Two Sides of the Same Coin (13 page)

I jumped in saying, “The best effin’ cowboy line is from an old cowboy song. It’s pretty off color; you gonna be offended if I say the words? Otherwise I can just give it to ya in a nutshell.”

“No, I won’t be offended.” He laughed.

“It’s called the ‘Old Jism Trail’. It goes, ‘Ass in the saddle and hand on the horn, I’m the best fuckin’ cowboy ever was born, whoopee tie ay yay, whoopee tie ay yo, whoopee tie ay tie ay yo. I’m sick of pullin’ my peter on the old jism trail, so I’m goin’ to Kansas City to get a piece of tail, whoopee tie ay yay, whoopee tie ay yo, whoopee tie ay tie ay yo. Cutest little guy I ever saw, he lives on the rim of wiggle ass draw, whoopee tie ay yay, whoopee tie ay yo, whoopee tie ay tie ay yo. I’m gonna get that guy and chase him up the hill, I’m gonna fuck ’em in the ass god damn I will, whoopee tie ay yay, whoopee tie ay yo, whoopee tie ay tie ay yo.’ Mike sings it when he gets drunk. I been known to join in.” Jonathan laughed.

“I can see why you asked if I’d be offended. Do you guys sing together often?”

“Not so often, but we do sound good together huh, buddy?”

“Yep.”

“Why don’t you guys sing something?”

“Here?” Mike and I asked in unison.

“Why not?”

“Hey, buddy, you know that song that Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins sing, ‘Hillbilly Bone’?”

“Yeah, I’ll do Blake Shelton, and since you got the deep voice you take Trace Adkins’s part,” Mike said.

“You got it, bud.” And with that Mike started to sing. I joined in on the chorus and did the second verse.

As we were finishing, clapping from the other tables interrupted us. Just then the waitress brought our order. We’d finished our first beers and she had three more.

“The beer is on us. You sing very good.”

“Thanks!” both Mike and I said at the same time.

“Who were the folks you were with, Jonathan?”

“The two women are my sisters, and the guys are their husbands.”

“They don’t got no problem with you bein’ gay?” Mike was interested in families that accepted their gay sons and daughters.

“Not at all. They’ve been very supportive. Jeff, why’d you invite all of us over on Saturday?”

“You seemed like nice folks. The little guy, Harrison, could be the author of ‘My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys’, so I thought I’d give him a vacation to remember. I hope I didn’t throw you too much off balance when I winked at ya.”

“No, actually it made my day. It’s not every day, or even every month, a hunky cowboy winks at me. And then having lunch with a couple of hunky cowboys, well, Jeff, Mike, you’ve made my vacation.”

“Always nice makin’ someone feel good.” I noticed that Mike had scooted a bit closer to me when I mentioned winking at Jonathan. His knee was touching mine. It was nice. I reached down, squeezed his knee, and then continued to eat. He gave me a big smile.

“You know guys, I mentioned I’m the editor for a gay travel magazine. Would you mind if I did a story on Winslett and the valley if I included you?”

“Okay by me. Mike’s the one you gotta ask.” Mike had a bit of a panicked look on his face. I squeezed his knee again.

“Yeah, it’s fine with me too. What a way to venture out of the closet.” We all laughed. The food was good and we continued to eat. Jonathan stopped well before Mike and me. We ended up cleanin’ up just about everything. Jonathan insisted on payin’ the bill and would not take no for an answer. We thanked him several times.

“Jonathan, we gotta be headin’ back to the ranch. We got some work to do there.” I had looked at Jonathan’s watch and saw it was almost two. I was gonna have to give José and Josh the day off tomorrow. We said our goodbyes and our see ya Saturdays, and Mike and I headed back to my truck.

As we walked, I put my arm around Mike’s shoulders and asked him, “You up for tossin’ around a football after we’re done with the corral tomorrow?” He looked around nervously, but leaned into me.

“Sounds like fun.” I took my arm off his shoulders and patted him on the back. By this time we were back at my truck. I used my cell phone to call José and let him know we’d be late and he and Josh had the day off tomorrow. He was fine with that arrangement. Then Mike and I jumped in the truck, buckled up, and I pulled out onto the road.

“You’re really somethin’, Jeff.”

“Why’s that, buddy?”

“You’re really good with people. You just go and make friends. And everyone likes you. Me, I ain’t no good with people. I’m always waitin’ for them to hurt me or say somethin’ mean, so I just kind of avoid folks.”

