AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Selestino went on, “Not just Binx. They also need a doctor. Right now, they’re relying on the vet who’s been at the ranch for the animals. He patches people up when they need it. He can’t take on both, once the place gets running. And, of course, they’d also build a little chapel, so those practicing their faith can worship.”
The two men on the couch stared at him, dumbstruck, it seemed, but Binx’s head rose as his eyes widened incredibly. “You want us to move up there?”
“I think that’s the hope, yes. In you three are the answers to some of the biggest needs my uncles have there.”
Binx scrambled to his feet and started to slowly pace as it seemed his partners were too stunned to think at all.
“I mean, it would be great, finally, a place to cook all the time, my own place, well, mostly, I guess, the kitchen, but still…” Binx stopped and asked Sel, “What cuisine?”
“I think that would be up to you, but the place must fit the western theme. It’s going to look like an old west town, only one part of it, the…adult’s only part, will be separated from the regular town.”
“Wild west! Oh, that’s brilliant. I could do a lot with that,” he said, and then continued pacing.
“Binx,” Mark said, gently. “We’d have to leave here. Do you realize that?”
Binx stopped and cocked his head. “Well, of course, Sir. It wouldn’t be forever, though. And our friends could visit, right?”
“Of course. It’s a resort for gay men, but it’s also for their families. My uncles went from having it just for, well, people into a certain lifestyle, to a place where families could go so that the men parenting could be free of bigotry and just enjoy a vacation in a beautiful place. There’ll be a guest ranch, horses to ride, hikes. There are lakes, and Blaine was talking about having pony rides for the littler kids. At night, the town would shut down and the adult part would come alive for the parents, and they’ll be daycares and babysitters, things like that.”
Binx stared pleadingly at his partners. “Sirs, please?”
“Binx,” Nathan began. “We’re not moving our entire life at the drop of a hat.”
“But you’re only at the clinic three days a week, and you said you were getting anxious to be back full-time. A new church, for Pappy, for you, an office of your own.”
“Yes,” Selestino said. “On the outside, it would look like any country doctor’s office, a shingle hung outside the door, my Uncle Dante said, but inside would be a state-of-the-art medical office with a couple hospital beds, X-ray machine, whatever you want. It’s a long way to any medical office where they are, so it would have to handle a lot of different injuries.”
It was Nathan’s turn to pace. “My own office, whatever I’d need…”
“My own kitchen, making all my food,” Binx countered as they passed one another in front of the fireplace.
Mark, or Pappy, laughed at them both. “How about we take a trip up there to…check out the place? Then we can decide.”
Nathan looked at him and asked, “What about our friends?”
“I just asked that, Nathan, my love. Binx answered they could visit. We could come home to visit too, and it wouldn’t be forever. We won’t even sell our house. How about this? We go there and check it out, see if we even like the area. If we do, we set a limit on how long we’d be there, a year, say. Then, we set to searching out for our replacements here, and then our replacements there when we want to retire and move back home.” Mark looked at each of them as he added, “And this is home, and will always be home.”
Binx literally bounced in place, clapping his hands. “An adventure!”
Selestino fell in love with Binx at that moment, seeing the joy radiating off him. Not like he wanted to be with him, but as a friend, a lovely new friend. Binx would never play poker well, never lie well. His emotions were painted across his face. Selestino had been around too many men who wouldn’t understand that kind of face value.
“From what I’ve been told, it’s been an adventure from the start. I must disclose some of those things to you three.”
Binx stopped mid-clap and stared at him. “What?”
Nathan tugged Binx over to him and sat on the couch, taking Binx onto his lap just as Mark sat beside him. “Go ahead, Selestino.”
Swallowing again, he reminded himself that he was a Carrillo man, and he had a long line of them to follow. He’d speak clearly, he’d be strong. “There was a man there who killed people. The man was the illegitimate son of the former owner, out for some kind of strange revenge. He didn’t directly kill his father but facilitated his death.”
“And? Was he caught?” Nathan asked.
“No. He took off after the men currently living in the former owner’s farmhouse on the property. His former home, I should say,” he said, stumbling over his thoughts a bit. Again, he straightened his back and moved along. “He had a bunker there, a panic room. That’s where he was leaving the men he’d kidnapped.”
Binx wrapped his arms around Nathan’s neck as he quietly asked, “He hurt people?”
“A few, yes. We’re not even sure what he was planning for the others, if they were to be killed too or not. Since the panic room was found, however, he’s not been seen. Dante and his security detail have made the ranch as protected as a place that big can be. If you go, even for a tour, you’ll have to be escorted for now. My uncle works tirelessly to find him.”
Binx laughed a little and exchanged looks with both his partners. “We’ve…been through things like that.”
