Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 09:03:27 EST
From: Tulsadriller7@aol.com
Subject: Tales from the Ranch, Chapter 29/?

Disclaimer:  The following story is a work of fiction.  If you
are offended by descriptions of homosexual acts or man/man
relations, please exit this page.

TALES FROM THE RANCH
Copyrightc 2003 by Tulsa Driller 7.  All rights reserved.

This is a story of men who have two common interests.  You will
see that they love the land where they live and work, but it is
also the story of young men who love other men and their coming
of age in a culture of prejudice and misunderstanding.  It is a
story, which deals with difficult and often disturbing issues
but, nonetheless, issues which must be confronted in today's
world.

This is a work of fiction and in no way draws on the lives of any
specific person or persons.  Any similarity to actual persons or
events is entirely coincidental.  This work is copyrightedc by
the author and may not be reproduced in any form without the
specific written permission of the author.  It is assigned to the
Nifty Archives under the terms of their submission agreement but
it may not be copied or archived on any other site without the
written permission of the author.

PLEASE:  In a perfect world AIDS doesn't exist.  My characters
have unprotected sex.  I hope you use proper precautions because
I'd like you to be around the read the last chapter of this
story.

Chapter 29: The Horse Show Experience
     Jason woke up first, as he almost always did.  The alarm
hadn't rung yet, but he heard the puppies stirring and starting
to make noise.  He slipped out of bed, pulling on his Levi's, not
bothering to put on shorts or socks.  He let the pups out of
their cages, picking up both so he could carry them downstairs.
Not to do so was only inviting the accident of them peeing on the
carpet before he got them outside.
     There had been a heavy dew the night before and the air
almost felt cold when he stepped out on the sidewalk.  The pups
didn't like the wet grass at first, but bounded away from Jason
after they were used to it.  Brandy was almost always the one to
find the right spot first, with Ginger relieving herself
alongside Jason's dog.  He had a couple of treats ready for them
when they finished their morning bathroom duties.  He was amazed
how quickly the dogs had come to expect their reward as they each
made their way to the sidewalk where Jason was kneeling.
     "Good dogs.  Good dog, Brandy," ruffling her fur.  "Good
dog, Ginger," giving her the expected treat and attention, too.
He let them follow him up the steps, and then fed them in the
enclosed porch.  They ate like there wasn't going to be another
meal for a while, which there wasn't, and he took them back
outside, making sure they did what was expected of them.  Another
treat and some praise for each of them.
     Mrs. Wood was in the kitchen when he went back inside.
"Good morning, Jason.  I see you have the 'puppy bathroom duty'
this morning."
     Jason grinned.  "Yeah, now I've got to go wake up the other
puppy and get his morning started, too."
     "I'm fixing waffles this morning, so you boys hurry back
down when you're dressed for school."
     "Yum," Jason said.  "We'll probably be back in about 25
minutes."  Then, "Come on Brandy.  Come on Ginger.  Let's go find
Kevin," he said as he led them up the backstairs.
     They entered the boy's bedroom suite together and Jason
scooped the dogs up, one at a time, and put them on the bed.  Of
course, that had the desired effect.  They spotted Kevin, still
curled up and asleep, then started licking and chewing on him.
It was a great game and Kevin was awake almost instantly.
     "Good morning, sleepyhead," Jason told him.  "I'm going to
start letting the dogs wake you up every morning, then you can
take them outside."
     "I'm sorry, Jase.  I didn't hear the alarm."
     "That's because I got up before it rang, but you better get
up now and start cleaning up.  Mrs. Wood is going to fix waffles
this morning."
     "Oh boy, my favorite."
     Jason noticed that Kevin was waking up more easily since
they'd gotten the puppies.  Maybe he was growing up some, too.
     They relieved themselves at the stool, and then brushed
their teeth prior to climbing into the shower.  The puppies were
having the time of their lives, playing on the bed.  Ginger fell
off, not realizing yet that the bed didn't go on forever.  This
started them barking at each other, one on the bed and the other
on the floor, as if to say, "Come on and play with me.  Why are
you down on the floor/up on the bed?"  It was comical to watch
them try to figure out what had happened.
     The boys were through with their showers in record time,
dried off and used the dryer on their short hair.
     As they walked back in the bedroom to get their clothes,
Brandy managed to fall off the bed, too.  Jason and Kevin got
down on the floor to play for a little bit.  The dogs were
learning how to fetch and it was a riot of boys, puppies and
rubber balls.
     Finally, they were dressed for school and gathered their
backpacks and started the trip down the backstairs, the dogs
tumbling after them.  Marty was already in the kitchen, so he
went upstairs to get the carrier so the pups could be contained
for the day.
     Mrs. Wood had a waffle ready for each of the men and served
their plates with link sausage and scrambled eggs.  The boys had
milk and orange juice and Marty had juice and coffee.
     "What's going on today?" Jason asked Marty.
     "The farm crew is still working on the new land we've
acquired, but they should be done plowing and preparing the
ground this week, so Dale will probably have them starting
seeding alfalfa and wheat when they're through with that.  The
house is coming along nicely.  Have you been down there since
Sunday?" Marty asked.
     "No," Kevin answered, but Jason said, "Yes" as he was
curious about the process of building the house.
     "I suggest that you go look at it this evening when you get
home from school.  They should have the roof finished today and
most of the siding will be on.  Then if it rains, like they've
promised, the house will be weather tight and they won't lose any
construction time."
     "Neat," Jason said.  "We'll go look a little later this
evening."
     They each had another half of a waffle, then it was time for
the boys to walk to the end of the driveway to catch the school
bus.
     Marty took the pups out on the grass for one more chance to
take care of their necessary duties before they were caged for
the morning.  He was amazed how quickly the pups had learned what
was expected of them, then running to him for their treat.  He
was glad that they had gotten a dog for each of the boys.
     * * * * *
     Dale and Craig seemed to both wake up at the same time -
after all the alarm was ringing.  Their trip had allowed their
body clocks to get off time.  Dale reached over to hit the off
button and as he rolled back to Craig, he found that Craig had
rolled into the spot he had occupied.
     "Morning lover," Craig said, reaching his arm around Dale's
neck to pull them together.
     "Morning lover," Dale replied, all too happy to return the
proffered kiss.
     They exchanged kisses and would have liked to be able to
play around for a while, but the alarm was set so that they
didn't have a lot of extra time after it rang.  Usually Dale woke
up a good half-hour before it signaled the start of their day.
     They talked briefly about the day as they were shaving and
in the shower.
     "I want to go out to the Bar-W the first thing this morning
to see what Ray and his crew have accomplished," Craig said.
     "That's practically the first thing on my agenda, too, but I
may need to drive up to where the guys are working the new ground
and see what progress they've made and what needs to be done
before planting crops," Dale said.  "I guess I'll talk to them
before they leave to go up there, so I may not have to go right
away."
     Craig went to the kitchen to get them each a glass of juice
and start the coffee.  Dale laid out his clothes for the day
while waiting for Craig to come share their morning shower.  That
was one routine that he looked forward to everyday.  It was sure
more fun than the showers after gym or athletics because you
didn't dare play around there.
     Their shower accomplished, Dale took the glasses to the
kitchen and returned with two mugs of steaming coffee.  They each
dried their short hair, applied deodorant and a splash of cologne
and dressed for the day.
     Dale took his cell phone off the charger, kissed his lover
goodbye, as they might not have a chance when Craig left the
ranch to go to his office, and they headed downstairs for their
vehicles.
     Arriving at the Bar-W, they each parked in front of the
office and walked the short distance to the new house.  Dale was
stunned.  Although Ray and Craig had told him they would probably
have the house weather tight by today.  About half the shingles
were on the roof and the siding would all be completed today,
too.  The windows and doors had been installed.  It looked like a
house and was much larger than it appeared it was going to be
when he saw it last Thursday.
