Page 1 of Head Above Water
ChapterOne
Sometimes, livingin the same town your entire life really sucked. Yeah, everyone knew you and said hello on the street, but that also meant that everyone knew you… and told your mama whenever they thought you were doing something you shouldn’t. Even when you’re a grown man and should be able to make your own damned decisions. And those attitudes become really well ingrained, so you do what folks expect of you, and you don’t rock the boat. That’s other people’s destiny. They got to leave Willford, Wyoming, and go explore the outside world, maybe go to college or have a chance to travel. But not him. Hazard Wagoner never got those chances—not ever—and from the number of stalls filled with horseshit-wet bedding, it didn’t look like he was ever going to. So he stayed in the box that had been carved out for him, and he did his best to ignore the feelings he knew others wouldn’t accept. He never even looked too long at another boy in case someone saw and it got back to his mama—or hell, around the rest of the town.
Not that Hazard ever expected anything different. At least they had a home and never had to worry about where their next meal was coming from.
His mama was smart. She worked as the cook at the H and L Ranch, but she also helped Mr. Maverick with the books. “Son, always be learning and make yourself valuable.” Mama started out in the kitchen but went to night school for bookkeeping. Then once she had finished, casually mentioned to Helene—Mrs. Maverick to him—that she thought she could help Mr. Maverick and the business. She got a raise and had been helping with the books ever since. That was his mama: she made sure they alwayshad a roof over their head and food on the table, even if that roof and food belonged to someone else.
He paused in the shoveling and pulled his hat off his head, letting the air cool him for a few seconds. Then he plopped it back on and got back to work as the two Maverick sons strode into the barn. Hazard kept his head down and worked all the harder, trying like hell not to peek up toward the brim of his hat to get a look.
“How you doing?” the older brother, Bryce, asked, and Hazard nodded, putting the final shovel of muck into the wheelbarrow. Then he leaned the shovel against the stall divider and hefted the handles. He hurried out of the barn and dumped the load before returning, getting a good look as he maneuvered back to the stall.
Bryce Maverick was tall, broad-shouldered, and had sun-kissed blond hair that reached his shoulders. As if he knew Hazard were watching—and he couldn’t, since he was turned away, giving Hazard a grand view of his legs and butt in jeans that should be declared illegal, they were so tight—he pulled his hat off and shook his head, the brushed, shiny hair flowing back and forth. Damn, he was beautiful, that was the only word that described it. Not that it mattered. Even if Bryce showed any inclination his way, he was the owner’s son and way off-limits.
Hazard lowered his gaze, got to the stall, and cleaned out the last of the soiled bedding before hefting in bales of straw and spreading it out over the stall floor. Then he went to gather his tools, but the shovel was gone. He looked around, then left the stall, closing the door. Figuring he must have left it outside, he wheeled the barrow to the next stall, opened the door, and nearly fell forward.
“Don’t be a Hazard,” the younger Maverick son, Willard, called out, snickering.
“God, you’re such a child.” Bryce’s voice floated over the wall. “Can’t you ever grow up?” he added sharply.
“It was just a joke.”
Hazard could almost see Willard rolling his eyes. But Hazard wiped his head where he’d hit the side of the stall, grateful that there was no blood and that it didn’t hurt too bad, and then returned to work.
“Hey… what the hell,” Willard snapped, and Hazard picked up the shovel as the protests grew softer as they left the barn. A splash followed, drifting in from outside the window. “You asshole!”
“It was just a joke,” Bryce said, mimicking his brother almost exactly, and a few seconds later, he strolled back into the barn. Hazard smiled to himself and got right back to work. He had plenty to do, and no one was going to shovel the shit for him.
Bryce’s head and face poked up over the stall divider. “Sorry about him, Hazard. He isn’t fit to be out with people yet and needed to cool the hell off.” He shook his head slowly.
“Thanks, but don’t get yourself in trouble on my account.” Willard had always been an ass and covered his antics as jokes. Hazard figured that he was just a bully at heart, but like the rest of them, he couldn’t step too far out of line, so he tried to pass it off as a bit of fun, which his behavior rarely was.
When Bryce came into the stall behind him, shoveling and using a second wheelbarrow, Hazard paused and turned to him, catching Bryce’s intense blue eyes.
“You looked like you could use some help.”
“You don’t have to.” He blinked and wiped his forehead once more, this time coming up with blood on his hand.
“Let me look at that,” Bryce said as he pulled off his gloves. He drew closer, and Hazard stilled, inhaling Bryce’s rich musk for a few seconds. Part of him wanted to close his eyes, but damn, the muscled view was too up close for him to miss. “It’snot too bad. But we should put something on it.” He stepped back. “Come on. There’s a first aid kit in the tack room that we can use.” He led the way out, and Hazard followed. Once they were in the tack room, Bryce got out the kit as Hazard leaned against one of the racks.
He closed his eyes as Bryce cleaned the wound and put a bandage on it, his touch surprisingly gentle for a man who spent his days working the family ranch. The Maverick boys had it all, or at least that’s how it seemed to Hazard. Their parents owned and ran the biggest and most prosperous ranch in the county, and they didn’t seem to want for anything. Willard had always seemed spoiled and kind of mean, but Bryce worked hard. He was one of those people who led from the front and didn’t ask others to do stuff that he hadn’t done already.
Hazard slowly opened his eyes, finding Bryce looking back. He swallowed hard and quickly averted his eyes in case Bryce saw Hazard’s deepest secret. “I need to get back to work or Danny is going to have my ass.” He was the foreman and one of the people Hazard wanted to stay on the good side of.
He left the tack room, which was starting to feel really warm, and went back to cleaning out the stall. To his surprise, Bryce joined him again, clearing away the muck. The stall was big enough for two of them to work, but whenever they were in it together, the walls seemed to grow closer and the air hotter, even in the cool of the morning.
They didn’t speak, and Hazard was fine with that. Loads went to the pile, and once Hazard swept the stall and spread the lime, they added fresh straw and moved on.
As the day went on, the air warmed. Hazard kept expecting Bryce to knock off and leave the rest to him, but even as the heat of the day kicked in, he continued working until his T-shirt clung to his chest and belly. Hazard swallowed hard, trying not to notice how the fabric became more and more transparent.
“I’ll get some water,” Hazard said when they were approaching the last set of stalls and hurried to the cooler in the tack room. He grabbed a couple bottles of water and returned just as Bryce stretched while pulling off his shirt. At twenty-four, to Hazard’s twenty-two, he had all the appearance of a man: strong chest, arms that could lift just about anything, and golden tanned skin that glistened with sweat. Hazard didn’t look down at himself, knowing he paled by comparison. Yeah, he did physical work, but he always looked slighter and skinnier than everyone else.
A shower of water hit Bryce from the side, and for a second, Hazard wondered if he was in one of those Western cologne commercials like on TV. “See how you like it,” Willard growled, and then took off.
Bryce stood still and then shook his mane of hair, sending water everywhere. “I was hot anyway,” Bryce called back.
Truer words were never spoken.
“I’m fine,Mom. I don’t need to go with you to your church group to meet people.” His mother, Charlotte, loved to try to get him to come along with her.