Page 3 of The Banker and the Blue Collar Man

“Jake’s going to take you guys into town,” Lucas said, jovial. Inviting. “And Jake, will you take your phone this time?” BeforeI could answer, he winked at the two teenagers and seemed to include Dalton within a small, being-in-the-know circle. “Jake here has an old flip phone that barely texts and that he refuses to carry with him anyway.”

I opened my mouth to justify my preference to remain disconnected as much as possible, but before I could utter a single word, Dalton said quietly, “I have my phone.”

“Good, good,” Lucas said, clapping Dalton on the shoulder again. “I have to get back to it, but Jake here will take care of you. I’ll see you all at dinner.”

Dinner was a ways off. Plus, there were a good number of hours between me and my head landing on my pillow while the utter silence and lack of movement drew me into sleep. As for now, I took them to bunkhouse four and entered the code.

“You can change it,” I said, though I didn’t see much point in anyone doing that. All the codes were the same, and nobody had ever stolen anything anyway.

The bunkhouses were on the small side, wood inside and out. They each had a small bathroom at one end and a kitchenette, complete with a microwave and hot plate, at the other. Cupboards held cups and a kettle, that sort of thing. The idea was that folks would eat in the dining hall, but they could pop popcorn or make instant coffee whenever they wanted. In the middle were a pair of bunk beds on one side and a single bed on the other.

“Here you go,” I said. “You can leave your stuff and use the bathroom or whatever. I’ll be waiting by my truck. It’s yellow.”

I patted my pocket and gestured to my old seventies-era truck that was in the parking lot, just beyond where Dalton’s blue car sat.

“Her name is Daybreak,” I said and waited for the teasing to start. I was used to it, but if it went too far, then all three of them could walk the five or so miles to the highway that led into town.

Oddly, it didn’t.

“Can we ride in the back?” Dillon asked when they came out of the bunkhouse and over to where I was. Cameron nodded his agreement with this plan.

“Is it safe?” Dalton asked. He scanned the truck like maybe he disapproved of her, but she was yellow, with a bench seat and four on the floor, and she was fully broken in and all mine.

“She’ll carry you like you were a basket of eggs,” I said with a bit more passion than I had intended.

“I’ll ride with them,” Dalton said. “To keep an eye out.”

That was fine by me. I could enjoy the silence of the truck’s cab and pull it around me to keep with me while we went boot shopping.

“Sounds good,” I said, drawing out my key ring. “Hop in.” I got the feeling that the boys were a little wild and had been a handful on the drive to the ranch, but apparently nothing Dalton couldn’t deal with.

I’d go slow, of course I would. And I’d do my best to avoid the bumps and ruts along the dirt road to town. I wouldn’t check in the rearview mirror to make sure they stayed in the truck bed, though. That was Dalton’s job. Mine was to drive them there, flash the credit card at the appropriate time, and drive them back again. That was all.

One thing at a time. One step at a time. I would make it if I kept that in mind.

Chapter 2

Dalton

At the time, taking PTO had seemed like a good idea. With Lucas gone, the finance firm of Hadley & Maine had been as dull as dirt.

Despite his closed-off grumpiness, Lucas had been my lifeline. When he’d reached out to me to haul two teenagers to the ranch he’d inherited part of, I’d said yes. Of course I would.

Not only had I been hearing about Snow Creek Ranch, as well as Lucas’ new boyfriend, Jesse, for a while now, I missed his face. Lucas had been a good friend to me, and I wanted to be there for him.

I couldn’t support him much long-distance, but taking a drive up into the foothills on a beautiful summer day was more treat than task, and I was glad to do it. Even if Dillon and Cameron, the two teenagers I was giving a ride to, had more energy than I knew what to do with. They were at the tail end of teenage-hood, about to burst into manhood.

Had I ever been that young? So full of life and liveliness? There had doubtless been a time, but I couldn’t recall it. My life was dull repetition that had once seemed safe and comforting but now felt stale and old.

Maybe I was desperate for change. Anything new was positive. Anything to take me away, if only for a little while, from Denver, where my two older brothers were still giving me the cold shoulder I didn’t deserve.

Or did I? Even months later, with the shock of my parents’ death worn away in a slough of old skin and bitter-tasting memories, I still carried some guilt.

Not that Dillon and Cameron gave me a moment’s peace to roll around in my darker thoughts, while I was driving or when they talked me into stopping at Five Guys in Longmont for some of the best cheeseburgers I’d tasted in a long time. We ate inside the red-and-white-decorated restaurant so they wouldn’t spill soda on my car seats or leave wrappers tucked in undiscoverable places.

But they were good kids, overall, laughing and telling fart jokes pretty much the whole time as we drove along Highway 287, a blacktopped road among pine trees and cottonwoods. I laughed because the jokes were funny, and the boys were funny, living fully out loud in spite of what they’d told me about foster homes and mean moms and everything that seemed to come with telling people you should have been able to trust that you were gay.

When we arrived at Snow Creek Ranch, Dillon and Cameron got out of the car before I’d fully parked it, and a cloud of dust settled over everything. Lucas appeared, his arms wide and his smile wider, welcoming me with such warmth and joy that I was taken back to my first day at Hadley & Maine.Hi, I’m Lucas. We can be office buddies. Do you want to?