Cattle Valley: Vol 11 PRINT

Excerpt From: The O'Brien Way

William ‘Moby’ Haines pulled on a faded sleeveless Bruce Dickinson T-shirt and his tightest low-rise jeans. It was a work night and there seemed to be a direct correlation between how sexy he dressed and the amount of tips he received. It didn’t surprise him. He’d worked in Vegas for a number of years, dancing and stripping in the hottest strip show in town, right smack in the middle of the famous Vegas strip. It had been a hell of a life, full of money and a different man every night, but one phone call from the Sheridan Wyoming Police Department had changed everything.

Moby adjusted his cock inside his tight jeans and turned off the bedroom light. He found his mother, Virginia, still sitting at the kitchen table. “I’m getting ready to leave.”

He looked at his mom’s dinner plate. “Aren’t you hungry?”

“I don’t like being left alone,” she said with a pout.

Moby bent over and kissed her cheek. “I know, but I have to work. Daddy left you with a lot of bills and it’s up to me to take care of them.”

“Don’t you talk about Bill,” Virginia reprimanded.

Moby bit his tongue and picked up his mom’s plate. It wouldn’t do any good to remind her of the years they’d been forced to be away from each other. The day he’d come out had been the last day he’d seen his mom until he’d been called home to Sheridan to make funeral arrangements.

“Mrs. Baines will be by around seven. She’s looking forward to watching that television show you two enjoy.”

“Glee,” his mom reminded him. “It has a queer boy in it. You’d probably like it.”

Moby rolled his eyes. “Gay.”

“Huh?” Virginia asked, looking up at Moby.

“Gay boy, not queer.” Moby grabbed his winter coat off the back of the kitchen chair and pulled it on.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it,” she said, the pout returning.

“I know you didn’t.” It had been one of the nicer words his dad had used to describe his son. Moby gave his mom one last kiss on the cheek. “I’ll try not to wake you when I get home.”

“I don’t usually sleep well until I know you’re home safely. I don’t like you driving to that town every day. The weather’s getting bad. What if you slide off the road or something?”

“I’m a good driver,” he reminded her, slipping his feet into his snow boots.

“That’s what Bill used to say, too, but do you remember that time he ran into the fire hydrant?”

Moby didn’t bother reminding his mom that his dad was also ticketed and taken to jail for drunk driving. He decided to bring up a subject he’d been thinking about lately. “Have you ever thought of getting a dog or a cat?”

“Bill doesn’t allow animals in the house,” she reminded him.

“I know, but Dad’s not here anymore, and I think it’d be nice to have a pet.” He hoped it would give his mom the company she seemed to need. “Please, Mom. I’ve always wanted a dog.”

Virginia tapped her fingers on the table for several seconds. “You’ll have to clean up after it.”

“I will,” Moby agreed.

“And I won’t have it on the furniture.”

“Okay.” Moby tried not to smile. He picked his keys up off the counter. “Maybe we can go tomorrow to the local shelter?”

“Tomorrow’s grocery day,” she reminded him.

“I know, but I think we can do both,” he said on his way out of the door. Moby scraped the windshield and side windows as the rusty pickup did its best to heat up. Before pulling out, he grabbed the shovel out of the back of the truck and added a few more pounds of snow to the bed. He wished he’d had the money to get something with four-wheel drive, but the bulk of his savings had gone to his dad’s funeral expenses and a few of the debts he’d left behind. Weight added to the truck, Moby pulled out of the driveway into the near-blinding storm.

He glanced at the watch taped to his dash and cringed. With the current weather conditions, he’d be lucky to make it to work on time. If he wanted to keep his job, Moby would have to adjust his schedule, not an easy task with a mother who needed him.

Excerpt From: Ghost from the Past

Ryan doubted he’d ever seen so much joy in one man’s face as at the moment Sean stepped through the door and everyone shouted, “Happy Birthday.” It had served as a good reminder of just how much the little things one partner did for another really meant.

