Cattle Valley Mistletoe CV2 (11 page)

Hal shook his head. “I was told by the Reverend Marshall and other members of the congregation that she died because I hadn’t prayed hard enough.” Ada made a sound in her throat and covered her mouth. “Oh my God,” she finally said. “I had no idea. When Reverend Marshall called to ask us if we’d take you in, he simply said you were a sullen, unfriendly sort and that we’d have our hands full. Dave and I couldn’t have children, so we thought God had brought you to us by way of Reverend Marshall. I had no idea a man of God could treat a child that way.” Feeling a tear escape down his cheek, Hal quickly wiped it away and cleared his throat.

These people wanted him, despite what Marshall had told them. He had spent ten years living under their roof and had never reciprocated their love. Looking into Ada’s eyes now, Hal had no doubt despite the way he’d treated them, at least Ada had grown to love him. Suddenly it didn’t matter anymore, none of it.

Casey had been right. It wasn’t God he was angry with, but rather his mother and her people. “Just tell me one thing. Would my mother have lived had she gone to the doctor for treatment instead of using prayer to heal her?” Ada sighed heavily and stared into the black brew. “Maybe for a while longer, but she would’ve passed regardless. She had acute myeloid leukaemia.” He didn’t know whether that made him feel better or worse, but it told him that his ability to pray had nothing to do with it.

“Would you like to stay for supper?”

70

Hal looked at the clock above the stove. It was only one o’clock. He knew they ate supper at five on Sundays. “I can’t today, but I’d like to bring Casey over to meet you sometime within the next couple of weeks. Uh, if you think it would be okay with Dave?”

“What are you doing for Christmas dinner?” she asked, a smile warming her face.

“Well, Casey will have services in the morning but nothing after that. Do you think the two of you would like to come and hear his sermon? You could come over afterward and we could all have a nice dinner. Maybe you should plan on just spending the weekend. I know I should’ve invited you over before.” Hal buried his face in his hands. “I’ve been so screwed up for so long.” He looked at Ada. “Please give me another chance.” Ada dabbed at the tears in her eyes and scooted her chair back. Coming around the table, she pulled Hal out of his chair and wrapped him in an embrace. “I’ll have to talk to Dave of course, but I’d love to hear your young man’s sermon on Christmas morning.” Sniffling, Hal nodded. “Casey will be so pleased to have you there, and so will I.” Ada looked up at him. “You mean you’ll be there?”

“Yeah, but I have to make a stop on the way home. There’s someone else I need to ask for forgiveness.”

By the time Hal pulled into the garage it was going on nine o’clock. After giving Casey a call, he’d decided to stay at Dave and Ada’s for dinner after all. As he stepped out of the truck, the door to the kitchen opened and Casey was silhouetted to perfection. With the bright light behind him, he almost seemed to glow.

“You okay?” Casey asked, holding out his arms.

Hal wasted no time going to him. “I feel better at this moment than I ever have in my life.” He surprised Casey by picking him up and carrying him into the bedroom.

Once naked under the covers, Hal straddled Casey’s lap. “I want you.” Leaning forward, Hal pulled open the bedside drawer. Instead of the box of condoms he was expecting to find, there was an envelope beside the bottle of lube. Hal looked at the envelope before looking at Casey.

“Sam brought it by the hall on his way home from the clinic,” Casey winked. “I think he must’ve known we’d want the information as soon as possible.” Hal looked at the back of the envelope. “You didn’t open it?” 71

“No,” Casey replied, with a slight shake to his head. “It wasn’t mine to open.” Hal smiled, loving his man more every minute they were together. He wouldn’t have minded Casey opening it, but it was nice that he respected Hal’s privacy enough to resist the temptation.

“But if you don’t hurry and open it, I’m gonna take it away from you,” Casey teased.

Ripping the seam of the envelope, Hal looked at the paper inside. “Damn, we’re going to save a fortune on rubbers.” He grinned down at Casey.

Casey’s brows shifted in question. Pouring lube onto his fingers, Hal circled Casey’s tight pucker. “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to make love bareback. I can’t wait anymore. I want to feel my naked cock buried inside you.” Casey sighed and rolled his eyes. “If you must,” he said dramatically, ruining the effect by letting out a loud moan as Hal entered him with one finger. After a quick stretch, Hal used the remaining lube on his hand to slick down his own cock. Positioning the bare crown of his cock at Casey’s hole, he looked into his lover’s eyes. “I love you,” he said as he slowly pushed his length inside Casey’s tight channel.

