Morning Side of the Mountain-7 Author: Elsa Rose Plot bunny and main researcher – Judy Dedicated to: Acacia and Jude “Are you sure that you have the number of the hotel?” Brian asked Gus once again. “And you have my cell number...right?” “Geeze Dad, I’m not a little kid. If Auntie Em or I need you, we’ll find you. Besides, you’re only going for five days. I’m sure Molly and I will think of something to do,” he grinned mischievously at his father. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Brian sighed. His idea had seemed like a good one at the time, he wasn’t so sure now. He noticed Gus and Molly had been getting closer and closer in the last couple of weeks. “Dad, just go. Buy tons of useless shit and have it shipped back here. Have fun,” Gus instructed, tongue in cheek smile on his face much like his father. “The stone mason will be here when I’m gone. I’ve left detailed instructions with Molly but I want you to check on what’s happening as well.” “Yes,Dad.” “Murray the mule hasn’t been looking good. Keep an eye on him and if Arnie thinks he needs it call the vet.” “Yes, Dad.” “I want all of the T’s neutered as well while I’m gone. Emmett said he’d look after taking them to the vet, but I don’t want him putting it off. We don’t need to be knee deep in kittens.” “Yes, Dad.” “I’ve left Emmett with a power of attorney should anything happen to you and you need a hospital.” “Yes, Dad.” Brian looked at Gus carefully after that last ‘yes dad’. “You aren’t even listening to me are you?” “Yes, Dad,” Gus replied automatically while staring at the computer screen. “Consider yourself smacked upside the head Sonny Boy,” Brian growled. “This isn’t funny. I’ve never left you alone before.” “Dad, you never lived with me before. I got left alone all the time. I baby sit JR for gawds sake. Here I have Grandpa Arnie, Auntie Emmett and Molly keeping an eye on me. Not to mention every damn redneck hillbilly and their dogs. Besides, I have homework to do, for school and for Justin to keep me busy.” “That’s another thing. I don’t like the fact that Justin will be gone too.” This was thrown in to hopefully make Gus think Brian didn’t know where Justin was going. Gus, being no dummy, rolled his eyes heaven ward and turned to look at his father. “Right,” he said sarcastically. Brian chose to ignore the sarcasm. He turned back to the table where he’d laid his suitcase. “I think I have everything. I’ll call you when I get into New York.” “Yes, Dad,” Gus said and laughed. “I’m not kidding Dad, everything will be fine.” Gus got up from his computer chair to give his father a hug. “It’s not long and I’ll behave myself even if I don’t want to,” he grinned. “See that you do. And Gus, I’d just as soon you or Molly didn’t blab to anyone that I’m away this weekend.” “You mean like Justin,” Gus answered back. He and Molly had already talked it over with Emmett and Grandpa Arnie and decided that they’d let whatever plan Brian had concocted unfold. So none of them were going to tell Justin that Brian was also going to New York. “Yes, like Justin,” Brian admitted. “Cool.” Gus shrugged, “I hope your plan works out okay.” “What plan?” Brian asked. “Like you don’t have a plan,” he shook his head and smiled. “Have fun Dad. Buy me something great and if you should run into any artists, he’ll show you what I need in the way of art supplies.” “Smart mouthed kid.” Brian ruffled Gus’s hair before shutting his suitcase. “I’ll go now.” “Goodbye Dad,” Gus sighed. “Dad, it’ll all be worth it in the end you know. You and Justin have something special together. Not many people have that, but Justin is kind of worried about getting hurt again. I don’t think hiding who he is was the best idea, but that’s what he did. Now the two of you are going to have to work through that. I know that you’re strong enough but you just have to show Justin that’s he’s strong enough.” “How did you get so smart?” Brian laughed. “I take after my dad,” Gus flushed. He was proud of the fact he was so much like his father. His father had always been larger than life for him. Brian smiled, turned and left the barn. He’d already given Emmett instructions and gone over what was happening around the farm for Arnie. Brian got into his jeep and headed down the driveway. Justin had just turned in and was walking by the side of the road. Brian waved to him jauntily, but didn’t stop; his plan had begun. Justin stood and watched Brian