Page 24 of The Earl's Wrangler
“And your father got angry,” Sawyer said with a nod.“I’ve said it before.Your father was an ass.”
“Yeah, and he was also an earl, so everyone deferred to his idiocy.”He shook his head slowly.“I’ve never told anyone about this before.”He realized he didn’t mind Sawyer knowing his history or that he was nervous about the situation.Sawyer was not his father, and he wasn’t going to act the same way or use it against him.
“Did he get his ski back?”Sawyer asked.
“One of the ski patrol went up, skied down to it, and brought it to him.He got angry but ended up having coffee in the chalet at the top of the mountain while he waited.As an adult, I can see it wasn’t that big a deal, but you’d have thought I stabbed him or something.”
The tram returned, and it was their turn to board.They got inside, and the attendant closed the door behind their group.Everyone spent the time looking out the windows as they rose along the side of the mountain.They weren’t that high, and the land slid along under them.Randall breathed deeply, trying to concentrate on the view rather than where he was.
“Hey.It’s okay,” Sawyer whispered.“Look over there.You should see the Teton peaks start to come into view.”
Sure enough, as they started to reach the top, the vista opened up and the view nearly took his breath away.It was like they were on top of the world.As they reached the station, the tram slowed, and they got out and wandered onto the deck, where the entire area was laid out below them.
“You can see the town over there.”
“It’s… wow…,” Randall said as he scanned all around, taking in the view from every direction.“I’m glad I came.”He had been so close to backing out, but this was worth the discomfort.“I needed to face that old fear.”It was long past time that he worked through the issues with his father.
Sawyer slipped his arm around his waist, and they stood together.
“Geez.Can’t we go anywhere without seeing that?”a man said from behind them.Randall turned to see an older man with salt-and-pepper hair flopping everywhere, his upper lip curled in a sneer.
“Gerald,” the woman next to him said softly, trying to pull him away, “there’s no need to make a scene.”
“But they’re….It’s unnatural.”
Sawyer stilled next to him, and Randall shook his head before turning to the side.“Are all Americans this ridiculous?”he asked in his thickest accent.“We were doing nothing but enjoying the view.”He seethed on the inside but kept his outward appearance cool.
“But I don’t want this… gay stuff”—he waved at them—“in my view.”
“Then go over there.”Randall waved right back.“Bugger off.”He grinned because he’d made a joke, and the yokel in front of him seemed to have no idea.Still, he stormed toward the other side the area, and Randall returned his attention to Sawyer.
“That was interesting.”
Randall shrugged.“Nobody is going to give us grief for who we are.Certainly not someone like him.”He turned to glare at the man, who had been watching him but looked away as soon as he saw Randall.“I don’t understand people like that.They want to stick their noses in our business but would hate it if we did the same thing.”He shivered.“Though I do not want to even think about him after the lights go out.”
“Yeah.Let’s not go there.”They turned back to the view, and after a while, made their way back to the line for the tram to return them to the bottom.The middle-aged man and his wife were just ahead of them in line, and Randall did his best to ignore than.Thankfully, they got on the ride down before Randall and Sawyer, and that was last they saw of them.
The return trip was much easier than the one up, and once they reached the ground, Randall and Sawyer headed to town for lunch before meandering back toward the cabin, stopping for plenty of pictures along the way.Randall kept wondering how things were going back at the ranch and whether Sawyer’s father had put in another appearance.Their phones had been quiet, but other than in and around Jackson, they didn’t have cell service, so it was hard to tell.Still, Randall hoped everything was okay.
“We can stop right up ahead,” Sawyer said before pulling off for pictures.The lake and the way it reflected the peaks was amazing.Randall sent a few pictures to friends back home, knowing they would transmit once he had service.
“I almost don’t want to go back,” Randall said.
“To the ranch…?”
Randall shrugged.“To the ranch, but also back home.”He called it home, but it didn’t really feel much like it most of the time.The estate still felt like his father’s, which was why he spent a great deal of his time in London.“I like it out here.I didn’t really think I would.”
“How so?Did you think of yourself as a city kind of person?”
Randall shrugged as he thought.“I don’t know.I didn’t fit in anywhere, but I always thought I was happiest in London.I guess I didn’t really settle in there either.”He had to admit that being on the ranch with everyone—having them accept him for who he was and not sucking up to him because he was the Earl of Plymouth—felt good.
Chapter 10
RAIN ONthe cabin roof woke Sawyer in the middle of the night.He groaned and listened to the soft sound above him.
“What’s got you worried?”Randall asked.“Is it the rain?”
“No.We always need it this time of year.”He closed his eyes.“I keep wondering what sort of mess my father has gotten me into.”He rolled over and slid his hand over Randall’s bare chest.“It seems like both of us really hit the lottery when it came to fathers.”
