A/N: There are either one or two more chapters remaining in "Human Interest." We'll see how long the rest of the story takes to tell. I have a daughter to move in to the ranch and a party for all of us to attend. I'm going to attempt to do all that in one chapter, but it might be a long one.

I'd also like to announce that there is now a LiveJournal community dedicated to my BBM fanfiction. Since it seems to be impossible to include a URL in a document here (they always end up cut off and truncated), I've listed the community's URL as my homepage on my profile, so go there for the link. Please feel free to come and join, or just watch the community if you're not an LJ member. You need to go to the community info page to join.

...one week later...

Jack had been preoccupied all day. First, he'd gotten a phone call from their ranch hand Phil Jacobson, who was currently in Oklahoma with Edgar, one of Jack's prize-winning bulls. Edgar's sperm count was down and the motility was not looking good, and if the problem couldn't be corrected, he would have to be taken off the stud market. No rancher would pay five grand for the services of a bull that couldn't reliably impregnate his cows. That wasn't good news. Next had come the abrupt resignation of Miles, one of their other hands, a longtime employee who'd been Rod Borrickson's right-hand man. His stated reason for leaving was so he could move back to Nebraska to learn his father's feed-supply business, but Jack couldn't help but wonder. Their recent experiences were making him see homophobia everywhere, although Miles had never seemed uncomfortable before. His departure would leave them seriously short-handed, to say nothing of the fact that he and Ennis had been seriously considering Miles as a candidate to replace Stubbs, their aging foreman. Then, the construction on Junior's bungalow was delayed by problems with the foundation, which was already shifting. Seemed the soil beneath the site was less stable than had originally been thought.

He had tried to relax all evening, but events kept conspiring to prevent it. Just after dinner, a messenger had showed up to serve Lizzie with divorce papers. She'd signed them without a word, then gone to her room and shut the door, leaving him and Ennis to shrug at each other. Then Junior had called, in tears after another colossal fight with her mother, and Ennis had to talk her down. Then, on top of everything else, he'd tried to discuss his anxieties with Ennis. That hadn't gone well, either.

"I'm worried that if we have to take Edgar off the market, it's gonna raise hell with the margin this year."

Ennis grunted, his eyes on the TV. "It'll be fine."

"What's that mean, 'it'll be fine?' How will it be fine?"

"You'll make it work out okay."

"Sure, I'll jus' wave my magic wand'n somehow conjure up the fifty grand it'll cost us in Edgar's fees."

"Fifty grand. Huh. Seems t'me we had fifty grand at our disposal recently but it kinda vanished into thin air." He said this with barely a glance in Jack's direction.

A number of retorts sprung to Jack's lips, but he couldn't bring himself to let any of them fly. "I guess I let myself in for that one," he muttered.

"You worry too much."

"You don't worry enough. We ain't exactly bein' frugal this year. What with the new bungalow, and Junior's tuition, and..."

That got Ennis's attention. "Oh, I see. It's fine for you t'give away what we saved for Bobby, but spendin' money on my daughter is a big fuckin' imposition."

"That ain't what I meant. I'm glad t'do it, but it's an expense and no mistake." He sighed. "We oughta ship more stock this year."

"Cain't ship more than they'll buy."

"Then we shouldn't replace Miles."

"I cain't run this place without enough help!"

"Then you come up with somethin'! God, y'speak pretty free 'bout it for a man never claps an eye to the bank statements!"

"Christ, Jack. With as much money as y'always say we pull in, how c'n y'be so worried about..."

"Jesus. Yeah, we bring in a fair amount. But that ain't all profit, y'know! It costs a small fortune t'run this place!"

"Y'think I don't know that? I'm the one takes all the invoices."

"You sure ain't the one squarin' the books." Jack sighed.

"If you're so worried, maybe we shouldn't be havin' this goddamned party," Ennis grumbled.

Jack looked up. "This goddamned party?" Ennis's choice of words stung. "Maybe we shouldn't, if it's such a fuckin' chore."

Ennis sniffed. "That ain't what I meant. I mean it's gonna cost us."

"We ain't that tight that we cain't afford our party." He sighed, leaning back against the couch cushions. "Don't y'want t'have it?"

