Chapter Eight

Jacky woke up the next morning by the sun shining in through the window. He groaned, pulling the comforter up over his head to block out the light, knowing he should have pulled the blinds down last night. He hadn't thought about it because he had never had the problem before. He rolled over, putting his back to the window when he couldn't get to sleep. A few minutes later, he heard shouts and whistles outside. The men getting to work. Not long after that was the sound of footsteps back and forth outside his room. He reached toward the nightstand, grabbing his phone and looking at it to see what time it was. It was barely 6:30. Why, even, was the sun up?

"Breakfast time!" Emily's voice came at his doorway, making him jump, startled. "Get that cute lil ass o' yours up and downstairs. We've got a big breakfast waitin' on ya." And then she was gone.

Jacky put his phone down then got out of bed. He got dressed, pulling on his shoes before he grabbed his phone and headed downstairs. The front door was open, letting in the cool morning air. It was pretty busy this morning, he could see. He rubbed his eyes as he walked into the kitchen, yawning as he made his way over to the table and sat down. Steve was sitting there, reading the paper. And the table was covered with all kinds of breakfast food. Jacky grabbed a plate and helped himself.

"You want some coffee?" Emily asked, walking into the kitchen.

Jacky shook his head as he piled food on his plate. "Not a big fan," he said then grabbed a fork.

"Then how about some orange juice?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Emily smiled then got a glass and poured some orange juice then took the glass to him, setting it on the table in front of him. She looked at Steve. "I'm gonna take one of the horses out for a run for a couple of hours," she said. "Speed's gettin' on in years, he needs the exercise."

Steve lowered the paper and looked at her. "Make sure one of the boys go with ya," he said. "Since I'll be in town, I won't be able to go. And no matter what you say, I ain't lettin' you go runnin' out there alone."

"Shawn's going with me."

"Shawn's a nice fella."

Emily tossed a slice of toast at him. "Oh, be quiet," she said then turned and headed outside. Steve smiled then went back to reading the paper.

"How's your morning so far?" It took a moment for Jacky to realize Steve was talking to him.

"Early," Jacky said, trying not to sound like he was complaining. He looked at Steve. "Ranch people not know the concept of sleeping in?"

"When you're the town's main import with somethin', you can't afford to sleep in," Steve said. He folded the paper and set it aside, picking up his coffee mug. "Emily didn't have to get you up early."

"Then why did she?"

Steve glanced in the direction Emily had gone before looking down at his coffee. "I've got an idea," he said then took a drink. He set the mug down then looked at Jacky. "You don't mind an early start into town, do ya?"

Jacky shook his head. "Not at all," he said. The excitement about spending a day with Steve was back again. Sure, he didn't understand why he was so excited and he wasn't really going to think about it. As long as it got him doing something. "And do you think we'll be able to learn more about my great-grandfather while we're in town?"

"We'll just have to wait and see what time it is when we're through shopping."

Jacky was silent for a moment. "I ain't no woman," he said. "How much time do you think it'd take to get me a few sets of clothes? I'm not lookin' for an entire wardrobe. We're just lookin' for something to keep me going until I go back to New York. Why are you smiling?"

Steve was clearly trying to suppress a laugh. He cleared his throat with a wave of his hand. "I'm sorry to assume-"

"That just makes an ass outta u and me," Jacky said, smiling when Steve became at a loss of words at that.

"Y'know, kid," Steve said, the smile still on his face. He leaned back in his chair. "You're gonna be fun to be around."

"I'm glad you think so," Jacky said, though he was a bit put down by 'kid.' He really didn't want to appear as some immature child around Steve. He wanted to be on the same level with him. Instead, Steve saw him as some helpless child. Getting admitted to the hospital for homesickness didn't help matters. "I try my best to be fun."

"It comes natural, huh?"

"Not all the time."

"Well, hurry up and finish eating," Steve said, getting to his feet. "I wanna be able to get into town before it gets too busy. And Emily would remind me to get back before it gets too hot." He shook his head. "Women. I'll go get the truck."

