Outlaw Vices (third in The Crane Gang Series)manxman

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

The next day found Craig and Ezekiel riding side by side to survey and repair fences in the more distant pasture and fields. They could certainly stay out overnight and have it be perfectly acceptable—everyone would believe they'd gotten too busy with work to make it back in one day.

Craig grinned. He had far too few overnights with Ezekiel. They were forced to sleep apart in the bunkhouse and one night a week in town simply wasn't quite enough.

He'd been a bit shocked last night when Ezekiel had admitted his past to him. He'd picked up enough hints from Ezekiel and had seen enough of the signs to know that the man had killed in the past—but he hadn't realized the extent of just how bad Ezekiel had been.

He'd be lying if he said it didn't bother him slightly to think of Ezekiel as that man he'd described—but it also didn't deter him. What Ezekiel had been in the past, it was clear that wasn't the man he was any longer.

And, hell, Craig had been a cattle thief, horse thief, anything-that-wasn't-nailed-down-and-he-wanted thief. While those might not sound as bad as cold-blooded murder, they were still hanging offenses. And Craig had killed men as well—always in self-defense but taking a life was taking a life.

Craig wasn't about to turn his back on Ezekiel when the man had finally opened up to him just as Craig had wanted him to. And he hadn't given Ezekiel any grief over his past either. Ezekiel seemed to give himself a hard enough time, there was no need for Craig to make it worse.

"What are you thinking about so hard?" Ezekiel's voice broke through his thoughts.

"What makes you think I'm thinking?"

Ezekiel chuckled. "You're not talking."

"Are you missing the sound of my voice?" Craig asked with a wink.

Ezekiel snorted as he shook his head. "Not particularly." A half grin curved his mouth. "Just worried you might overheat that brain of yours."

"Charming," Craig mumbled. Then he sighed. "Actually, I have been thinking a lot about something lately."

"What's that?" Ezekiel asked, squinting into the sun.

"My family. This is the longest I've ever been away from them."

Ezekiel glanced sideways at him and picked at his horse's mane. "Do you want to go home?"

Craig quickly averted his gaze. 'Not without you,' was what he wanted to say, but he knew he couldn't. He had no idea if Ezekiel thought of him as anything more than a fun for now, kind of person. Going home to meet the family was asking a hell of a lot out of a person.

"I thought it might be nice to go for a visit.... Do you think Edison would let me keep my job here if I left for a while?"

When Craig glanced over at Ezekiel, the man was tense in the saddle and his jaw was twitching as he stared straight ahead, his eyes burning holes in the horizon. "You'd have to ask him that. I don't speak for him. He's a fair man, though. I'm sure he'd work with you."

Craig scratched at his jaw. "Are you angry? Do you not want me to go?"

Ezekiel shook his head. "No. Go. Not all people have a family. It'd be foolish not to spend time with yours."

Craig was confused. It was clear Ezekiel was angry about something. But what? Swallowing hard, Craig stared hard at Ezekiel's profile. Did the other man want an invitation? Did he want to come meet Craig's family?