Unbroken Hearts Read online

  They stood by the weathered door, a four-person semicircle facing the barn. Whiz waggled his way between their legs but was ignored as Brett squeezed JT’s hand and took a deep breath.

  “I wrote something down to say since I’m the one who decided this was a good idea. But now it just seems like a lot of crap.” He snickered nervously, his back straight and posture perfect as his gaze focused on the sky. “I thought this would be a good way to finally say goodbye to the life I had before, and the man I was then. Not that any of that was bad, but it’s time to say my formal goodbyes. Do y’all remember Walt’s funeral?”

  Brett looked at Millie and Ray, tipping his head to the side as he waited. JT tried to deter Whiz from jumping up his leg, but Brett scooped him into his arms before he could reprimand the pup. He wiggled and licked at Brett’s face, held tight to his chest but still ignored.

  Ray spoke first. “Yep. One of the saddest days of my life.”

  “Of course, Darlin’,” Millie agreed, causing a smile to tug at both JT and Brett’s lips.

  “I’m a little ashamed of myself because I don’t remember much. Anger was the reason mostly since the guilt hadn’t set in yet, and I was stone-cold sober in a way I certainly didn’t want to be.” With a breathy pause, Brett closed his eyes, and JT knew he was lost in the memory.

  He urged him on in his own way. “At Thanksgiving you said you never spoke at the funeral.”

  “That’s exactly right, and I know I said a few things then, but I reckon this is what you psychologist types call closure?” Brett winked at JT, bumping their hips together as Whiz continued to lick and wag. “Walt was a good man. Lord knows he was good to me, more than I probably deserved and—”

  “Brett,” JT whispered the warning just as Brett had asked him to if he lost his way.

  “You’re right. Just the facts.” He swallowed loudly, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the effort. JT dropped his hand, moving his own to cradle the back of Brett’s head. He massaged the tense ropes of muscle in his neck, squeezing in support, and Brett slipped him a smile of gratitude.

  “I think it’s taken me until the last few months to completely accept and understand that this place is mine now… well, it’s ours. Walt wanted me to have it because he loved me, and I loved him. When he passed I never had the chance to say goodbye, and I fucked myself out of doing it at the funeral. Sorry, Mama.”

  “S’all right, son.”

  Brett flashed her a grateful smile before returning to serious. “So the whole point of this is to be rid of the eyesore in front of us. I can appreciate the good memories, and I know we all have them, but the sadness that surrounds it… the biggest thing that we all know happened in there, is best put to rest. I’m not making a lot of sense, but I think y’all understand.”

  “Move it along, Brett.” Stepping into his usual role of blunt honesty, Ray brushed his hand over Brett’s arm in a way that was almost gentle, tender. It affected Brett in an obviously positive way as JT felt his muscles relax, his body leaning heavier against JT’s.

  “Then let’s do it, old man.”

  JT was proud of his cowboy. Proud of the way he slid from melancholy memories to his let’s get ’er done attitude.

  “Okay. I just have to, um… grab something from the truck.” JT tried to control the stuttering of his tongue—to no avail. “Brett, you want to come with me to do that?”

  Brett squinted up at JT as he set his squirming bundle on the ground again. “I don’t think there’s anything in the truck we need.”

  “Yeah, there is,” JT said with more determination. “You know… that thing you asked me to remind you about?” JT widened his eyes at Brett, but his secret message didn’t seem to deliver the required information.

  “If there’s something in there we forgot, why don’t you go grab it, sweetheart?”

  “Oh for Christ’s sake, Brett.” Ray all but stomped his foot on the ground. “He wants some damn private time. When are you boys gonna realize you ain’t fooling anyone with your sneaking around? You sleep in the same bed, for mercy’s sake. As long as you don’t get busy with each other in front of me—again—I’m fine with your damn affection.”

  JT’s face bloomed with heat, but Brett just snorted and kissed his cheek.

  “You asking us to kiss in front of you, old man?”

  “Hell no!” Ray threw up his hands while Millie giggled beside him, a snort identical to Brett’s slipping from between her lips. “And definitely not during working hours, but if ya want his attention just say so. Ain’t there been enough miscommunication in the past for the both of ya?”