     Ray was working on a ladder at the front.  "Good afternoon,
guys" he teased.
     Craig looked at his watch.  It was 7:50.  "What time do you
start, anyway?"
     "Early enough that we can get some work accomplished.  We
don't have cushy jobs like you and Dale," Ray laughed.
     Dale and Craig joined in the laughter, as did a couple of
Ray's crew who were working on the front side and heard the
repartee.
     Ray was finished with nailing some trim in place, so came
down the ladder to give his friends the guided tour.
     Two of the men were running electric wiring, locating outlet
boxes and drilling holes in the wall studs, floor and ceiling
plates as needed to pull the Romex cable from the main box for
the various circuits.
     "I didn't expect you to be this far along.  You've got a
good crew, Ray," Craig said.
     "Yes, they are good, but we worked a half day on Saturday
and Sunday because I got the contract on the Peebles project.
Seems that their contractor ran into some 'non-performance'
problems on another job and has to make that good.  The people on
the Peebles project managed to get that contract cancelled and
hired me, so I've only got the extra men here through today.
Then it's back to six men here, but that's all I'd planned
anyway.  Having the extra men for a few days helped me get this
project further along than I actually scheduled.  We'll still
finish here ahead of time."
     "Good," Dale said.  "If you need extra help, I might be able
to spare some men next week, but they are going to be pretty busy
on their normal work."
     The men walked through the house with Ray and Craig
discussing a number of items.  Dale followed along, hoping to
learn something about construction methods.
     Shortly, Marty arrived at the house.
     "Well, what do you think, Dale?" he queried.
     "I'm astounded.  Last Thursday they were just starting to
frame walls on the second floor and the first wasn't complete."
     They hung back as Craig and Ray went upstairs.
     "So, how was the big trip to Ft. Worth and Dallas?" Marty
asked.
     "We had a really great time.  Lots of fun, it seemed like we
walked all over both cities, had some wonderful food at several
really good restaurants.  The time was too short, so we'll
probably go back again to see more things."
     "Good, I'm glad that you had a chance to do that, and I'll
bet that Craig was a good tour guide since he's from that area."
     "Yes, I would have been lost if I'd had to drive and figure
out where places were."
     "Did you go to the top of the Reunion Tower?" Marty asked.
     "Yeah, twice.  Once in the morning before lunch and then
again that night after dinner.  It was like going to two
different places," Dale told him.
     "Chris and I've been there, both in the daylight and the
dark.  It's a great place to eat at night because you can tour
the city without moving from your table."
     They talked about other things and the upcoming Central
Texas Horse Show in Waco.  "We're staying at the Holiday Inn at I-
35 and Lake Brazos  and are supposed to have five rooms next to
each other.  I think Mort is planning to leave here about 3
o'clock on Friday afternoon and we'll come home early Sunday
afternoon, unless you and Craig want to stay over and explore the
town.  There is a cocktail party at 6 p.m. on Friday evening
that's pretty casual and dinner is on our own.  The formal
cocktail party and dinner is on Saturday evening."
     "Sounds good to me," Dale said.  "Craig and I are looking
forward to it."
     "Okay, glad you are both going with us.  We always have a
good time and it's a chance to meet a lot of people you both will
enjoy knowing."
     By this time Ray and Craig were back downstairs and Dale
realized that Michael, Pat and John were at the office, waiting
for him.
     "Excuse me.  I need to see what's going on in the crop
department.  Talk to you later," Dale said, then walked swiftly
to the office.
     "Hi guys," Dale said as he approached the three men.  "How's
the project coming along?"
     Michael answered.  "We've made good progress and should
finish plowing by noon, so can starting disking and planting,
however you want us to continue."
     "I think I need to ride up and look at it and then decide.
The alfalfa seeds can be broadcast and that will go pretty
quickly.  The wheat, of course, will have to be drilled and I
think I'd like to get that in the ground first because they are
talking about a chance of moisture on Friday.  That will help it
germinate and get some roots down.  So, I'll be up there by the
time you are ready to go to work this morning.
     "By the way, we'll be leaving for the Central Texas Horse
Show on Friday afternoon about 3 p.m.  I'll make arrangements for
you to get your paychecks before I leave the ranch."
     The men left in their pickup and Dale walked to the office
to see what was piled up that needed his attention.  There were a
lot of invoices and mail to go through.
     * * * * *
     Craig arrived at his office about 8:45 and Don was just
leaving to meet with a potential client.  After they greeted each
other, Don said, "Craig, I made some changes to those plans
you've been working on for Warren Collins.  They are on the
computer desk.  Can you make those changes and produce some rough
drawings with the computer program?"
     "Sure, no problem.  How soon do you want them?"
     "Would this afternoon be too soon?" Don asked.
     "No, I don't have much else going on, unless you've slipped
me something I didn't count on," he grinned.
     "No, no surprises."
     "Good."
     "Why, do you need to rest up from your trip?" Don teased.
     "No, but we did have a great time and it was the best show
yet that they've had in Ft. Worth.  I have a sack full of
literature, a couple of videos and other stuff from the show for
you to go through and look at."
     "Great.  Hey, I almost forgot.  Someone from Aspen Spas
called here for Dale yesterday.  His name was drawn for their
grand prize.  Looks like you guys have a new hot tub to use," Don
said.  "Any idea where you're going to put it?"
     Craig was astounded.  He'd never won anything and Dale had
won something great.  He could hardly wait to tell him tonight.
     "No, not at this point.  Guess we'll have to put it in
storage, but I'll have to find out what Dale wants to do with
it."
     "The prize includes installation, so you may want to find
out if you have to do it right away," Don said.
     "Okay."  Craig was excited.  He didn't know where they were
going to put it, but it probably wouldn't fit on the balcony at
their condo.
     * * * * *
     The day went smoothly for both of them.  Craig took care of
business at the office and Dale took care of business at the
ranch.  He ate lunch with Mrs. Wood, Marty and Chris at noon and
the conversation centered on their trip to Ft. Worth and Dallas,
as well as the upcoming Waco show.
     * * * * *
     Dale hadn't been home too long when the telephone rang.  It
was Carole Stanhope.
     "Hi Dale, Paula and I wanted to give you a report on your
sale.  Thursday and Saturday were both good days.  The first day
always is and people are looking for bargains on Saturday.  This
has turned out to be the best sale we've ever had."
     Dale was pleased to hear that.
     "I'm sure you want to know the results?" she questioned.
     "Yeah."  Dale was very interested.
     "It surpassed our estimates.  The gross was almost $8,300 as
the better, more expensive things sold the first day.  If they
had sold Friday and Saturday, they would have been marked down
from our tag price."
     "That's almost $3,000 more than you thought," Dale said,
clearly excited.
     "Your net on this is about $6,200.  I don't have a final
total yet, because there is a man coming to look at the few
things that are left.  He owns a flea-market in the next town,
but can't look at the items until tomorrow evening."
     "Great, that's even better than I expected and I really
appreciate you doing this for me," Dale said.
     "The better the sale, the bigger our commission and the less
we have to dispose of.  Some of the stuff you thought was junk
sold for a good price and we could have sold more of it if we'd
had it," Carole said.  "Anyway, everything is gone from the
house, except several bags of trash that are on the driveway.  Is
the trash service still picking up. or do we need to haul it?"
     "I haven't done anything with the utilities unless Don might
have," Dale told her.  "Tomorrow is regular trash day.  If they
don't pick it up, I'll let you know. or haul it myself."
     "That's fine.  We left it there, but call us if it's not
picked up.  That's part of our deal."
     "Thanks, Carole and Paula," Dale said.
     "Well, thank you.  We'll call and bring you a check in a
couple of days."
     Dale hung up.  Craig had just mixed drinks and handed him a
scotch and soda, since Dale liked the one he'd had Sunday night.
     "Thanks, hon," Dale told Craig.