"You want t'have it, and I want you t'have what y'want."

"You jus' want t'act like it's all the same 'n go back t'your hidey-hole, like nothin' ever changed."

"Oh, for Christ's sake. Ain't never enough, is it? You ain't gonna be happy till I drag you up in the middle of town square 'n stick my tongue down your fuckin' throat in front 'o the whole damned town, are you?"

"That ain't the fuckin' point." He shook his head. "Damn, I didn't wanna fight with you tonight on top 'o everthin' else."

"Then shut the fuck up 'n quit bellyachin' like a goddamned girl," Ennis said, smirking and casting a sidelong glance at him.

Jack jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. Ennis shoved back. Jack pushed him half off the couch, and Ennis grabbed him around the chest and yanked him across his lap, half-growling and half-laughing, and got him in a half-nelson until Jack finally cried uncle and Ennis let him go. "Asshole," Jack muttered.

"Dumbass."

And then it was okay again. But it hadn't exactly cleared away all Jack's anxieties.

He'd tried to put everything out of his mind by bedtime, but his brain refused to shut off. When Ennis had put out the light and reached for him, he'd welcomed the distraction, but he couldn't seem to relax.

So now here he was, trying to concentrate on having sex with his man, hanging on to the headboard and worrying about how long it'd take to find a replacement for Miles or if they should hire one at all. He was trying to stay focused on Ennis, but his mind kept wandering. Ennis's grunts and mutterings behind him became background noise to his restless thoughts. If we c'd send Joey out t'stud that might make some of it up...but no, I gotta have him here. God, how much is that new foundation gonna cost, and if they gotta shore it up that's another week, and if it ain't done by the time she gets here it's gonna be a major pain in the ass t'have t'move her twice... He frowned. Damn, these baseboards are dusty. Oughta ask Marianne t'clean behind the bed.

Ennis paused and leaned forward. "Am I borin' you?" he said. "Maybe I oughta try jugglin' or somethin', 'cause my dick don't seem t'be enough t'hold your attention tonight."

Jack shook his head. "I'm sorry, Ennis. My head jus' ain't in the game. Ain't you. Y'know my fondness for your dick."

Ennis pulled out with a resigned sigh and flopped onto his back. Jack turned over and laid down next to him, staring at the ceiling. "I guess nobody gets t'have great sex all the time," Ennis said.

"I guess."

He turned his head and looked at Jack. "We been pretty lucky there for the mos' part, don't y'think?"

Jack smiled. "Yeah. We got off easy." They stared at each other, the unintentional double entendre hitting them both at once, and the next second they were both laughing like madmen.

"That firs' time weren't so easy, accordin' t'you!" Ennis spluttered.

Jack was almost crying with laughter, the tension of the day releasing into it. He slid closer to Ennis and got himself gradually under control. "That really ain't what I meant," he finally said.

"I know it ain't." Ennis hugged him to his chest, then rolled them both over and looked down into Jack's face. "I do wanna have the party," he said, quietly.

Jack nodded. "If you say so."

Ennis sighed. "Y'don't believe me, do you?"

"Ennis, I know it gives you a bad turn t'have things out in the open. I know you ain't easy with it. But I ain't complainin'. Y'come so far, sometimes I c'n hardly believe how far. Jus' that you're willin' t'wear my ring's enough. Hell, if somebody'd told me seven years ago that you'd be holdin' my hand in church, I'd'a told 'em they were crazy. I know y'done those things against your nature 'cause you knew it's what I wanted, 'n I appreciate it."

Ennis drew back a little. "Y'think I done that all jus' for you?"

"Well…yeah."

He frowned. "Right. 'Cause it ain't possible that I actually wanted t'hold your hand, or that I wanted your fuckin' ring on my finger. Everthin's about you, ain't it?"

"Jesus, Ennis…where'd that come from?"

Ennis rolled onto his back at Jack's side. "I'm sick of it, Jack. I'm sick 'o bein' Cold Fish Ennis, gotta be coaxed 'n drug into everthin'. Yeah, I get nervous 'bout acting couple-like in public, round folks we don't know. But that don't mean I don't wanna. And if I do it anyway, it ain't jus' t'make your sorry ass happy, y'know. I don't spend every damn minute of every damn day thinkin' 'bout how t'make life sweeter for Jack Fuckin' Twist."