  Brett turned to JT, a devilishly crooked grin lighting up his rugged face. “Were you trying to tell me you wanted to kiss me over by the truck?”

  “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to how you people talk… and act.”

  All three of them laughed at that, a couple more snorts making JT snort right along with them.

  Millie stepped forward to kiss his cheek. “Remember you’re one of us people now, son.”

  Brett grabbed JT’s hand again. “We’ll be back in a minute, maybe two,” he said as he dragged JT away from the couple. “We’ll just be over there by the truck kissing if you need us.”

  “Bastard,” JT whispered as a completely contradictory smile played over his lips.

  He shoved Brett against the truck as soon as they were out of sight, kissing him hard while Brett gave as much as he was given.

  “I’d say that was worth the awkwardness.” Brett rubbed their noses together. “Did I just mess that whole closure thing up?”

  “No.” JT pulled him closer, pressing into Brett’s palm when he cupped the back of his head. “You did it Brett Taylor style, so it was perfect, and I’m proud of you.”

  Brett blushed a pretty salmon color. “Aw, thanks. It feels good, even more than I thought it would. Walt would’ve liked you, and I sure know I do. He’s still inside, you know, sitting there all relaxed in a tiny part of my heart. You all right with that?”

  “As long as the rest of your heart is mine.”

  “Forever, Darlin’.”

  Brett kissed him with promise and love on his lips. He sighed heavily, angling his head so their mouths fit together like the perfect puzzle pieces JT knew they were. JT’s whole body buzzed with a renewed excitement, like he’d just fallen in love all over again, and he was pretty sure he had.

  “I have half a mind to sneak you into the house like some teenager under his mama’s roof.”

  “Too bad we don’t have one of those SUVs with all the room in the back.”

  Brett’s eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas. “Well, I’m sure as hell buying you one now. Think they’ll notice if we disappear for twenty minutes or so?”

  “The way I’m feeling, I’ll probably only need ten.”

  “Whoa, baby. Now we’re talking.”

  Brett pressed forward, forcing JT to take a step back away from the Jesus Christ I’m gonna cum right here call of his body. He placed a finger to JT’s lips, hissing out a quiet “shhh” while he crouched low and motioned for JT to do the same.

  They made their way to the house by sticking to the side of the gravel path, hunched over and practically tiptoeing like cartoon bandits at the scene of a crime. JT stifled a snicker once or twice, especially when Brett’s fine ass was mere inches from his face. He barely resisted groping it, letting the anticipation and exhilaration of their ninja-like tactics hold his desire at bay.

  Unfortunately, with their final destination in sight and only ten steps to go, the bubble of their devious plot was burst in a big way.

  “You boys ain’t thinking of skipping out on this little project, are ya?” Ray’s voice boomed inside JT’s head, scattering all his lust-filled images like dust in the wind.

  “Stay quiet,” Brett hissed close to JT’s ear. “He won’t holler for long, and I’m sure they can keep themselves busy for ten, fifteen minutes tops. Besides, who’s the boss of this here ranch an
yhow?”

  “Boys!” Millie’s voice was just this side of too damn calm. “Don’t make me come looking for you because, Brett, you know I will, exactly like when you were a teenager.”

  “Fuck a duck. We’re screwed,” Brett whispered with a groan.

  JT kissed him one last time before they stepped back into the figurative light. “But unfortunately, Darlin’, not literally.”

  OCTOBER

  Chapter 7

  “CAN’T YOU just shut off the lights and put some kind of big bowl on the step?”

  Millie tilted her head, a warning glare narrowing her eyes. “That’s not very hospitable, is it, son? I never knew you were so set against Halloween and trick-or-treaters.”

  “Don’t kids get enough candy nowadays?”

  “You sound as grumpy as old Ray,” JT teased.

  “Shut it, you.”

  And he wasn’t—against Halloween anyhow; grumpy was up to interpretation though. Brett liked Halloween a lot, so much so that he’d even done a little decorating around the ranch. It might’ve been mostly because of JT, but it still counted. Plus, he did help his mama drape pumpkin and ghost lights over the trees in her front yard every year.

