Double Trails - Chapter Fifty-Nine

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Chapter Fifty-Nine

- Will -

"Not so loud," Ryan growled.

"Worried Christian's gonna hear?" I teased. "Josh is between us and him."

Instead of replying, Ryan grabbed my hips and thrust his dick back in my hole hard and deep. I dropped my shoulders a bit letting my head fall into the pillow more, effectively muffling the howl I let out.

"You keep that up and I'll alert folks in the next county!" I said, after lifting my head up a bit.

"Just bite the pillow," he growled, teasing back at me.

Ryan didn't take or dish out teasing all that well, so his response surprised me a bit.

"One thing I liked about the old apartment," I replied. "We could be as loud as we wanted."

"That's gonna change when we get back to school," he reminded me. "But right now let's focus on this fuck! We can worry about the other stuff later."

"You started it!"

"I'm going to finish it, too!"

He pulled his dick out of my ass, lined it up with my pucker and slammed back in. This elicited a grunt as I dropped my face back into the pillow. He repeated the process several more times before switching to quick, short stabs. I knew he was getting close and I worked to tighten my ass muscles.

"That's it! Milk me!" He urged.

I could tell he'd changed his position, as his dick started jabbing right into my prostate. Damn, each time he scraped over it it felt so good!

"Come on fucker. Make me cum!" I begged.

I tried to get one of my hands under me to stroke myself, but Ryan batted my hand away. He doubled his pace and I let out a squeal. My dick started spurting cum onto the sheet. My clenching ass muscles triggered him and I felt my ass getting flooded with cum.

As he finished cumming, Ryan collapsed forward on top of me. He started licking the back of my neck and proceeded up to my ears.

"Love you," he whispered.

"Love you, too," I replied.

He lay on top of me until his dick softened enough to plop out. Then he rolled over onto the bed next to me.

"We need new sheets," Ryan snickered.

"Yup. You found my load!" I laughed quietly.

Eventually we got up, cleaned up, and changed the sheets on the bed. With that we curled up together and enjoyed a good night's sleep.

Saturday morning Ryan and I were the first ones up. Ryan mixed up a batch of biscuits while I scrambled eggs and got the bacon frying.

I figured everyone would sleep in late after the busy day before. The fourth of July party had gone off without any major hitches. We'd run out of hot dogs about five p.m., but the supply of hamburgers and chicken kabobs had lasted.

"What time are you leaving?" I asked Ryan.

"I figure we'll head out after lunch. That should get us to the park and let us set up camp before dinner," he replied.

Ryan was taking Christian to the Clinch Mountain Wildlife Area for a week of camping. The trip had been planned back during the spring break visit; however, it had been delayed. I'd felt bad about Christian's visit. With Ezra out, Ryan hadn't had as much free time to spend with him as had been planned. We'd adjusted the work schedule as much as possible - allowing Christian to join him on rides and other tasks. On the fourth, Christian ran the petting zoo.

"At least the two of you can have a good week together."

"I wish you were going. I want you to have time with him, too."

"With Ezra out, the schedule won't permit both of us being gone."

"I know, but..."

"But you really want me to go, too. That's sweet," I told him. "I'll miss cuddling with you for the next few nights."

He leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"Aw," I heard Tracer's voice say from behind me. "How touching."

I turned and shot Tracer a look at his teasing.

"Sorry," he said, putting his hands up in defense.

"Morning," Ryan said, ending the moment.

"Morning," Tracer replied.

"I was figuring folks would sleep in," I admitted.

"Josh and Christian might," Ryan added. "I'll bet Dad's down in a few minutes."

"He's getting dressed. I got into the shower first," Tracer explained.

"Good morning." I heard a voice say from behind me. It didn't sound like Erik, so I was unsurprised to see Josh.

"Morning," I replied. "You're up early!"

"This farm living is getting to me," he explained.

"In more ways than one," Ryan commented. "How much weight have you lost?"

