Because You Love Me Read online

  “Because You Love Me”

  An MM Gay for You Romance

  Jerry Cole

  © 2020

  Jerry Cole

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is intended for Adults (ages 18+) only. The contents may be offensive to some readers. It may contain graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. May contain scenes of unprotected sex. Please do not read this book if you are offended by content as mentioned above or if you are under the age of 18.

  Please educate yourself on safe sex practices before making potentially life-changing decisions about sex in real life. If you’re not sure where to start, see here: http://www.jerrycoleauthor.com/safe-sex-resources/.

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner & are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images & are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.00 (2020.03.04)

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  Special thanks to the following volunteer readers who helped with proofreading: Jim Adcock, RB, JayBee, Naomi W., and those who assisted but wished to be anonymous. Thank you so much for your support.

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  “Thank you, Dr. Carter!”

  Dr. Gavin Carter smiled at the tiny elderly woman who was clutching her Chinese Crested gratefully, petting the dog’s head as she stood. In dog years, the animal was as old as her mistress, and just as sweet-natured.

  “I’m glad I could help, Mrs. Easton. Midge is doing really well.”

  The little dog, whose full name was Midget in deference to her diminutive size, always tolerated the required vaccinations really well and loved being groomed. Gavin had been her vet since Mrs. Easton had acquired her from the local SPCA four years earlier, upon the death of her husband. Midge was a wonderful and loving companion for the old lady.

  “I’ll see you in two weeks for her next grooming, Doctor,” Mrs. Easton said.

  “Don’t forget to make the appointment, Mrs. Easton. And I’ll see you then.”

  Gavin ushered her out of the examination room and turned to the computer he kept on a high shelf away from the exam table. He had one more appointment before he had to head out to Turnbridge Farm to check on Jeb Maynard’s cow. After that, two more scheduled farm visits before he could call it a day. He glanced at the clock on the wall…two thirty. He’d be lucky if he made it back before six. Maybe he should just stay at his own farm for the night.

  After his last appointment, he tidied the exam room, removing his doctor’s coat and dropping it in the laundry bin in the hallway. He took his vet’s bag with him as he walked out and turned to smile at the receptionist.

  “Enjoy the rest of your evening, Joanie. You know where I’ll be if you need me.”

  “Yes, Doctor,” the young woman replied. “Don’t forget you have a dinner engagement tonight at the Pullman Arms.”

  Shit! Gavin had completely forgotten about the event. “Thanks, Joanie.”

  He left the clinic, throwing his bag onto the back seat of his pickup truck. It was a rugged workhorse of a vehicle and he loved it almost as much as he loved the sleek and elegant luxury SUV he used for everything other than farm visits. The engine rumbled to life when he turned the key in the ignition and he pulled out of the almost empty parking lot, stopping by the local diner to pick up the lunch he had ordered an hour ago.

  He ate as he drove, thinking about the dinner event he had signed up for a month ago in an effort to get himself out of his house. Every year, Winter Ridge hosted a gala event to raise funds for selected local charities and organizations. Because his clinic had been chosen as one of this year’s fund recipients, Gavin was obliged to be at the dinner at which they announced who the big act for the show would be, and what he would have to do to help with the silent auction and other activities. He sighed heavily as he took another bite of the sandwich he had ordered.

  Since his wife Lisa had died five years earlier, Gavin had become something of a recluse. His practice had grown, thanks to his spending all his time either at the clinic or on the farms in the area, and he had managed to double his clientele and make himself too busy to think about how much he missed her. His own horse farm, where they had lived happily until her death, was being run by his foreman, and though he did try to go out at least once a week to check on his stock and sit with Mark to review the books and plan for the future, it didn’t feel like home to him anymore. It hadn’t since she’d been gone.

  These days, he lived most of the time in the one-bedroom utility above the clinic. It really wasn’t meant for constant occupancy, but Gavin had not been able to face going home after Lisa’s funeral, and a temporary stay had become almost permanent. As a general veterinary practitioner for animals large and small, he had taken on every case brought before him, especially after the man with whom he had begun his tenure in Winter Ridge had sold his share of the practice to Gavin and retired to the Bahamas. Over the years, he had gained a lot of hands-on experience in dealing with animal trauma, both large and small, and had become quite expert in delivering calves and foals.

  He was grateful for the extra work, even after he hired a partner to share the load with him. He took every qualifying course that he could to keep his skills up to speed. After Lisa’s death, work was all he had had to keep him from sinking into debilitating depression, and once the overwhelming grief had waned, it was all he had had to keep him company. Lately, he had begun to feel lonelier than ever, and his decision to participate in the fundraiser dinner had been his first real attempt to do what he knew Lisa would have expected him to do long before now. He just hoped he had it in him to handle the shock to his system of being social again.


