“Levi’s been a great chaperone. I think he’s even having some fun of his own. Reyes asked him to do some trick riding demos for the guests.”
“Working on his vacation?” Orry blew a raspberry.
“How are you doing? It’s gotta be weird being in the apartment by yourself.”
“I’ve been working all day so I won’t know until later. I’m actually about to pick up my next fare, so I gotta go. Be safe.”
“You too.”
George hung up but remained by the tree, observing the grounds from a distance. Judson and an elderly man in overalls and a bright pink long-sleeve shirt were working around a big brick barbecue pit, and the scents of burning wood and slowly roasting meat had begun to fill the air. Several of the hands were bringing picnic tables out of the barn and arranging them near the pit. Other guests were petting the horses in the corral and feeding them treats through the fencing.
Peaceful was too small a word for how this tiny slip of the world felt to George. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this good or hopeful.
As the daylight waned and time inched closer to dinner, Reyes brought out one of those portable kerosene heat lamp things and set in in the middle of the picnic tables. The rising moon was close to full, and lights from a few oil lantern stakes kept it from being too dark. Patrice and Miles brought dish after dish out of the guesthouse kitchen and put them on a long table. George watched this practiced dance from his spot under the tree, grateful to Levi for giving him these precious moments alone before the socializing began again.
More of the ranch hands began emerging from a row of cabins behind the main house and milling with the guests. George was the only guest not currently over there. Levi was chatting with Robin and Shawn near the grill. He liked seeing how animated Levi got around Robin, and it made sense given their long history together as friends. It also made him a little jealous because George didn’t have that.
Okay, so Orry was his best friend but that didn’t count. Orry was related to him. His twin. George didn’t remember what it was like to have a best friend who wasn’t related to him. For a few years, he’d somewhat thought of Adrian as a BFF. They’d spent hours a day together training, usually seven days a week. They talked about all kinds of things. Looking back, George saw how Adrian had overshared with him, telling him private things that a fourteen-year-old didn’t need to know about their coach and mentor.
It had all been meticulously orchestrated from the beginning.
Until Adrian pushed him too far and George had snapped.
Hugo sprinted up to the guesthouse front porch and rang the same bell that had announced lunch. George stood straighter and strode across the yard to the gathering. Mack and Wes had also joined Judson and the elderly man by the grill, and all eyes seemed to turn to them. George joined Levi by one of the picnic tables and returned his friendly smile.
“Good evening, friends new and old!” the elderly man said. “My name is Arthur Garrett, and I’m the owner of this beautiful piece of land you’re visiting this week, and I want to say welcome. That big, strapping lad over there is my grandson Mack, and I’m glad to have him with us. He’s usually too busy with his own attraction to bother visiting with this old man.”
“Hush up, there, Arthur,” Mack replied. “You’ll start seeing so much of me you’ll be begging me to reopen the ghost town.”
George chuckled at the easy, familial banter between the pair, even as his heart lurched with grief. He missed his grandparents immensely. Maybe he’d go visit them next week if Orry was able to drive him.
“Anyhow,” Arthur continued, “this here barbecue is a long-held tradition here at the ranch. Gives us all a chance to get to know who we’ll be spending time with this week. It might seem a little silly, and it’s not a requirement, but I hope some of you fine folks will tell us who you are, where you’re from, maybe a bit about yourself and why you’re visiting us.”
George had absolutely no desire to do that, and Levi had already been introduced to everyone earlier at the corral, so George sat at the nearest picnic table and kept his gaze down. Rey introduced his family with a big smile. The Porter and Sanchez couples were all best friends, and they were here celebrating Mr. Sanchez’s recent promotion. The Harrison family, it turned out, had a tradition of taking unusual vacations right before Christmas as their presents to each other.
That one was actually kind of cool. Gifting experiences instead of material objects.
He glanced up at Levi’s profile. Levi had done the same thing for George by giving him a vacation instead of, say, a gift card or other material things as an expression of his thanks. Levi chose that moment to look down, and their eyes met in a new way that lit George up deep inside where he’d hidden his attraction to men for too damned long. George tumbled into the blue depths of Levi’s eyes and gentle smile and the entire character of the man.
“Thanks for speaking up,” Arthur said, breaking that beautiful spell. “It’s a right pleasure to get to know y’all a bit better. I can hear your stomachs growling from the mouthwatering scent of this here meat. So I think it’s time we all line up and eat!”
The words felt canned and practiced in some ways, but also authentic. Maybe it was the country-bumpkin persona Arthur exuded with his overalls and intonations. The man knew how to play an audience.
Other guests started getting in line, along with the hands, but George held back. Levi stood beside him, hands in his jeans pockets and perfectly at ease. No one gave George a cross look for not introducing himself. Once the line thinned, George stood and Levi followed him to the line. The table had an array of cold salads, baked beans, fresh fruit, and yeasty dinner rolls. George took a small selection of each salad, no beans, and a pile of fresh fruit.
The grill was a harder decision. His own diet consisted of mostly chicken and fish, and while they had some barbecue chicken breasts that looked delicious, George chose this rare opportunity to indulge in the ribs. He asked for two, and Arthur gave him three. Levi got ribs and a sausage.
They ended up eating with Robin, Shawn, Reyes and Miles, and George was thankful for the familiar faces. He wouldn’t have minded eating with the Briggs-King family again, but they had a whole week to spend with the pair, and Levi seemed happy to share the meal with his best friend. Shawn showed off pictures of their house to anyone who’d look at them, and that familiar pang of jealousy shot through George at how happy and in love Shawn and Robin were.
I want that. I really do.
First, he had to trust enough to let another person in.
The food was, as promised, amazing, and George was thankful for the extra rib. The sauce was tangy with just a hint of spice. Even though anyone could go back for seconds or thirds, he limited himself so he didn’t end up with a stomachache later. The fresh fruit tasted boring after all that delicious meat.