Ride 'Em Cowboy
When Royce Chandler first claps eyes on his father's ranch foreman, Parker Jones, it's lust mixed with dislike at first sight. It seems that Parker has nothing but disdain for the young law graduate. But all that changes when Parker is thrown from his horse and Royce accompanies him to the hospital.
What follows is a realisation of their mutual attraction, and a desire to spend the rest of their lives together; maybe get a ranch of their own. Then Royce's dad tells Parker that his son is about to turn down a juicy offer from a big law firm in Los Angeles. Parker knows the reason - him - and he takes strong action to convince Royce he's making a mistake by not taking the job.
But his actions tear the two men apart, leaving Royce to wonder, how could Parker's love for him have faded so suddenly?
Ride 'Em Again Cowboy
A cynical city lawyer finds his ordered life turned around when he meets a handsome cowboy during a weekend getaway on his friend's ranch.
Charles Fletcher is happy to accept an invitation from his best friend, Royce Chandler to his family owned ranch in Northern California, but doesn't expect his life to be turned around by the newly hired assistant foreman, Jed Miller. Although Charles finds Jed attractive, he is uncomfortably aware that the cowboy seems to be carrying what Charles terms — too much baggage. Despite Royce and his lover Parker's attempts to bring the two men together, Charles is wary of Jed's often aloof attitude. It's not until Jed shows up drunk, and Charles is the only one there to help him back on his feet, that the two men connect, both physically and emotionally.
What looks like a promising love affair is thrown a curve when Jed receives a call from his ex lover asking his forgiveness for their break up and to please come home. Charles, determined not to show how much Jed really matters to him, tells Jed, "Hey, it was great fun, but it was just one of those things", and returns to Los Angeles.
Once again, Royce and Parker attempt their cupid act, but will their good intentions bring Charles and Jed together, or have both of them singing 'I'm a Lone Cowhand'?
General Release Date: 15th March 2010
Ride 'Em Cowboy
“Yeehaaa!” The exultant cry from Parker Jones carried across the corral as the bronco beneath him bucked and pranced like coiled wire come to life.
Royce Chandler, leaning on the corral fence, one foot planted on the second rung, rolled his eyes and looked sideways at the man standing next to him.
“He just loves himself, doesn’t he?” he remarked to the older man who stood steadily chewing on the plug of tobacco in his mouth.
Jim Ballard gave him a cursory glance. “He’s pretty darned good though,” he muttered. “Knows how to ride ‘em.”
He’s pretty all right, Royce thought, feeling his cock twitch at the sight of Parker’s perfectly round bottom bouncing up and down in front of him. Too bad he’s such a big-headed jerk...
“Whoa!” Jim let out an involuntary cry as Parker was thrown into the air, his arms and legs revolving like a helicopter in distress. He landed with a sickening thud on the hard, beaten-down ground and didn’t move. A couple of ranch hands dived in to stop the bronco’s dervish-like dance.
“Shit,” Royce muttered, feeling a flicker of alarm when he realised Parker wasn’t getting up or even moving.
Vaulting over the fence, he ran to where the cowboy lay flat on his back.
“Jones!” Kneeling by the cowboy’s side, he jostled his shoulder. “Jones? You okay?”
“‘Course I’m not okay, you idiot,” came the reply. “I think my back’s broken.”
Jesus... Royce looked up at the other men who had gathered around. “Aldo, call 9-1-1. Get an ambulance out here.”
As the young ranch hand ran to the house to make the call, Royce felt the pressure of his cell phone in his jeans’ back pocket.
“Shit, what was I thinking?” he muttered, pulling it free and dialling 9-1-1.
Parker opened his eyes and squinted up at him. “Gotcha all in a dither, ain’t I?”
Royce narrowed his eyes at the other man. “You better not be faking this, Jones.”
The cowboy winced. “What? You want me to have a broken back?”
“No...of course not. Oh yes—” Royce directed his attention to the emergency operator. “We need an ambulance out at the Double ‘R’ Ranch. Man with an injured back...” He paused for a second. “Could be broken. Please hurry.”
Royce became aware of the other men’s shuffling movements around him. He looked up sharply. “You guys can get back to what you were doing. I’ll stay here with Jones ‘til the ambulance arrives.”
With a certain amount of relief, the ranch hands dispersed. Standing around, looking at an injured man in pain was not one of their stronger points.
Royce looked down at Parker. “Hang in there,” he said quietly. “It won’t be long before the ambulance gets here.”
“Hurts like the devil,” Parker muttered. “Guess I was too darned cocky ‘bout tamin’ that colt.”
Royce took his hand and squeezed it gently. The man’s work-worn hand felt so good in his. “You’ll be fine. You’ll be up and riding him again before you know it.”
“You’re bein’ awful nice to me.” Parker gave Royce a lopsided grin. “I always figured you had no time for me.”
“You’re one of my father’s employees, Jones,” Royce said tersely, trying to ignore the effect Parker’s blue-eyed stare had on him. “So, obviously I care about your well-being.”
“Oh, that’s all then?”
“Well...” Again, Royce found himself unsettled by Parker’s gaze. “Well...yes...no...I mean...I hope you’re back isn’t broken, Parker...I mean, Jones—” He broke off as Parker squeezed his hand hard.
“Stop,” Parker whispered. “I know what y’mean, Royce.”
For a long moment, the two men remained immobile, gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. Then Royce cleared his throat, removed his hand from Parker’s grasp and stood up.