“Oh shit,” Hal groaned. His cock was made to be inside Casey’s body. The pleasure was magnified without the tight sheath of the condom surrounding it. This was so much better than he’d ever imagined it could be. He was glad he’d never slipped and rode any of his other lovers bareback. This was…

“Oh Christ,” he moaned as he began pumping in and out of Casey’s sweet hole. This was more than he’d ever hoped for.

Using the hand on his uninjured arm, Casey began stroking his own cock. “Feels good…harder,” Casey panted, moving his head from side to side.

Never one to disappoint, Hal picked up speed, snapping his hips against Casey’s ass, the sound of his balls slapping flesh on each forward thrust.

“Gonna,” Casey said in warning.

“Paint me,” Hal said watching the head of Casey’s cock. The first spurt had Hal’s sac drawing up tighter. By the third stream of white seed, Hal couldn’t wait any longer and let loose a loud growl that echoed throughout the room as he emptied his cum deep inside the man he loved.

Not wanting to separate from Casey, Hal fell forward, but stopped himself with his forearms before crushing his small man. Still half-hard, he relished the feel of Casey’s channel slicked with his cum.

72

Finding Casey’s mouth, Hal kissed him, pushing his tongue deep. “Next time I want you inside me.”

Casey’s eyes went wide in the dim light of the bedroom. “What? I’ve never…”

“Neither have I, but I want to with you.” Hal ran his hands over Casey’s chest, pinching and pulling at the small pebbled discs. “Touch me,” Hal moaned.

Reaching down, Casey ran his fingertips down the crack of Hal’s ass. When he brushed across and then circled his hole, Hal moaned. Oh yeah, he wanted it. He’d never even imagined allowing anyone to do this to him, and the fact that this time, with this man, it had been his idea made it all the better.

Hal looked at the clock and grinned. They had plenty of time before morning.

73

Going into work the following morning, Casey smiled up at Hal. “Walking kinda funny this morning, you sore?”

“Just enough to drive my cock crazy. I feel like I still have you buried deep inside me.” Hal shook his head as they neared the door. “Don’t ask me how I’m going to be able to keep my mind on work.”

“I have faith in you.” Casey unlocked and opened the door.

“Wow, you guys got a lot done while I was gone,” Hal said looking around the room.

“Well, we were hoping we’d be able to start painting today, but we didn’t have a chance to get stuff taped off, so that’s first on the list.” Casey gave Hal a kiss before walking over and grabbing two rolls of blue tape. Handing one to his man, he bounced a little.

“Not really sure how this is going to work with me being pretty much one handed, but I’ll give it a try.”

“Why don’t you go around and wipe the walls down instead? I can start on the tape.” Wipe the walls down? “What?”

“You have to make sure there’s no dust on the walls before you can start putting on primer. Just go around, make sure all the seams are smooth, then check that all the nail divots have been filled and sanded. After that’s good, run some cheesecloth over the walls to get up any stray dust. It’ll make the paint spread better.”

“Wow, you’re like a builder-man extraordinaire. I was just gonna start slapping some paint up.” Casey actually knew most of what Hal suggested, but he liked the look on the bigger man’s face when he was trying to explain it in layman’s terms.

“I forgot to pick up the paint. I was going to do it while everyone was in church but got sidetracked and went to see Ada instead.” Hal looked at his watch. “The hardware store won’t open for another hour, I’ll tape until then.” Casey nodded and picked up the package of cheesecloth. He and the rest of the guys had already made sure the walls were cleaned and smooth, but Casey went ahead and made a show of doing what Hal told him.

74

As he performed the mindless work of wiping down everything, Casey thought about the decorations for Christmas Eve. That brought up another question. “Are we gonna get a tree?”

“Huh?” Hal asked from across the room.

“A tree? Do you put up a tree every year?”

“Yeah, I usually go out in the back property and cut one a couple days before Christmas.” Hal put down the tape and walked over, taking Casey into his arms. “We could do it over the weekend if you want?”

“No, I wanna do it after we get home later. Unless you’d rather string the popcorn and cranberry’s before we cut the tree, which would be okay, too.”

“I have boxes of decorations, babe.”

