The Tin Star Read Online Free PDF Page A

laughed and tossed her a piece. “Here you go, pretty girl.”
    By the time he got Fred’s bowls to the laundry room right off the kitchen, the coffee was ready. He poured two cups and sat down at the table to wait. He didn’t know what the kid took in his coffee, so he left it black.
    Jamie came back and flopped down in the seat across from him. He glanced at the laundry room where Fred was eating and smiled. “She convince you she was starving to death?”
    “Nah. Just thought she deserved a little something. She’s a good dog.”
    “Yes, she is. You don’t mind having her in the house?”
    Ethan took a sip of coffee and shook his head. “No. I miss not having a dog around. It damned near broke my heart when Mutt died, but I’ve been thinking about getting another. I teeter between missing the companionship and keeping my heart intact. Know what I mean?”
    “Yeah. It’d just kill me if something happened to Fred. Fortunately, she’s only a year old, so we’ve still got a lot of years together.”
    Ethan looked at the large German Shepherd and let out a low whistle. “Damn, she’s gonna be big! You know big dogs grow until they’re two, right?”
    Jamie grabbed his coffee and took a sip. “Yup, I know. She ever grows into her paws, she’s gonna be a monster.”
    “You got that right.” Ethan sipped from his mug. “You have a female dog named Fred and a mare named George. I know George is short for Georgia, but you keep it up, you’re going to have people thinking you’ve got some perverse fondness for giving females male names.” He winked.
    Jamie grinned. “Fred is short for Frederica. I figured she’s a German Shepherd, so she should have a German name. I went online and researched German girls’ names. I liked Frederica, but it’s a mouthful so I call her Fred for short.” Suddenly sober, he glanced at Ethan. “Besides, now people will just attribute it to the fact that I like men better than women.”
    Ethan leaned back in his chair and studied him. Jamie’s body was long and lean, muscled without being bulky. At present, Jamie looked several years older than his twenty-one years. The Killian black hair that had a tendency to curl when it got long was hanging in his eyes, which looked tired. There were also bags under those pretty peepers, which were a paler version of his brother’s, a crystal-clear blue so light they appeared almost colorless at certain angles. His dark eyebrows and high cheekbones emphasized his good looks, and he had a strong chin, complete with a shallow cleft. A bit of stubble that hadn’t been there this afternoon covered his cheeks, and though he was tan from being out in the sun, his complexion was otherwise fair. John’s younger brother had grown up into a damned fine-looking man, and the fact that he was exhausted didn’t diminish those looks any.
    Ethan’s gut clenched at his thoughts. Why had he never seen the kid as a man before? Never mind. This wasn’t the time.
    “Jamie, I won’t lie to you. I don’t think your being gay should be anybody’s business but your own. Still, you know how damned ornery your daddy is. You should have known what he’d do if he found out.”
    Jamie started to argue, but Ethan held up his hand. “Let me finish. I think you should have stayed in the closet, figuratively speaking, but you damn sure don’t deserve how you’ve been treated. Not just by your daddy, but by Carl and Jeff, too. Hell, it even pisses me off that John didn’t stand up for you to your daddy right away.” Ethan suddenly grinned and took another sip of his coffee. “But he’d probably be living here and working with us, too, if he did.”
    Jamie smiled, but it didn’t reach those blue eyes. “Yeah. Hell, I was just surprised that John didn’t take issue with me. I kind of expected Julia to be supportive, but I really thought John would be as mad as Daddy. I guess he probably feels like you ... that I should have kept it to myself.”
    Ethan