Crows gathering in the dried-out trees nearby was a sign of trouble to come. One Buck Wilmington pacing in circles in front of his church usually meant the same thing.
Walking over to the entrance Josiah waved the darkhaired man inside. "You best come on in, before you wear a permant path in the ground out there." Blue eyes met his and then the younger man climbed the stairs.
"I think I have a problem, 'Siah."
"Then come on in, sit down." Josiah gestured towards the front pews. Being the oldest, and in his own honest opinon; the wisest in the group, he figured he had the right to keep an eye on the rest of them. And as all of them were normally in one form of trouble or another, he was never out of work.
"Now, brother Buck, what is troubling you?" The two of them had sat down in the quiet church. Buck was twisting his hat around and around in his hands, taking his nervous feelings out on the light brown, broad brimmed hat. Josiah carefully and discreetly removed it before the other could do serious damage to it.
Buck took a deep breath, obviously preparing himself. Then he spoke.
"Chris kissed me."
Seeing the unspoken questions on the older man's face, he quickly added: "I mean really kissed me... And I kissed him back."
"I see." Josiah leaned back. "And you're wondering what is going to happen now...or," he went on, reading Buck's face correctly. "Or if it's going to happen again, am I right?"
At first he got only a nod in response.
"Well, yeah. You see...Chris and me go way back, you know that. At one point in time we used to fool around a bit, nothing really serious. Just experimenting a bit..."
"Nothing serious." Buck wasn't meeting his eyes. "That applied for the both of you?"
A small, saddened smiled crossed Buck's face. "Maybe a little more for Chris than me. It only took him one look to fall in love with Sarah. I knew that I had lost him the moment I saw the way he looked at her." He shrugged, staring towards the altar, away from Josiah. "It was a long time ago."
"And now it's back."
"I... Maybe. But I feel so confused, Josiah," Buck confessed. "I should probably just let it be...this could mean a lot of trouble for both of us.
That Josiah knew as well, but he could also see the emotions in the younger man's dark blue eyes.
"Let me just ask you something...I just have to know this. Ezra have anything to do with this?"
"Nope. No bets."
"JD?"
"No. No dares."
"Nathan?"
"Noone got hurt or needing mending."
"Vin?"
"No pranks."
"Then I assume our Mr. Larabee kissed you because he wanted to. And the real issue here, shouldn't be what you should do, but what you want."
"Him. I want him."
"Then by all means, go after him."
He got a sceptical look. "Do you know what you're saying, Josiah? You want me and Chris to...be together?"
"Of course I do." Josiah's look mildened. "Buck, if he makes you happy and you make him happy, who am I to object? The fact that you're both male shouldn't matter if you love each other."
"Not everyone share your opinion," Buck's voice was careful. "I have to think about Chris as well, we're in this together, whatever 'this' we have, is."
"Looks to me like he's made his mind up," Josiah gently intoned. "What are you really afraid of, Buck? That someone might find out about you, or that Chris might leave you again some day?"
Studying his hands, Buck took his time answering. "A little of both, I guess. Maybe mostly the last one... I don't want to start something that won't last. If I can't be what he needs..."
Josiah took one of his hands, stilling the fidgeting. "You know him better than anyone, Buck. You know all the demons from his past and you know how to handle them as well. You've been his strength through all the bad times, you should be there for the good times too."
"So you're saying I oughta go for it."
"Absolutely. You both have my blessings, you know that, and the blessings of this church as well."
"I have to say," Buck's smile was something between mischief, amusement and gratitude. "You're one special kinda priest."
The older man smiled back. "I get that a lot." Meeting another set of blue eyes, he continued: "I hope this cleared things up some for you, my friend."
Buck nodded. "Yeah, I think it did. Thanks, 'Siah. I reckon I know what to do now."
+ + + + + + +
Standing on the top of the stairway to his church, Josiah could see the tall brunet walk over to the jail. This early in the morning the streets were empty. From his viewing point above the street he could see inside the jail and watched Buck approach Chris, the two men standing face to face. A few seconds passed as the two of them appeared to be talking. The conversation was ended when Buck reached out and pulled the smaller man in close. Then they were kissing.
Josiah grinned widely. He loved it when things turned out as they should. Going back inside, he closed the door, giving the two of them some privacy.
The End