     "I overheard a little of the conversation.  Did the sale go
okay?" he asked.
     "Oh yeah, super.  Much better than they estimated.  She said
the good things sold the first day, which of course, was at the
marked price.  Sounds like I'm going to get about $6,200 out of
this and there is still a man who owns a flea-market that wants
to look at the items which didn't sell."
     "Congratulations.  I'll bet you are glad to have that behind
you."
     "Yes, it seems like everything is coming together nicely.  I
found you, got promoted, got a raise, sold my Mustang, sold my
house, got more money because of the crooked realtor and had a
great sale - and had a wonderful honeymoon, too," he said,
pulling Craig to him for a hug and kiss.
     "Well, I have one more thing to add to your list," Craig
said.
     "What else is that?  Oh, yeah, I left out my new family and
getting you for a brother," Dale added.
     "That, too, but there is one more thing and you won't guess
that that is in a million years."
     "What?" Dale's eyes were twinkling.  Craig had to remember
not to take a sip of his drink.
     "Don told me this morning that somebody from Aspen Spas
called the office for you yesterday.  Seems like you won their
grand prize at the Builder's Trade Show.  A new hot tub!!"
     Dale couldn't believe it.  "How big is it?  Do we have to go
pick it up?  Where are we going to put it?  How many people will
it hold.?"
     "I don't have any of those answers, but here's the phone
number and the man's name.  You need to call him tomorrow and
find out what is involved.  I think this includes installation.
As far as where to put it, we'll have to find out how large it is
and if there is a time-limit on claiming the prize and having it
installed."
     "Wow!  I've never won anything in my life - except maybe for
you," he told Craig, giving him a kiss.
     "If you won me, then I got the best of the deal, because I
got you in return."
     Another kiss.
     They finally settled on their favorite perch, but sitting so
they could look at each other, enjoying their drinks.
     "I gave the cook the night off, so guess we'll have to go
out to celebrate tonight," Craig said.
     "Sounds fine to me," Dale said.  "Any suggestions?"
     "How about the College Inn out by the school?  They have
good cold beer and great burgers or sandwiches."
     "That would be okay with me.  I haven't been there for a
couple of years."
     * * * * *
     Wednesday was another beautiful fall Texas day.  Dale had
noticed that the days were getting shorter, especially in the
evenings.  He had Michael bring one of the plows back to the
ranch and hook up a disk harrow to break up the large clods of
soil created by plowing.  Pat and John could probably finish
plowing today and one could pull another disk harrow tomorrow.
The other could start drilling winter wheat.  Dale called the
farm co-op and ordered seed to be delivered on Thursday morning.
     * * * * *
     Dale called Curt Downey at Aspen Spas on Wednesday morning.
     "Congratulations, Dale," Curt said.  "You've won our deluxe
hot tub, including installation at your home."
     "Curt," how large is this?" Dale asked.
     "It easily seats four people and the pumps and plumbing are
underneath.  It's about five and a half feet in diameter and 44-
inches tall with the insulated cover."
     You could hear the disappointment in Dale's voice.  "We live
on the 5th floor of an apartment complex and our balcony is only
about 5 feet wide."
     "Is there any place that you could install it at ground
level and still make use of it?"
     "I don't know, we'll have to talk about it," Dale said.
     "We had this happen last year, too.  The winners didn't have
room for it, so we ended up giving them half of the retail price
as their prize."
     "How much would that be?" Dale questioned, not really
wanting to do that.
     "About $1,500," Curt told him.
     "Let us see what we think is best for us to do and I'll get
back with you in a couple of days," Dale said, knowing that they
wouldn't be able to use their prize.
     * * * * *
     Ray's crew was smaller on Wednesday but the smaller group of
six men was used to working together and managed to stay out of
the other's way.  Two men were running electrical wiring and by
the end of the day were through with that job.
     The other four men finished up the work on the outside of
the house, except for painting.  Ray would subcontract that job
out, as well as painting the inside when it was ready.
     By quitting time the men had almost all of the outside walls
insulated with fiberglass batting on the first floor.  That left
the ceiling of the first floor, the outside walls on the second
floor, the roof joists and around the foundation at the top of
the stem walls.  They would have all of that completed by
Thursday night and be ready to start hanging sheetrock the next
day.
     Ray had a sheetrock crew ready to start on Friday morning
and the lumberyard made the delivery on Thursday afternoon.
     When Dale looked at the house on Wednesday evening, he was
really surprised again.  These men didn't fool around.
     * * * * *
     Wednesday night was the cooking class.  The offering was
roast pork loin, dressing made out of bread, onions, celery,
sausage and chicken broth, seasoned with fresh ground black
pepper, fresh parsley, sage and sherry wine.
     'Mister Andrew,' as Craig and Dale referred to him, told
them to never buy anything at the grocery store that said
"cooking wine" on it - of any kind.  "What this amounts to is
'wine-flavored salt'," he told the group.  "Buy a reasonable wine
that you would use for drinking and cook with that.  The flavors
will be better and it will certainly be more healthy."
     The main side dish this evening was roasted vegetables;
potatoes, thick slices of zucchini and yellow squash, green and
red peppers, carrots, onions, green beans and a lot of
seasonings.  A roasting bag was used to help bake and steam them,
but would be cut open the last 20 minutes so they would get
crispy on the outside.
     A spinach salad would start the meal and the teams would
work together to make a French Chocolate Mousse for dessert.
     It was an excellent meal and Dale and Craig enjoyed working
with Louis and Jerry again.  Again they were invited out
afterward.  Since they had a bountiful meal with a rich dessert,
the four went to Dale and Craig's condo for coffee.
     "We need to have you over to our place some evening.  Maybe
after we finish this cooking course," Jerry laughed.
     "We're all going to know how to fix the same dishes when we
are through with this," Craig said.  "I may be willing to settle
for a hamburger."
     "You've got that right," Jerry said.  "I'm not sure we'll
ever fix some of the things we are going to be learning about."
     "I think that by the time we are finished, we will have
learned enough about the various methods of doing things that we
will be able to take any recipe and prepare it by using the
techniques we've learned in class," Dale said.
     Craig agreed.  "We're not just getting recipes to use, but
how to prepare the ingredients to use.  I think I've always been
scared that I would really mess something up, but I'm starting to
feel more confident when I see the terms 'chop, mince, grind,
dice and slice' now.  I didn't know these things two weeks ago."
     "And I didn't know the difference between the various kinds
of chocolate until tonight.  I just thought chocolate was either
cocoa powder or a chocolate bar.  Or that there is different
kinds of flour and they all have different uses," Dale added.
     After Louis and Jerry left, Craig told Dale, "I'm not sure
that they understand that they are learning how to do anything
except prepare the dishes in class."
     "You are right there," Dale said.  "I'm not afraid to tackle
some other things on my own now. or with your help. but two weeks
ago I didn't have a clue about most of this."
     "Maybe when we finish this class, we can invite my parents
down to spend a long weekend.  Mom can give us some really good
practical instruction," Craig told Dale.
     "Or. maybe we can go up and spend some time with them, too,"
Dale said.
     * * * * *
     Thursday was another day in the beautiful fall weather
pattern.  It did look like they could get some rain on Friday,
but that depended on two fronts moving toward each other and the
area where they met up would receive the rain.  Williamsport was
kind of on the edge of the projected area.
     Dale looked at the fields where his crew was working on
Thursday morning.  There was only about 500 acres left to plow
and that was in two fields.  He pulled Pat out of the field he
was working, as that field would be planted with a spring crop.
     "I want you to work on this section and we'll get it
finished for sweet clover hay.  I'm going to have John start
disking with a second unit, then later today when you are
finished plowing there, I'll probably have you start drilling
wheat where Michael is now working."
     * * * * *
     Ray's people made a lot of progress on the house.  All of
the insulation was in place, as was the electrical wiring.  They
were ready for the sheetrock crew to start the next morning.
