[mood music]

As soon as the door banged shut behind Shelby, Kurt sat bolt upright in the bed, pulling the sheets to his chest.  "Shelby Corcoran is your mother?"

Blaine nodded like it was no big deal, "Yeah."

"But your last name is Anderson."

Blaine gave Kurt an exasperated look, "Its the twenty-first century, Kurt.  Husbands and wives dont always have the same last name.  And my mother, well, she was famous before she married my dad, so..." Blaine ended with a shrug. 

"And your dad was...?" Kurt rolled his hands to indicate that Blaine should finish the question. 

"Kent Anderson.  He was a rancher."

"So this is your ranch now?" 

"Mine and my mothers, yes.  We inherited it from Dad who inherited it from his mother, who inherited it from her father, Kennedy Blaine.  Thats who I was named after."

"Kennedy Blaine?  KB?  As in KB Ranch?"                                        

Blaine nodded.   "He was the original homesteader.  His brother--my great uncle--also homesteaded a few counties over.  They named Blaine County after him."

Kurt took a minute to let all of it sink in.  He felt betrayed, but he wasnt sure why.  "If you own the ranch, why did everyone lead me to believe that you were just a ranch hand?"

"Sam told me he told you I was a cattleman.  I thought you knew."

"He said you were both wranglers.  Then he said you were a cattleman.  I didnt know what it meant."

"A wrangler is a guy who works horses.  A cattleman is a guy who own cows."

"Oh," Kurt said, running out of questions.  "I just wished you had told me." 

"Does any of this really make a difference, Kurt?  Does it change how you feel about me?"

Kurt thought about it for a few minutes, "No, I guess not," he said slowly. 

He sat silently for a moment lost in thought, "What do you suppose your mom wants to talk to me about?  Do you think shes mad were sleeping together? Does she know youre gay?"

Blaine barked out a short laugh, "Mom definitely knows that Im gay.  Ive never made that a secret.  She also quit worrying about who I was sleeping with years ago.  I dont know what she wants to talk to you about.  Maybe she wants to hear about New York.  She hasnt been there in a while."  Blaine seemed unconcerned so Kurt relaxed a little.

"Can we go to sleep now?" Blaine asked. 

"I guess so," Kurt lay back down in Blaines arms and snuggled close, but his mind continued to reel.  Then Kurt remembered something, and he raised his head so he could look Blaine in the eyes.  "I dont get it.  When I first got to the ranch, Sam said that you never interacted with the guests.  If this is your ranch, wouldnt you be interested in making sure that the guests are happy?  Isnt it bad for word of mouth to have a guest ranch run by a surly rancher?"

Blaine didnt answer for a long moment.  He just stared at the ceiling.  At length he spoke, "As far as the guests are concerned, Mom owns the ranch.  Im just another guy who works here."  There was a long pause, and then Blaine continued, "Anyhow, I havent been very good company for the last few years.  It was better that I stayed away from everyone."

"But why?" Kurts eyes were luminescent in the moonlight through the window. 

Blaine tugged Kurt back down beside him, wrapped his arms around him, and kissed him on the temple, "Go to sleep, Kurt."

Kurt opened his mouth to protest but then thought better of it. 

"Goodnight, Blaine," he finally said. 

--KB--

It took a long time for Kurt to fall asleep, and, as a consequence, he woke late to find the bed empty.  Blaine had been at work for a while already.  Stretching, Kurt rose from the bed and donned his clothes.  He returned to his room, took a shower, and dressed carefully.  Although he had met Shelby yesterday, now she was Blaines mom, and that meant meeting the parent. 

Kurt wiped sweaty palms down the sides of his pants. 

Deciding that he would be better off eating breakfast after seeing Shelby, he asked Tina for directions to her study and found himself walking down a narrow hallway toward a closed door.  As he drew nearer he heard angry voices shouting.  Not wanting to eavesdrop, Kurt stopped short.  He could hear the angry exchange, but he couldnt make out the words. 

Kurt was just about to go back to his room and come back later when the door flew open and Blaine stalked out, slamming the door behind him with a bang.  His face was red and he looked like he could spit fire. 

"Blaine," Kurt said tentatively, reaching out a hand to touch Blaines shoulder. 

Blaine ripped his arm away forcefully and gritted out, "Not now, Kurt!"

Kurt stared after Blaine open-mouthed while his lover stomped down the hall for about four steps.  Then Blaine whirled around suddenly and flew back to Kurt, putting a hand on each side of Kurts face and kissing him fiercely again and again.  Between kisses he panted, "Im sorry.  Im so sorry, love.  I didnt mean to snap at you.  Its just my mother.  Shes...unreasonable."  Blaine pulled Kurt into a tight hug and whispered, "Dont take her too seriously, okay?" 

Kurt hugged Blaine back and nodded, "Okay."

--KB--

"Come in," Shelby called when Kurt knocked tentatively at her door. 

Kurt pushed the door open, and he was surprised when Shelby greeted him with a warm smile.  "Kurt, its so nice to see you.  Thank you for meeting me.  Please come in and have a seat."

Kurt perched on an available chair and folded his hands in his lap.  He had no idea why he was here, but if Shelby was going to scold him for sleeping with her son, she was starting out very strangely. 

"Kurt, you seem to have become very attached to my son, am I right?"

Kurt nodded, "I love him," he stated baldly.  Kurt had decided before walking into this meeting that he was going to be scrupulously honest.  He was a grown man, and he wasnt going to be made to feel ashamed for anything he did. Not with Blaine. 

