Page 48 of Wistful in Wyoming
Anger tightened his jaw as Jeremiah stopped his quad and climbed off to survey the damage, pulling a flashlight from a pack of supplies that was always strapped to the back of the ATV.
Anthony stopped his four-wheeler next to Jeremiah’s, followed closely by Dale.
“This looks shitty,” Anthony said, unnecessarily, earning him a glower from both Jeremiah and Dale.
“No? Really?” Jeremiah was rarely sarcastic, but when people fucked with his livelihood and that of his workers, he had a right to be pissed off and salty.
“Sorry boss.” The foreman gestured to where the ranch hands, Ethan, Austin, and Ged, were pulling up in the latter’s truck, the bed loaded with two of the new posts that’d been delivered less than twenty-four hours ago, a large spool of fencing wire, and tools. “Me and the boys will get started on rounding up the cows. We’ll do a count in the morning and make sure we got them all.”
“Let me talk to Grady and then I’ll give you a hand.”
Dragging his attention from where his flashlight beam shone on the damaged fence, Jeremiah met Dale’s gaze, finding fury that matched his own flaring in the man’s eyes. After a moment, Dale gave Jeremiah’s upper arm a squeeze. “It’ll be okay, babe. I’ll go give them a hand.”
Nodding in response, he strode toward where his cousin’s vehicle was blocking the road, its flashing blue and red lights creating a disco effect in the middle of the night. Grady had just finished setting up flares further up the road where there was a moderate curve. The last thing they needed was for someone to come flying around the blind spot and start plowing through the men and the herd.
“Grady, what the fuck?” He clicked the button of his Maglite on and off several times as rage burned through him.
The sheriff tossed some extra flares into the back of his SUV. “Looks like someone cut the wire and dragged the posts out. At first, I thought maybe someone drove off the road or something, but it’s obvious this was deliberate. Also, I, uh, found this.” Grady held out a transparent evidence bag containing a piece of paper, his face stony and more than a little pissed off. “I didn’t want to show this to you, but I think it’s best if you know, so you and Dale can be on guard.”
Jeremiah’s gut tightened with dread as he reached for the item. Turning his flashlight back on, he held the light so he could read the chicken-scratched message written in black ink on the paper.
This is what fags like you deserve! Get out of our town before we cut you next!
His hand tightened into a fist. When Grady grabbed his wrist, Jeremiah realized he was close to destroying evidence. Relaxing his fingers, he gave the note back to the man then ran his hands through his hair. “This is... fuck.” He hung his head, doing his best to wrangle his emotions, so that he could communicate without screaming or punching something.
“Any idea who might’ve done this?”
He shrugged as he glanced around at the cows milling about, seemingly unperturbed that their prison break had been thwarted. “A few. Anthony fired Ferris and Simon this afternoon after they were talking smack about me and Dale. Could’ve been them. I also had a run-in with Carl Skinner and Ken Larson at Ducky’s and another with Frank Schneider over at the diner. And I’m sure there are more homophobes in the Rock who haven’t had a chance to confront me yet. That list will probably grow over the next few days.”
If Grady was shocked that Jeremiah had basically just confirmed he was gay, the man didn’t show it. He’d undoubtedly heard it from the rumor mill by now, but here was the proof. “Well, let me handle this, but stay on guard. I’d start carrying that pistol of yours too if I were you—Dale as well, if he has one.” He clapped Jeremiah on the shoulder. “We’re going to find who did this, and we’ll be filing as many charges as we can against them. I wish the state legislators would get off their asses and pass the damn hate crime laws. Forty-seven out of fifty states have them, and we’re not one of them. You’d think after that college student was tortured and killed twenty plus years ago, it would’ve been a no-brainer, but apparently it’s not a requirement for lawmakers to have brains. I’m telling you this though, cousin, I’m not letting these assholes get away with bullshit like this. I promise. Not in my fucking town.”
Jeremiah nodded his gratitude before searching for Dale and spotting him shooing a cow back through the hole in the fence. He’d do anything to protect the love of his life—anything.
“We’ll be careful, but I’m not hiding. Not anymore. Never again.”
A small smile appeared on his cousin’s face. “I’d never ask you to. I love seeing you this way—been a long time coming. I’d never ask either one of you to give up the happiness you’ve obviously found. These fuckers,” he held up the evidence bag, “they’re the ones who are wrong, not you two.”
“Thanks, Grady.” He gestured toward where his employees and Dale were rounding up the cattle. “I better go help them, so we can all catch a little more sleep before the workday really starts.”
“I’ll give you a hand.”
“By the way, what the hell areyoudoing working in the middle of the night. Doesn’t the top spot come with perks?”
Grady laughed wryly as he pushed on a cow’s flank to urge her toward the opening to the pasture. “Yeah, it does. But there was a structure fire earlier over in Butterfield. A few of the volunteer firemen were injured when a wall collapsed. Nothing serious though, but the chief suspected it was arson, so I let Rissa know I had to head over there with the fire inspector. This job definitely got a little easier since she became old enough to stay home by herself. I was just taking a cruise through the area on my way home and came across this mess.”
“Well, I’m glad you did. There could’ve been a couple hundred cows out here if it was a few hours from now before someone else passed by.” While the road that ran past the JP and Skyview ranches saw a lot of use during the day, in the middle of the night it wasn’t a busy thoroughfare.
As they worked, Jeremiah debated how he was going to tell Dale about the note. He couldn’t keep it from him—there was no question of that. They were both being threatened, and he’d never forgive himself if something ever happened to his Marine. He just hoped and prayed this test wasn’t going to be too much for their new relationship, that they’d survive it, and the stress wouldn’t fracture what they’d begun to build.
* * *
Jeremiah tooka deep breath and raised his hand to knock on Willow’s front door. Things were beyond good with Dale, the threat from last night notwithstanding, and he felt the time was finally right to have a conversation with his sister and Willow about manipulating him. While he knew their intentions were good, he was a grown-ass man and didn’t need them interfering in his love life, now that he actually had one.
Knock. Knock.
While waiting for the door to open, he tried to keep his temper on a tight leash which was a little difficult after the unexpected escapades in the middle of the night. He didn’t want to yell at them, but the longer he stood there, the more irritated he became at their meddling.
With both Jenna’s SUV and Willow’s pickup truck parked by the side of the house, he knew they were both there, but there was a possibility they were on the back porch and didn’t hear him. He knocked again, just short of pounding on the door. If he didn’t get an answer, he’d walk around to the back of the house to search for them.
