Texas Fall Read Online Free PDF

Riley was neither here nor there. Jack and Riley were forever, and
nothing from the past would destroy that. Riley considered two options: he
could tease Jack and pull this out for a long time, in which case he could see
his big cowboy all kinds of embarrassed, or he could just put Jack out of his
misery now. He chose the latter; after all he loved his husband too much to
fuck around with his head.
    “I’m thinking back to the
interview, and he never once mentioned your name or used any kind of connection
to you or Beth to get the job. He was just honest and enthusiastic, and he has
a very good instinct for the oil business. You know what sold me on him?”
    “What?”
    “I handed him a map, and
he set it out on the floor.”
    Jack pulled his hands out
of his pockets and tugged Riley close to him. “Just like you,” he said with a
hitch in his voice. “Come to think of it, he reminds me of you in a lot of
ways, the fire in his belly… He was wasted at Santone.”
    “Apparently he knocked Josiah
Junior to the floor after an inappropriate pass.”
    Jack appeared suitably
impressed. “Yep, he’s just like you.”
    They kissed briefly.
“Thank you for telling me,” Riley said.
    “I could give you a list
if you like, of the guys I’ve—”
    “Hell no,” Riley
interrupted. “’Cause then you’d want my list, and hell, that list isn’t
pretty.”
    Hand in hand they
retreated to the house, Hayley looking up when they came in. “You okay?” she
asked with a small frown. The question was for both of them, but she was
looking at Jack.
    Riley deliberately leaned
down and kissed Jack on the cheek, and she relaxed and smiled.
    “Everything is fine.” Then
he slid into the chair opposite and turned her book to face him. “History, eh?”
he asked. And all too soon he was embroiled in a discussion about the Cold War
and relaxing back into being a daddy.
    Jack watched for a while,
then left when Liam came in with soil samples for analysis. The two of them
left discussing alkali counts, and Riley didn’t think he could be any more in
love with his gruff tough cowboy. But somehow, tonight, seeing the
vulnerability and the honesty in Jack made him feel like the luckiest man
alive.
     

Chapter 4
    The days until the court
case dragged for Jack, let alone poor Liam, who grew more and more tense as the
days approached. Marcus not only lived in the apartment with Liam, but he also
made odd trips out to the ranch at the weirdest of times of the day, and Jack
knew he was checking in on Liam.
    Jack hadn’t officially
told Liam he was taking a trip down south with him or that Robbie was going as
well. He’d arranged for someone to cover the ranch, and when that final piece
of the puzzle fell into place, Neil promising to come oversee everything, it
was time for Jack to tell Liam exactly what was happening.
    He found Liam cleaning out
Solo’s stall, singing something under his breath and in a world of his own.
    “Can I have a word, Liam?”
Jack asked. He wished he’d made more noise in his approach, but it was still comical
when Liam jumped so high he nearly ended up hitting his head on the low beams.
    “Jesus,” he cursed, then
placed a hand over his mouth when he realized what he’d said in front of Jack.
    Jack held up his hands in
a gesture of apology. “Sorry.”
    “No, I’m sorry,” Liam
immediately replied. He was always doing that, apologizing for things that he
had no control over, like jumping because he was surprised, or like yesterday
when he’d been singing and Robbie asked him to sing quieter ’cause he was
scaring the horses. Robbie had been joking, but even Jack couldn’t fail to
notice that Liam had gotten a hell of a lot quieter since then.
    “Can we talk?” Jack asked
again and watched as Liam placed the shovel carefully to one side and brushed
himself down. He was a little pale, and added to his jumpiness, he looked like
the axe was going to fall.
    “Yes, sir.”
    Jack sighed inwardly.