“I hope you don’t mind me sayin’ this, and if I’m stickin’ my nose in somewheres it don’t belong, you can tell me to go to hell. You gotta accept and learn to like yourself before you’ll start likin’ others and be at ease with ’em.”

“I’d never tell ya to go to hell, Jeff; I wanna hear what you got to say.” He looked at me so seriously and with such a hurt puppy dog look I couldn’t help laughing.

I patted him on the knee and said, “Mike, don’t ever sell yourself short. You’re a good guy, from what I can tell sharp as a whip, and as I said before real easy on the eyes. When ya let yourself go and enjoy yourself, you are really someone special. You just need to believe in yourself, buddy. I believe in ya.”

Mike was quiet for a minute or two and finally said, “Thanks. That really means a lot to me. All my life I been havin’ people tell me I’m evil, I’m stupid, I’m never gonna amount to nothin’, I’m the spawn of Satan, and all these put downs. It really means a lot that a guy who has it all together and is as special as you, sees enough in me to wanna be friends.”

“Whaddya mean wanna be friends? We
are
friends, Mike. Besides, who but a good friend would undress your cute and drunk ass and put ya to bed twice in one week?” I added the last line tryin’ to make him lighten up a bit. He chuckled, but sounded a bit nervous.

“That don’t bother you does it?”

“Hell no! You and Robert did the same for me that one time. I get the feelin’ it was actually more you than him.”

“It was. All he was doin’ was tryin’ to get me in the sack.”

“That’s water under the bridge now.” Changing the subject, I added, “I can’t believe it’s already Wednesday and the rest of the week and weekend is already taken up. Next week I gotta work on some sculptures, and really take a good hard look at the books. I gotta come up with a way to make this ranch work.”

“You will, Jeff, you will. I got faith in you too.”

“Thanks, buddy. That means a lot to me too. You’re the first guy I’d pick to have at my back.” Mike laughed at that statement. I was puzzled until he answered.

“I just hope when I am backin’ you up, I notice what’s around rather than focusin’ on your ass.” We laughed together on that one.

“I think it’s pretty great that you’re able to be in an article in a gay magazine with me.”

“Like you said, I gotta accept me for who I am sometime. I guess jumpin’ right in is one way.”

“Ya told Sandy. You ever think of tellin’ José and Josh?”

“I’m kinda afraid they’re gonna make fun of me.”

“They will make fun of you, buddy. They make fun of me. But we’re laughin’ together. They won’t be laughin’ at ya but with ya. They’re a pretty open minded couple of guys. Hell, they may already know.”

“Whadda ya mean?” There was a slight note of panic in Mike’s voice.

“It’s pretty apparent we’re good friends, and we do flirt a lot. They’ve been around me as a gay man for a while. I wouldn’t doubt they’ve developed a bit of a gaydar.”

“You’re right, Jeff. I do need to tell ’em. I want to be friends with them, too, and I’m sick of hidin’ who I am.”

“Good for you, buddy. Go ahead when you’re ready. I’ll be there to back ya up.” We rode the rest of the way back to the ranch in a companionable silence. When I parked the truck, we said good night. We were both tired, so Mike headed to the bunkhouse, and I headed up to the ranch house. It was too early to go to bed, but I had a book I wanted to relax with. Just as we were about to turn away from each other, I said to Mike, “One thing you’re gonna have to learn if you’re comin’ out is gay men hug each other. A lot.” I stepped toward him and gave him a hug. He didn’t seem to know what to do for a second, but then hugged me back.

“Good night, buddy. You sleep well.”

“You too, Jeff.” And we parted for the night.

Chapter Six

I’
D
ACTUALLY
slept in a bit for once. For the first time since I’d gotten back, I had actually slept well. It looked sunny outside. I threw back the covers and went to my dresser and got a pair of socks. I pulled them on and pulled the covers back up and made the bed. I brushed my teeth and then headed downstairs. As I got about halfway down the stairs, I smelled coffee. I walked through the living room and saw Mike in the kitchen. He was wearing jeans, gray wool socks, and a blue T-shirt. I could see he still had on my gray long handles. He was standing over the stove, and the aroma of bacon hit me. He laughed when he saw me.

“There you go again, runnin’ around in just your long johns. Anyway, good mornin’! How’d you sleep?”

“Like a log. And how about you, buddy, how did you sleep?”

“Great. So bacon, eggs, and sourdough pancakes suit ya?”

“Sure does, that’s really nice of ya. You didn’t have to go through that trouble.”

