Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2017 02:05:06 -0400
From: Jim <sojourn1950@yahoo.com>
Subject: Change of Heart chapter ten

This story is fiction.
The characters are adults in adult situations.
Warnings: The only person you can ever hope to truly know is
yourself. Trust no one; use condoms.
If you are not of legal age or in a jurisdiction in which this document is
illegal, go way.
This is my story. Please respect the copyright. If you enjoy it, let me know.

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Feedback is appreciated
Sojourn1950@yahoo.com

For those of us who hate cliffhangers let me be perfectly clear... if you
count the number of times I could have easily ended this chapter with a
cliffhanger you can't help but be amazed at my Super Human ability to
resist temptation.


Chapter 10

Dinner was grilled steaks for the adults, while Maria was happy with
chicken nuggets and mac and cheese. There was some discussion concerning
asparagus. She insisted it looked too "yucky" for food. Paul compromised
saying she could eat it with her fingers if she would try it. Maria
studiously watched as the grownups ate the green stalks. She picked up a
stalk and examined it suspiciously. Finally she bit off what could, by
stretching your imagination, be called a small bite. Most everybody stopped
eating to witness her reaction. Both her Dads expected to see a seriously
horrific expression of rejection. What they saw was a momentary look of
surprise, followed by a totally blasé expression as if she ate
asparagus at every meal.

The couple shared a look of incredulity. Aunt Mellie stated, "Maria has a
very grown up attitude toward food, she's willing to try something rather
than to dismiss it without due consideration. Jeff refused to eat asparagus
until he was sixteen and to this day refuses to eat Brussel Sprouts." It
was obvious to the grownups that Aunt Mellie was trying to praise Maria's
choice as well as influence her future behavior. Jeff refused to
acknowledge his Aunt's remarks.

"That's ok Daddy Jeff, I don't eat Brussel Sprouts either. I tried them and
they taste a lot like they look, yucky."

After dinner Jeff texted Rosarita to see if the decorations were
finished. What he got back almost immediately was a Santa emoji along with
two thumbs up.

After supper Raymond asked the men to again join him in Joe's office. This
time Ilya took over the discussion, "For the immediate future you gentlemen
will have a security detail with you 24/7. Jeff, your housekeeper has set
up rooms for three of my security team to stay at your house. As of this
moment, all driving will be done by one of my team members in our armor
plated Suburbans. One man will be left at your house at all times. As you
travel you will have one man for you Jeff and one man for you Paul. Should
the Princess travel with... ahem... Miss Mellie, they will also have an
armed chauffeur.

Without waiting for questions or complaints Ilya continued, "We have beefed
up security here at the ranch also. Video surveillance will be set up at
both residences. Motion activated sensors around the houses as well as all
outbuildings. Dust resistant smoke detectors with remote only alarms are
being installed in the barns and stables. The cameras as well as alarms
will be monitored 24/7 from an office in the stables.

"Tomorrow, we will begin fingerprinting every employee on the ranch
including the cook and every cowboy. This will not be fully accomplished
for two weeks or more due to holy days. Adams employees worldwide have been
fingerprinted as part of their prerequisite background check for years
now. The ranch as a completely separate entity didn't fall under that
umbrella. That is to change now. Present and future cooks and cowboys will
be subjected to the same scrutiny as the top level executives."

Joe guiltily admitted, "Jeff, son, if it turns out that we have an
attempted murderer working on the ranch... well, it'll be all my
fault. Your Dad and I talked it over years ago and didn't see any need for
any serious background checks before hiring cowboys and farm labor."

Jeff, placed his hand on his Uncle's shoulder. "Uncle Joe, neither you nor
Dad could have foreseen any problem with the way this ranch has been doing
the hiring for generations. A cowboy shows up looking for work and we need
another man it's usually a call to the last place he worked and he's hired.

"We don't know that can of diesel fuel came from our ranch. Hell, I hate to
think any man, let alone one of our ranch hands, could do something so low
as to set fire to a man's home. But, if it turns out that it's one of our
guys. We..." At this Jeff's eyes met Paul's. "We don't want you to take any
blame for it. That fault lies squarely on the shoulders of the bastard that
started that fire. And whoever he is, he will pay for that."