     Jason and Kevin went out to the house to look at it before
they did their chores on Thursday evening.  Dale happened to be
there and greeted them.  He and Ray were talking about getting
the driveway paved and the outside concrete work that would have
to be done.  There needed to be two sidewalks, one from the
driveway to the front door, with an extension that went on around
to the kitchen door, where you could go into the mudroom and
downstairs if you were really muddy and dirty.  Ray reminded Dale
that they also needed to pour a pad to set the heat pump for the
air conditioning system.
     Kevin and Jason were amazed at the whole project.  Although
Ray and his partners had remodeled the rooms they shared, this
was the first time they had really seen raw construction where
one could see everything that went into the walls and ceilings
before it was covered with sheetrock.
     Craig arrived shortly after Jason and Kevin arrived and they
were glad to see him, as was Dale, although he didn't think he
should greet Craig with the enthusiasm that the boys showed.  He
knew that Craig would understand, but gave him a welcome wink.
     Marty was the next to arrive as he'd seen Craig's car in
front of the office/barn when he arrived back home.  He greeted
everyone.
     "Hey, Craig, it looks like a 'Cowboy Palace' to me.  I
thought we were going to keep this simple," he teased.
     "Can I help it if Ray can't read blueprints and built this
without checking with either of us?"
     Ray pretended to act wounded.  "Maybe if you and Dale hadn't
taken two days off to go play in the city, this might not have
happened.  Besides, I didn't have a full set of plans to work
with."
     Everyone had a good laugh and Jason and Kevin knew they were
having fun with each other.
     * * * * *
     Paula and Carole brought Dale a check for $6,483.29,
thanking him for allowing them to conduct his sale.  He was
grateful to them because as far as he was concerned, it was
almost $6,500 more than he would have ended up with had he been
on his own.  He would have given much of it away and hauled the
rest to the dump.
     * * * * *
     Dale woke up at his usual time, a half-hour before the alarm
was set to go off.  This was the first time this week that his
body clock was on its regular schedule.  He decided to wake Craig
up by tonguing his nipples, then tickling them with his mustache.
It worked.  Craig jerked awake and grabbed Dale's head to pull
him off.
     "Aahhuunnhh," he gasped.  "That tickles."
     "I seem to remember you mentioning something the other
morning that you wouldn't mind if I used that anywhere on your
body.  What's the problem?" he teased.
     "I'd like to be awake when you start," he gasped.
     "Okay, you're awake," he said as he dove back to what he had
been doing.
     Craig still wasn't fully awake, but his dick was.  He needed
to pee, but the nipple action really made him - and Dale - hard.
     "So I can enjoy this, I've got to go pee," Craig said.
     "Yeah, I do too.  I'm pretty uncomfortable."
     He leaned down and gave Craig's right nipple a swipe with
his tongue.
     "Have to mark my place so I'll know where to start when we
come back," he smiled.
     They went into the bathroom, giggling and pinching each
other, like a couple of school kids.
     Although sex was unhurried, they had to make up the time
while shaving and showering.
     "You sure made me feel good this morning," Craig told his
lover.
     "I know somebody that did a pretty good job on me, too.  Do
you hire out?"
     "Uhmm. I'd probably do it for you for free," Craig answered,
turning his face up for another kiss.
     They loved everything about the aspect of being each other's
partners.  The sex was fantastic, as they seemed to know how to
find the other's buttons and push them.  They were never at a
loss of things to talk about, they loved to touch each other and
each thought they were the luckiest person alive.
     * * * * *
     Jason and Kevin were walking down the driveway to catch the
school bus when Dale drove in, on his way to the barn/office.  He
stopped so they could chat.
     "How are the pups today?  Do you have them housebroken, yet?
Dale asked.
     "They're doing great.  We haven't had any accidents yet, but
Dad said not to trust them for another couple of weeks," Kevin
said.
     "They sure are fun to play with," Kevin added.
     "Well, if I have time this morning, I'll go see them and
play for a little bit," Dale told them.
     They could hear the bus coming down the road, so the boys
had to run the last 50 feet to the stop where they got on.
     Dale had barely gotten inside the office when his crew drove
in.  They were in Michael's car this morning.
     "Morning, guys," he said as he handed them their time
sheets.  "I guess you need to keep on with your project today.
Can you work tomorrow and Sunday?  They are talking about the
rain arriving on Monday now and I'd sure like to get this project
completed.  Seems like it's taken a lot longer than I had
planned."
     "For one thing, the ground was pretty hard.  I would guess
it's been years since it was last plowed.  We had to go slower
because of the load," John said.
     "I know, and we're going to run into the same thing when we
start plowing the area we've been using for grazing.  I think
that's pretty solid, too.  Sam is supposed to start moving cattle
off that land next week after they get some new fences in place
in another area," Dale said.
     They talked about the things to be done and Dale reminded
them that he would have their payroll checks at noon.  "As far as
working tomorrow and Sunday, we'll pay overtime, but if you want
time off next week, you can have that, too."
     "Thanks, Dale.  That seems fair," Pat said.
     "How are they coming along on the house?" Michael asked.
     "They are supposed to start hanging sheetrock today.  The
outside is pretty well complete except for blacktop on the
driveway and a couple of sidewalks to the doors.  Be sure to go
look at it before you leave this evening," Dale told them.
     "Okay," Michael said, the other's echoing.
     "I'll leave your timesheets out on my desk, so be sure you
fill them out this evening and over the weekend.  I'll see you on
Monday morning."
     "Have a good time in Waco," Michael said.
     "I honestly don't know what there is to do there.  I'm sure
that some of the women will have things they want to do and see,
so guess we'll leave that up to them."
     "Is your girlfriend going?" John questioned.
     Dale blushed a little.  "No, my friend, Craig is going with
me.  The women are Marty's mother and wife, Mort's wife and Lee's
wife."
     "Oh, okay," John answered.  "Well, we'll see you Monday
morning."
     They headed to their pickup to go to the fields.  Michael
was driving, as usual.
     John said, "Is Craig the good-looking blonde guy that's the
architect?"
     "Yeah, I think so," Michael answered.
     "Hmmm. I wonder," said John.
     "I know what you're thinking. and there's no way.  Dale's as
straight arrow as can be," Pat said.  "How can you even think
that?"
     "Well, excuse me for speculating," John said.  "I'll bet we
find out that there is something going on between those two."
     "No way, he doesn't look or act gay," Pat said.
     "And do you, or John. or me?" questioned Michael.
     Pat, as usual, was at a loss for words and hemmed and hawed
around.
     "None of us do," said John.
     That seemed to be the end of the discussion that morning,
but would give each of the three something to think about.
     Michael was happy because he was able to get Pat to shed
some of his inhibitions and they were having a lot more fun
giving pleasure to each other.
     John was thrilled with his relationship with Nolan, although
having to get him back to his dorm every morning was getting
tiresome.
     * * * * *
     Dale had a lot of things that needed to be accomplished in
the office that morning.  Mort came in with what seemed to be an
armload of invoices and bills for approval and he sat down with
Dale so they could go through them together.  It took over two
hours to get them ready to put in the folder to send back with
the messenger from Morris Johnsmore's accounting office when he
delivered the payroll checks.
     "I'm going home for lunch, then Craig is driving his car out
and leave it here for the weekend."
     "That's fine.  Marty and Chris and his parents will go in
one car and Lee and Adele are riding with Marge and me.  We may
want to put some of the extra luggage in the back of your
Blazer," Mort told him.
     "That's fine.  There's plenty of room," Dale answered.
     When Dale arrived at the condo for lunch, Craig was just
putting the finishing touches on the pork loin sandwiches he had
fixed.  This was leftover roast from the cooking class.  Since
they had paid for the food, it was theirs to take home.  Craig
had stopped at the grocery to pick up some deli potato salad and
potato chips.