disappear before turning to find Gus. He wanted to go over a few things before he left early in the morning for New York. “Hey, Justin,” Gus called from the open barn door. “I was just going over to your place.” “I know, I wanted to talk to your father but I just missed him.” Justin wasn’t sure what he was going to say to Brian, but he wanted the man to give him some time. “Dad’s going to be away for a few days. He left me a list about a mile long of how to survive without him. I think he gave a matching list to Auntie Em and Grandpa Arnie,” Gus laughed. “He thinks I’m still five.” Justin laughed, “Or he thinks you and Molly are moving too fast. She is older than you and should know better.” “That too,” Gus admitted and shrugged. “Molly and I know what we’re doing.” “I’m sure you do,” Justin sighed. “Do you want to walk back through the woods or would you rather drive?” “I don’t mind walking through the woods,” Gus answered. “I’ll get my stuff.” “So where did Brian go?” Justin asked casually as he followed Gus inside. “I mean you never said he was going anywhere.” “Didn’t I? Dad’s been planning this trip for awhile. He wanted to pick up a couple of things for the house that he can’t find here or in the catalogues.” Gus linked his arm through Justin’s. “You’ll be gone the same weekend, but never fear, Molly and I will keep an eye on your place and ours.” “Gee thanks,” Justin said with a laugh. “Is your father driving?” “Where?” Gus was being obtuse. “Wherever he’s going.” “I don’t think so. I imagine he’ll be flying; he hates long drives. You wouldn’t believe the bitching he did on our trip down here. Of course, he was driving that U Haul truck.” “Now that I know Brian, I have to admit Brian Kinney in a U Haul is pretty funny.” Justin smiled remembering the first moment he saw the man of his dreams. “Boys, you better git, there’s a storm a comin’.” Arnie was leading Bethy and Murray into their section of the barn while the hens were following close behind. “We’ll hurray,” Justin said. The words were barely out of his mouth when a clap of thunder sounded, immediately followed by a torrential downpour. Everyone including the animals ran to the barn. Justin and Gus helped Arnie get everyone settled and then the old man turned to Gus. “You be here now, come through ma house and Jai Boy will show you a little secret about this here place.” What secret?” Gus was intrigued. “The farm is very old,” Arnie began, “very old. Mrs. Carpenter was the last of the original family that settled here more than two hundred years ago. Of course, their family name wasn’t Carpenter, that was her husband’s name. Her family name was Kinney.” “Kinney, like my dad?” Gus asked and he looked at Justin. “Did you know about this?” “Not really. I mean I know about the ‘secret’. It’s one of the reasons I bought the property I did and built on it. I’d always promised myself that I’d buy it and it was the first thing I did when I started bringing in money of my own.” He smiled at both Arnie and Gus, “Of course, that isn’t the only secret but that’s Arnie’s story to tell.” “I want to hear everything.” “We have a lesson today.” “Please Justin.” Gus tried to look pathetic and Justin burst out laughing. “That Jai Boy used the same look on me years ago,” Arnie said with a laugh. “First off, I’ll show you something.” He led Gus over to a wall of the barn that really didn’t look any different from the rest of the place. He pushed on a knothole and the wall swung open. “This be taken’ you to the loft and a door just inside the new kitchen,” he grinned. “If you turn left, you be findn’ yourself in my house.” “No shit?” Gus looked through the opening. “That be part of the underground railroad,.” Arnie said, his mind seemed faraway as he looked past Justin and reflected on days gone by. “ Those be hard times.” “And if you go to the very back of Arnie’s place, past the living room and bedrooms, there is a tunnel that takes you to my basement. Of course, it was just a place at the edge of the forest at one time. I made sure it was part of my new house,” Justin told him. “But what about the Kinney part?” he asked. “I think that’s just so cool.” “Now, that I don’t know much of,” Justin shrugged. “Arnie, you never said anything when Brian bought the place?” “Nothin’ to say,” Arnie replied, more taciturn than usual. “He be a Kinney, he’s drawn back home. Always bin Kinney’s here, some better’n others.” Gus and