Joe stood up and pulled Jeff into a warm bear hug. Taking that to be a sign
the meeting was over, the other men stood also. As they did, Joe, still
embracing Jeff, reached out to bring Paul into the hug, "This family always
sticks together."

Paul couldn't help but notice, a flash of sadness flitted across Raymond's
face at Joe's inclusive remark. The big Russian was his usual stoic self.

Everyone was busy saying goodnight in the hallway when out of the blue,
Maria chimed in, "Daddy, what's a faggot?"

A hush washed over the group as each seemed to freeze. Paul was caught with
just one arm in his coat. He slid in the other arm in with what he hoped
was a casual move. He knelt down to meet his daughter's quizzical
look. "Honey, that's a bad word. Where did you hear that word?"

"Today. Me and Uncle Joe was at the stables. I had an apple for
Bluebell. He was talking to somebody at the office. I went to Bluebell's
stall and was about to give her the apple when one of the men who works
there looked at me real mean like and said, "Your Daddy is the bossman's
little faggot." I dropped the apple and ran back to Uncle Joe. When I
looked back, the man was gone. I just remembered it just now."

Ilya knelt alongside Paul and reached out to gently caress Maria's hair,
"malyshka, that word he said is a bad word and we think that man is a bad
man. Do you know his name? Have you seen him before?"

Looking into Ilya's caring smile Maria nodded vigorously, "I don't know his
name, but he sometimes saddles the horses and cleans out the stables. He
helped bring out the horses yesterday, the first time me and Daddy and
Daddy Jeff went riding together and Mr. Tom gave me Pistol."

Paul's gaze shifted up to meet Jeff's. Jeff nodded then asked, "Princess?
Did this man say or do anything to frighten you before?"

"No. He used to just smile and sometimes say hello. But, he looked mad and
mean when he brought the horses out yesterday."

Uncle Joe said, "That has to be Josh Morgan, he was hired by Tom Braxton
not quite a year ago. I noticed he looked upset and talked to him for a
minute after y'all rode off. He said he just got some troubling news from
back home. He said it was nothing he couldn't handle. llya smiled warmly at
Maria, exchanged looks and nods with Raymond and excused himself.

Aunt Mellie pleaded, "Jeff, Paul won't y'all stay the night? We got room
and I would just feel so much better knowing my boys and Maria were safe."

Jeff and Paul exchanged looks and nods before Jeff answered, "Aunt Mellie
we are both armed. We have bodyguards for each of us and the house has a
security alarm. We will be fine.

With a tone that ended that discussion, "Now, do you want to pick up Maria
or would you like for us to bring her here for your shopping trip? You
might recall that Maria has a new room that needs to be decorated to please
a Princess."

Maria became very animated at the very mention of shopping for herself as
well as her room.

Aunt Mellie sighed resignedly, "Alright if you're sure you all will be
safe. I'll come by around eight. We'll go to Abilene and make a day of
it. Joe insists we take a chauffeur so at least I won't be worn out by all
that traffic. Besides if we go in one of those Suburbans we'll have plenty
of room. Of course some things will still have to be delivered." That last
line diminished in volume as she began mentally shopping for her very own
niece.

Raymond stepped away to answer his phone. He rejoined the group saying,
"Apparently Morgan has been living with Tom Braxton. We have men heading
over to Tom's place now."

Joe clarified, "Tom lives in a house over near the big lake, about a
fifteen minute drive."

Raymond followed up with, "I'll let you know what we find out. If Morgan
knows anything about the fire, Ilya will get it out of him. You all can
rest easy, your escorts are waiting on the porch for you."

Jeff could tell Paul wanted to find Morgan, beat the hell out of him for
scaring Maria then beat him to find out about the fire. He pulled his lover
into his arms and offered assurances that everything that could be done was
being done. Of the three faces watching them leave, only Raymond's seemed
confident in light of this latest revelation.