“Ain’t no trouble. Besides, you made me breakfast a couple of times, and I wanna show you I can cook too. Plus I get to watch you sit around in your underwear, so I got an ulterior motive.” I laughed now. I’m a bit of an exhibitionist, and Mike liked to look, so I thought I’d make it worth his while. I sat in one of the chairs at the kitchen table, and leaned back so it was on two legs. I put my hands behind my head and spread my legs wide apart. He turned around to say something, saw me, and his words got caught in his throat. He finally managed to stutter out, “God damn, Jeff, you are one handsome man.”

He picked up steam and added, “Anyway, breakfast is gonna cost ya. You said gay guys hug a lot. Gimme a hug.” I stood up and wrapped my arms around him. I nuzzled his beard and hair. He hadn’t showered this morning, but he smelled nice, like clean fresh sweat. He smelled like Mike. His hair and beard were soft on my lips and nose. I could feel the muscles in his back and chest. I also felt the blood starting to rush below the belt and gave him a squeeze and let go. From the front of his jeans, he was having the same reaction as me.

“Well, you got your hug,” I said as I sat down and pulled my chair up to the table. “So do I get breakfast now?” He poured a mug of coffee for me and set it in front of me.

“You can have anything you want, big boy. For breakfast I mean.” I wanted Mike bad. Part of me was ready to grab him, throw him over my shoulder, and carry him upstairs to my bedroom. Another part of me was thinking let’s make sure we got a good basis of friendship first. Sex too soon can change things for the worse. It was also in the back of my mind I might be on the rebound from Robert. Truth be told, that hadn’t been much of a relationship for a while. I knew if I did pick Mike up and take him upstairs, he sure as hell wouldn’t put up much of a fight, if any at all. We were staring at each other, and any fool could see the longing between us.

I finally said, “Buddy, give me some time okay? You’re just incredible. I just gotta get my head on straight. I’ll be here.”

“I ain’t goin’ nowheres. Now how about breakfast?” He dished up a couple of eggs, some bacon, and three large flapjacks on a plate for me. He’d put ketchup, Tabasco, butter, and maple syrup on the table. I waited until he fixed himself a plate and raised my coffee cup at him.

“Here’s to the chef, my best buddy.”

He beamed at me and answered, “Cheers.” I dug into the food. Like his son of a bitch stew, his breakfast was really good.

“This is delicious! You got me impressed again!”

“Thanks. See, for a dumb hayseed, I can cook.”

“Mike, get off of it. You ain’t no dumb hayseed. You’re a smart, friendly, good-hearted, handsome as hell man. And a real man to boot.”

“Thanks. You keep tellin’ me that, and I just might start believin’ ya.”

“I don’t lie, buddy. So did you see what needs to be done on the corral still?”

“Since they got the day off, José and Josh headed down to Wenatchee. They got the corral pretty much done. They just left us the two gates to fix. It shouldn’t take the two of us more than an hour.”

“Good, you still up for throwin’ a football around?”

“Sounds like fun.”

“I’m gonna work out after that. You can join me if you want. And then if ya don’t mind, let’s put our heads together. We can look on the Internet to see if we can find out about any other cattle rustlins in north-central Washington. I wanna follow-up on the idea we talked about yesterday.”

“Sounds good to me. How ’bout you go get dressed, and I’ll rinse off the dishes here and put ’em in the dishwasher?”

“Okay,” I said and bounded up the stairs. I pulled on a pair of jeans and an old work shirt. It was cold out, so I put on a fleece-lined denim vest. By the time I headed downstairs, Mike had the kitchen cleaned up and a jacket on. We pulled on our boots and headed out to the corral. All that really needed to be done was fix the two gates, oil the hinges well, and make sure everything was in pretty good working order. Mike was right; it took the two of us just a little over an hour. We then walked around the corral and holding pens. Everything looked shipshape. We were ready for the roundup.

“When we gonna round up the cattle Jeff?”

“I figure end of next week or early the week after. We just gotta herd ’em down here. Trucks come and pick ’em up. Dad had gotten the ranch certified organic, and since the beeves are free range, we can call ’em grass fed. They should fetch a good price.”

“You keep some for yourself don’t ya?”

“Yeah, I’ll cull out a couple of head to take to the butcher in Twisp. I wanna make sure the freezer is full. I’ll head off to Okanogan to get a couple of fifty pound sacks of spuds, some onions, and garlic. I should be able to get some beans and stuff there too. Aside from makin’ sure the freezer is full, I wanna stock up on stuff. If the winter is bad, it might be that sometimes we can’t get out for supplies due to the roads bein’ bad.”