Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2006 19:41:36 -0700
From: qwb <qwb@san.rr.com>
Subject: Stonegate Stables, chapter 11

>From chapter 10 .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
He opened his eyes then, pulling back so that he could look
at me.  "I already know."  His face was solemn, his eyes
full of the passion and love he felt for me.  We looked at
each other for a long moment, and then kissed gently, almost
tentatively, feeling our way.  It was one of those all too
rare moments between two people when everything is simply
perfect.
The memory of that night would prove to be the only thing
that got me through the next few months when our lives
changed so drastically.


Stonegate Stables

Chapter 11       early August

My old friend, this song's for you
Cause a few simple verses
Was the least that I could do
To tell the world that you were here
- My Old Friend, Tim McGraw


"Hey, golden boy," I said when I flipped open my phone to
TJ's call. "What's up?"

"Who do I call about a case of neglect?"  His voice was
abrupt.

"A horse?  Where are you?"

"Henderson's.  Out past Baker's."  I knew the place.  It had
been owned by the Henderson clan since before I was born and
they'd been shit heads for twice that long.  I quit doing
business with them six months after I took over Stonegate.
They had money but they were never happy with anything.  I
finally told them to fuck off and get their horses out of my
barn after they fired their third trainer in a month.

"What's the problem?"

"They've got a jumper that broke down and they left him out
to starve, I guess.  He's in a back pasture with no water
and he's skin and bones.  I'm amazed he's still on his feet.
What the fuck is wrong with people?"

I could hear the anger and disgust in his voice.  "Let me
check with Sam. If he's that bad, we may be able to take him
first and have them cited after.  I'll call you right back."

Sam said screw the law, let's get the horse and we'll
straighten it out later.  I wasn't sure that was such a hot
idea, but I couldn't stand the thought of the horse out
there suffering two more weeks until all the paperwork got
done so I hitched up the small trailer and we drove off to
meet TJ and steal a horse.

TJ had a halter on him and was watering him a little at a
time.  The horse was in horrible shape, his hip bones jutted
out far enough to hang your hat on and my fingers rippled
across his ribs when I ran a hand along his side. His coat
was so dull and dirty that I couldn't really tell what color
he was, other than brownish.  Sam pumped a syringe full of
vitamins into him and we carefully walked him into the
trailer.  He was a big old thing, close to 17 hands (4
inches to a 'hand'), and would weigh around 1200 pounds at
working weight.  He loaded quietly and perked up a little
when he saw the orchard grass Sam had put in the trailer for
him.  We drove him slowly back to Stonegate, Sam muttering
about fucking assholes and me contemplating life behind bars
for horse rustling which is practically a hanging offense in
Texas.

Adam wandered out of the barn as we unloaded him and stopped

dead with his mouth hanging open.  "Barney?"

Sam and I looked at each other, then at Adam.  "You know

him?" I asked.

"I think so.  Jesus, what the hell happened to him?"

I snorted.  "The Hendersons happened to him."

"Fuck.  They ride them into the ground, and then put them
out back to die. I don't know why they don't just sell them
to the butcher and get it over with."  He was walking around
the horse as he spoke and stopped to look in his mouth.
"It's him.  He's missing two molars from some dental
disaster when he was young.  He's about 18 now cause I rode
him a few times my last year in high school and he was about
10 then.  He was a hell of a jumper. God, what a shame.  How
did you end up with him?"


I told him about TJ finding him and our rescue mission.
Adam grinned and promised to visit me in prison.  "Very
funny.  Make yourself useful and dump a bag of shavings into
the stall next to Queenie."  We got him settled in, munching
hay and getting to know his neighbors.


Since TJ had come over a couple weeks ago, he'd been on my
mind off and on, so I pulled him into the tack room and
groped him a little, chewing on his neck while he giggled
and squirmed.  Apparently Adam had been home recently, so TJ
was content at the moment, but he was a sweet, affectionate
guy and I kept thinking he could use a boyfriend, someone
who was around all the time and more his own than Adam or
Dylan were.