On the porch they were met by Sam and Dave. These guys were slightly less
gigantic versions of Ilya including identical leather jackets. Both
appeared friendly with nondescript midwestern accents. Sam took Jeff's keys
and quickly swapped the booster seat into one of the Suburbans. Dave stayed
busy scanning the surrounding area and mumbling into one of those secret
service earpieces. Paul realized that neither Raymond nor Ilya wore those
things like Sam and Dave had in their ears. He wondered, just how big is
this security team?

Paul and Jeff, in the backseat with Maria between them, used the ride time
to assure her that Sam and Dave were to be considered friendly and if
anything unusual ever happened she was to follow their directions. Sam
offered he had a niece, almost as pretty as Maria. In the middle of asking
one of the ten zillion questions she had concerning the two... Maria fell
silent and offered a muted, "It's beautiful." Then, definitely louder, "It
looks like a Christmas fairy tale." When the Suburban came to a stop in the
drive, Maria turned to Jeff, "Daddy Jeff, is this your house? Aunt Mellie
said we would be living with you at your house. Is this your house?"

Jeff could clearly hear the unspoken plea,"Please let this be your house!"

He took her fidgety hands in his to still them. Lightly brushing his
fingers along her rosy cheek he said, "Princess, this is our house. Your's,
mine and your father's it's my hope that you and your father will live here
with me forever."

Maria released her seatbelt and sprang into his arms, "Oh Daddy Jeff, I
never knew you lived in a Christmas fairy tale place. When we used to pass
by, it was never lit up."

"Well it used to light up like this at Christmas time when another family
lived here, but that was many years ago. Maybe the house needs a family to
make it light up and be happy."

Jeff was impressed with what Rosarita had accomplished. White lights
wrapped around the trunks of the oak trees in the front yard while
twinkling fairy lights lit up the shrubbery. Larger lights outlined the
eaves of the front porch and a lighted wreath adorned the front door. Just
like in all his Christmas memories, a fully decorated Christmas tree was on
display in the picture window. Jeff was really impressed, Rosarita and her
Christmas elves would definitely get a nice bonus in their Christmas
stockings.

Inside the house there was a bit of a party going on. The whole house was
decorated with a subdued holiday flair. Lighted candles, holly wreaths and
Poinsettias were displayed liberally in each room. Maria, without heeding
the warnings from both her Dads, ran from room to room trying to soak in
all the magical adornments.

Rosarita and her team of four had been enjoying a variety of hor dourves
and soft drinks in the den/living room. After introductions, which included
another member of the security team, Fred, Rosarita presented Jeff with a
very old, very familiar, hand carved, wooden box.

Jeff took the box and knelt in front of Maria, "Princess, when I was a very
young buckaroo, it was my job to put the Christmas angel on top of the
tree. Now that you are living here I think you should have that job every
year. Think you can handle that job? You have to be very careful. She's
very old and fragile. She has sat atop our Christmas tree since when my
grandpa was a boy and that's a very long time." With that Jeff reverently
lifted the lid and revealed a very tired looking angel whose halo and
golden hair were permanently askew. Her dress, originally white, was now
discolored with age and a couple of indeterminate stains. In spite of the
wear and tear and old age she still smiled beatifically upon everyone. Paul
and Jeff held Maria securely aloft as she did the honors. The deed was
celebrated by a hearty round of applause for a job well done.

Paul pulled Seth Hines, his part time assistant and apparent Christmas elf,
aside. Paul apologized for giving cash for Christmas, but explained most
all the gifts were lost in the fire. Seth was immediately thrilled at
receiving the three fifty dollar bills. Then he tried to return two of them
to help with Paul's financial loss due to the fire. Paul reassured him that
his insurance would take care of everything. Truth was he had renters
insurance but wasn't sure what was covered in case of arson/faulty
wiring. Hmmm.

Jeff got caught up in explaining some of the more personal ornaments to
Paul and Maria. Each one seemed to bring warm memories of Christmas
past. Maria, as she sipped on her marshmallow laden hot chocolate, was
enthralled with each story. Paul just soaked up shared memories of his
partner's childhood.