"Fine, I get the point!"

"Do ya? I ain't so sure." He turned to face him. "I know y'think I'm some kinda emotionless slab 'o rock who don't like t'show or say nothin'. Maybe I am, at that. But don't y'know that I wish I weren't? That I wish there weren't nothin' t'be scared of? That I wish t'hell that the world was different, and I was different, and that I could drag you into the middle 'o the town square and kiss the hell outta you and nobody'd turn away, nobody'd shield their child's eyes, and people'd feel happy for us and wish us joy."

Jack saw with alarm that Ennis was starting to cry. He stared at him, speechless and ashamed. "Ennis, I…"

"Aw, fuck it," Ennis said, swiping at his eyes. He sat up and turned away, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. "Damn you, anyway. Y'always gotta get me thinkin' on stuff I got no words to talk about." He shook his head. "You think 'cause I cain't say things the way you can that I don't feel 'em. That ain't true. It's 'cause I feel 'em fierce that it makes me clam right up 'cause I know I ain't got the right words, the ones that'd make you understand that I'm crazy in love with you, and if I try t'show it then some fucker like Forrester'll hate me for it and he'll come kill us both and then you'll never know it at all."

He trailed off. Jack was shaking all over, because Ennis was right. He had, in his secret heart, feared that Ennis must feel less than he did because of his reserve, both physical and verbal. He hadn't really gotten that Ennis's difficulty in expressing himself, whether it was due to fear or his own belief in his verbal inadequacy, was just as frustrating to Ennis as it was to him. He reached out and tugged on Ennis's arm. He immediately let himself be pulled back into bed, into Jack's arms, and whatever Jack had been going to attempt to say through his choked throat was cut off when Ennis attacked him with sudden urgency. The wetness of tears on his face rubbed off onto Jack's until he couldn't tell which of them had been crying. Jack felt like he should be saying something acknowledging Ennis's confession, but his mouth was otherwise occupied, and then his brain was. It was rough and fast, almost like the first time, except that Ennis looked into his eyes when he shoved his legs apart and entered him, quickly, like he'd break if he didn't. Jack's hands scrabbled at Ennis's back and shoulders, his eyes locked on Ennis's. "We are having that fuckin' party," Ennis grunted, "if I gotta sell myself on the streets 'o Boston t'pay for it."

Jack chuckled, arching his neck to kiss him. "How much y'figure you're gonna get for this?" he said, reaching down to grab Ennis's ass as it clenched and thrust between his legs.

"Hnh," Ennis grunted, lowering his head. "You're right," he gasped. "Better sell yours instead." Jack laughed out loud, feeling Ennis's grin against his neck.

They finished in a jumble of laughter, groans, cries and half-intelligible endearments, then lay gasping among the tangled sheets. Jack shook his head. "We are some kinda pair 'o fucked-up assholes, y'know that?"

"Well, at least we got some company in our fuck-upitude."

Lizzie was quiet at breakfast. Jack and Ennis kept up a running dialogue on neutral topics. The weather, Junior's bungalow, the still-open debate on replacing Miles, and Edgar's upcoming vet results.

Finally, she spoke up out of the blue. "Well, I'm divorced," she said, bluntly.

Jack glanced at Ennis. "I know, swee'pea. I'm awful sorry. You, uh…you okay?"

She nodded, frowning. "Yeah. I'm surprisingly okay." She looked up at them. "What's wrong with me? Why am I okay? Shouldn't I be devastated and mourning?"

"I dunno. Should you?"

"Shouldn't I be heartbroken? My heart doesn't feel broken. It feels fine. I keep waiting for all the despair and self-doubt and depression. So far, all I've got is…relief."

Ennis shrugged. "I say you're well quit of him."

"Yeah." She fetched a deep sigh. "So I've got to figure out what I'm going to do. I can't mooch off you guys forever."

"You got plans?"

"I sat up most of the night thinking about it, and here's the thing. I don't think I want to go back to the city."

That was good news to Jack, but he tried to keep a neutral expression. "No?"

"What's there for me to go back for? I don't have a job or a husband or even a place to live. It's like somebody handed me a clean slate to start over. Why not start over in Farmingdale?"

