Twelve
Derrick
The best thing for Derrick to do, he quickly realized, was to stay as busy as possible. Yes, he and Logan had finally done something that Derrick, at least, had wanted for years. If he were completely honest with himself, he had probably wanted it since even before he and Logan had even kissed.
Tell the truth and shame the devil, wasn’t that what they said? Well, the truth was, Derrick had had a crush on Logan for years.
But that didn’t mean anything had changed, did it? Sure, they were sleeping together, now, though Derrick had yet to bottom, and more often than not, at least once during the day they would find a few, stolen moments to kiss, to touch, to get each other off. But that didn’t mean anything.
So it was much, much easier just to focus on the hard work that he had once disdained as below him. Craig was never around, and Skyler wasn’t exactly the physical type. John was too sick to help, and while Mary Anne did what she could, she was still a teenager and had school and homework that she needed to focus on.
It was just himself and Logan, and Derrick found himself having much more empathy for poor Malcolm, who had had to do this for years while Derrick spared him barely a thought. Was Craig the same way? He, too, had rushed to get off of the ranch, but honestly, Derrick had barely managed to spend two seconds with his older brother.
Working was definitely better than thinking, and it was far, far better than having to spend any time with Wyatt. He hoped that Wyatt would get bored and go away, although it wasn’t something that he expected to happen. Even when Wyatt’s own hired lawyer had been seduced away from him by Malcolm, Wyatt had never really given up.
It was late in the evening a few weeks after his first time inside of Logan when his phone rang, just as he was unsaddling his horse. He had decided earlier that he would go up to the loft. He and Logan didn’t tend to plan their visits, but Derrick had discovered that it was a good place to read, too. He had brought some food, some cheese and some bread, in his saddlebags. That would do him for a few hours, and he would grab some dinner later.
Hopefully, Logan would join him. That was, after all, the reason that Derrick just so happened to find himself in the loft far more often than usual. It was their place, far enough away from the house that they could just be themselves together, that they could make some noise and not risk disturbing anyone but the horses. And the horses, like all animals, could keep a secret.
He was pulled out of his pleasant daydreams of the gorgeous cowboy by the chiming of his phone. Not just a text, either. Whoever it was was calling, and Derrick frowned as he glanced at the call display.
“Jess,” he said, pressing the screen to accept the call. “Sorry, I just have to get my horse taken care of. Can I call you …”
His voice trailed off as he realized that Jessica was crying. She was obviously trying to hold her tears back, but her breath was thickened, and there was a catch to her voice as she spoke.
“Derrick, my sister got hit by a car.”
That one sentence rushed through Derrick’s body like ice water. He swallowed hard, and then he put the phone on speaker. He did need to take care of the horse, but obviously, he was going to need to take care of Jessica, too.
“Is she okay?” he asked, as he ran the brush over the horse’s body, cleaning off dust and sweat. It was a good thing that he had some practice at this now because he could do it quickly and thoroughly without his full attention.
“No,” Jessica whispered. “Derrick, can you come? Please? I need you, and I miss you so much. I can’t do this alone.”
Derrick finished with the horse and led it into the stall, then leaned against the wall. He was going to have to talk to Skyler, to Craig. His mind darted on ahead, trying to figure out how to make this work, because there was no chance in hell that he was going to say no when Jessica needed him so badly.
He took the phone off speaker, knowing how much Jessica liked her privacy. He wasn’t going to want to have this conversation overheard without her permission, and he was done with the horse now anyway.
“Of course I’ll come,” he agreed. He would make it work. Jessica had been an important part of his life for a long time, and he wasn’t going to abandon her when she needed him. “When do I need to be there?”
“The funeral is this weekend,” Jessica said, her voice slow and dull, her sobs coming through more fully like she couldn’t hold them back anymore. “Saturday.”
Derrick swallowed and nodded. Today was Tuesday, so that didn’t give him much time to sort this out, but that wasn’t her problem, and he wasn’t putting that on her. Not with everything else that she had to deal with.
“I’ll be there Friday,” he promised. And he would. He just needed to make sure that his responsibilities on the ranch were taken care of first. Malcolm wouldn’t even be angry, not when Derrick explained to him what had happened. And Craig had done all of the same chores on the ranch that Derrick had while they had been kids together.
“Thank you,” Jessica replied, and then she ended the call, doubtless to try to preserve some semblance of dignity. Poor girl. She had always been proud and independent, and to have to rely on someone else during this time, it couldn’t be easy for her.
A faint rustle came from above him as he tucked his phone back into his pocket, and Derrick looked up just in time to see a pair of long legs and an ass that, even at a time like this, he couldn’t help but notice was utterly glorious, coming down from the hayloft. Logan. That worked out nicely, actually, because he was going to need to try to explain the situation to the guy.
“Hey, I have to talk to you about something,” Derrick started, watching as Logan climbed down the ladder toward Derrick.
“I heard,” Logan said, and his voice was curiously expressionless. Which matched his face as he turned around once he reached the worn wooden floor. Dull and flat, lips set in a tight, tense line. The only thing that looked fully alive about his face were those beautiful round eyes, and even they seemed to have a sort of curtain pulled over them.
“So you know I have to go, then,” Derrick replied, a bit taken aback by Logan’s reaction. How much had he heard? Jessica wouldn’t be happy if she knew her personal business had been spread around. He really should have checked if anyone was around before he’d put the phone on speaker, but he’d been taken by surprise by the call.
“Yeah. I guess if Jess snaps her fingers, you have to come running,” Logan said, and there was a muscle at the side of his jaw which was clenching over and over.
“What the hell is that about?” Derrick demanded. It wasn’t like he was just taking off on Logan for no reason. “Look, I know it’s a little inconvenient, but I can get Craig to help. I’m sure he will. Skyler can pitch in, too. He’ll need to be taught, but he’s a good guy.”