"Oh." Shelby expressed surprise, but then she smiled, "Thats good.  Im glad.  You seem to be good for him."  She took a deep breath, "I wanted to see you, because I need to tell you a story." 

Kurt sat back in his chair and crossed his legs.  He had no idea where this was going, but he was willing to find out for Blaines sake. 

"A long time ago I thought I had everything I ever wanted.  I had gone to New York when I was 18 to train in musical theater, like you, but I found success right away.  I nailed my first audition and got a big Broadway part.  Because I didnt have to work for it, I thought I didnt need training.  I thought I knew everything, and that I didnt need to put in the extra hours to learn the trade.  I dropped out of school early on, and I just went to auditions.  I got a lot of work, and my arrogant approach worked for a while...for a long time, really.  By the time I was 20, I was a star.  By the time I was 25, I was a superstar.  I thought it would go on forever." 

Shelby had been toying with a bottle of water on her desk.  Now she brought it to her lips and took a long drink before she continued, "Then one night I went to a party and Kent Anderson was there.  It was all over.  I cant explain it.  I had never believed in love at first sight, but from the moment I met him, I was completely smitten.  My whole life I had wanted to be a big Broadway star, but after I met Kent, I just wanted to be with him.  I was willing to throw away everything--and I did--just to be near him." 

The confession startled Kurt in that it so closely echoed his own thoughts recently about Blaine.  Blaine seemed worth giving it all away.  

Shelby went on, "I walked away from my producers, my manager, everyone, because of Kent.  It didnt matter that I didnt know anything about ranching.  What mattered was that I loved him, and his life was here.  I packed up everything and moved to Idaho." 

Shelby leaned forward and her face took on a wistful look, "Oh, Kurt, it was amazing.  We were so in love.  We got married right away, and then we had Blaine, and I thought nothing could be more perfect.  We had a marriage I wouldnt have traded for anyones, and we had a little angel in Blaine. 

"Blaine."  She repeated his name with a voice full of regret, "From an early age, it was obvious to his dad and me that Blaine had a rare talent for music, especially the violin.  Playing the violin was all he wanted to do.  His friends played little league and read books, but Blaine played the violin.  We never had to encourage him that much; he just wanted to play.

"Kent and I started working to develop his talent.  I used my former connections in New York to get him training with some of the masters.  We sent him away during the summers to study with teachers in Europe and Asia.  He began winning competitions--big competitions--all over the globe.  By the time he was a senior in high school, he had his pick of every conservatory in the country, and everyone thought he would be a concert violinist, maybe the next Joshua Bell."

Kurt found himself leaning in.  He found the story both amazing and completely believable, having heard Blaine play. 

"He was 18, and he was completely set to attend Julliard--it was his first choice school--and then his dad died.  It was stupid.  He was driving into town, and a neighbor was driving out of town with a horse trailer.  He didnt have a safety chain in.  When the truck hit a bump, the trailer became disconnected from the pickup.  It swerved across the road and hit Kents truck right where he was sitting.  He was killed instantly." 

Shelby began peeling the label from her water bottle.  "The rest, Im not proud of," she said as she stared down at the desk. 

"There was so much to sift through.  I loved Kent, but I knew almost nothing about the ranch, and I had never learned.  I had just let Kent take care of Blaine and me.  At that time, the KB wasnt a guest ranch, it was just a working ranch.  When all the dust settled, it became clear that the ranch was barely hanging on.  I either needed to sell the land or make sure it became more viable. 

"I looked to sell, but heres the thing," she reached forward across the desk for Kurts hand, and he gave it to her, "I didnt know how to do anything.  I had been a Broadway star, but I never had fully committed to training for theater.  That meant--as an older woman--my options were limited, if I could get any parts at all.  Despite my Tony Awards, no manager was willing to take me on as a client.  It has been too long, I hadnt kept up my training, and I had walked away before.  I was too big a risk.  Selling the ranch would get me some money--enough to live on for a while--but it wouldnt last. Without training in anything,  I had no way to support myself."

Shelby took a deep breath, but tears began spilling down her cheeks, "Blaine saw it all.  He understood it.  Turning the KB into a guest ranch was his idea.  He also knew how to keep the working ranch operational, and he had ideas about how to make the place more profitable.  He gave up everything--his violin training, his scholarship to Julliard, his future as a concert performer, everything--in order to give me security.  I screwed up, and he paid the cost.

"At first I thought I was so lucky to have such a devoted son.  He seemed passionate about the ranch, and I thought it would be as good a life for him as any.  I was wrong."  She gave a rueful shake of her head, "Giving up the violin nearly killed him.  It was his passion--his love.  Without it, he became a different person.  He became...hard...bitter.  He still played, but it wasnt the same.  You could hear it.  And the bubbly, friendly, smiling boy that I watched grow up just disappeared into a hard-bitten cattleman.  I thought Id lost him forever."  Shelby smiled at Kurt tremulously, "But then you came along, and now I see glimpses of the Blaine I used to know.

"Seeing the two of you together made me think about all the things that have happened since Kents death.  I had been satisfied to keep things the way they were.  I wanted my old Blaine back, but I was contented to just let him run the place.  But seeing you together made me take stock.  I realize now that I no longer need Blaine; Ive just gotten used to relying on him.  Sam is perfectly capable of running the ranch, Ive learned the ropes of running a hotel of sorts, and weve accumulated enough profit to keep this place going for a long time.

"Please, Kurt," Shelby pleaded, looking at Kurt imploringly and squeezing his hand,  "You say you love him.  I think he loves you, too.  Please take Blaine with you when you go back to New York. Try to find the man that he could have been."