"More important than that, how many inches have you lost?" I asked.

"Well, in just under two months I've lost sixteen pounds. I'm guessing I'm down about three inches in my waist," Josh explained. "The combination of work and eating better has been amazing."

"Keep it up," Tracer encouraged.

"I plan on it. In fact, when we get back to school I want to work out with Will and Ryan."

"That's fine," I agreed. "Should be pretty easy with the three of us living together."

"What time are you and Christian heading out?" Josh asked.

"After lunch," Ryan replied.

"Cool. What's on the agenda for today?" Josh asked.

"Clean up," I explained. "Lots and lots of clean up. I don't think we have any rental groups today."

"Yes, we do," Tracer corrected me. "One small group at ten a.m., and one fairly large group at two."

"I didn't see them on the board," I explained. "Must have missed them."

"We need to break down and return all the rental equipment as well," Tracer continued.

"Fun day," Josh commented.

We were still discussing the details of the day when Erik and Christian showed up. The six of us ate breakfast and then headed out for a morning of chores. By mid-morning I had most of my list done when Josh appeared.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Got some time to help out?"

"Sure. What all you need?"

"Trevor and I are trying to get those last four big bushes installed. They're too big for the two of us to handle alone."

"Muscle time!"

"Exactly. We got them onto the trailer using the little Cat, but we can't use it on the trail."

"How far do they have to go?"

"About twenty-five or thirty feet up the hill from the trail."

"Room for a horse to maneuver?"

"Huh?"

"You know how the root-ball has the burlap tied around it? You attach a line to that, hook the line to the horse's harness and let the horse pull it up. Then we just wrestle it into the hole."

"I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, there is. What horse should we use?"

"You two take Gator and pull the trailer up. I'll get Cotton ready and meet you up there in a few minutes."

With Cotton doing the pulling, we had the four rhododendra in the ground in no time. I left the guys to fill in the dirt. I took a ride up to the picnic area and came back on the inner trail. Josh had done amazing things - not only restoring the damaged areas, but also improving other areas. Once the landscaping had a chance to mature the trails would look better than before.

By the time I got back to the main compound, Ryan and Christian were loading up the Jeep.

"Need help?" I asked.

"Naw, that's everything," Ryan answered.

"Hope you two have a lot of fun. Getting out and doing some camping should be a lot more fun than working on the farm," I said to Christian.

"I've been having fun just spending time doing things. It's a lot more fun here than the rest of summer's going to be."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"With Mom gone, I'm stuck at the house all day while Dad's at work."

"Oh. I hadn't thought about that," I admitted.

"Yeah, I'm really enjoying this," Christian replied.

I felt bad for Christian and thought how lonely Jackson must be right now with him gone. I could only imagine how rough the adjustment had been and would be.

I said goodbye to them both, wishing mightily that I could grab Ryan and kiss him deeply. I looked around the yard and saw too many folks for even a quick peck.

They drove off and I went into the office to figure out what needed to be done next. I was sitting at my desk when Erik walked in.

"How goes?" He asked.

"Not too bad. Ryan and Christian just took off a few minutes ago. Just trying to figure out what to do next."

"How about helping me load up all the inflatable play areas onto the big trailer, so I can haul them back."

"Sure."

It took us about an hour to load the slide, bounce, and rope climb onto the trailer along with the associated fans.

"That's everything," I said. "I'll go check on the horses."

"Why don't you ride over to Bluefield with me. Keep me company," Erik suggested.

I went into the office and left a note on the board to Tracer and the staff that Erik and I were returning the rentals. I hopped into the cab of the big Ram and we took off. Erik drove us down Kents Ridge Road and then got onto the Trail of the Lonesome Pine. Once that merged into US Four-Sixty he put one hand on the wheel and let one arm rest in the open window.

"Excited that Patrick starts work tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yeah. Very much so. I've really missed him since I moved here. Folks always thought we were fraternal twins cause of the way we act together. We're only nine months apart in age."