     "I've got to go back to the office for about an hour after
we eat as I'm printing some proposed sketches for Don to show to
Warren Collins this afternoon.
     "How's that project coming along?" Dale asked.
     "Pretty good.  He's gotten two businesses to consider
signing lease contracts and I think the third large company is
about to do the same," Craig told him.
     "I'm wearing what I have on to go to Waco.  You might as
well do the same, then we can change in time for the welcoming
cocktail party," Dale said.
     "Good, I hate to wear dress clothes if we are going to sit
in a car.  They wrinkle too easily," Craig said.
     "By the time we get to Waco, we'll be halfway to Ft. Worth,"
Dale said.
     "Thinking of going back to the gay bar to dance?" Craig
teased.
     "No, just thinking that the road is going to be familiar by
the time we get home on Sunday night."
     "I wonder if there are any gay bars in Waco?" Craig said.
     "Never thought about it," Dale replied.
     "Well, it's a college town, but the school is Baptist
dominated.  It's hard to tell," Craig said.
     "I doubt if we're going to have much time to explore on our
own, anyway.  I think the women have our free time planned to go
where they want to go," Dale reminded him.
     "Not a problem, but I'll bet it will be pretty easy to find
out where to go, if we want to," Craig said.
     "How would you do that?" Dale was puzzled.
     "Simple, ask any young person at the motel, the bell hop,
the desk clerk.  They are asked questions like that all the time,
they don't think anything about it."
     "Guess I didn't think about the obvious.  As you can tell,
being gay is new to me," Dale laughed.
     "Yes, I forget that you are just barely past being a
virgin."  Craig blew a kiss at Dale and they both laughed.
     Dale noticed that Craig was wearing his ring, so he got his
out of his dresser drawer and put it on.
     As Dale was leaving the condo, they exchanged a passionate
kiss, as they wouldn't see each other for at least an hour and a
half.  He stopped at the filling station, then ran his vehicle
through the carwash and vacuumed it out.
     RJ was working today and they exchanged a little
conversation, but the place was busy with people buying gas and
sodas, candy and cigarettes.
     * * * * *
     It didn't take long to load the cars at 2:45.  Martin and
Jeanine had a new Lincoln Towne Car and although there was plenty
of room for their luggage, they wanted to hang two garment bags
in Dale's Blazer.  Mort was driving his Blazer, so there was
plenty of room for everything they and the Bakers were taking in
that vehicle.  It appeared that Dale and Craig had the least
luggage, but they had packed according to what Marty and Mort had
told them.  Then Dale remembered that most women took twice as
much clothing as needed, just to be on the safe side.
     They pulled out of the ranch driveway just at 3 p.m.  Marty
was driving his parents car, followed by Mort and Dale brought up
the rear of their caravan.  He and Craig were happy.  They were
off on a new adventure and they were together for the weekend.
     * * * * *
     The 135-mile trip went quickly and they were checked into
their motel rooms by 5:30.  They were on the 3rd floor and their
rooms overlooked a central atrium with a waterfall and a stream
connecting several pools with fish in them.  Dale remembered the
display at the Builder's Trade Show and the water garden in
Craig's parents yard.  He told Craig that if they had a house, he
would like to do the same sort of thing.
     They freshened up, putting on Dockers and plaid cloth shirts
and, of course, their boots
     When they were ready to leave their room to go down to the
banquet hall for the cocktail party, Marty was waiting and handed
each person an envelope, which had schedules and their badges,
which had to be worn so they weren't charged admission for the
events.  Dale and Craig pinned their badges on and Dale stuck the
envelopes in their room.
     There were about 200 people at the cocktail party.  Dale and
Craig noticed several very good-looking men in attendance and
they seemed to be looking back.  Craig nudged Dale and whispered,
there's another male couple, do you think.?"
     Dale giggled.  "Let's get a drink and circulate some.  Maybe
we'll find out."
     They went to the bar and each got a scotch and soda and the
bartender didn't hold back on the liquor.  Dale noticed Craig
putting a lemon twist in his glass, so he did the same.  They
were getting ready to go introduce themselves to the other two
men when Marty motioned them over to join the group he was
talking to.
     "Harry, this is our new General Manager, Dale Richards and
his friend, Craig Bastian.  Fellows, this is Harry Dorrance.
Harry is the head honcho for the Rocking-W down at Northwest
Hills right outside Fredericksburg."
     They exchanged greetings and Marty continued.  "Lee is
interested in a couple of fillies they have and I think all of us
will be going down to see Harry and look at them before too long.
We do a lot of business with Harry's ranch and sell them a lot of
horses, too."
     Harry looked like he belonged out on the range.  His skin
had that "weathered look" of someone who probably spent their
entire time outdoors and probably smoked a lot, too.  Dale
guessed him to be in his late 60's and was surprised to find out
later that he was only 53.
     Patting Dale on the back, Harry said, "So you're taking
Mort's place?"
     "I think that's a strong statement," Dale replied.  "Nobody
can take Mort's place and I have a lot to learn about ranching
before I can even attempt it."
     "Well, son, you've got the right attitude.  So many of you
young people come in and think they know everything and they just
get in the way of how we horse people do business.  We still do a
million dollars worth of business on a handshake and most of us
would be insulted if we were asked to sign a contract."
     Craig was all ears.  He couldn't imagine his business
without contracts and written agreements.
     Marty agreed.  "Dale, you can trust Harry and about 98% of
the others in this room.  If they agree to deliver something, it
will be delivered and will be what they say it is.  And, he's
right about contracts - up to a point - I want a contract before
I sign a check," he laughed.
     "Ahh, Marty. I'm just kidding Dale.  We'd never cheat each
other."
     "Dale, you don't have anything to worry about.  The world of
ranching has changed, and I guess mostly for the better, but gut
feelings about business deals is still something that I pay a lot
of attention to.  You just need to learn who is trustworthy and
who isn't - and the ones who aren't soon find out they can't buy
or sell manure, 'cause no one will do business with 'em."
     Dale shook hands again with Harry.  'Thanks for the words of
wisdom, and I'll look forward to seeing your operation at the
Rocking-W."
     "We just have a small ranch down there, but we have good
horses and they are in demand.  Look forward to seeing you again,
Dale.  Nice to meet you and your pal."
     Marty was talking to someone else and Craig had been keeping
an eye on the other two men they had spied earlier.  They were
talking to another man.  Craig guessed all of them to be in their
late-20's.
     Dale turned to Craig as Harry walked off.  "Well, that was
an interesting lesson.  Guess I need to get the truth about all
that from Lee, Mort and Marty."
     They stood, sipping their drinks, while people circulated.
Several people stopped to introduce themselves to Dale and Craig,
noticing their "Bar-W badges".  At various times, one of the Bar-
W men would catch Dale or Craig's eye and nod their head to
indicate they were to join them to be introduced to someone else
that the Bar-W did business with.  There was no shortage of
people to talk to.  This was a close-knit group that somewhat
looked out for each other as well as their own business.  They
weren't about to buy or sell a horse that wasn't what it was
supposed to be.  Not that they didn't sell second-class stock,
but they made sure you knew what you were getting.  It was an
unwritten creed all subscribed to and it served all of them
equally well.
     Finally, about a half hour later, after they had freshened
their drinks, Lee caught Dale's eye and nodded for him to join
him.  He was talking to the two men they had seen earlier.
     As they started across the room, Dale whispered to Craig,
"Well, I guess we'll find out who the two mystery men are."
     Craig agreed.
     Lee seemed to be in a more jovial mood than Dale usually
saw.  "Fellows," he said to Dale and Craig, "I want you guys to
meet Torrance and Bryant Greenwood.  This is Dale Richards and
his pal, Craig Bastian," he said peering at Craig's badge.
     The men shook hands, greeting each other, eyeing the others.
     Much to Dale and Craig's surprise Lee excused himself,
saying he wanted another drink.  Craig was thinking, 'Well we got
introduced and they must be brothers.'
