easy, smart and friendly. Everyone

likes him, wants to know him. And then Lillian…" He looked toward the door, and Jake could see

how red his face was, how the muscle in his jaw twitched as he ground his teeth.

"Left you in the dust, huh?" Jake said sympathetically, understanding growing.

Nick nodded sharply. "That's about right."

Jake wanted to sigh again and thanked everything there was that he wasn't a teenager anymore.

"That's what this was about?" he asked, trying very hard not to sound like he was being dismissive.

"Shit, Nick. There's going to be lots more happening with girls that you're going to have to deal

with."

Nick looked at him with frank disbelief and Jake couldn't keep a grin back.

"What, you think that because there's a girl involved I don't know anything? It doesn't have any-

thing to do with being gay or straight, it's about relationships. And when it comes to relationships,

it doesn't matter what kind of bodies are involved, trust me. Men can be just as hard to figure out."

Nick eyed him. "Wouldn't it be easier?"

Jake laughed and shook his head. "I don't really have a lot to compare to, so I could be flat out

wrong, but at least the women I know will tell you exactly why they're pissed off. A man will just

walk out and leave you sitting there wondering what the fuck just happened."

Nick snorted at him. "That's what girls do. Sorry, man."

"See? Just proves my point. That's relationships, Nick. A whole lot of 'what the hell?' mixed in with the good stuff. There's good news, though. The older you get, the better your brain works and you

figure out how to deal with stuff."

Nick winced. "Better than being an asshole?"

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"Uh-huh." Jake nodded at him. "Better than that. You see Jacob walking in and taking over. I see a fifteen-year-old kid whose mother died. A kid who had to leave his friends, his home and his team,

and had to start over. Move to a new state to live with uncles on a ranch, when he couldn't even

ride a horse. You see where I'm going with this?"

Nick looked at the floor again and nodded. "Yes, sir," he said quietly. "I'm
sorry
."

"I know you are," Jake said. He did. "But you better make sure Jacob really gets that. What you did was wrong on all kinds of levels. What he did was wrong, too, I won't deny that, and I know I'm

biased as all hell, but I can see where he's coming from a little better."

Nick nodded again and swallowed. "Yes, sir."

Jake nodded as well and took a breath. "Let's go get something to drink, okay?"

"Okay."

They left the barn and Jake sent Nick up to the porch, wandering over to Tor as they crossed the

yard.

"You look pleased with yourself," Tor said, meeting him halfway.

Jake grinned. "Fixed it, I think."

Tor's eyes narrowed. "Did you, now?"

"Had nothing to do with us, under it all," Jake said. "Just new kid in school gets the girl shit. Want something to drink?"

Tor tilted his head and nodded after a long moment. "Sure. We'll be up in a few minutes."

Jake grinned again and headed to the house, looking forward to iced tea and a day spent riding,

even if he did have two teenagers tagging along. There were worse things in the world.

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The first Saturday after the corral was expanded and two stalls made ready, Jake and Tor hitched

the horse trailer to the truck early and went back inside to find Jacob almost vibrating while he

made breakfast. He might not have gotten the idea when the corral was being worked on, but when

he was in the middle of readying more stalls than they had horses for, he figured it out.

"Easy," Jake said with a grin, taking the spatula from him. "Don't burst yourself."

Jacob grinned and nodded, then bounced toward the table, almost tripping over Barkley. "Do you

know which one you're going to get?" he asked, falling into a chair.

Jake shook his head. "Nah. Doesn't much matter to me; I'll decide there. Called last night; the one you liked is still waiting."

Jacob beamed at him. "Excellent. What time do we leave?"

Tor laughed. "Right after breakfast. And don't choke getting it down; you still have to wait for us."

Not surprisingly, breakfast was quick and Jacob talked them into letting the dishes soak instead of

washing them up right away. "C'mon," he urged, hustling them into their boots and hats and then into the yard. "Fast there, faster home."

Jake and Tor both grinned at him, and Jake even caught a little of his excitement. He wasn't all the

way up to looking forward to getting himself a new horse, but he was at least in a decent mood

about it. The half hour drive was spent talking about new saddles and what they could get for the