He glanced across the room to where Rio was talking with Sean and Moby. Rio’s posture clued Ryan in on how comfortable Rio was with the two men. How long had it been since he’d seen Rio so at ease? Like Rio had reminded him earlier, it wasn’t always about sex. It had been a big slap-upside-the-head moment for Ryan.

Working his way through the crowd of friends, Ryan found Nate. “Can I steal him for a moment?” he asked Jay.

“Sure. I need to go to the kitchen for more food anyway.” Jay disappeared, leaving Ryan alone to talk to Nate.

“What’re we gonna do about Rio?”

“What do you mean?” Nate asked, comfortably slipping a hand into Ryan’s back pocket.

“Don’t play dumb. We both know he was right earlier. We both get so damn busy with our jobs we don’t spend as much time at home anymore.”

Nate bit his bottom lip and looked towards Rio. “You think he’s really pissed this time?”

“Does it matter? The fact is he’s right. We’re just so used to him blowing off steam and then forgiving us the next day that we never take the time to actually listen to what he’s saying.” Ryan tapped Nate’s nose. “Don’t deny it. We do that and you know it.”

“So, what? Am I supposed to ignore the people that depend on me to run this town just because my partner’s feeling unappreciated?”

Staring down at Nate, Ryan gave an inward groan. Why hadn’t he seen it? The answer jumped up and smacked him in the face. They were both guilty of putting everything and everyone else ahead of each other. It had slowly become the routine after the collapse. At first it had been the process of rebuilding, and then the healing had finally begun.

His thoughts were still rambling when he noticed Rio reaching for his phone. Dark eyebrows drew together as Rio said something to Moby and Sean before walking out of the room, the phone held to his ear.

Ryan guessed it had to be one of Rio’s friends calling to wish him a merry Christmas. Nate gave Ryan a hug and gestured towards the kitchen. “I’ll go see if Jay needs any help.”

“Erico’s in there. You sure it’s safe?” Ryan said around a chuckle.

Nate’s eyes lit up. “Ooh, I hope not.” The words were barely out of his mouth before he took off.

Ryan shook his head. “Pervert,” he mumbled, while at the same time wondering if he could also be of some help in the kitchen. Normally he’d ask Rio to join him in surprising their voyeuristic partner, but with their current predicament, Ryan figured it would be better to find Nate on his own.

As luck would have it, he found Nate actually helping in the kitchen. “Wait. I need a picture of this.”

“Fuck off,” Nate said, transferring hot hors d’oeuvres to a serving platter.

Ryan laughed and winked at Jay. “You’ll have to share your secret with me. I haven’t seen Nate in a kitchen actually working for quite a while.”

The door swung open and Sean dashed in. “I think the two of you need to check on Rio.”

The worry in Sean’s expression scared the shit out of Ryan. “What’s happened?”

Sean shook his head. “Not sure. He got a phone call and disappeared. I just saw him sitting at the bar in some kind of locked stare or something. I tried to talk to him but he didn’t even acknowledge me.”

“Fuck!” Ryan spat, taking a shortcut through another door to the bar, with Nate right on his heels.

Rio’s naturally bronzed skin had gone as white as a sheet.

“What’s happened?” Ryan asked, sliding onto the barstool next to Rio.

Rio’s mouth opened and closed several times before he spoke. “Chet called.”

Chet? How did Chet get Rio’s number? He works for the CIA, dipshit. “What did he want?”

When Rio didn’t answer right away, Ryan’s stomach began to cramp. He knew no good could’ve come from the conversation between Chet and Rio. Chet had been with them in Africa almost ten years earlier, and to his knowledge hadn’t contacted either him or Rio since their failed mission.

Ryan put a hand on Rio’s back, trying to comfort his partner. “What did Chet want?” he asked again.

“To tell me Ghost is alive and wants to see me.”