Sam did a thorough work up on Barney and later that day told
me he needed food and vitamins but was otherwise unharmed by
his abandonment.  His bowed tendon was another matter and
she said he'd probably never stand up to hard work, but
would be a great pleasure horse for some lucky kid.


After a week of steady food and supplements, he was starting
to fill in.  A week after that he kicked up his heels for
the first time when we turned him out to play in the round
pen.  I smiled as I watched him frolic, feeling a deep sense
of satisfaction at having literally saved his life. Sam had
pushed the paperwork through and I now owned him for the
abandonment claiming fee of $500.  An idea was running
around in the back of my head, but wasn't quite done yet, so
I pushed it aside and called Dylan, catching him between
meetings.  "Hey, just called to see if you're free tomorrow
night.  Vincent has a gig at the club so I could use some
company."


He was silent for so long that I glanced at my phone to make

I hadn't lost him.  Finally he spoke.  "Why are you doing

this?"

"I'm not doing anything.  It's been a while and I'd like to

get together." Another long pause.  "Okay.  Seven?"

"Nah, come right after work.  We'll grill something."

He agreed and I snapped my cell shut, wondering if we would
ever get back to being really comfortable with each other.
I told Vincent that evening over fettuccini Alfredo.  He
studied his plate for a moment, then slid his eyes to me and
smiled.


"I'm glad.  I know you miss him."  I nodded and when we
finished eating, we sat out by the jungle pool, listening to
the frogs down by the creek and sipping Frangelico.  When we
went up to bed, he made love to me silently, something he
hadn't done since moving in, and I wondered about it.


As we settled down to sleep, he said softly in my ear, "Just
not here."  I nodded.  If I did let it progress to that
point tomorrow night, I sure as
hell wouldn't drag Dylan up to our bedroom.  "I love you,"
he said and my throat closed with emotion.

"Are you trying for sainthood or something?"

He snorted softly and squeezed my arm.  "Hardly.  I just
trust in what we have enough that I'm not threatened by
Dylan.  You've slept with him for twice as long as you've
known me.  What's a few more times gonna hurt?"

"Nothing.  I guess I'm just uncomfortable because it's not
what we agreed to."

"We didn't chisel it in stone, Sean.  Real life requires
some flexibility. Lighten up."

I was silent for a moment, trying to dredge up the guts to
say what was really bothering me.  "I'm afraid that because
you said this was ok, that maybe you'll be asking me the
same thing some day and I won't want to say yes."

He froze for a moment.  Grabbing me by the shoulders, he sat
up and gave me a hard shake that clanked my teeth together.
"Do you think I'd do that? Hold it over your head later?
Don't you know me any fucking better than that by now?
Goddamnit, Sean!"  He pushed me roughly away, jumped out of
bed, and was out the door before I could say a word.  He had
never been angry at me before and the bottom dropped out of
my stomach as he left the room.  A few minutes later, I went
downstairs on shaky legs and found him in the den, curled on
the sofa with his hands between his knees.  His eyes were
dark and angry as he watched me cross the room.

"You hurt me," he said quietly as I sank down on the floor
near him.  "I've never given you cause to think that I'd
trade on a favor like that.  Why did you say that?  And it's
not even a favor, for Christ's sake."

"I don't know.  Vincent, I'm sorry."  I wrapped my hand
hesitantly around his leg, rubbing my thumb in the soft
hollow of his ankle.  "I'm just a little insecure, I guess.
God knows why, since this is the best we've ever been." I
shrugged.  "Maybe that's it.  I'm afraid it's too good to be
true. Waiting for the bubble to burst."  As my voice petered
out at the end, he reached out a lean brown arm and pulled
me up to him, rolling onto his back as I lowered myself to
rest on him.

"Ah, baby, nothing's gonna burst."  The warmth of his hand
on the back of my neck was like a tonic and I burrowed into
him.  "Have a little more faith in me, in us.  It would take
a hell of a lot more than a couple rolls in the hay with
Dylan to even put a ding in our relationship, at least for
me.  We're solid.  You know that, right?"