     Dale took over.  "I see that you are from the Southern Pride
Ranch, but I don't know where Pollok is."
     Torrance took over.  "It's a little over 130 miles straight
east of here.  We kinda sit in the shadow of Lufkin on the
Angelina River.  Beautiful country."
     "We've never done any business with the Bar-W, but everyone
says that you have some of the best horses to be found," Bryant
said.
     "Our horse manager, Lee Baker, is the best," Dale replied.
I'm just taking over the management of the Bar-W, so I depend on
him to guide me in the right direction."
     Torrance was about 6' tall, and probably weighed 180.  He
had a broad chest and shoulders and a trim waist.  Bryant was
just a little shorter, and probably was about the same weight,
but was smaller in the upper body and heavier in the waist.  Both
had brown hair and brown eyes and a good smile.  Each was wearing
western-cut dress slacks, polo shirts and boots.
     "Craig, do you work with Dale?" Torrance asked.
     "No, I'm an architect in Williamsport, in partnership with
an old college buddy.  We've been in business about three years
and think we will be hiring an assistant in another year."
     "Me and Tor are kinda new to the horse business.  We grew up
on a large farm about 50 miles from where our little spread is.
Our older brothers are about 15 years older than us and they got
the land when our parents died.  So, there wasn't anything for us
to do except start our own place," Bryant told them.
     "Bry and I own a software company that we started in
college.  It's done pretty good, but we have good people to run
it and we really love horses, so we're lucky we've got some money
to indulge our real interests."
     Dale and Craig found that "Tor and Bry" were easy to visit
with and they were close in age so had that bond, also.  They
were pretty sure about the Greenwood men, but didn't want to ask
questions.  They would probably find out in time.
     The Greenwood boys were thinking the same thing about Dale
and Craig.  They were really handsome men and both had noticed
that each was wearing beautiful ring and that they were
identical.  Well, there was no question in their minds about Dale
and Craig.
     "Would y'all like ta have supper with us this evening?" Tor
asked.  Both men were soft spoken with that east-Texas accent
sprinkled with "y'alls" and chopping off words, using "kinda" for
"kind of" and changing "to" to "ta", along with other similar
words.
     "That would be enjoyable, but we need to find out what the
women in our group have planned for the evening.  They didn't say
anything about all of us eating dinner together, but we don't
want to offend them by not going if they expect us."
     Dale excused himself to find either Marty or Chris to find
out what was expected of them.
     Meanwhile, Craig found out a little more about Torrance and
Bryant.  Tor was 29 and Bry was 28 and each had a master's degree
in computer science.  They had started a small software company
in college, writing custom financial applications for personal
computers for companies that could not find "off the shelf"
programs to run their businesses.  They had 15 employees, and a
college friend, who was the third partner, managed the company.
The business was located in Bryan, next to College Station where
they had gone to school at Texas A&M.
     Dale came back about that time.  "Chris and Jeanine have
planned for our group to eat at the Lake Brazos Steakhouse, which
is a family owned restaurant, but somewhat like a cafeteria as
you can help yourself to side dishes.  The steaks are cooked to
order and Marty says they are delicious.  He invited the two of
you to join us, it's within walking distance of here."
     "We'd love to," Tor said.  "This is our first time to come
to this show, so we don't know many people yet."
     "Fine, we need to circulate and meet some other people Marty
wants us to know, but we'll find you when they are ready to go
eat," Dale said.
     The cocktail party lasted another half hour, but people were
drifting away to find a place to eat.  The Holiday Inn had an
excellent restaurant and there were another four or five good
places to eat that were within a short driving distance.  Since
they were right off the Interstate and in the downtown area,
there were enough events going on to help keep the restaurants
filled.
     The people from the Bar-W all enjoyed meeting new people and
visiting with people they knew from business deals or from
previous shows.  Attendance was made up of people from huge
operations, like the Bar-W, to small breeders who only bought or
sold a couple of dozen horses a year, but had quality herds.
     Marty had already met Torrance and Bryant, as had Mort and
Lee, and Dale introduced them to Martin and the women in their
group.  They drove the three miles to The Miller Family Lake
Brazos Steakhouse, Dale driving with Tor in the front seat and
Craig sitting with Bry in back..
     True to Marty's word, the steaks were excellent.  There was
a really good salad bar, but the side dishes, being on a steam
table, were standard restaurant fare.  Dale and Craig both
thought of the excellent meals they'd had in Ft. Worth and
Dallas, truly great dining experiences.  However, they were
hungry and the food was flavorful.
     About halfway through the meal, Dale became aware of a hand
on his thigh and it could only belong to Bryant.  This, of
course, was the first time anything like that had ever happened
to him.  At first he was going to ignore it, but the rubbing
turned persistent and the strokes went from his knee to the top
of his thigh and were started to get closer to his groin.  He
finally reached down and pinched the wrist of the offending hand
with two fingers, then put it on Bryant's leg, shooting him a
warning look.  Dale's hands were strong and it brought tears to
Bryant's eyes.
     He didn't realize that Craig was having the same experience
with Torrance on the other side of the table where they were
seated.  Craig had the same reaction, grabbing Tor's fingers and
squeezing them together, then shoved the hand off his thigh.
     As they were leaving the restaurant, Dale told Craig, "I got
groped by Bryant."
     "Join the club.  The same thing happened to me, only it was
Torrance."
     "Well, I don't like it.  I think it's terribly forward and
out of line," Dale said.
     They noticed Tor and Bry talking to each other, and then
they approached them as the others walked out of the restaurant.
     Torrance started, "Guys, we owe you an apology.  We both
think you guys are hot and hoped that maybe you might want to
come to our room for a little fun, but I guess."
     "Damn right!" Dale said.  "Look, Craig and I have been
together for just a short time, and even so we are committed to
each other and we're not interested in anyone else.  You fellows
are nice and good looking, but it's just not going to happen."
     Dale took Craig by the arm and started to turn around to
leave.
     "Hey, fellows.  I'm sorry, we were wrong.  We play around
with each other, but we're not opposed to bringing others in to
have fun.  I hope we can still be friends.  I promise this won't
happen again.  Okay?" Bryant asked.
     "Yeah, everyone needs friends and I think we both think you
are guys we'd like to know, but not for sexual purposes," Craig
said.
     "I'm sorry, we should have just ask you if you were
interested in having fun instead of trying to feel you up,"
Torrance told them.  "No hard feelings?"
     "No hard feelings," Dale said, Craig echoing.
     They started back to the motel, this time Bryant sitting in
front with Dale and Craig in the back with Torrance.
     "Look, would you guys consider having a night cap before we
go to our rooms?" Tor asked.
     Dale and Craig agreed and they found a booth in the
Lamplighter Lounge at the motel.  The rest of the evening went
smoothly and there was no further discussion of the earlier
problem.
     * * * * *
     The Central Texas Horse Show was a lot of fun.  A lot of
deals were made to buy and sell horses.  The Bar-W brought about
2-dozen of their best show horses and a couple of Lee's men had
come along to show them.  There were several exhibitions of
riding, roping, trick riding, then and a parade at 3:30 p.m. on
Saturday going from 4th and Holman, through the downtown area
then back to the Heart of Texas Coliseum across from the
Fairgrounds.  It was part of the Fall Festival and the parade was
a long one with local floats, the Shriners and other groups
marching, Boy Scouts, Veterans and several high school and
college bands.  It was a perfect day and the town turned out in
full force to watch.
     All of the Bar-W people rode horses in the parade, although
someone had neglected to tell Dale and Craig they were expected
to participate.  Regardless, they had fun and Dale saw to it that
Craig had the most gentle of the horses.  His own mount was a
little more spirited than he would have liked, but he was used to
riding and controlled the horse with no problems.
     The gala banquet started with a cocktail party at 6:30.  All
of the women were wearing long dresses and most of the men were
wearing suits, or at least sport coats.