  When he got to the farm, Jeb Maynard met him as he stepped out of his truck beside the barn where he kept his calving cows.

  “Afternoon, Doc.”

  The farmer was short in stature but barrel-chested and tough-looking for all that. Gavin had thought he’d make a great prizefighter the first time he’d been introduced to him.

  “Afternoon, Jeb. How’s the heifer?”

  “Looking like she’s ready to drop, Doc. That’s why I figured you’d need to have a look. I’m no vet but seems to me that calf is still sitting wrong inside her, and her water broke almost two hours ago with no more progress. You may need to turn the little tyke around to get him out. Normally, I would have waited to call you, but I’m shorthanded today and one of my older cows is getting ready to drop her calf as well.”

  Gavin nodded, knowing that Jeb’s assessment was spot on. “I’m sure you know what you’re talking about, Jeb. You’ve only been a cattle farmer for what? Forty years?”

  “Something like that.” The farmer laughed. “But this wouldn’t be the first time I was wrong about something.”

  Gavin could sense the concern in Jeb’s voice, even though his expression didn’t change. At seventy years old, the older man had been the one in charge on the ranch he inherited from his father from the time of that gentleman’s death forty years ago. Gavin had learned a lot about tending to the health needs of cows from practicing on Jeb’s breeding stock, including one or two ornery bulls.

  “So, how’s the betting going on the gender of the calf?” he asked, trying to get Jeb’s mind off his worry. “I see you think it’ll be a bull.”

  “And have you ever known me to get that wrong, Doc?”

  Gavin chuckled again. Jeb was right. When it came to knowing the gender, he seemed to be the cow whisperer. He inclined his head in agreement and followed the farmer into the barn, letting the peace he always felt listening to the cows lowing settle over him. He loved his job and couldn’t imagine ever doing anything else.

  For the next few hours, after examining the heifer, Gavin watched as the animal worked through her contractions with low moans and sighed when the calf’s feet finally appeared. In between keeping tabs on her, he checked on the other cow in labor, checked on a bull that had managed to get himself tangled in some barbed wire, and then returned to find the heifer lying on her side, her calf’s front feet protruding. Knowing things would go swiftly from that point, he settled in, prepped to assist if need be, and watched as the new mother pushed her firstborn into the world.

  By the time he left Jeb’s farm, Gavin was exhausted. But he had two more farm visits, one of them thankfully a well visit, unless some catastrophe met him on his arrival, and then he’d need to get home, shower and slip into his fancy duds for dinner. Sighing as he turned into the gateway of the small pig farm owned by a couple of feisty sisters, he contemplated changing from his usual white dress shirt to something more colorful. Mentally going over what he had in his closet in town, he realized that anything he needed to wear different from what he had was at home on his ranch. He made his rounds among the sows, accepted a cold glass of lemonade from the older sister, Magda, and promised to return in a month.

  His last visit was to a sick foal, who was languishing after his dam’s death. The farmer, Ned Barnes, had been working for a couple of days to foster the baby with a mare who had lost her own foal, and was worried that the fostering process was not going fast enough. He wanted Gavin to check both animals to make sure neither was sick. Gavin commiserated with the young man, who had inherited a farm he knew nothing about, but who wanted to give it his best shot. He understood perseverance and pride, especially as he himself had been in a similar position when he first came to Winter Ridge to the horse farm he now owned.

  He went with the farmer to the stall where mare and foal were, watched as the little horse tried to feed, and noted how distressed he seemed, as though he wasn’t getting enough milk. Gavin did the usual checks, making sure the mare was not suffering from mastitis, palpated her udders and found them somewhat less full than he might have expected. Knowing it would set Ned’s mind at ease, he took blood samples from each animal and then suggested that perhaps the farmer change the mare’s diet to help her produce more milk.

  “Her udders seem a little flaccid for a nursing mare,” he said. “What do you feed her now?”

  “The usual,” the young man said. “I buy feed from Green’s, as they have the best mix for lactating mares. And I have plenty of salt and clean water as well.”

  “How well does she feed?”

  Ned hesitated. “I haven’t really been watching her. I set it out and leave her to it.”

  “Maybe watch her for the next twenty-four hours to see if she’s having it all, and if she’s having enough salt and water. You know they need the right balance to make the most milk. That might be why the foal is languishing. And the mare herself looks and acts a little peaky. She’s probably not feeling up to par, either.”