  But this year it looked like Halloween had thrown up all over Millie’s yard—with JT’s exceptional assistance, of course. Brett’s boyfriend and his mama could be a darn bad combo.

  “I think it’ll be fun,” JT spoke up behind Brett, despite not being spoken to. “You like kids, don’t you? Little ones in cute costumes?”

  “’Course I like ’em. I like you all dolled-up, don’t I?” Brett ducked the pathetic smack JT aimed at his head. “Little kids are third on my list of cute, right under puppies and those adorable baby animal videos you keep making me watch.”

  “Jerk.”

  Brett smirked at him. “But answering the door all night giving out candy? You think that’s fun, kid?”

  “You got other big plans, cowboy?”

  “Just a lot of kissing you.” He leaned in to do just that, wiping the snarl right off JT’s lips. “Can’t subject little ones to all that sexiness, now can we?”

  “Brett Samuel Weston Taylor!” Brett groaned at the full name deal, and Millie cuffed him on the side of the head just out of spite. He flinched but chuckled deep in his throat. Her voice suddenly softened, and she batted long lashes at him. “I’m asking you as a favor. But, there’s another option if you’d prefer,” she said. “I mean if you’re too much of a scaredy-cat for Halloween trick-or-treaters.”

  “I ain’t scared of nothin’. Don’t say a word, kid.” Brett shook his head, clearing the cobwebs his mama always seemed to leave in her wake. He eyed her with as much stark intent as he could manage without breaking into a smile. She always thought she played him like a damn fiddle, but he wasn’t a gullible teenager anymore. “Do I even want to know what you got planned?”

  “Well, Ray could stay here and help the young’uns have a happy holiday, and you can be my date for the charity fundraiser.”

  “What?” Brett looked from her to JT, then back. “You gotta be kidding me? Been there, done that. Got the irritating T-shirt to prove it.”

  “I think that’s a great idea.” JT breathed excitedly—a little too enthusiastically for Brett’s liking. “We can find you the coolest costume. Just sexy enough that Millie’s friends can follow you around without thinking you’re indecent.” JT tapped his bottom lip in feigned thought. “But something sweet and charming might be better.”

  “You’re totally setting me up.”

  JT ignored him with some fancy flip of his head. It might have been effective had his hair been as long as Brett’s, but it just looked ridiculous otherwise. “What do you think, Millie? Dress him up like you did when he was little?”

  “No,” Brett said, then louder. “No. No. No. I’m not being strutted around like a prize bull again.”

  Millie snuffled a laugh. “Cowboy.”

  “Mama.”

  JT piped up. “A cowboy, really? Didn’t you have any imagination when you were a kid?”

  “She’s exaggerating. I wasn’t always a cow—”

  “Every year but one.”

  “Well, that’s a relief. Did he think of something awesome then at least?” JT directed the question at Millie, blatantly ignoring Brett like he wasn’t there at all.

  “JT. You’re not helping things.” Brett tried to interrupt, but his mama and boyfriend together were a force to be reckoned with, and he could barely get a word in edgewise. “Stop encouraging her,” he hissed.

  “Cowboy with a guitar,” Millie said with a devilish grin.

  “Well, shit. I don’t like either of you right now.”

  JT didn’t hold back his annoying cackle. “Country singer? That’s adorable.”

  “I was not adorable.”

  “You’re still adorable, son.”

  Brett jumped forward. “Jesus, Ray. Don’t sneak up on a guy. And this ain’t none of your business anyhow.”

  “I’ve seen photos,” Ray continued, also paying Brett no mind. “Cute as a newborn pup.”

  “All right. All right! I’ll give out candy. What’s the matter with you people?”

  “And be happy doing it?” Millie suggested.

  “Yes! I’ll be a goddamn prince of happiness.”

  JT whooped. He actually whooped in the middle of the damn living room, then grabbed Brett by the head and smacked a loud kiss on his cheek. Jesus Murphy. “Awesome. We can get you a little sparkly crown too.”

  Brett swiped the kiss away. “JT! Kid, you’re pushing it.”