"Tracer's three years older, so a bit more distance between you and him."

"Yeah, plus with Tracer being out of my life from thirteen to nearly sixteen... Well, Patrick and I bonded tighter during those years than anyone could imagine. I mean..." I paused as I tried to think how to explain it.

"Did you have any inkling you were gay during that time?"

"I guess I did. I mean... like when I got the chance to look at a dirty magazine the naked women didn't do anything for me. But when I found a picture of a naked guy, that made me tingle."

"And what happened to Tracer pushed you to repress your feelings?"

"Definitely. I didn't want to be thrown out, too, so I pushed it down deep. At the same time I held on tighter and tighter to Patrick. I had lost Tracer; I didn't think I could bear losing Patrick."

"So having him close by will be a big plus."

"For sure. I miss getting to hang out with him. Do things. You didn't have brothers did you?"

"Nope. I was an only child," Erik explained. "Just like Ryan. I've had people tell me you miss something not having a sibling, not having a sibling of the same sex, etcetera. I guess you don't know what you missed when you don't have it. But I can see that losing Tracer would have a big impact on the bond between the two of you."

"I also think it will be fun for Patrick, Tiffany, Ryan and me to hang out from time to time."

"Just the four of you?"

"I'm not trying to exclude you and Tracer. Just meaning a different foursome. I'm sure there will be the six of us, the four of you, you know. Different ways to get together and hang out."

"I was just teasing," Erik conceded. "I knew what you meant. Also, Patrick and Tiffany are closer in age to the two of you. You don't need your parents around all the time."

"To be honest, Erik, I don't think of you as being in my parents' age range. You don't act like them at all."

"Hehehehe, I doubt Ryan agrees with you on that one."

"Actually, he does. We've talked about it. The ways you've changed since you met Tracer and since he and I got together. I guess the night he blew up at you regarding our relationship was a big turning point."

"It really was. I tried hard to stop thinking of him only as my son and start thinking of him as an adult in a relationship. I'll admit that the Dad in me came out a lot the first year..."

"But that was appropriate," I interrupted. "And it will always be appropriate to some extent. You are his dad."

"True. The four of us will need to work out some basic rules for living together after you two finish school."

"Huh?" I was confused.

"As you said, I'm Ryan's dad. But the house needs to be set up on a more equal basis once you two finish college. Right now you two visit during breaks and Tracer and I run the house. We'll need to share."

"Makes sense," I admitted. "I'm sure there are responsibilities that Ryan and I haven't thought about."

"I'm sure."

Erik and I continued one of the deepest, non-Ryan conversations we'd ever had until we got to Bluefield. After we dropped the rentals off, Erik started us down Maryland Avenue passing Bluefield Regional Medical Center.

"Bring back memories?" Erik asked.

"Yeah. Ones I'd rather leave there," I replied. "Can we slip by the Walmart as we leave town? I want to get some supplies for the office."

"Sure."

We made the quick stop, I got the supplies, and we headed west once again. We were just east of Tazewell when Erik turned off the highway.

"Have you ever been up here?" He asked.

"No. What's this place?"

He pulled off the road.

"Follow me." He led me a ways and pointed. "That's the source of the Clinch River."

"That's cool."

"From here it flows south and west, meets up with the Holston River near Knoxville to form the Tennessee. Now come this way."

We walked about a quarter mile around the top of the mountain.

"What's this?" I asked.

"This is the source of the Bluestone River."

"That's the one that flows through Pipestem, isn't it? Tracer's talked a lot about it."

"Yeah. It flows north and east, merges with the New River, eventually the Ohio and then into the Mississippi."

"That's wild. One goes into Tennessee and the other to West Virginia, but they start only a thousand feet apart."

"Yup. If it wasn't for the mountain top, the two sources would probably flow together," Erik said. "Instead this one area spawns two different rivers."

We walked around the area for a short while, then headed back to the truck.

"Thanks for sharing this with me."