When the "elves" made clear their intentions to leave, Jeff went to see
them out. Expressing his heartfelt gratitude he handed each a one hundred
dollar bill. He made sure they understood that was a bonus on top of what
Rosarita had promised to pay them. He was touched when he learned they had
done all this simply as a favor to Rosarita. They had each refused her
offer of money. A lot more folks had wanted to help when they learned it
was for the little girl whose house had burned down so close to
Christmas. The elves had asked only to be allowed to hang around to see
Maria's face when she first saw what they had accomplished. They considered
that payment enough. After hearing this, Jeff pressed another hundred
dollar bill into each elves hand. They in turn wanted to offer the money to
help Paul with any unforeseen expenses. Jeff assured them that his
insurance would take care of everything. Secretly he wondered what he could
expect from a loss due to arson/faulty wiring. Hmmm.

Rosarita had cleaned up with the insistent help of her elves. When it was
time for her to go, Jeff made it clear he was overwhelmed by the
decorations. He made her wait in the hallway while he stepped into his
office. When he returned he pressed five crisp one hundred dollar bills
into her hand, saying, "I know Uncle Joe is paying you, so this is just for
rising to the challenge and coming through in a big way. I won't forget
what a splendid job you did. I consider it a personal favor from someone
who I hope will become a good friend." Rosarita stifled a squeal of delight
and promptly planted a wet sloppy kiss on Jeff's cheek by way of thanks.

Paul witnessed the exchange and the kiss as he stepped into the hallway,
"Well, i'm glad I got here in time for the show."

Jeff jumped back from Rosarita like he had been surprised by a
rattlesnake. Paul laughed so hard he collapsed into Jeff's arms. "You
should've seen your face. You looked like you had stepped in shit when she
kissed you."

"Very funny asshole. For your information she hit on me when I first got
here and for a second I was afraid she had forgotten I'd told her I was
gay. The kiss was innocent, but I wasn't sure you would see it that
way. After you thinking I fired Tom.. well I didn't want to give you any
reason to get upset."

"Don't worry I heard every word. I was just giving you a hard time."

Rosarita laughed along with Paul, admitting that while she seemed to have
an effect on Jeff it was not one that led to hot steamy sex. "Besides." She
confided, "I got my sights set on that hunk, Fred. He's the only straight
guy here tonight. So don't be surprised if I have to stay over a night or
two just for the sake of expediency. And don't either of you dare tell your
Aunt Mellie or my Aunt Rosa or i'll put itching powder between your sheets
or maybe a scorpion in your boots. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"

Jeff and Paul gulped at the same time and nodded together like a couple of
bobble-headed dolls. Neither wanted to get on her bad side. Fanning herself
with the cash she whispered, "That man gets me hot just looking at
him. Make sure he knows that before morning. Me entiende?" Again they
nodded as Rosarita made her exit.

After putting Maria to bed with Pistol. The guys joined Sam, Dave and Fred,
the latest addition, in the den. Fred had shown the other two their room
already. Sam and Dave insisted they didn't mind sharing a room even if it
had a single queen sized bed. Paul shared a look of understanding with his
lover. Sam and Dave decided to take a walk around outside before turning
in.

Jeff offered Fred a brandy as he poured one for himself and Paul. Fred
declined the offer explaining he never drank while on assignment except an
occasional beer on his days off. Jeff asked if he was from the local area,
but wasn't surprised to find Fred was a farm boy from Indiana. He had moved
to Dallas after college for this, his first job. He definitely perked up
when Paul told him Rosarita had asked about him. His dark eyes sparkled
when Jeff implied she was more than a little interested in him. When Jeff
offered her phone number the poor man was practically drooling. He quickly
entered the digits and excused himself to go to bed. Jeff and Paul smirked,
both betting some jerking off was in Fred's immediate future, whether
before, during or after a certain phone call.

It seemed that Fred had no more than gotten to his room than he was with
them again. This time wearing a grim expression on his face. "The Soul Men
found a note on the windshield of the Explorer parked outside. Stay in this
room." With that he stepped to the door of the den so he could watch the
front door as well as keep an eye on Jeff and Paul.

