Home to Stay (Southern Boys Book 2)

by Harper Cassidy

  In addition to this letter, in this safe you will find the paperwork for the deal your real father made, as well as the paternity test confirming I am not your birth father.

  I trust you’ll manage not to run the farm into the ground.

  Regards,

  Walker Barnaby

  Nick finished reading at last, both his and Reuben’s faces masks of shock. After staring at the page and rereading it for a long moment, he finally looked up at Chet. Chet, having no more idea what to do with the information than he had when he first found the letter, could only shrug. Tears pricked at his eyes, but he sniffed hard and blinked them away.

  “How did you find this? What does he mean by a scavenger hunt?” Nick asked at last.

  As briefly as he could, Chet recounted everything that had happened regarding Edna, starting with Pete’s outburst at the lunch meeting that brought Edna’s firing to his attention, and ending with opening the safe and finding the letter.

  “When you said shocking, you meant shocking. Geez, Chet. Are you gonna find out who your real daddy is? Besides me, obviously,” Reuben teased, cheeky and irreverent as ever.

  Chet laughed. “You wish.” He shrugged. “I already know who he is. His signature was on the deal and I verified the name with old personnel records.”

  “Walker kept them going back that far?” Nick asked.

  “I don’t know if he kept all of them, but he kept that one.”

  “Fuck,” Nick said, drawing it out. “Walker Barnaby was a piece of work. I don’t know whether to tell you I’m sorry he lied and was awful all those years or congratulate you because he’s not your father.”

  Chet took a swig of his coffee, forgetting it had been spiked, and grimaced. “Ugh, definitely the latter. That part, at least, is fully a relief.” He sighed. “I just don’t know about looking up my real father. It’s been nearly thirty-five years he’s lived with no idea he has a son. Is it fair to drop that bomb on him now? And what if he’s even worse than Walker?”

  “Cupcake, I hate to break it to you, but there is only one way to find out.” Reuben put a hand on Chet’s arm. “The man has a right to know you exist, doesn’t he?”

  “I think Reuben is right. At least tell him that you think he’s your father and give him the chance to say whether he wants to know more than that.”

  Chet nodded, acknowledging their opinions. He wasn’t certain whether they were right, but he supposed what they said had merit. He had meant what he said, though, when he worried that Simon Keith might be even worse than Walker. What if he was horribly homophobic? What if he resented Chet’s mother and therefore her child?

  “You’re winding yourself up in your head, I can see it on your face,” Reuben said. “Uh-uh. We are not going to sit here in this gloomy ass house and do this. We are going out to dinner and take your mind off this. Nick, you should come too.”

  Neither Chet nor Nick had any objections and before long they were all three piling into Nick’s car. Chet stared out the window as they drove off the property, his mind still whirring at top speed. Suddenly, he felt Nick’s hand on his. Nick gave his fingers a squeeze until Chet looked at him. Nick smiled and squeezed again before letting his hand go.

  “Tell me how you two met,” Nick said, looking at Reuben in the rearview.

  “He tried to bang me,” Reuben said.

  “I did not!” Chet said indignantly.

  He was halfway through angrily recounting the real story—where Reuben had actually hit on him, not the other way around—before he realized what the pair of them had done. He smiled as he finished the story. And if he was a little more generous in his depictions of Reu after that, well, who was to know?

  Dinner was actually fun and took Chet's mind off everything as intended. Reuben and Nick made a pretty good comedy team considering they'd just met and Chet didn't stand a chance against them.

  When Nick had to excuse himself to take a phone call, Reuben pounced.

  "So there is a hot boy," he said with a smirk.

  Chet rolled his eyes. "I definitely wouldn't call Nick a boy."

  Reuben grinned. "But you would call him hot?"

  "God, yes." Chet felt his cheeks flame and he wasn't sure why. "We have a date on Friday, actually," he whispered.

  "Girl. Lead with that next time. That explains a lot. How long have you been seeing him?"

  "It's our first date."

  Reuben looked surprised. "Seriously?"

  "Yes, seriously, why?"

  "Because," Reuben said, clearly exasperated. "You're obviously falling for the man."