Justin looked at each. “Dad never said anything,” Gus told the two men. “Maybe he didn’t know,” Justin shrugged. “I mean if his parent’s never said anything about his background... What are they like, Brian’s parents?” “Dad’s father died when I was a little kid but his mother is around. She’s kind of harsh and I don’t see much of her. I guess I don’t conform to her way of thinking. It’s easier to stay away from her than to listen to her rant about how dad is going to hell because he’s gay.” “So Brian probably doesn’t know much about his past?” “The Kinney’s weren’t always the friendliest of folks, but they’s hearts were good.” Arnie looked at Gus, “Your daddy has the Kinney heart.” Later when Justin and Gus were walking through the tunnel to avoid the heavy thunderstorm above them, Gus said, “I think we should get the place wired for electricity. I hate being down here with only a flash light.” “It wouldn’t be much of a secret then would it. No one knows about this tunnel except Arnie, you and I. Even Molly doesn’t know about it.” “We could do it,” Gus said. “I mean it can’t be that hard to run some wire and a few lights.” “It’s a long way Gus, almost a quarter of a mile.” “It’s longer up above.” “But this is a direct route, up above has a lot of twists and turns. I think they wanted it that way. A lot of ground can be covered under here that can’t be up above and that was important to get away as quickly as possible.” Justin shined his flashlight up toward the ceiling, the ceiling wasn’t very high, “I guess we could put a few lights on the walls. The ceiling is too low. We could hook into the power at the barn or at my place. No one would ever know.” He looked at Gus and grinned, “Who knows, maybe we’ll find the treasure that’s supposed to be hidden here.” “Wow a treasure,” Gus exclaimed as he could barely control his glee. “I want to know everything about it.” “Arnie will have to tell you. I can’t remember all the details. He used to talk about it to me when I was a kid,” he explained as they’d almost reached the far end of the tunnel. Gus could see a bit of light shining through a crack near the floor where the door didn’t quite reach. “I think you left a light on.” “I always do. This place freaks me out. I don’t use it a lot but when I do, I sure like to know that there’s light somewhere.” “Yeah, light at the end of the tunnel,” Gus giggled at the cliché. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Brian arrived at the hotel in New York after what he would later refer to as the plane ride from hell. He’d ridden a charter flight in a small plane, thinking it would be faster and easier than going to a large airport. He’d have to reconsider for his trip back, although now his jeep was stuck at the small airport near Rocky River. He wasn’t in the best of moods when he found that the hotel Justin had booked his room at was less than a three star. Brian never stayed at anything other than a five star hotel or better. But for this plan to work, Brian had to be at the hotel where Justin was. He’d managed to snag what the hotel referred to as a suite, but to Brian it was slightly upscale from a broom closet, though not by much. He was sure it hadn’t been decorated or perhaps even cleaned thoroughly since the Reagan era. He threw his suitcase on the concave bed and walked into the bathroom, he was startled when a roach scuttled into a crack near the floor when the light went on. “Fuck,” Brian mumbled to himself glad that his shoes were still on. He stared at the brown stained bathtub in dismay and wondered what a standard room must look like. He turned back to survey the ‘suite’ and noticed the bedspread covering the bed had two patches on it and a few mystery stains that made Brian shudder. Where the pillows were supposed to be, was barely a bump; he knew they’d be flat and hard. Time for an executive decision, he thought. He looked out the window to see if he could locate the gallery Justin’s show was at. Brian was in luck, when he spotted the noticeable sign across the street near the corner. Now all he had to do was find a decent hotel nearby. It must be his lucky day he thought when he saw that a Four Seasons was only two blocks away and it was a five star hotel. Brian booked a suite there and then picked up his suitcase and headed back to the lobby to negotiate with the management. A thousand dollars well spent later, they agreed to direct Justin to