I nodded, close to tears.  I pulled his quilt over us and we
settled down there on the couch, kissing a little and
comforting each other.  In eight years, we'd never even
argued so this was a big deal and it had shaken us both.
Maria found us there in the morning, squeezing my shoulder
gently.

"Sean, time to get up."  I thanked her and we went up to
shower, holding hands, and I caught his eyes on me several
times as we dressed and ate.

I walked him to the car and kissed him lingeringly.  "I love
you."

He smiled at me and ran his hand inside the collar of my
shirt to grip my bare shoulder.  "I know you do."

I rode Zena to the barn, thinking about the previous night.
The fact that we had had our first argument now, after
getting together, just made me understand how important we
had become to each other in a short time.

That afternoon I got a call from William's attorney, a small
bookish man
named Martin Blackwell.  I spoke with him now and then about
matters regarding Stonegate, but since we were self-
sufficient financially, we mostly just rolled along on our
own, with weeks going by when I didn't speak to him or
William.  He asked me to come to his office tomorrow, saying
only that it was very important and couldn't wait.  I agreed
immediately, wondering what in the world was up.  The only
thing that came to mind was that William wanted to sell
Stonegate or something equally awful, and a small knot of
uneasiness settled into the pit of my stomach.

Dylan made it over by 6.  He knocked on the door, something
he never did, so I trotted down the hall from the kitchen to
open it, giving him a warm hug and a kiss, and taking the
bottle of wine he'd brought.  He was a little stiff with me
which I ignored, prattling on about my day, telling him a
silly story about Cody getting tossed off a frisky new colt
and then covered in cow shit while trying to move the steers
from one pasture to another.  He finally chuckled and we
headed out to the pool.  I dropped my drawers and leaped in,
figuring I had to set the tone for the evening.  It took him
a couple minutes, but soon he yanked my foot from below,
almost drowning me in the process since I'd been inhaling at
the time.  I came up choking and blue in the face.  He
grabbed me in alarm, dragging me to the steps and pounding
on my back.  I finally gagged up some water and collapsed
across his knees.  He clutched me to him, panicky, his arms
shaking.

"Jesus, Sean!  Fuck!  Are you okay?  Vincent'll kill me if
you're dead."

I nodded weakly and squeezed his leg.  As I struggled to sit
up, he supported me with his arm and we leaned back against
the steps.  We sat there until I was breathing normally,
then climbed out of the pool and flopped in a chaise lounge
together, me between his legs on my side against his chest.
He ran his hand protectively up and down my arm, patting me
now and then.

"I'm alright," I assured him.  We rested a little longer,
then grilled burgers and ate while he told me about work.
The senior partner was a dickhead, inept and arrogant, and
Dylan was thinking of updating his resume and moving on to
something more rewarding, maybe his own practice.

We cleaned up dinner and wandered back to the house, ending
up in the den, our usual haunt, bringing along the Ben &
Jerrys he'd brought.  I'd thought a good deal about whether
or not I'd have sex with him, but didn't have to decide
after all.  We curled up with the ice cream and he fed us
both as I channel surfed for something worth watching.  I
was sighing in frustration when he spoke.

"Sean?" His voice was tentative and I glanced at him.  He

was staring into the ice cream container.

"Yeah?"

"Would you do something for me?"

"Of course, if I can."

"I don't wanna fuck."

My eyebrows rose.  That wasn't what I had expected.

"Ohhh-kaaay."

"I want to watch you." His eyes slid to mine, then

away.

My eyebrows dropped into a frown.  "Watch me . . . ?"

A flush rose up his neck.  "You know . . . "

My eyebrows shot back up again.  "You wanna watch me

jack off?"

He nodded, memorizing the inside of the ice cream carton.
"Like when we were kids."