That night was weird. I'd been with Ryan for over four years and in that time we were rarely apart. Trying to get to sleep in bed alone was rough.

Sunday was slower than typical. I guess a lot of folks were worn out from their Fourth of July festivities. By mid-afternoon all the chores were done and I was debating what to do next.

"Hey, Will," Josh called out as he came into the stables.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much. Want to get some pizza for dinner tonight? I haven't had any in a while."

"Missing all the junk food?"

"Yes and no. I miss the taste, but not the pudge on my belly."

"Just have to do it in moderation," I suggested. "How `bout we go over to Giovanni's in Richlands for dinner."

"That would be great. Want to invite Tracer and Erik?" He asked.

"Sure."

"What time do you want to leave?"

"How about five."

"That's cool. Gives me a couple hours to relax and clean up. I'm gonna go take a shower."

"Enjoy!"

Josh took off and I did a full walkthrough of the stables. All the horses were in their stalls or marked as being in the pasture. I closed up everything and turned off the lights.

"Hey!" I heard Tracer's voice call out.

"Sorry," I said lowly as I flipped the lights back on. "Didn't realize you were in here."

"I came in the back door a moment ago," he admitted as he came down the aisle.

"Done for the day?"

"Pretty much. Erik ran into town to grab a few things. He should be back in a moment, then we're gonna crash for the evening."

"Y'all have dinner plans? Josh and I are going into town to Giovannis."

"No plans. But I'm not sure I'm in the mood for pizza."

"No worries either way. Let me know. I'm going to go get cleaned up, check e-mail, and chill for a little while. We were thinking about leaving at five."

"I'll check with Erik and let you know."

"Cool."

After a long, hot shower, I just pulled on a pair of boxers and climbed on the bed. I grabbed my laptop and logged into my Hotmail account. A few pieces of spam, some random crap from places I'd given my e-mail address, and a general announcement from school, but nothing of real interest. I closed the laptop and set it on the floor. Then I leaned back against my pillows and relaxed.

"Hey, Will!" I heard Josh's voice loudly.

"Huh?" I woke up with a start. I looked at the clock and realized that I'd drifted off for over an hour.

"Will!"

"Come in," I said.

Josh opened the door slightly and stuck his head in. "I was checking to see if you're ready. I can see you're not quite there."

"Let me throw on shorts and a shirt and I'll be ready."

Josh disappeared from the doorway. I grabbed a pair of cargo shorts out of the drawer, then grabbed a polo shirt. I stuck my feet into a pair of sandals and I was ready to go.

"The beach bum look," Tracer commented, as I stepped into the upstairs hallway.

I turned and saw him in the doorway to his room.

"Yup. I don't get to do this often around here."

"True. Anyway, we're gonna stay home. Erik's not hungry at the moment. I figure we'll throw something together later."

"OK. Have fun," I said. With that I went down the stairs and found Josh waiting in the kitchen. "Just you and me."

We took one of the trucks into town and pulled into a space in front of the restaurant.

"Not very busy," Josh said.

"That's fine. We'll get better service."

We grabbed a table in a quiet corner after ordering a small pepperoni pizza.

"Must be strange for you not having Ryan around."

"Yeah. We do spend a lot of time together," I agreed.

"I'm not sure I could do it."

"Do what?"

"Live, work, and love - twenty-four hours a day in one place."

"You mean us on the farm?" I asked.

"Exactly. I think I'd need my own space. You know. Go to work, not be with my guy all day, all night, all the time."

"I'd never thought about that," I admitted. "Not sure it's that big of a deal though."

"Why not?"

"Well... as you should have seen by now, you can spend all day on the farm and never see certain people. If you're out doing fence maintenance with someone, you might not see anybody else the entire day."

"True. I guess you have to make sure you don't do the same tasks all the time."

"I figure Tracer and Erik have it figured out; Ryan and I will figure it out eventually."

