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He got the message though, because he saw Percy already on his horse waiting and he rolled his eyes again. “I should add patience to my list,” Albie muttered as he swung himself up into the saddle on Ox. “We’ll be back after lunch tomorrow. If I don’t throttle him first,” he said, giving a nod toward Percy.
“You would never,” Percy said with a laugh, turning Bandit toward the gate. Albie would put his hands on Percy in a number of ways, but never in anger, and they both knew it. “Time’s a wasting, boss.”
He gave Bandit a nudge and headed off in a trot, tipping his hat at Des and Robert. Albie followed him, and given he had Minnie tethered to Ox, Percy took the liberty of opening the gate and closing it behind them when Albie went through.
“You’re in a good mood today,” he said as they began the ride down the road.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he replied. “I ain’t ever been happier, Albie. I got a job. I got friends. I eat like a king, three meals a day. I got this view.” He gestured to the misty trees, the mountains, the valley, then he looked over at Albie. “And I got you.”
Albie shifted in his saddle. “Oh. Yes, well...”
“Yes, well, what?”
Albie’s cheeks were a little pink and he smiled. “Do you really think the king eats wallaby stew?”
Percy laughed, incredulous. “That’s what you took from that?”
“You said you eat like the king.”
“I said a king. Not the king. And anyway, the King of England should be so lucky.”
Albie laughed, and after a few moments of riding in silence, he said, “I’m happy I’ve got you too.”
“Did you ever think it was possible?” Percy asked. He still couldn’t believe it himself some days. “And that we’re free to talk about such things when it’s just you and me.”
And it was just them. There was no one else around for miles.
Albie’s cheeks were still pink. If it was from embarrassment or the cold, Percy wasn’t sure. “I never thought it was possible, no. To be honest, I never thought of it at all. I never thought much past my next meal or the next chore my father gave me. I never thought much of my future. I just assumed it’d be me and my father on the farm forever. I thought we’d just get by, ya know?”
Percy nodded.
“But then that was cut away,” Albie said. “And when everything seemed dark and pointless, I met this man, not much younger than me. He was smart and had fire in his blue eyes and a smile that knocked my heart around.”
Percy smiled at him. “Me?”
Albie laughed. “Yes, you. Who else? Looking like something from a dream. One of my teenaged daydreams where I knew thinking of men wasn’t right but imagining women felt more wrong. I just didn’t know why.”
“But now you know.”
“Oh, yes. Very much.”
Percy chuckled. “Same. I haven’t ever felt so right than when I’m with you.” He smiled as they rode, at the smell of eucalypt and pine fresh in the cold damp air, the birdsong in the trees around them. “I sure do hope the hotel only has one room available.”
Albie laughed. “I don’t much care if they do or don’t,” he said, shifting again in his saddle. “I’m only paying for one room whether they like it or not. The smaller the bed the better.”
Percy groaned, his belly tightening at the thought. “You keep talking about that and this saddle will do me no favours. We might have to find somewhere to tie the horses up along the way, away from the road, maybe a gully somewhere and you can make good on your promises.”
Albie laughed at that, but he didn’t say no.
Percy was almost disappointed when they eventually rode into Alpine Falls that they hadn’t found themselves a private moment along the way. But he sure was looking forward to tonight.
Chapter Fifteen
They saw their horses to the saloon stables, made sure they were fed and watered, then went inside to do much the same for themselves.
Albie had been half tempted to spend the afternoon in their room upstairs, but he knew they had all night for that. There were other rooms available but he opted for only one. After all, it wasn’t uncommon for men to share a room to cut the costs.
Those men probably didn’t share a bed or share their bodies the way Albie and Percy did, but the woman behind the bar didn’t ask for any such details, and Albie certainly wasn’t offering them.
