“Twenty, and you’re not in school?”

“Didn’t like it,” Liam said. His expression was stubborn and there was challenge in his eyes. “Didn’t see any point in going when all I wanted to do was work outside.”

“With horses?” Jack prompted.

“Yeah. I left home real early and ended up working on a ranch down near Nuevo Laredo.”

“And now you’re in Dallas.”

Liam crossed his hands over his chest. “Is there a law against traveling?”

“Depends on the reason,” Jack offered in response. “You clean?”

Liam blinked at Jack as if he didn’t understand the question. Then he frowned. “Drugs? I don’t do drugs, you asshole. What, just ’cause the cops book me for shit I didn’t do and I end up here, you think automatically that I shoot up?”

Jack lifted a single eyebrow and mimicked Liam’s stance with his arms across his chest.

“I don’t hire men who use drugs.”

“Hire?” Liam looked past Jack at the point where Jack knew Steve was sitting. “What does he mean?”

“Jack is my brother-in-law, runs a ranch outside Dallas, trains horses, and needs a new apprentice. I thought you might be interested.”

“I was planning on moving on,” Liam said softly. The fight had somehow diminished from his voice. “No one wants me here.”

“You from around here?” Robbie asked. “That why you’re in Dallas?”

“My family is,” Liam answered.

“So you came home from Laredo,” Jack summarized. “Did you get the same reaction you got when you were thrown out at sixteen?”

Liam looked at Steve accusingly. “You told him, you fucker,” he said with horror in his voice.

“That’s enough,” Jack said firmly. He crossed closer to Liam and watched as Liam backed away out of the room. “Steve has your best interests at heart. I can offer you room and board and a minimum wage until you earn your way. I offer training bonuses, and you’ll have a three-month trial reporting to Robbie here.” Jack thumbed at Robbie. “You’ll remain clean and out of trouble, and you’ll work to prove that Steve wasn’t wrong to ask me to give you this chance.”

“You know why my parents threw me out, yeah?” Liam cocked a hip and narrowed his eyes. He was settling in for a fight. “Because I like cock,” he ended with vehemence. If he was hoping to shock Jack then he had another thing coming.

“Me too,” Jack said simply.

“And me,” Robbie added.

“I did, and girls, but then I met my wife and made a very clear choice,” Steve pointed out. Jack couldn’t help but snort with laughter.

Far from relaxing, Liam took another step back until he was flat against the corridor wall. “I’m not going to be anyone’s fuck toy,” he said with a smattering of fear in his voice.

“Is that what happened in Laredo?” Jack asked. “’Cause it won’t happen on the Double D.”

Liam tilted his head and frowned in concentration. “Double D? Campbell? You run Solo Cal and Taylors Wood?”

“Yep,” Jack couldn’t help the pride that filtered in through his words. “And it’s Campbell-Hayes. I married my man. I’m offering you a chance here. You pack up your stuff, and Steve can bring you out to the ranch, and you can have a look around. There’s nowhere for you to stay at the moment, but we have camping stuff you can put up in the barn with the horses. Robbie here is moving out of his apartment in the next few months. If you make it past the three months, the place is yours as part of your salary.”

“Do I get to work with Solo and Taylors?” Liam took a step away from the wall and leaned against the doorjamb to the office.

“Over my dead body,” Jack said evenly. “Not till you prove you’re a good guy with the horses.” Jack held out his hand. “Deal?”

Liam pulled his lower lip between his teeth, but then standing straight and squaring his shoulders, he shook Jack’s hand, this time firmer and without pulling away. Jack looked into serious gray eyes again and saw determination in there instead of fear. They released the grip.

“What you thinking, Robbie?” Jack asked.

Robbie extended his hand this time, which Liam shook. “Welcome to the D.”

* * * * *

Riley was on his twenty-fourth length and relaxing into a soothing rhythm in the water when the door burst open. Startled, he came to a stop and tread water in the deep end.

“What’s wrong, Jack?”

“Get out and listen to this,” Jack demanded. Riley glided to the side and heaved himself out of the water, coming to sit on the side. Jack pressed the replay button on the phone and Rebecca’s voice was clear in the message.

“Hi, this is Rebecca, the…Rebecca Henderson. I wanted to let you guys know that my jeans won’t do up anymore. But best news of all, I felt butterflies this morning. They’re moving and growing and I just wanted you to know. Talk to you later. Bye.”

The message ended and Riley closed his eyes. This was so real and so exciting. He let out an oof when Jack dropped the phone and kissed Riley. With a small move he had them both in the water and sinking below before he bounced on the bottom of the eight-foot shelf and up the pool until they were both able to stand upright. Riley gripped Jack’s ass and deepened the kiss. Jack was laughing into the kiss, and Riley wanted to see the look on his husband’s face when he was so damn happy. He pulled back and saw the same excitement in Jack that he had in himself.

“They moved,” Jack said wonderingly. He pressed a gentle kiss to Riley’s mouth. Riley couldn’t get enough of his husband.

“Daddy? What are you doing with Pappa in the water, and why is Pappa wearing clothes?”

Chapter 15

~April~

Riley and Eli sat with their backs to the barn. This was where they often sat if they ever got a spare few minutes. They would watch Robbie and Jack and now they had Liam to watch as well. He’d only been here just over a month, but he’d begun to fill out. Riley liked him, and Liam reminded Riley of Jack a little. He had the same stubbornness, same passion for the land and the horses.

“Liam looks good,” Eli offered. “Robbie said he found him crying in the barn the other day, clinging to Solo Cal and just crying his eyes out.”

“I had Dad dig out some stuff—”

“Jeez, Riley, you didn’t.”

“I can’t be too careful. Hayley is here, and with the twins soon… I just had to be sure. His family is a real religious nut-fest of a family, hardline, threw Liam out when he was sixteen. Seemed like he ran and took enough with him to make it south. Worked his way up. Good references from the ranch owner when he was asked.”

“Then why did he run from the ranch if it was so good?”

“Seems like he was a victim of a hate crime on the ranch. Turns out it was last in, first out and anyway, the way the owner tells it, Liam wanted to leave. No filing of a crime, just leave.”

“I think he carries it too much,” Eli observed. “And sometimes I think he can’t manage anymore.”

“I’ll talk to Jack, see if he is interested in counseling, or I don’t know, other ways of dealing with things. Anyway, I heard you were at the hospital; how did it go?”

“More blood tests, every time I get that is a step closer to being told it’s unlikely to come back.”

Riley didn’t exactly like the way Eli worded that, but he wasn’t going to push. “So you’re free now.”

“Yeah. Robbie is pleased. He was so tense before the tests. He’s a bit like Liam in that he wears his heart on his sleeve.”

A car pulled into the yard, and Riley pushed himself up. The SUV was immaculate and nearly brand new. He grinned when he saw Marcus get out of the driver’s seat. Marcus had been promising to drag his ass out of the Walker Clinic since their last visit, and this morning he’d called to suggest today would be a good idea to hand over some copies of insurance documents. Marcus looked as pristine as he had been at the clinic, and Riley had a flashback of what he used to look like when he first arrived at the D. A little shell-shocked, immaculate in his suit, tie perfectly tied, and his hair spiked with gel.