"Doesn't that add to the complexity? Having to be around Tracer and Erik all the time too?"

"It's funny you mention it. Erik and I discussed pretty much the same topic when we drove over to Bluefield yesterday. The four of us will have to set some ground rules to make it work in the long run. But the house is big enough, the design gives both couples privacy and the farm does offer space. We've done it this long."

"But with you and Ryan at Tech most of the year."

"Agreed. But... well... look, how much trouble have you seen around the place this summer? I mean on top of the four of us, we have you and Christian in the house."

"Y'all are pretty laid back, alright" Josh agreed.

"Y'all? Did you just say `y'all'?"

"Hell. Three years of living in Blacksburg and now an intense dose of the area at the farm. Who wouldn't slip into southern slang, at least a little."

"Our big-city, northern boy is becoming another southern guy," I teased.

"Well, it's rubbed off. I guess how far it progresses depends on where I end up for a job."

"So what's your overall game plan?"

"Finish school - I'm going to take three classes this fall and three in the spring."

"Can't you finish in one semester?"

"If I stretch, yes. I need sixteen credits and none of the courses I wanted were four credits. I really didn't want to take six classes in one session."

"Gotcha. And your scholarship will support this?"

"I'm confirming. I may have to go to four classes a semester to meet their requirements. Otherwise I'm good to go."

"Have you talked to Cory?"

"No. He's e-mailed me a few times," Josh admitted.

"And???"

"I deleted them unread. Dude, I'm baked. Done. I have no energy to expend on him."

"I can understand that."

"I did meet this hot guy just before we left for the summer."

"Do tell. You've kept this a secret."

"Well. We had one date. So not a lot to tell so far. He's a manager of a store over in Christiansburg. He's a bit older than me... he seems nice... that's about it."

"I'll have to live vicariously through you," I explained.

"Huh?"

"I've never been on a date. Never dated once before I met Ryan, and I doubt you'd say we ever really dated."

"You haven't missed a thing. Dating's a lot of work!"

"I guess. So what's the guy's name?"

"Douglas."

"I look forward to meeting him some day."

"If we actually connect and date."

"OK. I won't push," I teased.

Our pizza arrived, cutting the conversation short. After dinner we drove back to the farm and said our good nights.

I was sitting in the office just before lunch on Thursday worrying. A major storm had popped up on the weather maps on Wednesday and had blown into the area quickly. If Christian and Ryan were too far from civilization they could get stuck, or at a minimum get swamped. A loud clap of thunder reverberated through the hills and the heavens opened up.

"Shit," I muttered.

"Honey. They'll be fine," Christine said. She was working on payroll while I put together a supply order.

"I hope so."

I turned to grab some paperwork out of the file cabinet behind me when I heard the door open.

"Speak of the devil," Christine said.

"So I'm the devil now," I heard Ryan reply.

"No, sweetie," Christine started. "but we were just talking about you. Will was concerned you'd get caught deep in the woods when the storm hit."

I smiled at Ryan.

"We got lucky," he explained. "Late last night, a ranger came past our camp site and warned us that the storm was coming. So we packed up, hiked out this morning, and were almost here before it hit. In fact, we have the Jeep unloaded and everything in the house."

"Super," I replied. "Hungry?"

"Yeah. How about you and I pull together lunch. I'm assuming everyone will be inside any moment."

"Want anything?" I asked Christine.

"Nope. Payroll is done and I need to go home," she explained.

"OK. Have a great afternoon. See you tomorrow."

"Sounds good," she replied.

I followed Ryan, running at top speed over to the house. As soon as we were in the house, he grabbed me and kissed me passionately. Even though I was fairly wet, I pulled him tight and enjoyed the kiss.

"WOO WOO!" I heard behind me.

We broke the kiss and I turned to find Christian staring at us. I must have blushed a deep red.

"Don't be embarrassed," he said.

"I was just surprised," I admitted.

"He blushes easily," Ryan added.

"I take it seeing two guys kiss doesn't bother you too much," I said.