     It was typical banquet food.  Shrimp cocktail, a garden
salad, roast beef, baked potatoes, green beans, beets and a corn
pudding.  Dessert was cherry cheesecake.  Certainly not great,
but everyone was hungry.
     After dinner, the emcee introduced people from each ranch as
a group and the audience seemed to give the Bar-W group more
applause than the others.  That made both Dale and Craig feel
good to be associated with the Bar-W.
     After dinner, they ran into Tor and Bry again.  They had
only seen them once today and that was from horseback as they
were standing on the sidewalk, watching.
     "Would you guys like to go to a dance bar with us tonight?"
     "You mean there is one in this town?" Craig questioned.
     "Yeah, it's called the 'Honky Goose' and it's close to the
Baylor campus.  It's gay-friendly and everybody dances with
everybody, although last night we did see guys dancing slow
dances together.
     Dale and Craig looked at each other and nodded their head.
It was Saturday night and was still early.
     "Meet us in the lobby at 9:30.  We'll take our station
wagon," Tor said.
     Back in their room, they changed clothes and decided to go
to the lounge for a drink while waiting to meet Tor and Bry at
the appointed time.
     Martin and Marty were having a drink and motioned Dale and
Craig over to their table.
     "Where are you off to?" Marty questioned.
     "The Greenwood brothers invited us to a bar to dance," Craig
answered.
     "Let me guess. it's near the Baylor campus and is called the
'Honky Goose'?" Marty said.
     "Yeah. how did you know?" Dale asked.  He was surprised.
     "That place had been there for years when I was in college.
It was a dance bar then, although it was rock-n roll at the time.
Is it a country bar now?"
     "I have no idea.  They had been there last night and said it
was a mixed group of people and there didn't seem to be any
problem with men dancing together," Dale said.
     "It was that way when I was in college.  I always thought it
was amazing for a Baptist dominated town, but Chris and I used to
go there for fun."
     Marty thought for a little bit.  "Hey, let me ask Chris if
she wants to go to one of our old haunts.  Maybe we'll join you a
little later."
     "That would be fun.  Hope we see you later," Craig said.
     Dale and Craig finished their drinks.  It was time to meet
their friends.
     As Tor was driving down the street, Dale told them that his
boss and wife used to go to the same bar when they were in
college and might be joining them later.
     "That's neat.  They know about you?" Bryant asked.
     "Yeah, they treat Craig and I both as part of their extended
family.  They are just great to work for and supportive of both
of us."
     "You're lucky.  Our town is pretty red-neck and the only
other gay person we know is a florist and we try to avoid him as
much as we can because he's so flaming," Tor said.
     "I'm sure that everyone probably wonders about us, being
brothers, but we've never had any problems, mainly because we
generally go to Nacogdoches or Lufkin.  They're both about 30
thousand and each have a gay-friendly bar.  Nacogdoches is a
college town and we both seem to do pretty well picking up
tricks.  Houston's only a couple of hours away, so we go there
quite a bit.  The Montrose District is the gay ghetto there," Bry
added.
     Dale and Craig realized that they hadn't been exposed to
this sort of thing, although they both knew that many men cruised
the rest stops to have casual sex.  They were both thankful that
they had found each other as they did and not a pick up in a bar.
     The bar had a $5 cover charge and each paid their way.  The
bar wasn't crowded, but was pretty full.  In looking at the dance
floor, they did see men and women, male couples and female
couples dancing together.
     Tor bought beer for all of them and they found a table that
would seat six in case Marty and Chris joined them.  Dale and
Craig mostly danced the slow numbers, but did join a couple of
rompin'-stompin' two-step dances.
     They had only been there about 20 minutes and were just
ready for another round of beer when Marty and Chris showed up.
Dale went to the bar to find out what kind of beer they wanted
and directed them to their table.  Marty stayed to help Dale
carry the beer bottles.
     Soon all six of them were out dancing and having the time of
their lives.  They traded partners several times, Marty even
dancing with Dale and Craig on a couple of fast numbers.
     After a second round, which Marty bought, he and Chris were
ready to leave.  It appeared that Tor and Bry were trying to pick
up a couple of young men, so Dale and Craig told them goodnight
and left with Marty and Chris.
     As they got in the car, Chris laughed.  "I haven't been to a
place like that since Marty and I were students here.  Guess I'm
getting old.  That kind of dancing is tiring."
     "You do use up a lot of energy," Craig agreed.
     "Enough to stop for some ice cream?" Marty asked.  "I wonder
if the Fudge Shop is still in business."
     "Sure, that sounds good," Dale said.
     The Fudge Shop was still there.  It was an old drug store
with the original soda fountain.  There were still a few shelves
of items for sale, magazines, toiletries, over-the-counter drugs,
condoms, and other student 'needs', but now tables where
customers could sit and enjoy the old fashioned ice cream and
fountain treats had replaced most of the shelving.
     They each ordered something different, a thick chocolate
malt for Dale, a banana split for Craig, a hot fudge sundae for
Marty and a lemon soda for Chris.
     "This reminds me of The Soda Fountain in Williamsport," Dale
said.  "It's a great place to go for fountain drinks or coffee,
but they don't have anything else to offer."
     "I've always wanted to be a soda-jerk.  That was the
ultimate job when I was in high school," Marty said.  "You got to
sample all the fountain treats for free and some of the guys
always managed to give their girls sodas and not pay for them."
     Chris spoke up.  The Soda Fountain doesn't do as much
business as they should.  I think someone needs to buy it and
promote some other things beside the soda fountain."
     "Such as?" Marty questioned.
     "They ought to promote it as a family place, maybe have
other things to sell like candy, CD's video games, Video rentals.
Stuff like that," Chris said.
     "That might work, a place to kind of get away, yet have
things a lot of different people are interested in," Craig said.
     "Are you ready to give up your day job and run it for us?"
Dale teased Craig.
     "You wouldn't want me.  If everything was this good, I'd eat
all the profit," he answered.
     "Yeah, and within a year you couldn't get through the door,
either," Dale snickered.
     "Seriously, that might be a good idea for Williamsport.  If
you are interested, I'll help you look into the idea," Marty
said.  "We haven't had anyone that was serious about a good soda
fountain in Williamsport for at least 16 years.  I think the drug
store went out of business right after I started college and they
just kept the soda fountain open because it was something to do.
And the stuff at the Dairy Queen and A&W just don't compare to
this."
     They finished their treats and Marty paid the bill.  Dale
started to protest.
     "Hey, this was my suggestion, so you guys are my guests. and
guests don't pay.  Besides, if you give me any trouble about it,
you can walk back to the motel," Marty said, giving him a hug
around the shoulders.
     All of them laughed.
     "Thanks, Marty and Chris," Craig said after they were back
in the car.
     "You fellows are welcome.  We're glad that you could come
with us, Craig, and I know Dale is," Marty said.
     "Yeah, he is kind of special," Craig agreed.
     "And, so are you," Dale said reaching for Craig's hand.
     After Marty parked the car at the motel, they took the
elevator to their floor and said their goodnights.
     * * * * *
     "Well, this has been an interesting evening, hasn't it?"
Dale said, after he shut their door.
     "Certainly has.  I guess that Tor and Bry are having a good
time, but I just can't imagine going to a bar and picking up a
stranger to take home for sex.  Seems like you are putting
yourself at all kinds of risk," Craig answered.
     "You took me home for sex," Dale said, walking up behind
Craig and putting his arms around his chest, rubbing his nipples.
     Craig turned around.  "That was a whole different situation.
Besides, you had already seduced me the night before at your
house."
     They both laughed.
     "Why don't we get naked and see who can seduce who the
fastest?" Dale asked.
     "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather have a slow
seduction," Craig told him, reaching for Dale's face for a kiss.
"And. I want to undress you. slowly," he added.
