Home of His Own
Book Two of the Home series
TA Chase
Published 2008
ISBN 978-1-59578-427-8
Published by Liquid Silver Books, imprint of Atlantic Bridge Publishing, 10509
Sedgegrass Dr, Indianapolis, Indiana 46235. Copyright © 2008, TA Chase. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Liquid Silver Books
http://LSbooks.com
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Editor
Ansley Blackstock
Cover Artist
April Martinez
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
Chapter One
Hardin Ranch, Wyoming
“Tony, dinner’s going to be ready in ten minutes.”
Randy Hersch’s voice echoed down the hallway. Tony Romanos rolled over in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He’d gotten in early that morning from Las Vegas where he’d finished fifth at the PBR Finals. Not where he wanted to end up, but he’d been hurt heading into the first round, so he wasn’t complaining too much.
Pounding sounded on his door. “Tony, you awake?” Randy opened the door and stepped into the room.
“If I wasn’t, your polite knock would have shot me out of bed.” Tony gave his friend a wink as he climbed off the bed. “Let me grab a quick shower and I’ll be out in a few.”
“Sure. Hey, a letter came in the mail for you.” Randy turned to head out of the room as he delivered the news.
He frowned. No one wrote him and very few people called him either. “Where’s it from?”
“Postmark says Texas. Doesn’t your family live down there?” Randy stopped, turned and leaned against the doorframe.
“They live in Austin and wouldn’t spit on me if I was on fire in the gutter.” Tony grimaced as his shoulder ached. His last bull at the finals had jerked his arm and pulled some muscles. He slowly raised his arm over his head to stretch.
“It’s postmarked Austin, Texas. Are you sure someone from your family wouldn’t write you?” Randy was puzzled.
Tony didn’t feel like explaining his family situation to Randy, even though he knew his friend would understand, given what a bastard Randy’s father was. “Doubt it.”
“Are you done bothering him, love?” Les Hardin, Randy’s partner, appeared in the doorway, slipping his arm around Randy’s waist.
“I wasn’t annoying him. Just chatting.” Randy nuzzled Les’ cheek.
“I was teasing. Come on, let him get his shower. Margie doesn’t like serving cold food.” Les threw a grin over his shoulder at Tony as the older man lead Randy away.
‘Thank you,’ he mouthed.
Les nodded.
He headed into the bathroom. A hot shower and some good food; that would revive him.
Ten minutes later, Tony joined Les and Randy at the dining room table. He knew they were both curious about the letter he’d received, but he wasn’t ready to talk about it.
He hadn’t glanced at it where it sat on the hallway table. If it was from one of his family members, it wouldn’t be good news.
“Will you be here for Thanksgiving?” Les spoke up as they began to eat.
He thought about it. Before he met these two, he’d have found a ranch to work at until the circuit started up again. Now he knew he was welcome to come and stay for as long as he wanted. Hell, he even had his own room. With the PBR season over with, he didn’t have to be anywhere.
“I’m heading over to Hawaii for the new all-star event they’ve started. It’ll be done the weekend before Thanksgiving. Think you guys can stand me for the winter?” He took a drink of his beer.
Worry surfaced in Randy’s eyes. “We’d never get tired of you. Hell, this is your home now, Tony. We’d never turn you away.”
Les grasped his lover’s hand. “He knows that. He was teasing.” Les’ dark gaze studied Tony. “I have a new client coming in this week. She’ll be staying for a week or longer. Depending on how well her horse responds.”
Grateful for the change in subject, Tony handed Randy the bowl of mashed potatoes.
“Does her horse have major problems?”
Les usually worked with a client for a week. That short time was enough to give the rider and horse a foundation to improve upon.
“I think the horse’s problem is his rider. She’s one of those types who think they know more than anyone else in the world. It’s hard on the horse because he’s a veteran campaigner.” Les shrugged. “Randy and I are moving Lindsay out to San Diego after Christmas. You’re welcome to come with us.”
“How’s your big brother doing?” Tony took a bite of his steak while glancing at Randy.
“Good. He’ll be here for Thanksgiving.” Randy chuckled.
The conversation drifted to general topics and Tony managed to relax, forgetting about the letter for a while.
After dinner, he reluctantly picked the letter up from the table. Randy was right. The postmark was Austin, Texas. He gritted his teeth and looked at the handwriting on the envelope. It wasn’t Tia Elena’s, but it was a feminine penmanship. Elena was the only member of his immediate family who wrote to him, though she was his aunt by marriage.
He crumbled the paper in his hand and went through the kitchen.
“I’m going out to the barn.”
Les and Randy were washing the dishes. There seemed to be more water soaking their shirts than in the sink. Randy waved to him before leaning in to kiss Les.
“Margie is going to be pissed when she sees the mess you’ve made of her clean floor.” Tony pointed to the puddle on the tile under their feet.
“We’ll clean it up later.” Les snatched Randy by the waistband of his jeans and jerked their bodies together.
Tony stepped outside, pulling his jacket on. Snow hadn’t fallen yet, but Wyoming had been hit with a cold spell. He tugged his hat down tighter and made his