"Nope. I spent the last few days talking a lot with Ryan. I'm cool with it," he explained.

"Let's get lunch ready. I'm sure the guys will be in very soon," Ryan said.

We put together a hearty lunch and as predicted Erik, Tracer, and Josh all showed up just in time to eat. After lunch, the weather worsened, so the staff headed home and we closed up the stables for the day.

That afternoon the six of us held a PlayStation tournament. Poor Erik was outclassed from the start. As someone who had never played a video game he was the perennial loser. But he was a good sport and seemed to have a great time.

After dinner, Ryan and I watched television with Christian and Josh until the yawns started. At that point, we said our good nights and went up to our room. As soon as the door closed I grabbed Ryan and started pulling off his shirt.

"I'll get that," he offered, raising his arms a bit.

"I'm taking care of it," I said forcefully.

Ryan let me finish removing his shirt and I kept his left arm up over his head. I let my tongue trace a line from his wrist down the length until I reached his pit. I let my tongue lap up the musk that had developed. Ryan wasn't dirty, but he was ripe. It appeared that he hadn't gotten to a shower in a day or two. It tasted great! Pure Ryan musk.

I worked under his arm a bit more and then proceeded to run my tongue across the muscles in his shoulders and back before working into his other pit. I paid the same attention, lapping up all the musk I could. As I was finishing up under his pit, I reached down and undid his belt and jeans and then pushed them down. My arms stretched to their limit, so my mouth started working down Ryan's chest. I circled my tongue over his belly button and then followed the small trail of hair down his abs to his crotch.

I helped Ryan step out of his boots, jeans and underwear. He was standing in front of me in only his socks. I pulled them down and off, then returned my attention to his now hard, dripping cock.

Sticking my tongue out, I licked the first few drops of precum off Ryan's dick.

"Mmmm... sweet," I said.

I swirled my tongue around the head of his dick and then ran it along the length of his shaft. His cock jerked a bit. Reaching his balls, I teased them with the tip of my tongue before pulling first one and then the other into my mouth. I alternated sucking on one or the other for a while, eliciting a few groans from Ryan.

I opened wide and his ball dropped from my mouth. I wrapped one hand around the base and pulled down gently as I wrapped my lips around the head of his prick and worked my way down to the base.

"FUCK!" he groaned, as my lips reached his pubic hair.

I stayed down on his cock as long as I could. Ryan placed his hands on my head, not to control - just encouragement.

"Damn," he muttered. "That feels great!"

My tongue worked around the shaft. Finally, my need for more air caused me to pull back to the head of his dick. I drew in a deep breath and worked down the shaft again.

"Oh, fuck!" He groaned.

I started bobbing my head up and down the full length of his dick. Over four years of practice had given me good skills.

"I want to suck you, too!" He said.

I buried my head into his crotch and pushed him backwards with my free hand. He got the hint and shuffled his feet back, my mouth never leaving his cock until he bumped into the bed. He sat down on the bed and I finally had to let go of his dick.

I pushed Ryan back and climbed over him, letting my cock hang above his face as I returned to sucking.

"Mmmmm..." I groaned around his cock as Ryan's lips wrapped around my shaft.

Ryan put a hand on my hip and pushed gently, causing me to shift over until we were laying side by side. Over the next few minutes we each adjusted till we were in a great sixty-nine position.

More than five minutes of sucking Ryan's cock had caused a lot of spit to accumulate. I let my fingers run up his shaft and used the spit as lube to work a finger into his hole.

"Awww..." he groaned around my cock as my second finger worked into his hole.

My two fingers teased and worked to open him up a bit. I changed positions the best I could until my tongue reached his pucker. My fingers pulled lightly at each side and I pushed my tongue in deep.

"That's what I need," Ryan mumbled.

"Ready to get fucked?"

"Damn right. It's been a week and my hole needs filled!" He growled.