"You want to stay here?"

"Why not? I love it here. I feel whole here. I feel like I could write here, I mean my own writing. I can find an apartment in town. Get a job. Maybe I could write for the local paper."

"You mean the Farmingdale Daily Tissue?"

"I could maybe teach at the high school."

"You got a teaching certificate?"

"Uh…no. Look, I don't care. I'll waitress if I have to."

Jack looked at Ennis, reading the same thought in his eyes as was in Jack's own head. "Lizzie, this is ridiculous. Why don't you just stay here? It's stupid for you to get an apartment and some dumb-ass job that'll take up all your time."

"I couldn't do that."

"Why not?"

"I can't just let you guys support me."

"We ain't gonna. You'll earn your keep."

"What the hell am I gonna do on a ranch?"

Jack suddenly realized that he could solve Lizzie's problems and their own labor problems at once. "Y'know…we jus' lost one of our hands. If we hired you t'work in the office, I could spend more time in the field and we wouldn't have t'replace Miles. It'd save us some money."

"What would you need me to do?"

"Nothin' you couldn't handle. Answer the phone. File. Make travel arrangements. Talk t'the boys travelin' out West. You know anythin' 'bout computers?"

"Yes! Lots!"

"Hell, that's worth it right there, if you could get us set up with one."

Liz frowned, thinking, then shook her head again. "I wouldn't want to be underfoot all the time. You guys like your privacy."

Jack grinned. "Swee'pea, what're we buildin' out in the yard right now? Plenty 'o room for you 'n Junior both in that bungalow. Be done in a month. Another month with you in the main house ain't gonna kill us."

Liz blinked. "Well…what if I worked here but got an apartment in town?"

"It'd cost us a lot less t'pay you a boarded-help salary and let you live here than it would t'pay you enough to support yourself." Jack peered at her. "You don't really wanna get an apartment, do you? You're jus' tryin' not t'be no imposition." Liz met his eyes, shamefaced. "You'd really rather live here, wouldn't you?"

"Yes!" she wailed, letting her head drop to the tabletop. "I love this place like it was mine. But it's just too much to ask of you. You guys have done so much for me already, I can't stand too much more of your charity."

"Who said anything about charity? We got a lot of plans, things that're gonna occupy lots of our attention, and you got some skills we c'n use. If we had you in the office, I could be a lot freer t'travel and work in the field." Jack sighed. "And if we done anythin' for you, well…you got no idea what you done for us." Ennis reached out silently and grasped Jack's hand on the table. "Since you come 'n started in with all your nosy-ass questions, you got us talkin' 'bout things we put off for years," he said. "I ain't saying it's all your doin', but some of it is, and that's the truth."

Liz looked over at Ennis. "Ennis, what do you think? You've hardly said a word."

"Jack speaks well enough for me, city gal," he said. "I'd be glad t'have you stay. It'd ease my mind t'have someone stayin' with Junior, too. Stuck out here on this ranch with a bunch 'o men, she'll probably be glad 'o the company."

She sat there for a few beats, thinking, then sighed. "Okay. If you're sure."

The more Jack thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea. "I'm sure."

She grinned, relaxing. "I can't tell you how relieved I am," she said. "I'd kind of hoped, a little teeny tiny hope, that I could somehow stay here, but…I never thought it'd work out."

Jack got up. "Well, let's get started! I best start showin' you the ropes!"

Liz had no idea how Jack found anything. Everything looked neat and organized, until you actually tried to discern the system involved and discovered that there was none. Liz had worked as a paralegal for three years before going into journalism, so filing and organization were ingrained into her soul. After listening to her gasp in horror for ten minutes, Jack had thrown up his hands in surrender. "Go ahead! Reorganize it! Do whatever you want! You're the one's gonna have to deal with it from now on, anyway."

"But…we need filing cabinets, and in/out boxes, and a typewriter, and Rolodexes, and…"

"Here," he said, taking out his wallet and handing her a charge card. "That's the business account. Go to the office-supply store and get what you need. I never could organize for shit, I'm over the moon t'have someone t'do it for me." He'd left her alone to get started. It was barely noon and she already had a headache.