  JT tugged him close, pressed another wet, vibrating buzz to the side of his head. “Hush,” he whispered, his tongue tickling the shell of Brett’s ear. “You’re a damn sexy cowboy anyhow.”

  “Not in front of Mama. Jeez.” Brett eyed Millie. “I need a little compensation out of this deal.”

  “I thought that’s what I was for.” JT was on the verge of a beating. Not really, but he was batting one hundred on the annoying charts.

  “I want some of those kid-sized candy bars all to myself. A whole darn bag. Then I’ll be sweet as pie to all them young’uns.”

  Millie let loose a very unladylike snort, then patted Brett’s arm. “All the chocolate you want, baby.” Then she backpedaled. “But it’s all in fun, you know? If you really don’t want to—”

  “My man seems pretty set on the idea, so I think I’ll survive. And speaking of pie.” Brett flashed his biggest grin.

  “No one was speaking of any damn pie.” Ray had been so quiet, Brett forgot he was even in the room… again.

  “I dunno. The kitchen smells distinctly like pumpkin to me. You just wanna keep it all to yourself.”

  Ray grunted. “Dang right.”

  “Sit!” Millie’s voice echoed above the rest. “JT, honey. Help me get some plates, would you? I believe these two can stew a bit while we have a sample or two.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Brett gaped at JT as he followed along behind Millie. “Traitor.”

  JT twisted to blow him a kiss, before turning his back and popping out that perfect behind.

  “Floozy.”

  Ray laughed so hard he had to sit down. He kicked at Brett from the couch. “He plays you like a damn fiddle. You ain’t got any idea how happy that makes me.”

  THE DAY before Halloween, JT got a phone call he didn’t care to share right away. Brett let him stew for a while, keeping himself busy dishing up their weekly roast beef supper and talking nonsensically about some singing vegetable video or maybe bathing hedgehog he’d seen on YouTube. JT appreciated the space to churn things over in his mind. But when he was still quiet and obviously in a mood as they sat down, Brett tapped the top of his wrist.

  “You wanna talk about it?” he asked, taking a big helping of mashed potatoes, then passing them over. “Not that I’ll make ya.”

  JT took in the caring, light eyes and managed a sad twist of his lips. He did want to talk.
He didn’t. He did. He didn’t. With a frustrated sigh that he felt to his toes, he leaned in to kiss Brett. “I don’t want to ruin our dinner.”

  “Seems like it’s already that way for you.” But Brett was really good at not pushing, just letting JT decide when and where he wanted to share, and he always did. “Well, eat up, then. We can wrangle whatever it is together afterwards, if that’s what you need.”

  But keeping it to himself only fed the melancholy, or more likely, guilt in his heart. “My grandma’s in the hospital.”

  Brett’s fork rattled to his plate. “Oh shit. I’m sorry. What happened?” He slid his hand to the back of JT’s neck, squeezing gently. JT sucked back a needy sigh of contentment, leaning into the steady grip.

  “She fell down the stairs at her condo.” His mother had described it in an entirely different way, complete with the words stupidity and I told her so. Add flagrant annoyance disguised as sarcasm and a healthy dose of guilt arrowed straight at JT’s heart, and the conversation couldn’t have ended soon enough despite the surprising news.

  “That’s terrible.”

  Brett was so emotive in his expressions, his body language, vastly incapable of using a poker face, except when it came to destroying JT in cribbage. He often wondered if Brett’s vulnerable openness was an after Brett Blakk Country Superstar thing since he certainly had a lot of big secrets back then—hiding in plain sight is what Brett called it, and he’d hated it too.

  Of course, JT thought Brett was even more breathtaking when his heart glowed so brilliantly on his sleeve.

  “Is she all right? Do you need to go to California?”

  JT turned into Brett’s hand, letting his touch wrap around him, take all the ugly away at least for a moment or two of hesitation. “No. She broke her wrist and bruised her hip. They’re going to keep her in there a few days. She’s getting too old to be by herself, you know?” The harsh reality wasn’t any better coming from him than his mother. He kissed Brett’s fingers, then eased away. “Chow down. I slaved over a hot stove all day for this.”