They all heard a distinctive patterned knock at the front door. Seconds
later Sam and Dave entered, with weapons drawn. Sam laid a single sheet of
printer paper on top of the nearest coffee table. In large type was
printed, "You should have took the hint from the fire, faggot! Leave town
NOW!!! Or DIE!!!"

"Mr. Orlov and Mr. Cargill are on their way over here now." Sam informed
Jeff and Paul.

In the time it took to brew a pot of coffee the kitchen filled up with
testosterone. Ilya and Raymond had brought two more subtly armed men, both
wearing that ubiquitous leather jacket. A third man followed carrying two
laptops one was brand new and lightweight the other was larger and
obviously used.

Jeff and Paul were introduced to the new arrivals. The one with the laptop
spoke with a very thick Russian accent and not surprisingly was introduced
as Ilya's nephew, "Tink". The family resemblance was strikingly
absent. Tink explained that his real name was unpronounceable to Americans
and had no "anglicized comparative". He was happy to be called Tink since
that was what he did, he "tinkered" with everything.

Paul couldn't help but smirk thinking "Tink" was obviously not a Disney
fan. Meeting Jeff's gaze he could tell his lover was thinking the same
thing.

Setting up at the conference table in Jeff's office, Tink plugged in the
older laptop and turned it on. As it tried to load up he began typing and
inserted a thumb drive. He explained that he was bypassing the need for a
password. Later on he would obviate the need for a password without ever
really knowing what the original password was.

Soon it became obvious that Josh Morgan was a professional burglar. He had
a collection of articles regarding unsolved burglaries along with those
that Ilya's man had reported. Some he had scanned and others were collected
from online newspapers. They seemed to be concentrated around southern
Idaho and Northern Utah. Three were in Snowville, Utah. Jeff scrolled
through the contacts on his phone, tapped one and put the phone on speaker
as it rang.

"Hello? Jeff is that you?"

"Hey, yeah it's me Tom. We got a problem here. I got you on speaker
phone. I need you to tell me what you know about Josh Morgan."

"Look Jeff I told him to move out while I was up here at my sister's
place. He seemed like pretty stable guy when I met him up here, about this
time last year. I told him to look me up if he ever came down to our neck
of the woods. He showed up early February, flat broke, looking for work. He
knew how to ride so I gave him a job as a stable hand. He's been staying in
my spare bedroom. I tried to teach him more so he could make a better hand
and we could pay him more, but he just didn't want to learn.

"Jeff, who all's listening. I don't want to embarrass anyone. I need to
know before I say much more."

"We're in my office at my place. I got Paul Wilson with me and a security
team is here with us. Just so you know we're a couple now. I would've
rather have had this discussion with you face to face. I think you will
agree this phone call was necessary. Paul and Maria are living with me
since Josh Morgan burned their house down last night. We figure since
Paul's Explorer was parked in the drive Morgan probably believed they was
both inside. Luckily the only one at home was their fugly dog and we saved
him. So what more can you tell us about this theivin' bastard."

A heavy sigh, a short pause, then, "I met Josh, like I said, up here about
a year ago. We had a good time in and out of bed. Once I came back to
Texas, I figured I'd never hear from him again. It shocked the shit out of
me when called less than two months later. Tell the truth I had nearly
forgot about him. He told me a promised job with a relative in Dallas had
fallen through and he had come to town looking for me. He said he was flat
broke and hungry. I gave him directions to my house. I got him set up in my
spare bedroom and got him fed."

"He wanted to sleep with me in my bed and I explained to him that would be
taking advantage of him. I made it clear I wasn't interested in setting up
housekeeping with another man. We could be roommates with occasional
benefits but he would sleep in his bed and I would sleep in mine. I cleared
it with Joe and put him to work. He was an okay worker and a so-so
roommate. He wanted sex with me more than I wanted it with him. He'd sulk
up any time I'd go to Dallas for the weekend, cause he knew i'd most likely
hook up with some guy. Hell, he was servicing two other ranch hands and an
older veterinarian in town. Of course, I never let on like I knew. I
figured that was his business. Things started to come to a head when I
started paying attention to you Paul. That was about a month or so ago. I
had always been attracted to you since the first time you come out to the
stables with Joe. I never thought you was interested in men until recently.