the Four Seasons when he arrived later that day. Brian sent a silent thanks to the powers that be who made platinum American Express cards as he walked to his new hotel. At the Four Seasons, Brian arranged with the front desk staff to register Justin as if he was expected, but to send him to Brian’s suite, which he would be sharing. He figured it was another hundred dollars well spent. In the suite, he unpacked and then set about arranging for an elaborate dinner. He knew Justin would be hungry, he usually was. When everything was set, Brian changed into blue jeans and a white silk shirt. He was going to check out the gallery where Justin’s work was being shown. It would be interesting to see what the blond had been working on all this time. Brian walked down the busy New York street. He had to admit, he loved the city and the hustle and bustle that was such a big part it. But, when a woman in a hurry brushed into him and continued on her way with a glare and a ‘fuck you’, he realized that the quiet of the country had some valid points too. It would be nice to have a happy medium. The window of the gallery was coming closer and Brian’s eyes widened as he approached. A larger than life picture of him standing bare ass naked, his back to the viewer as he stood by a window staring out at Bethy, was the picture that greeted him. That’s all that was in the window. Brian Kinney naked staring at an old cow who was wearing one daisy tucked behind her ear. Brian wondered why the fuck Justin had put a daisy there. He tried to hide his smile, but couldn’t as he walked inside the gallery. People were bustling around setting up for the show that was taking place later that night. “Excuse me Sir, the gallery is closed until eight tonight,” a woman said as she came up to him. “Sorry but the door was open. I was interested in the painting in the window.” Brian looked around the rest of the gallery with curiosity. “If you’d like to attend the opening tonight, I can give you an invitation.” She turned to a reception desk and found an invitation to hand to Brian. “The artist will be here tonight and tomorrow night. He’s a very interesting and complex person,” she beamed at Brian. Brian took the proffered invitation and looked at it. “Do you have a catalogue for tonight’s opening?” he asked. “Yes, as a matter of fact I do,” she said as she found one and gave it to Brian. “Now, if you’ll excuse me Sir.” She politely opened the door for him silently inviting him to leave. Brian grinned at her, but obliged. He’d be seeing the artist soon and meanwhile he could look through the catalogue. Maybe there were more pictures of his nude body for the world to see or some pervert to buy. Before walking back to the hotel, Brian decided to do a little shopping. It wasn’t often he managed to get to New York and while his wallet was thinner these days, he still could buy a few things besides what he needed for his home in Tennessee. Meanwhile, Justin had managed to get an earlier flight in from Tennessee. He was tired and cranky; he’d counted on being able to persuade Brian to spend this weekend with him only to discover that the man in question was out of town. To top it all off, his hotel told him that they were overbooked, but had made him a reservation at the Four Seasons down the street. He hated being in such a pretentious hotel, but at this late date, he just didn’t have it in him to track down another room, so suitcase being dragged behind him Justin walked to the Four Seasons. On his way there, he was sure he’d seen Brian walking into a men’s boutique on the other side of the street, but he knew he had to be delusional or filled with wishful thinking. “Mr. Taylor,” the concierge greeted him as he walked through the marbled lobby of the Four Seasons. Justin looked around, not sure that the man meant him. “We’ve been expecting you,” he said. “May I take your bag?” Wordlessly, Justin handed over his bag. He didn’t quite understand how the man had recognized him, unaware of the phone call the front desk clerk had just made. “I have to check in,” Justin mumbled. “Yes, Sir, they’re expecting you at the front desk.” He led the way to the check- in counter, bypassing others who were waiting. The concierge snapped his fingers and a clerk appeared complete with a key card to Justin’s room and the reservation slip, all ready for him to sign. Justin signed where he was told. He never questioned