  Ned looked shamefaced and Gavin hastened to reassure him. “It’s not your fault if she’s not doing well, Ned. Giving birth is stressful on both mother and foal, and in this case it’s doubly so since one lost her own offspring and the other lost his dam. You did right to call me. We’ll give it time and wait for the blood work results. In the meantime, keep doing what you’re doing, and make sure to monitor her eating. She seems to be taking to the foal well enough, so at least that’s one less worry on your mind.”

  Finally arriving at his own farm, he greeted his foreman with a smile and a firm handshake, listened for five minutes to a very brief rundown of the day and promised to spend the weekend at the farm so he could catch up on the goings on, check on his own animals, and make plans. Then he drove like a maniac back to town, grateful that the sheriff wasn’t around to watch him break every speed limit on the books, rushed through a shower and dressed in record time. He managed to be only slightly fashionably late, arriving fifteen minutes after the official start of the proceedings.

  The Pullman Arms parking lot was almost filled to capacity, and once Gavin parked at the very back of the lot, close to the most odorous dumpsters on the planet he was sure, he walked round to the front and was greeted in the reception area by a smiling mayor and his wife as well as the other members of the town council.

  “So glad you could make it, Doc,” Mayor Williams said. “I know how busy it can get when you’re working afternoon rounds.”

  “I’m glad I could make it too, Bob.” He smiled politely at the mayor and then moved on to shake his wife’s hand gently. “Evening, Mrs. Williams.”

  “Evening, Gavin,” she replied, her large, round face beaming. “As always, you look splendid.”

  “Thank you, kindly, ma’am.”

  Diane Williams had decided, after Lisa died, that she would be Gavin’s primary cheerleader, and he appreciated her tireless efforts to make him feel special. No one else tried to, mostly, he suspected, because they didn’t know how. Now he listened to her giggling like a schoolgirl and smiled back, a genuine thing, the first for a long time.

  “I can already see you’ll be a hit this evening, Gavin.”

  She wasn’t looking at him, but rather behind him, with such an amused expression on her face that he turned to see what was so funny….and sighed when he saw who was bearing down on his position like a heat-seeking missile. The mayor’s daughter was a beautiful redheaded battle-ax of a woman, and Gavin was mildly terrified of her. Which her mother would have found absolutely hilarious if she knew. So, Gavin hid his reaction, and stayed put, even though his fight-or-flight response had kicked in big time.

  “Well, if it isn’t the elusive Dr. Gavin Carter. Word on the street was that you wouldn’t be caught dead at one of our shindigs.”

  Gavin winced and the way her usually pink face lost color told him she realized how awkward her wording had been. He felt bad for her because he knew that in her heart, she was the sweetest woman, just like her mother. Awkward as fuck, but still
sweet. He hastened to reassure her that he was not offended, hoping in the meantime that she wouldn’t take it as an invitation to do more than say hello.

  “Someone promised me that I would have a good time if I came this time, Ginger.”

  She laughed softly, clearly relieved. “Well, I hope we won’t disappoint you, then. Anyway, this seems to be the evening for firsts. You’ll never guess who else is here. He’s been away so long I almost didn’t recognize him when he walked in the door!”

  Gavin smiled and looked up at the sound of an excited burst of talk by the door. And then he froze. He didn’t need Ginger to tell him any more than he needed to guess. Only one man in all his life ever seemed to have that effect on the people around him, and he was now smiling down at one of the other town council members’ wives, his chest heaving gently in silent laughter.

  Hunter Madison was back? When had that happened? How had Gavin not known? Granted, neither he nor Hunt had reached out to the other after Lisa’s funeral, and that had been five years. Hunt’s mother, Mary Madison, often spoke of her son when she saw Gavin in the supermarket or brought her dog in for his checkups. And Gavin had followed his rise to stardom over the years on social media, but the close friendship they had had as boys together, which had widened after he’d gotten married, had cooled even more since Lisa’s death. Truth be told, it hadn’t been the same since Hunt had left town that first time, when they had all gone off to college. Gavin had never managed to see him for more than a quick hello on the rare occasions that he was home from his tours.

  But now he was back, looking elegant in his tux. Gavin noted that he did look a little thinner, the suit hanging on him in a way suits never used to before. Usually, Hunt’s suits fitted him like a glove, so now Gavin wondered why his friend was losing weight. In Hunt's line of work, tuxedos were par for the course, since Gavin’s sometime-best-friend was a renowned concert cellist. Some people might even go so far as to say that Hunt was a virtuoso, though Gavin knew for a fact that Hunt found those accolades pretty embarrassing. He was the least conceited man that Gavin had ever known.