By midday, the sun hung high above the cabin, beating down on Ethan and warming the top of his curls until he thought they might spontaneously combust. He tugged a battered cowboy hat down over his ears, but a fine sheen of sweat began to trickle down his back. He stripped off his flannel shirt, tugged off his jeans, and still found it too damn hot to get comfortable. His vision swam in the heat, causing the tall grasses to waver as he stared at them. More than once he got up, sure someone was coming, only to find that long, breathless minutes passed without reprieve.
“Jesse!” he cried out, hands clenched into fists at his side. He felt useless and stupid, waiting while his lover was out there, perhaps wounded or even killed, and he could do nothing about it.
When the sun finally began