why they didn’t ask him for a credit card to imprint to guarantee the charges against the room. Everything was like a dream. He turned away from the desk to follow the concierge. His room was on the twenty third floor. When the man opened the door with the key card he ushered the blond inside, Justin was sure that there had to be some mistake. Fresh flowers graced a cocktail table. A bottle of champagne was chilling in a bucket of ice and a tray of chocolate dipped strawberries sat on the table, dark and white chocolate thick and delicious coating each of the ripe red berries. “There has to be some mistake,” Justin began. He turned around to speak to the man that had accompanied him, only to find that he’d disappeared. Almost at the point of bolting from the room, Justin took one last look and then he caught a whiff of something familiar; it was Brian’s cologne. He couldn’t help but smile at the subterfuge the man had used. Just to be sure, Justin took out his cell phone and hit the numbers for Brian’s cell. He was rewarded with Brian’s voice after only two rings. “Hey Sunshine,” Brian said. “What’s up?” “I’m about twenty three floors up give or take a floor or two,” Justin grinned and Brian could hear the grin. “I’m going to have a shower and then maybe a cold glass of champagne and a few strawberries.” “I’ll join you.” “I was hoping that you would,” Justin sighed happily. “I can’t believe you did all of this.” “You’re worth it, Sunshine,” Brian said softly as he smiled into his cell phone. He was walking quickly toward the hotel anxious to find Justin and begin his weekend, when he tripped over a person sitting on the curb and fell face first onto the sidewalk. Justin heard Brian shout something unintelligible and then the sound of the cell phone hitting the sidewalk, after that there was silence. “BRIAN, BRIAN, BRIAN !” Justin shouted into the dead phone. He threw on his shoes and ran out of the room. The ride down in the elevator seemed to take forever. He kept listening to his phone in case Brian picked it up. He raced outside the hotel and glanced left and right, when he noticed a crowd of people had surrounded someone lying on the sidewalk. He broke through the crowd to find Brian on the sidewalk, his head bleeding, but his eyes were fluttering open. Justin sighed in relief, “Brian, what the fuck happened?” “Sunshine?” Brian tried to sit up but fell back. “Help me up.” “You’re hurt; we should get you to a hospital.” People were beginning to move away now that they saw there was nothing interesting happening. “I’ll live, get me to our room.” Brian attempted to stand but ended up falling back on his ass and cursing. “My fucking ankle is broken.” Justin pulled up Brian’s pant leg and looked at it, “I don’t think so. I think you just sprained it; I’ll help you stand up.” There was a lot of groaning and bitching and swearing and with the help of a passerby, Justin finally got Brian up on one foot. Another person handed Brian the smashed cell phone and another one handed him the thick plastic bag that had his purchases from the boutique. The concierge from the hotel, realizing that there could be a decent tip involved, met them before they’d moved with a wheelchair for Brian. “I’m not sitting in a fucking wheelchair,” Brian bitched. “Actually, which would look stupider, you hopping down the block spraying me with blood from your head wound, or sitting in the fucking chair like a big boy.” Justin nodded his thanks at the concierge and slipped him a twenty. “I’ll take him from here,” Justin murmured as he maneuvered Brian into the chair. “Do you realize that these are five hundred dollar jeans and now they have a rip in the knee?” “No shit,” Justin laughed. “Think of them as distressed. Some people pay a lot of money for jeans that look like that,” he laughed again as he started to push Brian to the hotel. “What happened?” he asked. “I fucking tripped over some moron sitting on the sidewalk.” Brian glared as he held the bag on his lap and suffered the indignity of being pushed. “Fuck will you hurry up, my head is bleeding all over my silk tee shirt; it’s fucking ruined.” “Thank you Justin for running out of the luxury hotel and saving my ass,” Justin said, ignoring Brian. “When you could have been in a nice bubble bath, eating strawberries and drinking champagne.” “I probably have a fucking concussion and you’re acting the fool.” “You have a small gash on your