Page 34 of For the Love of the Bull Rider

Ronni and he had parted with him asking her to continue to manage the trust exactly as it had been handled since Joanne’s death to give Tim time and space to figure out what the hell to do about all of it.

After she’d left that afternoon, he’d vacated the barn office without talking to his aunt or uncle. He needed to wrap his head around everything because he had decisions to make.

Chapter Fourteen

“Tim!”

Tim hurried to the hallway in time to see Ryan drop his backpack and take off his fleece jacket. He tossed his baseball cap on the bench by the front door and sat down to remove his sneakers.

“How was school?” Tim picked up the boy’s jacket, going through the pockets to pull out the crap little boys kept on them all the time. Keys to nothing, spare change, a small, plastic dinosaur, a green rock, and some sort of animal tooth were placed on the bench. Tim chuckled at the collection. The kid was something else.

“I’m gonna wash your jacket so it’s ready for after the break. It’s supposed to warm up tomorrow and the weekend, so you won’t need it.” What Ryan didn’t know was that they were planning to take him to DC for the weekend because neither of the men wanted to answer a million questions. He had a dressier jacket Tim was going to insist he wear.

Tim was looking forward to the time away. Hopefully, it would help him get a little perspective he was sorely lacking on the latest bombshell dropped on him earlier that day. Inheriting a fortune was definitely an unexpected surprise... and a possible burden.

“Good. It smells funny,” Ryan told him, so like a moron, Tim held the jacket to his nose, wincing because the odor was gag-worthy.

“What the hellisthat?” Tim fought to keep his coffee down. He hadn’t eaten all day because his stomach was in knots due to the earlier revelations. The smell permeating Ryan’s jacket, which was a cross between a rotting animal carcass and a cesspool, was enough to put him off food for therestof the day.

“My hook and cubbie are next to Rocky Whipple. He hung his coat on top of mine today because one of the other boys took his, and his jacket smells. See, he don’t getta take a bath or shower cause they don’t got hot water or ‘lectricity sometimes. He said his momma’s been too sick to boil water for him to wash so he just washes up a little at school. His momma’s got a disease.” Ryan explained the situation with a scrunched-up nose.

He smelled his little polo shirt and stuck out his tongue. “My shirt stinks, too.”

Tim leaned forward, sniffing the boy, wondering what a sucker he’d turned out to be when the scent of Ryan turned his stomach. “Okay, God. Let’s get you a shower and some clean clothes because your dad should be home pretty soon. He had to go to Richmond, but he thought he’d be home before dinner. You have anything we need to worry about for school?” Tim ushered the boy upstairs.

Tim wasn’t racing to “officially” move in because of the Mona situation, but he spent a lot of time at the ranch with Matt and Ryan. He’d brought clothes with him for the next day because he wanted to get to the Katydid early and ready for work on the Thanksgiving feast.

Aunt Katie insisted on doing the turkey herself, so he wasn’t expected to show up until ten, but he wanted to get there early to watch how she performed the magic. He’d tasted the bird over the years, and he wanted to know the secrets to keeping the bird so damn succulent.

Tim wanted to be able to put satisfying, nutritious meals on the table for Matt and Ryan, and he was certain Aunt Katie and Jeri Collins would give him all the help he needed with that mission.

Tim turned on the shower in Ryan’s bathroom and walked to the boy’s bedroom where he was stripping off down to his little boy briefs. They were light blue with navy trim. He looked so cute, but Tim knew better than to say anything. Boys at that age were always self-conscious…or Tim remembered being so.

“School work?” Tim put the backpack next to Ryan’s desk.

“Nope. I just gotta write in my journal over the vacation. Are we goin’ shoppin’ on Black Friday?”

Tim chuckled, amazed at the things the boy could come up with without any encouragement at all. “Where’d you hear aboutBlack Friday?” He picked up Ryan’s clothes and followed him to the bathroom to check the shower water, so the little cowboy didn’t scald himself.

“Miss Blankenship ‘splained it to us today in class. Her momma’s comin’ to Holloway for Thanksgivin’ and they always go to Roanoke for Black Friday. It’s a tradition. I’m s’posed to write about traditions in our family for Thanksgivin’, but I don’t ‘member any because I was little when me and Momma moved away. Last year, we went to a church where they were havin’ a dinner for a lot of people we didn’t know. Momma said it would be nice to meet new people, but we didn’t talk to nobody, really.”

Tim was pretty sure Ryan was referring to a shelter, and his heart pounded in his chest. To think that Ryan was having Thanksgiving at a shelter when his father and grandparents would have loved to host him was nearly too much.

“I did getta talk to Santa, and he gave me a candy cane. I told him I wanted to see my daddy for Christmas, and he said he’d try. I didn’t get to see him at Christmas, but I gotta see him pretty soon after.” Ryan climbed into the shower, pulling the curtain closed. He tossed his little briefs out from behind it and Tim saw the boy’s hand reach for the body wash.

“Don’t use that on your hair. Use the shampoo.” Tim left the room, wiping away a stray tear. He went to the laundry room to put Ryan’s jacket into the washer, and as he was walking into the kitchen, Matt’s big truck stopped on the driveway.

Walking to the kitchen window, Tim watched the bull rider drive down to the barn and hop out. Danny, the foreman, walked out at the same time, and the two stopped to speak. Tim could see him smiling as Matt explained something, pointing to the little farm truck of Uncle Josh’s parked on the driveway by the house. Heaven only knew what they were saying.

Matt shook Danny’s hand and waved toward the barn where Tim saw the two part-time hands, Stevie and Carl, walking outas they waved back. They all went their separate ways, and Tim went to the back door to meet Matt, listening to ensure the shower was still running.

When the handsome man walked up on the deck, Tim walked out to greet him in stocking feet. “How was Richmond?” He placed a soft kiss on Matt’s cheek.

Matt wrapped his arms around the younger man and held him tightly, taking off his cowboy hat to hook on the deck post. “I missed ya. I shoulda taken ya with me.” Matt nuzzled Tim’s neck affectionately.

Tim was reminded how tall the man really was when Matt had to bend over to slick his velvet tongue across Tim’s neck, caressing the spot that drove him crazy. It nearly paralyzed Tim because he had a hard time imagining Matt was his lover, but the fact remained…he was. Nevertheless, if Tim had gone with him to Richmond, he’d have missed out on Ronni’s visit. He wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or a curse; his mind was split, fifty-fifty, on the matter.

“What did your lawyer say?” Tim gently stroked the man’s dark, wavy hair, enamored by its softness. He noticed Matt had gotten it cut on the way to meet with his lawyer, and he wished he’d have thought to take Ryan for a haircut the previous weekend. The boy’s hair had a little curl to it, so it wasn’t totally unruly.

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