Chapter Five

Jacky stood in the bathroom of his hotel room, just staring at himself. He wasn't dressed up, but after living in the city where any outing was fancy, forced a habit into him. Most of his wardrobe consisted of suits and tuxes. He was wearing his most casual suit right now. He reached up and unbuttoned the top two buttons then just took off the jacket. He hung the jacket on the hook on the door then folded his sleeves up a bit. He turned back and forth in front of the mirror and frowned. He still looked like he was going to spend his evening in a restaurant in New York City. But it would have to do.

He turned and left the bathroom when the room's phone started ringing. He looked at his watch and saw that it was already five minutes until six. He sat down on the bed and grabbed the phone and answered it. "Yes?" he inquired.

"There's a couple of men downstairs asking for you," the voice replied. "They tell me they're your ride."

"Yeah, thank you, I'll be right down," Jacky said then hung up the phone and stood. He grabbed his wallet and the room key and stuffed them in his pockets as he left the room, grabbing his suit jacket out of the bathroom on his way out. He didn't forget to turn off the lights. He stepped into the elevator and rode down one floor to the lobby and stepped out, heading for the entrance.

Two men were standing right outside as he walked out. He looked at the truck they had come in and gave a slight frown. They introduced themselves then climbed into the cabin of the truck. Jacky got in after them and hugged his jacket against his chest as he sat there, practically squished against the door. It wasn't that big of a truck and definitely a way of travel he wasn't used to.

The drive to the ranch wasn't particularly long, but the road was rough, which made the driver move slower and Jacky was practically bouncing all over the cabin. Around 6:45 they were at the ranch and Jacky was relived when he got out of the truck and stood on shaky legs. He could still feel the road. He looked down and saw that he was gripping his jacket tightly. He loosened his grip, his fingers aching.

"Jacky!"

Jacky turned at the sound of Emily's voice and watched as she walked over. He looked over his shoulder once as the two men headed off to do their job. He looked back at Emily. "Thanks for inviting me," he said. "To tell you the truth, I wasn't even sure if I'd get anything to eat tonight."

Emily hooked her arm through his and led him toward the house. "Don't thank me," she said. "You should be thanking Ennis Del Mar. If you hadn't've ever learned of that name, you wouldn't have sought Steve out and you wouldn't have met me at the store."

Jacky raised his eyebrows just slightly. "Can't I just thank you for making the food, then?"

Emily laughed then headed inside with Jacky by her side. She led him to the kitchen where Steve was standing at the stove, cooking what smelled like bacon. Emily cleared her throat, getting Steve's attention. Steve looked over at them then shut the stove off and turned. He only glanced at Jacky once and Jacky found that that bothered him deeply.

"Supper all ready?" Emily asked.

Steve stepped over to the table, looking at her. And only her. "Shouldn't you know?" he asked. "You prepared most of it." He pulled out a chair and slid into it.

Emily placed her hand on Jacky's arm. "Ain't you gonna greet our guest?" she asked.

Steve finally looked at Jacky. "Evenin'," he said. There eyes met for a brief moment before Steve looked away. "Let's get to eatin'. I'm starved!"

Jacky took a seat at the table as Emily went to get whatever it was off the stove. Steve already had himself a pile of food on his plate. Jacky reached forward to help himself then stopped when Emily came back over and did it for him. He smiled sheepishly then dung in when he got his food.

"So, Jacky," Emily said once she had gotten her own food and sat down. "Where ya from?"

Jacky looked across the table at her. "New York City," he said. "I live there with my family. Mom, Dad, brother, sister." He mentally facepalmed himself. He had said that as if they didn't know what a family was.

Emily smiled, amused, but in a good way. "And what brings ya to Wyoming?" she asked.

"Family," Jacky said. He looked over at Steve. "I learned about your great-uncle today."

"Did you," Steve said, uninterested. He stared down at his food while he ate.

"Which is actually why I'm here," Jacky said. He looked over at Emily. "I asked her to help me find you." He looked back at Steve. "So I can solve a mystery."

"That's what it's turned into?"

"It was always that."

Steve looked at Jacky, leaning forward and propping his arms on the table. "Ennis Del Mar was a drunk," he said then looked at Emily. "Yes, I do know quite a bit about Ennis." He looked back at Jacky. "My great-grandfather tried to reconcile with him. Ennis was a loner except when it came to his daughters. They were his life. No one and nothing else was. He treated my great-grandfather as if they were no longer brothers. That solve your mystery?"

Jacky had leaned back in his seat and looked down at his food. "I was only going to ask about a job he did with Jack Twist on Brokeback Mountain back in the summer of 1963," he said, looking back at Steve. "That's my family story."

"Invent a time machine," Steve said. "I don't know what the hell happened back then. What makes you think you're gonna learn anything?"

"I'm hopeful," Jacky said. "There's gotta be something around that no one knows about."

"Then how're you gonna find that?"

Jacky had no answer for that.

"You're chasin' shadows, kid," Steve said. "Brokeback Mountain's a resort now. Maybe you can go there and learn somethin'." He looked back down at his food and continued eating.

"Guess I won't be learning anything anywhere," Jacky said. He looked across the table at Emily. "Sorry if my leaving is rude." He stood and turned then walked out.

Steve looked up when Jacky walked out then saw Emily's hard stare on him. "What?" he asked. He waved in the direction Jacky had gone. "He's the one that left."

"Because you just dashed all his hopes of finding out about his family," Emily said. She also gestured in the direction the kid had gone. "Go talk to him."

Steve sighed, standing up. "I don't even know the guy and you expect-"

"And be nice."

Steve glared at her then turned and headed outside. He found Jacky standing over by the truck. He was wearing the suit jacket now and stood with his back straight, leaning his side against the truck. "The truck might dirty up those fancy clothes you've got on," he said, getting Jacky's attention.

Jacky didn't move away from the truck. "I need a new suit anyway," he said, looking over at Steve.

Steve slipped his hands into his pockets. "Sorry 'bout what I said in there," he said. "I was outta line and shouldn't have treated you like that."

"Emily put you up to this?"

"Emily just told me to talk to you," Steve said. "The apology is all me." He ran his tongue along his bottom lip as he looked Jacky up and down. "Do you shop for yourself?"

Jacky looked down at himself, obviously searching for what was wrong with what he was wearing. Steve was going to tell him that nothing was wrong with it. He looked good in it. A bit too dressed up for a ranch, but he pulled it off and looked natural. "I was thinkin' I could go out to town tomorrow and buy you some new clothes," Steve explained. "If you're gonna be stayin' in Wyoming for a while, you need somethin' more comfortable."

"That's real nice of you and all," Jacky said, pushing away from the truck and uncrossing his arms. "But I can't accept something I can't give back. You buy me new clothes, I have no way of paying you back."

"You don't have to," Steve said. "Which is why gifts were invented."

"That's probably not why gifts-"

"And while we're out, I'll help you find more about your great-granddad and my great-uncle," Steve said. For some reason, he was interested in learning the story of their family members. They had a connection. "You gonna come back in for supper? You're still welcome."

"Really?"

Steve pointed at himself. "Is this a face that would lie to you?" he asked, lowering his hand.

Jacky shrugged. "I don't even know you, so I have no idea," he said.

"Let's go back inside."

to be continued...