She was sorting the year's receipts into expense-category piles when someone rang the doorbell. She waited, but didn't hear anyone go to answer it. Jack and Ennis were probably out, so she got up to get it herself.

A familiar face waited for her on the other side of the door. "Peter!" she said, smiling. "It's nice to see you!"

"Hello, Liz."

"Come in." She shut the door behind him. "What brings you here? Ennis and Jack aren't in…"

"Actually, I came to see you."

"Really?"

"I hear you're going to be joining our little community permanently."

Liz blinked, surprised. "Boy, Ennis wasn't kidding. Tongues do wag around here."

He smiled. "Jack called me this morning to ask me when I could fit you in for a physical exam.'

"A…a what? An exam?"

"It's required for you to be added to the ranch's health insurance."

"Oh," Liz said, the light dawning. She wasn't too sure how comfortable she felt having Peter examine her, though.

"I told him we could get you in later in the week, but that I'd have Dr. Fellowes do the exam."

"I see. So what day should I…"

"Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?" Peter said in a rush, trampling over the end of Liz's question, his smile frozen and his eyes fixed wide in that panicked oh-my-God expression men got when they were trying to stay cool.

"Peter, are you asking me out? On a date?" she said, smiling.

He shuffled. "I don't know. It's been awhile. What constitutes a date these days?"

"Were you going to pick me up?"

"Yes."

"And take me to dinner?"

"Yes."

"And were you hoping for a good-night kiss?"

He blushed. "I, uh…wouldn't turn one down if it was offered."

"Then I think that's a date."

"Only if you say yes."

Liz waited to feel unsure, or uncomfortable with the idea of seeing someone new so soon after signing those blue-backed papers. She waited for an image of Jack to float up in her mind, Jack who she could never have, Jack whose employ and whose household she was about to join…Jack, whose appeal to her may have served its purpose. She waited to have doubts.

After a few seconds, she grew tired of waiting. "I'd like that, Peter."

He grinned, and once again, she marveled at how different it made him look. "Great."

"When?"

"Uh…Friday? Seven o'clock?"

"I'll see you then."

He looked almost comically relieved. "Good. That's good, then. Okay, I'll just, uh…I'll look forward to it." He stuck out his hand and Liz shook it; in a sudden rush of optimism and bonhomie, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. Peter blinked in surprise.

Liz shrugged, releasing his hand. "Just in case we forget to say good-night."

Peter stammered his way out the door, waving good-bye, and Liz tried to remember how long it had been since she'd met a man who was still capable of being flummoxed by a simple peck on the cheek.

She headed to the back door, thinking she'd go find the guys and tell them about her big date, but a small rustling sound stopped her just outside the kitchen door. She heard a low chuckle, the sexy kind. She peeked around the doorway carefully, not wanting to interrupt anything.

Jack and Ennis were standing in the shadows of the patio doorway, necking. Ennis had Jack pressed up against the doorjamb and was kissing him in a slow, relaxed fashion, his hands all over Jack's ass. Jack was hanging on to Ennis's beltloops; as she watched, his hands slid up his chest and around his shoulders.

Liz had spied them kissing once before, but that had been a more urgent, about-to-have-sex kiss. This was different. It was leisurely, a brief respite in their ordinary daily routine, a few stolen moments hidden in a corner. They were kissing each other's lips and faces, ducking their heads to nuzzle at each other's necks, murmuring snatches of conversation in voices too quiet for Liz to hear the words, smiling and laughing softly between kisses.

She made herself watch for a few moments, to test her infatuation with Jack. Did it even exist anymore? Why had it even existed in the first place? Maybe it had just been a reaction to Charlie's inattention. That was all moot now. Did she envy Ennis's position? Did she feel jealous, and wish she could be the one kissing Jack?

She did her best to plumb the depths of her psyche, unpleasant as the depths could be. She looked at Jack, his blue eyes focused wholly on Ennis. He was attractive. Her opinion on that score hadn't changed. But then she looked at Ennis. He was attractive, too. So was Tom Selleck. Lately she'd been developing a crush on Pierce Brosnan.