I started to smile then.  Watching each other masturbate was
the first sexual activity I'd ever had with another person.
God, those were great orgasms.  We had no control at all,
blasting cum all over the place after seven strokes or
something ridiculous, but they were wildly intense, partly
because it was such a bad thing to be doing, but also cause
someone was watching.  I poked him in the side with my finger
and he finally looked at me.


"Okay, but you have to do it, too."


He smiled back, nodding.  I grabbed the ice cream from him and
set it on the coffee table, reaching into the drawer for the
handy little bottle of lube.  I keep them all over the house;
you just never know when you might need one.  I turned his hand
over and poured a puddle into his palm, then dribbled some over
my hardening dick.  We leaned back against opposite ends of the
couch, our legs stretched out between us.  I started to stroke
myself loosely, enjoying the sensation of my warm hand and all
that lube. Dylan was fondling his balls with one hand, rolling
his cock back and forth between his thumb and fingers, and
moving his foreskin up over the head now and then.


The sight of his cock in his own hand was familiar and
exciting, bringing back all sorts of memories of us over the
years.  We took our time getting to the finish line, slowing
now and then to watch each other as we'd get close, then back
away.  I rubbed the sole of my foot along the inside of his
thigh, enjoying the play of his muscles as they tightened with
the movement of his hips.  Watching him pull up firmly, milking
fat shiny drops of precum from his slit sent me past the point
of no return and I came hard, grunting and growling as I
showered my belly with cum.  Dylan watched me until I quit
shuddering and could open my eyes enough to see him.  He locked
eyes with me for a moment, then looked down at my cock, took
three quick strokes and climaxed.  I watched his legs tense as
he shot one long stream after another.   He had always shot
further than me and tonight was no exception.  By the time he
was finished, cum dripped from his cheek and ran in rivulets
down his chest.


We grinned at each other and wiped up with napkins from the ice
cream.   He pushed me down on the couch, squeezing my dick
gently and kissing me.
"I'm sorry I was such an asshole out there in the woods.  I
really was happy for you, but I thought it meant I'd lose you
somehow.  I know that's not gonna happen now."

He got dressed and I walked him to the door where he gave me a
deep, wet kiss that curled my toes.  "Tell Vincent that one's
for him."  I laughed and watched him drive away before I closed
the door.

Vincent came home a couple hours later and eyed me.  "Well?"

"Nothing happened, we just jacked off.  Oh, and he left this
for you."  I duplicated Dylan's kiss which he returned eagerly.

"You jerked each other off?" he asked curiously.

"No, I never touched him.  I think he was re-playing our first
encounter or something.  It was fun but it made me horny for
the real deal."  I'd been rubbing against him while I spoke and
was rewarded with a bigger bulge in his white chef's trousers.
"Did you bring me home a big Italian salami?"
I teased as I squeezed his cock.

He grinned, shaking his head at my foolishness and yanked his
pants down to his thighs, allowing his impressive erection to
sway out from his stomach. "Yes, honey, I did and you have to
eat it all at once."

I dropped to my knees and sunk my mouth down onto him, causing
him to tense for a moment and groan with pleasure.  He fisted
both hands in my hair and I sucked him 'til he was close, then
tugged his pants back up, grabbed him by the hand and
practically ran him up the stairs.  We undressed on the way
down the hall and grabbed each other the minute we hit the bed,
neither of us in the mood for preliminaries.  We fucked.
Sorry, Wade, there was no 'making love' about it.  We licked
and bit, probed and pounded, pinched, stroked, and sucked until
we both reached noisy, intense climaxes.  We hadn't done that
since he'd moved in and it was great.  Gentle and tender is
wonderful and I prefer it as a steady diet, but sometimes I
just want to be mauled and Vincent had been rough enough to
make me come like a freight train.  I could feel bruises
starting on my hip and wrists, there was a bite mark on my
shoulder that had broken the skin, and I knew my asshole would
remind me of tonight for the next couple days.  I felt
wonderful.

The next morning I was a little early for my meeting with
Martin but his secretary showed me right in.  He came around
the desk to greet me, continuing to hold my hand as we sat down
on the sofa.  "I have some bad news," he said softly.  "William
is dead."