forehead; no doubt it will leave you with a manly man scar, something you can tell your grandchildren some romantic story about.” “My shirt,” Brian began again. “I’ll dye it blood red, it’ll be fabulous,” Justin lisped. “My ankle, is swelling up, I can see it turning purple.” “And a lovely shade it is too,” Justin quipped as he pushed him through the open hotel door. The doorman began to fuss and Brian’s face started to turn purple to match his ankle. Justin all but ran pushing Brian toward the elevator, barely coming to a stop before running him into the closed door. He didn’t need Brian freaking out on the poor doorman. “JUSTIN!” Brian roared. Justin pulled up just in time and bent down looking solicitously into Brian’s face. “What dear?” he asked in a simpering voice. He kissed Brian on the nose quickly before pushing him into the elevator. He shut the doors gratefully before Brian could begin yelling. He’d hate to have to gag the man before they made it to their room; he was injured after all. “Are trying to kill me or is it just some natural Tennessee mountain man kind of thing?” “That’s me, a typical Tennessee mountain man,” Justin laughed. “I shaved off my beard so that I could pass better as a city boy. Is it working?” “Asshole, watch my ankle.” Justin was pushing him out of the elevator and down the hall of their floor and Brian cringed when he pushed him too close to various tables and chairs in the hallway. “I’m watching it and a lovely shade of red, purple, and blue it is. I think it’s especially fetching combined with your Prada shoes, although perhaps you should consider a charcoal color shoe rather than the black. The contrast wouldn’t be as great.” “Are you always this sadistically inclined?” Brian asked, smothering a grin. “Actually, I’m holding back,” Justin said. He fumbled for his key card and then realized he’d run out of the room without it. “Can I use your key card, mine’s inside the room.” Brian reached into his front pocket of his jeans gingerly, as his hand was scraped. He handed Justin his card and waited while the blond opened the door. Justin was managing to push the chair into the room, when another man approached. “Mr. Kinney, I’m Doctor Haddad, the hotel called me to attend to your scrapes.” Both Brian and Justin turned and stared at the man standing there holding a medical bag. “Yes, I do make house calls, even though in this case it’s a hotel call,” he laughed. “Actually, I’m employed by a number of hotels here in New York to look after emergencies such as this.” “Come on in,” Justin invited. “Brian’s ankle is pretty bad, but it looks to me like it’s just a sprain. His forehead gash could use some looking after too.” “Brian has a voice and is capable of speech., Brian said tongue in cheek. “Go play little boy while the doctor checks me out.” “I am sooooo not leaving. I want to know what the damage is and what parts of you I can use and when,” Justin laughed. He threw himself down on one of the chairs and crossed his arms prepared to wait. “You’ll have to excuse the blond, he doesn’t get out of the mountains much and he’s spoiled rotten.” Brian glared at Justin while the Doctor began his examination. “You two have quite the relationship,” the doctor said as he began to probe Brian’s ankle. “I think you should have this x-rayed to make sure that it isn’t broken. I can do it at my clinic.” “You mean we don’t have to spend three days at some emergency room?” Brian asked as he winced in pain. “No, there’s no waiting,” the doctor chuckled. “It’s amazing what money can buy in this country, or any other one for that matter.” He stood up to retrieve his medical bag. “I’ll clean up the cut on your forehead now and put a butterfly bandage on to hold it together. It shouldn’t leave much of a scar, or not much of one.” “So I’ve been told,” Brian drawled. “Mr. Taylor, if you don’t mind pushing Mr. Kinney back downstairs, we can arrange his transport to my clinic; it isn’t far.” “No problem, I love pushing him around,” Justin laughed. “He’s such a lot of fun when he’s stuck in the chair.” Justin hopped back up from his chair and moved quickly to Brian’s side. “Hold on there Sunshine, I’m not having you push me recklessly through the streets of New York again. My nerves won’t stand it.” “I’ll be careful, besides, Dr. Haddad said it wasn’t far.” “Actually, we’ll take my van; it’s parked at the rear of the hotel. There’s a chairlift for the