I grabbed the lube out of the nightstand and slicked up my cock as Ryan flipped over onto his back. He pulled his knees up towards his chest and I rubbed my slick dick up and down his crack.

"It's trying to pull me in," I teased.

"Push it in."

I let the head slip in and then held still. Ryan tried to push up a bit, but I used my hands to keep him in place.

"Patience," I said.

I popped my dick out and then pushed back in. I kept fucking just the pucker, teasing it.

"Come on, Baby. Fuck me!" He pleaded.

I looked down into his eyes and... oh fuck, how could I resist.

I pushed my dick in slowly until my pubic hair bumped his balls. I leaned forward and gave him a deep kiss. I slid back a bit, and pumped back in a bit as I stretched out the kiss.

"Mmmm..." he moaned around my tongue.

I used his legs to get myself more upright as I started fucking in and out more.

"That's it," Ryan encouraged, as I picked up the pace. "Fuck me!"

Often our fucking was energetic and a bit rough. After nearly a week apart, this was more leisurely and passion-filled.

Ryan reached up and tweaked my tits while I continued to fuck him. I let my hands roam along his chest.

Changing the angle of my fuck, I found his prostate and started rubbing it with my thrusts.

"Oh, man..." he groaned.

I looked down and noticed that his cock was leaking precum onto his abs. I started lengthening my strokes and picking up the pace.

Ryan hawked up some spit into the palm of his hand and started jacking. As he worked himself towards a climax, his ass started milking my cock.

"Fuck!" he groaned, as cum spurted out of his cock.

As he shot, his ass clamped down tight on my dick. I pumped in and out twice and flooded his hole with my cum.

"Welcome home," I said, leaning over and kissing him, then I lay on top of Ryan, sticking us together with his cum.

"That's a warm welcome home,"

I grabbed a towel and wiped us off.

"Laundry tomorrow," I reminded him.

"Good, we don't have to go clean up."

With that we positioned ourselves to curl up and go to sleep.

Friday and Saturday were rainy and dreary. The good thing about the weather, it kept business needs low, so I was able to hang out with Ryan and Christian. Saturday morning at breakfast I sprung a surprise.

"I made dinner reservations for tonight," I told Ryan and Christian.

"Reservations? In Richlands?" Ryan asked a bit confused.

"No, in Abingdon," I replied.

Ryan's face got an even more puzzled look on it. "Dude, that's over an hour away just for dinner?"

"Well, I got tickets for a show too."

Finally, the light bulb went off over Ryan's head. "The Barter Theatre?"

"Yup. They're doing Peter and the Wolf. So I made reservations at the Tavern for three at five p.m., then we go down the street to the Barter for the show."

"How'd you think of this?" Ryan asked.

"Well, I had help. I called Janet yesterday and asked for suggestions. I was lucky that they had three tickets available for the show tomorrow night."

"OK, guys, fill me in," Christian finally interrupted.

"Abingdon is a large town on Interstate 81 just north of the Tennessee state line," Ryan explained. "It's a very historic town and has a huge fine arts scene. The Barter is one of the oldest theatres in the country. It's a..."

"It's a repertory theatre," I completed for Ryan.

"What's that?" Christian asked.

"From what Janet explained, the Barter is one of the oldest places left that has a staff of actors that perform a series of shows year-round."

"Cool. And we're going to see Peter and the Wolf?" He asked.

"Yup. They started the show two weeks ago. We're having dinner before hand at the Tavern."

"I take it that's special, too?" Christian asked.

"The Tavern opened in 1779 and has been used for a lot of different things over the years. But it's been a restaurant as long as I can remember," Ryan explained.

We got dressed up after lunch and hit the road about two. We walked around the historic downtown a bit as the rain finally started to let up. Dinner was great, and Christian couldn't stop talking about the show on the drive back to the farm.

The following Friday we took Christian down to TriCities airport. It was a sad moment for all of us as we said our goodbyes. Ryan was pretty quiet on the drive home.

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