Casey stood on his tip-toes and pulled Hal’s head down for a kiss. “I’m sure your decorations are beautiful, but I want a tree of just you and me.” Casey rested his head against Hal’s big chest. “I know it probably sounds stupid, but I hope this is the first Christmas of many for us. I want us to start our own traditions, and one of them is to have only ornaments we buy together or make together. Since a lot of our money’s going to pay for new wallboard, I thought we could do it the old fashioned way.”

“Okay.” Hal kissed the top of Casey’s head. “But you’re not helping pay for the sheetrock.”

“Am, too.”

“Are not. It was my screw-up. I’ll take care of it.”

“I thought we were going to be a team?” Casey started to pull away, but Hal pulled him back into an embrace.

“We are a team, but for my own peace of mind, I need to do this one thing on my own.” Casey knew Hal still felt guilty over the fire. He was sandwiched between wanting to contribute and letting Hal do what he needed to. “On one condition,” Casey finally said.

“You show me the receipts so I can send them to the insurance company.”

“Deal,” Hal agreed. “I’m going to get the paint. Anything you need while I’m out?”

“Yeah, you can stop by Kyle’s and see if he made any of those sticky pecan rolls. While you’re at it, order dinner rolls, and some pies for Christmas day.” Hal nodded and walked out the door. “Wait,” Casey said running to catch up with him. “If Ada and Dave will be 75

staying for several days, you might see about a couple of coffee cakes or something for in the morning,” Casey yelled across the parking lot.

He could see Hal laughing as he waved a hand in the air, letting Casey know he’d heard him. Once he was alone, there was no longer a need to pretend he was wiping down the walls, so Casey pulled out his phone and called Nate about the decorations for the Christmas Eve party.

“Hello? Kyle?” Hal called, walking into the empty bakery.

“Back here,” Kyle answered. “Is that you, Hal?”

“Yeah.” Hal went through the swinging doors to the kitchen. “Where are you?”

“I’m back here putting a new lock on the door.”

Passing the industrial oven, Hal spotted Kyle wrestling with the back door to the alley.

“What’s up?”

Kyle sighed and held up part of the dead bolt lock. “I’m trying to refit this door with a dead bolt, but it’s not being very kind to me.”

“Here, let me help.” Hal took the lock and Kyle wheeled his chair out of the way. “So why do you need a new one?”

“I heard someone down hear rattling my door overnight. It really gave me the creeps.”

“Don’t blame you. Did you call the police?” Hal punched the old lock out and used the template to line up the pilot holes for the new one.

“I fell asleep on the couch. I heard the noise, but by the time I got into my chair and over to the phone, it stopped. I went ahead and came down but nothing seemed disturbed.” Hal shook his head. “You should’ve called them instead of coming down. What if the person had broken in?”

“Then I’d be a sitting duck whether I was up or down. Better down here where I can at least try to get out the front or back door.”

Looking at Kyle he forgot sometimes how helpless he must feel at times like that. He just seemed so capable in his every day life. “Next time, call the police, or better yet, call Gill.”

“Why would I call him?”

76

Hal drilled the pilot holes and fitted the lock into place. Picking up the screw he started installing it as he thought about Gill. “He lives in town and he probably would’ve been here faster than the police.”

Kyle picked at a loose thread on his apron. “Why would he do that?” Closing his eyes briefly, Hal hoped Gill would forgive him. “Because I think he’s kinda sweet on you.”

“Really?” Kyle’s big blue eyes widened before smiling. Hal didn’t remember ever seeing those deep dimples in Kyle’s cheeks before. It was a good look on him.

With the last screw in place, Hal checked the lock. “Why don’t you come over and try it out.” He stepped back, giving Kyle room to manoeuvre his chair.

“Works like a charm. Thanks a lot.”

Hal picked up the screwdriver and drill and put them back into the small tool box. “I came by to get something sweet for Casey and order stuff for Christmas.”

“Follow me,” Kyle said wheeling toward the front of the store.

Before placing his order, Hal tore a sheet off the order pad and wrote Gill’s home, business and cell phone numbers down. “Here, keep these somewhere close and call Gill if you hear any more noise.” Hal grinned, and twirled the pencil. “Or if you just want to talk to someone.”

Taking the paper, Kyle put it into his pocket. “I’m sure if Gill wanted to talk to me he’d have already called.”