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since losing Paul but ten or so months was the most he could ever manage in one place. He didn't imagine it would be any different here. No sense in getting tied down to one place when he had the whole world to see.
They had talked the technical side. The horses, the training, the schedules, and now Robbie was being shown where he would be sleeping. The place in Australia he had shared with Paul was smaller and shabbier, not new, and far from watertight, but it had been theirs on any downtime they had. At least here on the ranch he wouldn't get homophobic idiots stomping all over him. Jack was as gay as he was, the same as his sex-on-legs husband.
"Do you have any questions for me?" Jack asked.
Robbie loved the drawl in the other man's voice—a lot more cowboy than when they had met at the wedding. He really only had one concern; one major make-or-break question that burned inside him.
"Do you ever have any trouble?"
"Trouble?" Jack frowned and then looked to be considering the question. "We sometimes get reporters at the main gate. They don't come on the land. They're only here 'cause my family and the Hayes family have been through one hell of a ton of shit and my husband Riley is freaking Dallas aristocracy."
That wasn't what Robbie meant and he wondered how he could word this. He didn't want to be anything but the best man for the job but he had to be sure.
"I meant… being gay? Does it cause problems with other people? With traders and such?"
"No." Jack straightened. "First off, we're not far outside the city—we're not in the middle of nowhere. Secondly, if I even thought anyone I had dealings with was treating me or mine with anything other than respect then they are gone."
"Okay."
"Why do you ask? Have you got a problem with the way I live?" Jack's friendly demeanor was edged with steel.
"No. Shit no. I… look, there's something I should have told you in the interview." Which hadn't actually been an interview, more an excited discussion about horses over coffee in Jack's kitchen with his daughter coloring at their side.
"Go on."
"The reason I left Australia and came home was because I lost my boyfriend. A couple of years ago now."
"I'm sorry—"
"When I say boyfriend I mean—" He stopped as Jack quirked an eyebrow. Robbie decided there and then that maybe he shouldn't go into an awful lot more detail.
"He was my best friend and we worked together and lived together and there was this thing… this new guy, a cowboy out of Brisbane. Didn't take too kindly to 'fags'." Robbie near spat the word and compassion passed over Jack's face. "Upshot was that Paul got in the middle and got hurt. He was knocked unconscious and he just didn't wake up."
"I am really sorry Robert—" "Robbie, please call me Robbie."
"Robbie then. I'm not saying Texas is the safest place in the world to be out of the closet but hell, the ranch is pretty secure."
"Wyoming wasn't that good for the whole being out either."
Jack shrugged and then smiled. He changed the subject, which was probably a good thing. "So. The horses are here in just under three days and there's a whole raft of stuff we need to get done. We need to discuss incentive bonuses on training and so on, but like I said the job is yours on a four-week trial if you want it." Jack held out his hand in expectation and after only a moment's hesitation Robbie took the proffered hand and shook it firmly.
"I want it, sir."
"You want to start today?"
"Yes, sir."
"Call me Jack. Welcome to the Double D, Robbie. I'll let you get settled. Do you have to go and collect bags from anywhere?"
"Everything is in the car Neil lent me." He wasn't going to say out loud that he had cancelled his small rental a week ago and had been bunking down in a spare room over the veterinary practice. Even though Neil had offered a room in the large building to the side of the practice, Robbie really didn't want to outstay his welcome with his newly married best friend. If the interview today had gone badly then he