"Remember I assisted you in foaling Titan's Thunder. We were a mess and we
wound up showering together in the bunkhouse. I saw how you looked at my,
uh, body and I knew right then you was interested. I damn near grabbed for
you, my hand was reaching out... and that bastard Josh came into the shower
room saying something about your equipment and how he was sorry to
interrupt us. He looked all pissed off and accusing like he just caught us
about to fuck. Truth be told we was both chubbed up.

"Well, we had words that night. I told him if I could, I wanted to get to
know you a lot better. I had already fell in love with the Princess, I
figured it would be no stretch at all to fall for her sexy, good looking
father. The next day I had a buying trip up to Nebraska. By the time I got
back things seemed pretty much back to normal. I didn't see you again,
until I came back from Las Vegas. I could tell you and Jeff was interested
in each other, but I thought I still had a shot. I even considered
canceling my trip up here. Looking back I'm guessing I was already too
late.

"Well, Doc you got yourself a fine man there. Jeff, I hope you realize how
lucky you are, coming home when you did. Sure as hell, given another week
or two you'd had some competition. And if that bastard hadn't interrupted
us in the shower... oh well.

"After y'all rode out and Joe went back up to the house, Josh came into my
office. He was spitting shit mad. Saying I was leading him on all this time
and how I was fucking that `little faggot' vet behind his back. He insisted
I find a new vet for the ranch. He had the balls to mention the very one he
was already fucking. It was then I hit him with what I knowed about his
sexual escapades, including him getting fucked on a regular basis by that
married vet. That took the wind out of his sales. He calmed right down and
said he would take care of things, while I was gone. He said he would move
his stuff into my bedroom when I got back from Idaho. Then we could be
together, like I promised when we first met. Well that took the cake. I
told him he had come here on his own. I had helped him get back on his feet
with a place to stay and a job. Now, I wanted him out of my house before I
got back on the 27th. He should look for another job while he was finding a
place to live cause i'd enough of his crazy bullshit. And that was the last
time I spoke to him or seen him. Now what has he done?"

Jeff filled Tom in on the fire and the comment to Maria. Before he could
finish Tink spun the laptop around and showed everyone a bank account in
the Cayman Islands with a balance of $263,786.00.

He clicked through a series of photos of what appeared to be Josh Morgan
and Tom in a variety of X rated poses. There were a few photoshopped
showing them in wedding finery, taking their vows and more than a few
apparently taken on their tropical island honeymoon.

Jeff recognized Tom in all his manly glory. Those photos were definitely
NOT photoshopped. Paul openly stared at the hairy, horse hung, handsome
man, that was Tom Braxton. Jeff openly growled at Paul' interest. Paul had
the balls to grin at Jeff as if to say, "A guy can look."

"Tom did you ever willingly pose with Morgan for some explicit photos?"

"Hell! NAH!!! What makes you ask that?"

"Well we're looking at the stills from what appears to be you and Morgan
starring in a pretty raunchy gay video. Oh, there are shots from y'all's
wedding and there's some from your tropical island honeymoon. Oh and by the
way that bastard has a quarter of a million dollars in a Cayman Island bank
account. Which I think will shortly be donated to a suitable and deserving
gay charity." This last accompanied a questioning look at Tink who simply
grinned and nodded.

"Hell, if I'd known the little cocksucker had that kind of money I might
have looked at him differently."

"You lyin bastard, I got a helluva lot more than that in several different
bank accounts and it never changed the way you looked at me."

"Seriously Jeff, I'll be on the next flight out. I can't stand by and let
that shithead hurt people I care about."

"Tom, there is nothing you can do here. We've got a handle on things
here. Enj." Suddenly a beep and a flash from his phone let them know Tom
had already hung up.



Author's Notes:

Ok, in truth temptation is the only thing I can't resist. But, it really
wasn't a bad cliffhanger now, was it?
Please let me know what you think.

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