van.” “Cool,” Justin beamed. “I can’t wait to ride it.” “It’s for me,” Brian said, “You can get into the vehicle the regular way.” “No way, I’m sitting on your knee.” “I told you he was a tad spoiled,” Brian drawled. “Hurry up there Sunshine, I have plans for this weekend and they don’t include being an invalid. I want to get fixed up.” “Brian, broken or sprained, you aren’t going to have some kind of miracle cure,” Justin grinned at Brian and the doctor. “Isn’t that right Doctor Haddad?” “I’m afraid your partner is right.” “He’s not my partner.” “Your friend.” “The jury is still out on that one,” Brian grumbled. But his hand found Justin’s and he linked his fingers through the blond’s. “I need that hand,” Justin said and kissed Brian on the top of his head. “Don’t forget your key card and your wallet.” “Bitch.” “Honey bunny.” Justin burst out laughing when he saw the look of outrage on Brian’s face at the endearment. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Molly lay on the lawn staring up at the clouds as Gus lay with his head touching hers, stretched out opposite also staring at the clouds. “I think that one looks like a rabbit,” he said and pointed to one of the fluffy clouds. “I don’t think so. I think it looks like Murray,” Molly said and she rolled over onto her stomach. “Gus do you think Justin and your dad are together now?” Gus rolled over and faced his friend. “I think so. Dad is probably being super romantic. Your brother won’t know what hit him,” the two young people laughed at the thought. “What do you think will be the result of this weekend?” Molly asked. “I mean does Brian want to make Justin his boyfriend or something?” “I’m not sure. I mean dad had a boyfriend who was kind of a bastard. He’s a bit gun-shy.” “Then why is he doing this ridiculously romantic weekend?” “That I don’t know. I figured that after Matthew, he’d never do it again. I mean this guy took half of everything dad had. Dad was real messed up for a long time after that.” “He sure isn’t messed up now,” Molly grinned. “I think he really likes my brother.” “Yeah, what dad wants, dad gets. He sure is going after your brother.” “He isn’t going to hurt him is he?” Molly sat up worried. “No, dad isn’t like that. He’d never do something so mean.” Gus knew that for a fact. His father was the kindest and nicest man he knew. “I’m glad, because Justin is, well he’s my brother and I like you and it would get too complicated if your dad hurts Justin.” Gus leaned in and kissed her tenderly. “It would get very complicated, but I doubt very much that my dad would hurt Justin, it’s just not the way he is.” Molly smiled at him. “Want to go swimming?” she asked. “The quarry water is warm.” “Sounds fun,” Gus smiled back at her. “Of course, you know that Auntie Em would have a fit if he knew I was swimming in a quarry.” “Are you going to tell him?” “No.” “Too late darlings, I heard you.” The two young people looked up at Emmett who was standing there with his hands on his hips. “I’m afraid I have a little job for you Gus my boy. Molly can help you, but it has to get done.” “What?” they looked skeptical. “Today we’re building the girls a nice and cozy chicken coop. I know they’re used to having the whole farm to run around, but your daddy thinks that they need some structure in their life.” “Awwwwww, Gus began. “We have some lovely wood and the nicest color of paint for their little house,” Emmett beamed. “Arnie, charming man that he is, is putting the fence up now. He could use some help, he is a teeny tiny bit old and you two are young.” Gus and Molly both sighed heavily. There was really no point in arguing with Emmett. They knew he’d be relentless. “They don’t even lay eggs anymore and that damn rooster is bald,” Gus grumbled. “So that just shows you, they need a lovely comfortable and warm retirement home,” Emmett beamed. “Iced tea and cookies when you’re finished.” They watched him totter off back to the barn. Today he had on some kind of strange platform sandal, hot pink floral capris, a white tummy shirt, and a frilly apron. Emmett was enjoying being the woman of the house. “I like him,” Molly said. She stood up and helped haul Gus to his feet. “We’ll go swimming when we’re done. Everybody will have gone home by then and we’ll have the place to ourselves.” “Now that makes building a retirement home for decrepit chickens, sound like a great idea.” **************************** tbc