Not What It Seems
"Come on Ennis, I gotta go into town. I want to pick up some paint." Jack stood at the open door to the barn and yelled up to the loft.
"What the hell are ya talking about, Jack? I'm stackin hay. I don't have time for that."
"Remember we're gonna paint the living room. Ennis, you promised you'd go with me to pick out the paint color. We can have Jason take care of the hay." Jack motioned to Jason, who had just finished mucking the stables and was standing next to Jack, to go up into the loft and take over for Ennis.
"Jack, what's the emergency?" he asked as he climbed down the ladder.
"No emergency. I mean I could go on my own, but I don't want you bitchin 'cause I picked out the wrong color. But I'll go alone then…" He walked to the truck.
"Hold on now, Jack. I didn't say I wouldn't come with ya." He climbed into the truck. "I'll help ya pick out a paint color."
Jack smiled as he started the truck and they were on their way.
Jack and Ennis stopped at the paint shop and looked at the myriad of paint colors.
"How about this one, Ennis?" Jack showed him the color chart.
"Too bright." Ennis grumbled. He didn't let it be a secret this whole thing made him uncomfortable.
"What about this one?" Jack pointed to another paint color.
"That's too dark."
"Ennis why don't you tell me what you like?" Jack was starting to get tired of Ennis being so difficult.
"I don't know, Jack. I ain't used ta doin this stuff."
"Well ya gotta help me pick out something. Otherwise, I'll pick out what I like and that will be that." He put his hands on his hips in frustration.
"Ain't no cause to get nasty about it."
"Oh no?"
"Excuse me."
Jack and Ennis turned at the sound of a voice. A blonde woman, wearing a pair of jeans and a black coat, stood at the end of the aisle.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wonder if you could help me. I'm new in town and I'm looking for the public library. I'm just totally lost."
Both Ennis and Jack took off their hats to the lady, but it was Jack who flashed a smile and struck up a conversation.
"Howdy, ma'am. Well, the library ain't far. You just go right up Main Street, make a right on Maple and drive to the end. Ya can't miss it."
The blonde flashed her own smile and said, "Why, thank you." She started to leave but turned around and looked at the paint color chart in Jack's hand, then pointed at a paint color. "I know it isn't my business, but this is a very popular paint color. I used it in my apartment in Chicago." She smiled again at Jack, then nodded at Ennis and left.
Jack looked down at the paint color she chose, then at Ennis' scowling face.
"Butter cream. Yeah, that's a real nice color. What do you think?"
"Yeah, real nice," he said through clenched teeth as he grabbed a couple of cans of that paint.
They paid at the register and Jack handed Ennis the keys as he climbed in the passenger seat.
"What's the matter, Ennis?" he asked after Ennis started the truck and headed over to the general store for some groceries.
"Did ya have fun flirtin with that gal, Jack?"
"Flirtin? I was just bein polite like my mama taught me."
"I seen how ya flashed that smile a yers."
"Ennis, you ain't jealous, are ya?" he chuckled.
"I think you were bein a little too friendly. And why are we gonna paint the living room butter cream?"
"You said it was nice, if you don't like it we can take it back ya know."
"Never mind, we bought it, I'll just use it."
"Honestly Ennis!" Jack grumbled as they pulled up in front of the store. As soon as they were parked he immediately got out of the truck and slammed the door.
Without a word exchanged, they shopped for the groceries they needed and, after they paid, marched out of the store and drove home in silence.
As soon as Ennis pulled the truck into the driveway next to the house, he got out and went to the barn without giving Jack a second look. Jack stormed into the house and went to the office into the office to fume under guise of catching up on some paperwork.
Jack had been busy paying the bills and going over the books for a few hours when he heard the front door open and close softly. He kept his focus on the paperwork in front of him.
The sound of a throat being cleared drew his attention to the doorway where Ennis stood with his hat in his hand, just like that time on Brokeback.
His head was bowed contritely and he slowly walked over to the desk. "Jack." Their eyes met briefly before Ennis looked down at the floor again.
"Ennis." Jack got up and walked from behind the desk to stand in front of him.
"I love ya, Jack." He whispered shyly.
Jack placed his hand under Ennis' chin and gently drew it up so their eyes met. "I love you too. You have no cause to be jealous, Ennis." He leaned forward and kissed him.
"I'm sorry."
"Ennis all you gotta think about is you're the one I married," he said before he kissed him again. "And you're the one I'm gonna tie the knot with again."
Kaylin came into the room. "Hey, guys. Oh I'm sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to ask if I could leave work early."
"Sure, Kaylin. Is everything alright? Are the kids okay?"
"Oh, they're fine. My friends and I are going to a book signing at the bookstore over in Spotted Horse. My favorite author, Cassandra Walker, is going to be talking about her book and then having a signing afterward."
"Who?" Jack asked her.
"Cassandra Walker. You don't know who she is, do you?" Both men gave her a puzzled look. "Hold on." She went outside and a minute later came back in with a hardcover book. "This is Cassandra Walker." She showed them the photo on the back page of the book cover.
Ennis took it and looked closer at the photo of the author on the page.
