“Dad! Duh!”
“Duh, huh?” There was never enough underwear in the hamper.
Early chuckled and stomped into his boots, winking at him. “Hurry up, boys. I want to take you up to the magic balcony. You too. It’s on the third floor.”
He was ready. He helped the boys get their sneakers on and tied. “Okay, Daddy. Let’s go.”
They went to the second floor, and then to Rick’s bedroom, where Early opened a secret pocket door. There were stairs leading up to the round room.
Oh, he’d never been up there.
“What is this?” He followed the kids up the stairs. “I thought this was decorative.”
“Nope.” The round room was a library, with books everywhere, floor to ceiling, with a big, overstuffed chair, and a huge balcony that looked out over the mountains. It stole his breath.
“Early, why have you never shown me this before?”
“Daddy, this is so cool!” Both kids ran for the door to the balcony.
“It was in Uncle Rick’s room. It seemed inappropriate somehow. Boys, you be careful out there.”
“Yes, sir!” The boys stepped outside, delighted by the view and the novelty of the balcony.
He slipped an arm around Early’s hips. “You’re right. This is pretty cool, though. Did he spend a lot of time up here?”
“He did. I used to hide up here for hours, watching the wild mustangs run.”
“Wow, really?” He looked out the windows, imagining Early so young and hiding from the world. “You’re a good man.” He tugged his husband in for a kiss.
Early hummed and kissed him right back, the connection threatening to deepen until the cry of, “Daddy! Dad! Come and see!”
Early’s smile as he rubbed their noses together was pure happiness. “Coming, boys.”
They went out, and the view was stunning. Mountains in the back, huge barns with dark brown and black horses in the front. The cattle roamed in pods here and there, and farther back, near what looked like a river, a mass of animals ran like they were one.
“Sure is beautiful.”
“Dad! Daddy! Look at the horses!”
“And the cows!”
“Mooooo.”
“Mooo!”
Early’s eyes were on the animals in the back. “Wild mustangs—the proof that there is a god and He loves us.”
The expression on his husband’s face was oddly…blissful.
“I thought that was mashed potatoes?” Sometimes it was coffee. He chuckled and hugged Early. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen them before. There are so many.”
“There’s a main herd, and then two smaller ones. It’ll be time to split them soon, so that they can thrive.”
“Who does that?” Demming had his hands full with the ranch as it was.
“I—It’s on my list to talk to Demming about, I guess.” Early grabbed his phone and jotted some more notes. “You know my pop ain’t interested in dealing with it, not right now.”
“Daddy!” Jayden shook his head. “Isn’t, not ain’t.”