“Where the hell’s that ambulance?’ he muttered.
“Come with me,” Parker said quietly from his prone position at Royce’s feet.
“What?”
“Come with me, please. When they take me to the hospital, I want you there...with me.”
Royce looked down at Parker, then knelt again by his side. “Okay,” he whispered.
* * * *
Royce felt as though he’d been sitting in the waiting room all night. Glancing at his watch, he realised it had only been an hour. What was taking them so long, for Pete’s sake? He just wanted to know Jones was going to be all right so he could go back to the ranch and tell his father not to worry. His dad always worried when one of his hands got hurt. He’d already called four times wanting an update.
“They haven’t finished X-raying him yet, Dad,” Royce had said over and over. “I’ll call you when I have some news.”
He looked up as a doctor approached him. “Mr. Chandler?”
“Yes. How is he?”
“Pretty good. Nothing’s broken. Helps he’s young and in such good shape, of course, but he’s going to be in pain for some time, and we’re going to keep him overnight for observation—just to make sure there’s no internal bleeding. Are you a friend of his?”
“Uh...no. He works for my father.”
“Oh. Well, he’s asking to see you.”
“He is?” Royce forced out a laugh. “Probably wants to know he still has a job.”
Jeez, he thought, wincing. Did that sound crass or what?
“Yeah, I expect he does.” The doctor gave him a cool look. “Well, why don’t you go on in so you can put his mind at ease on that score? He’s in room two-eleven.”
Feeling like a jerk, Royce walked down the hall to Parker’s room. He stood for a moment outside the door, then taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and walked in.
Ride 'Em Again Cowboy
Aaron Chandler looked up from the papers he’d been studying as his foreman, Parker Jones, entered the office, a dreamy smile on his face
“Mornin’ Boss.”
Aaron gave him a knowing look. “You’re mighty chipper this morning, Parker. Been talking to Royce, have you?”
“Uh, yes...he called first thing this morning. He’ll be here tomorrow noon.”
“I know. And you’ll most likely talk to him another half dozen times before then. You boys must be rackin’ up quite a phone bill between you.”
“Well...we got this special rate, y’see...”
Aaron chuckled. “I was just joshin’ you, Parker. You found me another hand yet?”
Parker relaxed a little as he prepared to answer. He was always a little uncomfortable when Royce’s dad got personal about his relationship with his son. No matter that Aaron had been a captive witness to the two of them reunited after a misunderstanding that had parted them for over a year. Parker had broken up with Royce thinking it was the only way to get him to take the lucrative offer from the law firm where he now worked. Royce had stormed out of Parker’s life but had rushed home when Parker called him to let him know his father had been injured in a road accident. While Aaron lay seemingly unconscious in a hospital bed, Royce, on hearing Parker’s reason for breaking up with him fell into his arms, and within earshot of his father, declared his undying love for his cowboy.
Aaron had chastised them for making fools of themselves in front of him but had given them his reluctant blessing, saying, “I can’t say I’m over the damned moon about it, but if my son has to spend the rest of his life with another fella, then I guess I’m glad it’s you, Parker.”
“Well?” Aaron looked at him expectantly.
“Oh, yeah—” Parker focused on his boss. “That’s why I’m here,” he said. “I interviewed this guy from Cattle Valley, Wyoming, yesterday. Name’s Miller, Jed Miller. Good references, been a ranch hand for the past five years, assistant foreman for two.”
“Why’d he leave Cattle Valley?”
“Personal reasons he says. I didn’t aim to pry too much. His references are good...”
“So you said, but personal reasons, Parker? What do you suppose that means?” Aaron frowned and stroked his jaw. “Was he rubbin’ someone the wrong way, gettin’ into fights? You call up there and talk to anyone?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Well, maybe you should.”
Parker shuffled his feet. “Boss, I...”
“I know, you don’t aim to pry, but I want to know what a fella’s about before I hire him. Supposin’ he’s a trouble maker?”
“Doesn’t seem the type to me. Told me right away he was gay. Said he hoped that wasn’t a problem. ‘Course, him comin’ from Cattle Valley I had that figured. So, I told him no problem, and I also told him ‘bout Royce and me. Hope you don’t mind, Boss.”
“I don’t mind if you don’t, Parker.”
“And besides, his references—”
“Yeah, yeah. Well, you haven’t let me down yet with your hiring. Bring him in so I can give him a once over.”
Parker glanced at his watch. “He should be here in a couple of minutes.”
“Good.” Aaron waved at the chair by his desk. “Take a load off ‘til he gets here. Want some coffee? Annie’s brewin’ some fresh as we speak.”
“Sounds good.” He sat in the proffered chair and stretched out his legs.
“So you’re lookin’ forward to Royce being here, I bet. You met this friend he’s bringing?”
“Yeah, Charles. He’s quite a character.”
Aaron raised an eyebrow. “By that, do you mean he’s, uh, flamboyant?”
“Not really—well, let me put it this way. He has one helluva sense of humour, can take a joke with the best of ‘em—and about his bein’ gay, he doesn’t hold anything back.”
“Hope he doesn’t scare some of the boys,” Aaron chuckled.
“Oh, they’ll be cool with it. They know all about Royce and me.”
“But you don’t, you know, swish.”
Parker managed a laugh. “Charles doesn’t swish, Boss. He’s just a little different. It’ll be fine, really. You’ll like him.”
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