I looked at him, my mouth hanging open, trying to get his words
to make sense.  William dead?  I'd spoken to him not a week ago
when I called him regarding some work he was having done on his
house.  Martin was smiling at me gently, letting me absorb the
news.  "Jesus, what happened?"

"He had a heart attack in his sleep yesterday morning, early.
He'd had a heart condition for years and this was not
unexpected."

Well, it sure as hell was unexpected to me!  I sat there
blinking, trying to think through the implications of William
no longer being the owner of Stonegate.  God knows what this
would mean to me, my employees, and the horses who resided
there.

"Sean.  I need to explain some things to you.  Are you
alright?"  He rose and went behind his desk, arranging several
file folders neatly in front of him.  I nodded at him and tried
to pull myself together.  I was remembering William's kindness
to me after my accident, the several good months we had spent
together prior to that, his confidence in allowing me to run
Stonegate as I saw fit.  Now it was all over.  I shook my head,
blew out a breath and concentrated on Martin.

"You're aware, I believe, that William had no close family.  He
revised his will five years ago and has not touched it since.
Accordingly, his considerable financial assets will be
distributed to a variety of charitable organizations that were
dear to William's heart."

"Two years ago, he took steps to ensure that Stonegate Stables
was paid off completely.  I have the deed in my possession."
Martin shuffled some papers, holding one up for my inspection.
"The land and buildings, including his home, are free and clear
of any holds, liens or encumbrances. These tangible assets have
been left to a single individual."  He paused and raised his
eyes to me.  "That individual would be you, Sean.  Stonegate
Stables, including the current balances of the various bank
accounts associated with it, belong to you in their entirety."

My mouth had dropped open again and I gaped at him, unable to
process so much information at once.

"Me?" I said stupidly.

"Yes.  It shouldn't be such a surprise.  William was very fond
of you and felt that Stonegate would continue to prosper under
your stewardship, as it has for the past seven years.  I must
say that I agreed with his decision." He smiled at me again and
I wondered what it must be like to change lives with the mere
creation of a sheet of paper.

"I have a number of documents for you to sign, if you're able.
It will take about 30 days for the transfer of ownership to
take effect.  I will be trustee during that time but have no
intention of interfering in the operation of Stonegate.  Oh,
the Gulfstream 150 that William flew everywhere is owned by
Stonegate, so it is now at your disposal, as well, as am I,
Sean.  This is a lot to absorb in one sitting and I want you to
know that you can always come to me for assistance, with this,
or any legal matters."

I shook my head.  "I don't know what to say.  I can't believe
William is gone, let alone that he left the stable to me."

"We will all miss William; he was a good man.  Enjoy his gift
as he would have wanted you to."  He turned a thick file folder
toward me and began to direct me through the signing of about
50 pages of legal papers, real estate documents, bank account
signature forms, and I don't know what else. I quit trying to
figure out what they were and just signed where he told me to.

By the time I left his office, it was beginning to sink in.  I
was sad that William was dead.  During our time together, he
had been a considerate, if unimaginative, lover, always
generous and kind to me.  I was thrilled that I owned
Stonegate, and I was also filled with a huge sense of
responsibility that the welfare of 12 employees and 32 horses
was now completely on my shoulders.  In short, I was
overwhelmed.  I drove home on auto pilot, changing from dress
slacks and button down to breeches and polo shirt, then drove
slowly to the stable.  I sat in the car next to the office for
so long that Teresa finally came out and walked around to lean
down and look in my window.

"Sean, what in the world is wrong? You're pale as a ghost."

I stared at her, trying to formulate coherent thoughts.  "Is
everyone here today?" She nodded.  "Good.  I want a full staff
meeting at noon.  Order lunch from the deli."  She nodded
again, curiosity all over her face, but I got out of the car
and shut myself in my office, making notes for the meeting.