Jacky watched him go then turned back to his food. He pulled out his phone as he ate and sent a text to his mom, letting her know that he was doing fine and that he probably wouldn't be able to call her until later that afternoon. He put the phone away then ate a little bit more before he stood and headed outside. He stepped off the porch and looked around then turned when he heard the truck.

Steve poked his head out the truck window. "Get enough to eat?" he asked.

"Yeah, don't worry," Jacky said then walked around the truck and climbed into the passenger's seat. He buckled up then Steve drove off.

As Jacky had predicted, shopping hadn't taken too long. Steve wasn't too surprised by that. Jacky really wanted to get back to doing his research on his great-grandfather. They had practically rushed through shopping. But, at least Jacky had gotten some new clothes and was walking around looking more comfortable now. As soon as they had finished shopping, they headed for the library.

"I've already tried here," Jacky said as Steve browsed through some papers. "All it did was lead me to you." He looked down when Steve pulled out a copy of an old newspaper and hand it to Jacky. He read it then looked at Steve. "We're going to Lightning Flat?"

"There's a Twist family plot there and that's where your great-granddad was buried," Steve said, gesturing to the newspaper Jacky was holding. "Might be a ghost town, but the place probably has buried secrets in it. It was abandoned after a riot. People left real quick. And if they left that quickly, maybe they left some things behind."

"I guess it's worth lookin' into," Jacky said, though it sounded like he wasn't too keen about poking around a ghost town. "Are we gonna head there today?"

"We'll go by there on our way to Signal," Steve said. "I've got things still to do 'round here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out something he had just found today. "But, first, we're goin' by the bank."

Jacky pointed at the object in Steve's hand. "What's that?"

"Something my great-uncle sent to my great-granddad," Steve explained. "Maybe Ennis Del Mar ain't who I thought he was. C'mon." He gestured for Jacky to follow as he headed out the door.

Jacky followed Steve into the bank a few minutes later. Steve walked up to one of the tellers and exchanged a few words, handing over what Ennis Del Mar had left for the family. Jacky saw that it was a key before the teller took it and headed off. A safe deposit box? They didn't have to wait long before the teller returned with the bank manager and they were taken to another room.

"We've had specific instructions for that safe deposit box for years," the manager said once they were alone in the room. "Frankly, we thought it would be opened long before now."

"What is it?" Steve asked.

The bank manager gestured to the box. "I'll leave it to you to find out," he said then turned and left.

Jacky watched him go then looked forward as Steve walked over to the table. He hurried over to join him as Steve opened the box. Inside was something contained in plastic. Steve took it out and set it aside. Jacky turned it over and saw that it was a shirt. He looked back at Steve when Steve pulled out a stack of bound letters, a postcard with a picture of a mountain on the top. Steve set that aside also, grabbing a folded up piece of paper that was at the bottom. Jacky looked inside the now empty box then looked back at Steve.

Steve was holding the paper out to him. "That's called a confession note," he said, nodding to the paper.

Jacky looked at the paper then reached out and took it. He unfolded it and turned it so he could read it. It wasn't long, but it was the deepest confession Jacky had ever read. It was one man admitting his love for another man. And it was obviously the first time admitting it out loud, even on paper. Ennis Del Mar had been madly in love with Jack Twist. Jacky lowered the paper, not knowing what to think or even how to feel about this.

"Explains why Jack Twist was hated by your family, huh?" Steve said, breaking the silence. "Two men back in those days wasn't as accepted as it is nowadays."

Jacky put the note down with the other items from the safe deposit box. "Do I really need to know more than that?" he asked. Part of him still wanted to visit Brokeback Mountain, though. Had that been the place the two had fallen in love at?

"It's your call," Steve said. "Might be enough for today, though." Jacky just nodded. Steve gathered up the items. "Let's head back to the ranch." He turned and led the way out.

to be continued...