She looked away and went back to the office, leaving her fellas to their little noontime makeout. As she resumed her place in her own personal organizational nightmare, she found that her thoughts were not drifting towards Jack, but towards her upcoming date with Peter. Peter with his beanpole silhouette, his fluffy kid-on-a-schoolyard hair and his big bright smile.

Jack came in around three, his eyes widening at the stacks and drifts of paperwork and file folders. "Wow. You ain't wastin' no time, are you?"

"How the hell did you run a business like this?" she cried.

"Well, I sure as hell cain't run one like this," he said, looking around at the mess.

"I'll have all this organized in a few days. I just called the office supply store, they're going to deliver everything tomorrow morning."

"Okay." He sat down. "Listen up, here's the thing. If I was t'hire a real secretary…uh, not that you ain't real, or nothin'…"

She smiled. "I know what you mean."

"Right. If I was t'do that, it'd cost me about thirteen grand a year. I asked around, and most folks that hire boarded help knock off about a third 'o the non-boarded salary. So how's about we pay you ten grand a year, plus medical 'n dental?"

"You don't have to pay me anything at all, as far as I'm concerned."

"Naw, that ain't how it's gonna be. You ain't slave labor. Y'gotta have some money of your own. You don't wanna come t'me or Ennis every time you wanna buy a sweater, do you?"

Liz hadn't thought of it like that. "I guess you're right."

"Anyway, if I had t'replace Miles, it'd cost me twenty grand a year. So you're savin' me ten grand, swee'pea."

"But you wouldn't have to pay for Miles's room and board."

"The bungalow's gonna cost us the same whether you're in it or not. And you're tellin' me that you're gonna eat ten grand worth of food in a year?"

"Hmm. Probably not."

"I sure's hell hope not."

"Then…I guess it's all settled."

"Looks that way." He cocked his head. "You still look troubled."

"I just feel guilty, Jack. I know it seems like I've been here forever, but I've only known you a few months. How can you and Ennis just take me in, and treat me like I'm one of the family, and…" She felt herself choking up and took a moment. "God, my own family isn't this generous to me."

He sat back. "Do you know how long me'n Ennis were up on Brokeback that first summer?"

"No. How long?"

"Eight weeks. That's all. And we spent the first two bein' barely more'n strangers. Six weeks, and it done us both in for good. That's all the time it took for me t'know that he was the only one, and to ruin us for anybody else." He smiled. "It ain't how long you know somebody, Lizzie. It's how folks click. You clicked with us, real quick. Don't you think so?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"Then quit talkin' like you're some kinda charity case, okay? We didn't want you here, you wouldn't be here. Got it?"

Liz sighed. "Okay. I got it. I won't bring it up again."

"Good. Now. Once you get all this organized, I got a real important job for you."

"What's that?"

"Can you please, for the love of God, plan this fuckin' party? I know it was my idea, but I ain't got the first goddamned clue how t'go about it."

She grinned. "Oh, Jack. That's a dangerous assignment. You're gonna bring out the sleeping debutante in me."

"I don't care, as long as I don't gotta worry about it."

"Then leave everything to me." He got up and started to leave. "Oh, Jack?"

"What?"

"Do you want male or female strippers at this party? Hmm…maybe both. That'd take care of everybody."

He got a horrified look on his face for a moment, then realized she was yanking his chain. He shook a finger at her. "You wanna watch that smartass mouth, Elizabeth."

She chuckled. "That isn't my name, actually."

He frowned. "It isn't?"

"No. It's Elspeth. Kind of a different version of Elizabeth."

Jack contemplated this. "Huh. That's real pretty."

"And I'm going back to my maiden name. As soon as possible."

"What is it?"

"Baskerville."

"Elspeth Baskerville," Jack said, testing the name. "Sounds like the lady 'o some English manor."

"My grandfather is British. And no, he doesn't have any hounds." She waited, but Jack just looked at her blankly. She made a note to get him some Conan Doyle. He'd like it. "I'll get right to planning that party. Anything particular you want?"

"Just people and food. And booze. Maybe music. Call Marty Linebeck, she's the party queen around here." He started to leave again.

"Jack?" He turned back. Liz got up off the floor, went to the doorway and hugged him hard. "Thank you."

He hugged her back. "You might not thank me when you get a look at the mess I've made of the tax records."