     * * * * *
     Sunday morning Marty and Chris were in the restaurant when
Dale and Craig walked in.  Marty motioned for them to sit at
their table.  They had just gotten their coffee and were looking
at the menu.
     The pot was on the table and there were cups at each place
so Dale poured coffee for each of them.
     "Sleep well?" Marty asked.
     Craig and Dale both blushed.
     Marty was in a teasing mood.  "It's okay.  Chris and I have
sex, too."
     Chris burst out laughing and they all joined her.  All four
of them had red faces.
     The waitress arrived to take their orders, wondering what
they were laughing about.
     "This is all one check," Mary said.  "Go ahead, guys."
     Each ordered a country breakfast with pancakes to go with
it.
     "What time are you going to start back?" Dale asked.
     "Probably about noon, but there isn't any schedule.  If you
want to stay and come back tomorrow morning, it's fine," Marty
said.
     "No, I think we're going home after lunch.  We may go to
church.  Do you have any suggestions?" Dale asked.
     "There is Emmanuel Episcopal that bills itself as
'traditional'.  We've not been there, but I would guess they use
the 1928 Prayer Book and it's probably Low Church.  We used to
attend the Church of the Holy Savior when we were in college.
It's nothing like St. James at home, but their service used to be
quite nice.  Kind of middle of the road in churchmanship.  It's
been several years since we've been there, though," Chris
answered.
     "We'll call when we get back to the room and see what we can
find out," Craig said.
     Their meal arrived and Marty asked permission to ask the
blessing.  They joined hands after crossing themselves, saying
"Amen" at the end of the prayer.
     While they were eating, Martin came into the room and they
scooted around so an extra chair could be pulled up.  Their
conversation was lively and Martin told them that he'd seen Lee
earlier.  "He sold 150 mares to the Lazy-Z.  They are coming to
the Bar-W on Wednesday to pick them out and load up."
     "That's great," Marty said.  "I was afraid that they were in
trouble two years ago."  He went on to explain that the ranch had
lost about 200 horses to a mysterious illness, but they were
never sure what the problem was.  Some thought that it had come
from some horses they bought from another breeder.
     "Then it was all over with as soon as it started," Martin
explained.
     "They didn't dare sell any horses for about a year, but they
had insurance so didn't suffer for the loss except for not having
any sales that year," Marty said.  "It was pretty hard on them
and some of us were afraid they wouldn't survive.
     Marty looked at Dale.  "The horse breeders are a pretty
tight group.  We try to watch out for each other and probably if
it had looked like they would to have to liquidate, some of us
would have stepped in to guarantee their notes at the bank."
     Dale and Craig were both impressed and Dale was getting a
good insight as to how the horse business worked.
     Breakfast being over, the group split up.
     Craig called the two churches after the got back to their
room.  Emmanuel Episcopal was a "Morning Prayer" parish and only
had a Eucharist on the first Sunday of the month, although it was
available each Sunday at an 8 a.m. service.
     He called Church of the Holy Savior and found that they had
a 10:30 Holy Communion.  Since they had skipped church the
previous Sunday, they decided to attend.  Craig thought this
would allow Dale to see the contrast of two parishes using the
same Prayer Book.  The difference in the ceremony would be of
interest to both.
     * * * * *
     They checked out of the motel after having a sandwich for
lunch.  Mort's Blazer was still in the parking lot, but they
didn't see the Lincoln that belonged to Martin and Jeanine.  They
left the motel parking lot at 1:30, so they should be home by 4
p.m.  Dale decided to split the driving, so they traded between
Temple and Killeen.  It made the trip go more quickly and was a
good diversion for each of them.
     Since they had to go to the Bar-W to get Craig's car, it was
easy for them to check the progress on the house construction.
Dale had checked the progress before leaving on Friday afternoon,
but Craig hadn't seen it since they had started hanging
sheetrock.  The job was over halfway to completion.
     "There will be a lot of visible progress the next few days,
but then it will slow down after that.  They probably will be
ready to start taping and mudding tomorrow sometime.  Then it has
to be sanded, more sheetrock mud, more sanding, then a light coat
to feather the edges and sand that.  Then they can paint," Craig
explained.
     "What's after that?" Dale asked.
     "Outlets, light fixtures, floor covering, wood trim,
plumbing fixtures, window treatments, appliances. I guess then
it's ready for the guys to move in.  Probably another three
weeks, maybe a little longer, it depends on Ray's schedule.
Anytime ahead of the first week in November and he's completed it
ahead of schedule."
     "I can't believe that two weeks ago we were looking at
foundation walls," Dale said.
     "Ray's good and has good men working for him.  His company
keeps growing and I hope that he and Keith and Andy can handle
the expansion and find other good men to work for them," Craig
said.
     They left, getting into their own vehicles for the short
drive back to their condo.
     * * * * *
     Craig took the dirty clothes to the laundry and started a
load of colored clothes, as Mrs. Hopkins wouldn't be back until
the end of the week.  Although they had plenty of clean clothes,
they both tried to keep soiled laundry from accumulating.  They
usually changed the bed and towels twice a week and Mrs. Hopkins
generally washed those and put them away on Friday.
     "Are you tired?" Craig asked Dale.
     "A little.  I'm glad to be home where we can relax.  The
trips are fun, but they are tiring," Dale said.
     "How about a quick trip to the grocery store to get a few
things and pick up some fried chicken for dinner?  We need juice,
salad greens and baking potatoes unless you want macaroni and
cheese," Craig suggested.
     "Sounds good to me.  If you're ready, let's go now, then we
can come back here and get comfortable," Dale said.
     "Naked?" Craig grinned.
     "You know I love to be naked with you.  It makes me want to
wrap my body around you and do things to you."
     "Oohh," Craig said.  "Let's hurry before you change your
mind."
     "No danger of that."  Dale pointed downward.  "I'm horny, he
leered."
     Craig grabbed his hand and pretended to pull him toward the
door.
     * * * * *
     Craig asked Dale if gin was okay and fixed their drinks with
Beefeater Gin.
     It felt good to strip down to their shorts and sit on their
favorite piece of furniture and assume "their" position of Dale
sitting in the corner with his right leg stretched out along the
back.  Craig sat as close to Dale as he could and Dale either
left his left foot on the floor or put his leg across Craig's
lap.  This put them in a position to have maximum contact with
each other's face, neck and chest as well as their groins.
     As far as they were concerned, this was the ideal position
to caress, kiss and enjoy the closeness of the other.  And for
some reason, it didn't work for them to trade places.
     They talked about the horse show and especially Torrance and
Bryant.
     "I wonder if we'll hear from them again?" Craig asked.
     "We might, Bry asked for our address and I gave it to him.
They would be interested in seeing the Bar-W and maybe buying
some horses," Dale told him.
     "Well, maybe our 'contact' with them will help the Bar-W
with sales, but I certainly didn't appreciate being treated that
way," Craig said.
     "I know.  I didn't like it either, but I guess that's their
lifestyle and they probably think we're pretty square for not
wanting to play around with them.  But. I just can't imagine
doing anything with anyone except you."
     Craig leaned up to kiss Dale.  "Thank you.  Me either."
     * * * * *
     (to be continued)
     * * * * *
Author's Note:  This is my first attempt at gay fiction, and the
only way I can learn whether or not I should continue is from my
readers' feedback.  I would appreciate your comments, criticism,
suggestions, and anything else that you would care to say.  All
Email will be answered.  If you wish to receive e-mail
notification of subsequent postings, please let me know by
sending your request to the following e-mail address:
TulsaDriller7@aol.com

Thanks for the overwhelming response to previous chapters.  I
have received positive replies from all over the world.  Thank
you to Mel, who used to live in Waco for helping me locate the
"Heart of Texas Coliseum at the Red Barn.  This venue for the
horse show didn't show up on the Waco Tourism Website.  My
special thanks for proofreading help to Paul Daventon, who has
taken time to help me catch obvious errors.