"This is that gal we met at the paint store earlier," Ennis commented.
"You met her?" Kaylin got all wide-eyed like they'd met the president or a movie star.
"Yeah, we were picking out paint colors and she came in and asked for directions to the library. Even helped us pick a paint color."
"Oh my gawd, I've been a big fan of hers for years. I have all her books. She's got a new one that she's promoting tonight. That's why I need off early."
"Well you have fun, Kaylin," Jack told her.
"I'm just going to finish up dinner and you can just pop it in the oven for about an hour."
"Sure nough." Ennis gave her book back.
"'Thanks guys." And she left the room.
Ennis was in the paddock area brushing Scout down and noticed the truck drive past. Jack took off and he hadn't said a word to him that he was leaving, which was very unusual.
A few hours later Ennis was in the living room sitting in front of the fireplace drinking a cup of coffee when he heard the truck pull up outside and the truck door slam.
"Where the hell you been?" Ennis confronted Jack the minute he came in.
"I was out at the paddock and look around and you took off."
"I had to go to the post office to get some stamps and mail out bill payments." Jack didn't meet his eyes and he took off his coat, placed it on a hook in the mudroom and walked by and went into the office and closed the door.
Ennis noticed his coat had fallen on the floor and picked it up. He couldn't help detecting an odor of perfume and a stain of lipstick on the collar of the coat.
Ennis threw open the door to the office. "What the hell is this Jack?!" he demanded.
"Whattya mean Ennis?" Jack angrily spat out at him.
"This." He threw the coat at him. "Smells like perfume and what the hell is that lipstick doing there?"
"Oh, that," he said calmly. "When I was at the post office I met up with Cassandra Walker. There was an icy patch on the sidewalk and she slipped and fell. I helped her up and she hugged me and kissed my cheek to thank me. That's all that happened." Jack walked by him and into the kitchen to get a beer.
"Is that the truth?"
"You callin me a liar? Well if you can't trust me, Ennis, maybe we shouldn't get married again. Maybe it was a mistake the first time we did it."
"Jack what the hell are ya sayin?" Ennis felt like someone punched him in the guts.
"I been thinking, maybe you were right, two guys livin together, ain't workin for me."
He stalked up the stairs.
Ennis picked his mouth and heart off the floor and went up stairs.
He heard noises coming from behind the bedroom door.
"Jack?" He opened the door and the scene in front of him broke his heart.
Jack was in bed and Cassandra was lying naked in his arms. Jack was smiling all content as he drove into her.
"This is what I want, Ennis. I don't want you." He laughed and kissed Cassandra.
"Jack no, NO!" he sat up quickly in bed, his heart was beating so hard he felt like it would beat out of his chest.
"Why, Jack, why?" unshed tears glistened in his eyes.
"Ennis, you had a bad dream, cowboy."
"You told me you changed yer mind. You weren't marrying me. Then you was with that gal, Cassandra, and I caught ya in bed together. That's when you said that was what you wanted. Her not me." Ennis wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his head on his arms.
"Ennis, it was just a dream. I don't want her."
"You sure? Maybe you been missin what ya had with Lureen."
"Lureen? What I had with Lureen was an empty marriage. I told ya we could've done it over the phone." Jack put his arm around Ennis' shoulders. "Are you havin doubts about us?" he asked sadly.
Ennis looked him in the eye. "NO! I want what we got, want you. I just wanna know what you want. That you want me and not some pretty blonde gal."
"Oh Ennis." He put his hand on Ennis' hair and fingered the curly tendrils. "You're the only blond I want." He put his arms around and pulled him close. "And no woman has what I want."
"No?"
"Uh uh. That Cassandra gal ain't got stubble." He rubbed his cheek against Ennis'. "Ain't got strong shoulders." He kissed Ennis' shoulder and pushed off his shirt. "Don't have a chest like this." He ran his hands over the muscular chest, tweaking Ennis' nipples.
"Jack," he hissed out the name.
"Yeah, and I know she don't have this." He put his hand on Ennis' crotch. "This is what I want." He leaned into Ennis and whispered in his ear.
"The only thing I want is this cock." He pushed Ennis back on the bed and pulled Ennis' Pjs down. "Yeah this is mine." He stroked the shaft to attention and pushed Ennis' legs apart, then settled between them and sucked on his cock.
Ennis put his hand in Jack's hair. "Mm hmm." Jack wrapped his hands around Ennis' cock and stroked up and down and then returned it in his mouth and was rewarded when warmth filled his mouth. He crawled back up to lie next to Ennis and kissed him again. "Now that's what I want. My cowboy and don't you forget it."
"So we still getting married Jack Fuckin Twist?"
Jack laughed. "You bet."
Footnote: Jack knew Ennis really didn't want to paint the room butter cream so they went back to the paint store and picked out a color, together.
This is the color they ended up painting the room. (You'll have to click on the on the sample. their bedroom kind of looks like this)
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pick bedroom #2 they painted it in Van Deusen blue and the trim was Adirondack brown (a dark trim)
Ennis was very happy with the way it turned out and showed Jack just how happy in his own 'special' way.