Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
“Did you like it?” She would have loved to go away to camp, but her parents could never afford it.
“No,” he said shortly. And then after a second, he sighed. “Parts of it, I guess. My parents were … very concerned that I be doing manly things.” The way he stressed the word made her feel like his parents probably hadn’t reacted well to him being gay—if they even knew.
She hesitated, then said, “Parents don’t always know best. My mother always wanted me to love pink. The more I told her I hated it, the more she pushed it on me. I ended up wearing nothing but dark clothes for years, just because she made me hate pastels.”
Jim looked at her, one eyebrow raised. “I’m pretty sure my love of dick isn’t because my parents sent me to cowboy camp.”
Her mouth dropped and she frantically scrambled for a response. “I didn’t mean … that’s not what I…”
Suddenly a smile broke across his face, and he laughed at her expression. “Relax. I’m just kidding. And you’re not wrong. The more they pushed me to be manly, the more I wanted to be anything else, but they messed up with cowboy camp. I mean, is there anything hotter than a guy with muscles, three-day stubble, and rope?”
“No. No, there is not.” She laughed as she craned to try and catch a glimpse of her husband, but he was too far ahead. “I’m beginning to really enjoy this trip.”
“Same, but if you tell my husband I’ll deny it,” Jim’s tone was dead serious.
Sammie, her horse, flicked her ears in irritation at the way they cackled.
Chapter Nine
It felt like coming home.
He remembered the sullen angry kid he’d been when he’d arrived on the bus with other delinquents who had been sent to work off their anger. And he remembered when it stopped feeling like a punishment and started feeling like a place he could belong. The work was hard, but there was something cleansing about it.
The good honest sweat of his labor seemed to wash the negativity out of his system over time, and he’d settled in like he was meant to be there. They didn’t get the same results from every other kid. Some left with the same rage they’d brought, but for Carter, it was exactly what he needed.
The ranch had changed a lot over the years, but he quickly noticed that most were cosmetic, or changes needed for having adult guests. The hot tub, saunas, and the big screen tv in the bunkhouse were probably necessary to keep the paying guests happy. And of course, there was a different energy about the place now, which made sense.
But underneath it all … it was the same. And now that he was back, he was happy to realize it still felt like he belonged. Ma and Pa certainly thought so too.
After dinner one night, Pa pulled him aside. “I know you’re a paying guest, son, but I’m thinking ranch lessons are going to bore you, since you already know what we’ll be teaching. And I’m not one to turn down an experienced hand if you’re interested in doing some honest work while you’re here.”
“I…” He hesitated, not because he wasn’t itching to work, but because that wasn’t why he was there. “I’m not sure how Allegra will take that. The couple bonding stuff is really important, and I kind of surprised her with this whole thing. If I go off and abandon her…”
Pa thumped him on the back. “Don’t be silly. I’d never take you away from your beautiful wife. Just thinking you don’t need a hand following the two of you around and showing you the ropes. You can teach her instead. That is, if you don’t mind bossing her around, of course.”
Carter was made for bossing her and his mouth twitched up at one side. “I think I can handle that. To be honest, I’ve missed working with my hands.”
Pa laughed. “That’s right … you’re a big city slicker now, ain’tcha? Got you one of them office jobs?” The way he switched from professional business owner, to country bumpkin had always amused Carter. Mostly because he could never figure out if it was an affectation or not.
“I’ve got my own business actually, so I mostly work from home.” He shrugged, looking down at his dusty boots for a moment, and then sent Pa a sideways glance. “I went to college like you wanted, got really into computers. Now I do web design, front-end development, write code.”
Pa’s look turned serious. The humor left his eyes. “Sounds fancy. Do you like what you do?”
He hadn’t really thought about that much. He enjoyed writing code, but building websites tended to be boring. “It pays well and I can do it from wherever,” he said finally.