A few minutes before noon, Teresa knocked on the door and stuck
her head in.  "It's almost noon.  I set it up in the stallion
barn so we'd have enough room for everyone."  The stallion barn
wasn't in use at the moment, since we didn't have any stallions
on the premises and didn't need the space for other horses.
All faces turned to me when I came through the big door and I
looked around at the people I'd worked with for years.  Teresa
had put hay bales in a big U in the barn aisle.  Tommy and
Alejandro were sitting thigh to thigh on the closest one,
eating sandwiches.  I smiled at Tommy, remembering how I'd
hired him 13 years ago, on the day I'd signed my first rider
contract and decided to splurge on my very own groom.  He
looked back curiously, trustingly, and I felt the weight of
responsibility settle a little more heavily onto my shoulders.

"William Shepard, the owner of Stonegate, died of a heart
attack yesterday morning," I told them in a solemn voice.  "The
details of the service are still being arranged but everyone
can go, if you like, without losing any hours.  Figure it out
with Teresa."  I gave them a few moments to think about that,
seeing concern for themselves on most faces.  Only a few long
timers had known William well and were staring at the ground or
talking to each other quietly as they responded to the news of
his death.

"William bequeathed Stonegate Stables to me.  I'm now the
owner."  I stopped, watching comprehension replace apprehension
on most faces.  "For now, it's business as usual.  But I do
plan to make some changes.  Please think about what you do
around here, what your day consists of, and be ready to discuss
it with me in detail in a week or two.  That's it for now.
Enjoy your lunch."

I left the barn before anyone could corner me with questions
and drove to Corleone's.  Vincent was maitre'd today and was
seating a party of four when I came in.  I watched him as he
pulled out chairs for the women, made menu suggestions, and
squeezed the shoulder of one man as he walked back toward the
entry.  He looked good in his pleated black trousers and crisp
white shirt, his black hair waving softly over his collar.  He
didn't see me until he was close, glancing up with a
professional smile that melted first into the real thing, then
changed quickly to alarm.  "Sean, what are you doing here in
the middle of the day? Is something wrong?"

"Can you take a minute?"  He waved a waiter over and guided me
by the elbow to the quiet office next to the kitchen.  He
turned to face me the instant he closed the door.

"Everything okay?"  His eyes searched my face.

"Just hug me for a minute," I told him, stepping close to put
my arms around him, pressing my face into his neck, letting the
familiar comfort of his embrace soothe me.  I pulled him down
onto the sofa and told him about my meeting with Martin.  When
I was finished, he stared at me for a moment.

"Jesus, what a morning."  He hugged me again.  "Did you eat
yet?"  When I shook my head, he went to the desk, spoke quickly
into the phone, then came back and pulled me up by the hand.
"Come on."

We went to one of the small private dining alcoves tucked here
and there around the restaurant where our lunch was just being
set out.  We ate and talked and I gradually became comfortable
with the idea that Stonegate now belonged to me.  Owning a
large stable was not something I'd ever given any thought to,
but now that I had one, I found myself thinking of it in new
ways.  We finished eating and I felt like I could cope again,
so I kissed Vincent goodbye and drove back to Stonegate,
stopping in surprise just inside the main gate as a smile
spread across my face.

Alejandro and Tommy were just putting the finishing touches on
a change to our large sign.  One of the lower lines now read:
Sean Flanagan - Owner/Operator.  A bit premature perhaps, since
poor William wasn't even in the ground yet, but it filled me
with a sense of pride and ownership, and eased a bit of the
ache of knowing William was gone.  I got out of the car and
walked over to them, putting an arm around each of their
shoulders, admiring their handiwork.  My chest tightened and my
voice wobbled a little when I spoke, but I didn't care.  It was
an emotional day.

"Thank you," I said, pulling them close to me.  "I really
needed that."  We gazed in silence at the sign for a few
minutes, then I hugged them again, got back in the car, driving
slowly up the long lane, looking at the beautiful old stone
buildings, and the miles of sparkling white fences, as if I'd
never seen them before  --  and it all belonged to me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Enjoying this story? Write and let me know.  qwb@san.rr.com