  Now Chet was annoyed. "Oh, for fuck's sake, I am not. I've just accepted being friends with the guy and agreed to go on one date."

  "Uh-huh. Since when do you date, Chet?" Reuben asked, looking smug.

  Chet had no answer. Nick returned and conversation went back to the same teasing as before, but this time, Chet couldn't quite keep Reuben's words off his mind, even as he laughed along with their antics.

  When Nick dropped them at the door, with a hug and a "See you, Friday" for Chet and a handshake and a smile for Reuben, Reuben just smirked at Chet without a word when the door closed, before heading to his room. Knowing he wouldn't sleep otherwise, Chet turned to his little case of weed. He hadn't had to use it nearly as much since he first arrived and he hadn't even realized it. He was starting to be uncomfortably aware that the move back to Rubyville might have actually been good for him.

  He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Would he still feel the same when the year was up?

  33

  Nick had a court date on Wednesday, so he’d cleared his schedule for the day. He’d known it was probably an open and shut case, but he’d expected to have to spend at least a few hours in the courtroom. Instead, almost immediately after he arrived in the courthouse, he got word that the opposing counsel had taken ill and the judge had granted an emergency continuance. That left him with a free day, since he was more or less caught up on paperwork and wasn’t handling any major cases at the moment.

  He texted his father that he was going to use the day to run errands. Then he decided that he’d use the time to go to the home improvement store in the next county, and get a few things for the date with Chet on Friday. He’d decided to take him to the property on the hill for an evening picnic. Now that he had the rest of the day off, he had plenty of time to set it up for night time habitability. He just needed to buy a few things first.

  The trip to the store was easier once he gave in and asked an employee to help him find what he needed. Since he hadn’t considered the size of his vehicle until he was ready to head to the checkout line, he had to enlist more help getting everything hauled to the property, but thankfully he had a friend with a pickup truck who lived nearby and was willing to make a delivery in exchange for a little cash and a six pack of his favorite beer.

  “Really appreciate this, Dan,” Nick said when they had finished unloading the truck.

  “No problem, man. You need any help setting everything up?”

  “Nah, I’m good. Thanks, though. Let’s get together soon, okay?”

  Dan drove off and Nick got to work. The actual set up was easy enough, but he took his time getting everything arranged just so. He knew the night would be special because he’d be with Chet, but he wanted Chet’s first glimpse of the space to be memorable. If things went the way he hoped—or even if they didn’t—he wanted Chet to remember this night fondly for the rest of his life, and a good first impression would help with that.

  Finally it was all done and Nick stood back to survey his work. He was pleased with what he’d been able to achieve with just a few items and a little time. He smiled and turned everything off. He was more excited than ever.

  His biggest problem now was having to wait until Friday to show it all to Chet.

  34

  The charity people called early on Wednesday morning and asked if he would be available within the hour for them to come by and look at his items
. He had to promise Reuben a fancy brunch to get him to agree, but he told them to come by as soon as they were ready. They brought the truck with them and within an hour of their arrival, they were gone again and so was three-quarters of the junk.

  He took Reuben for the same brunch that Nick had taken him to when he’d first gotten to town. Their waitress was the same and naturally she recognized him. Maggie treated him a bit like she might a wild animal, to Reuben’s endless amusement.

  “No shade, but why does Maggie the waitress seem to think you’ve escaped from the Cuckoo’s Nest?”

  “Probably because the first time I met her, I was high off my ass from smoking the wrong weed,” Chet leaned forward and whispered.

  Reuben cackled. “Seriously?”

  “I believe I called her ‘The Coffee Goddess, Lady Maggie,’” Chet admitted, smiling despite his mortification.

  Naturally, when Maggie came back by with their food, Reuben felt the need to intervene on Chet’s behalf. Chet would have thought Reuben was taking pity on him, if Chet didn’t know him better. As it was, he knew that Reuben understood how much Chet would have preferred to pretend the whole thing never happened, rather than call attention to it by bringing it up with Maggie, even to explain.

  “Maggie, love, I feel the need to defend my friend here. It seems he made rather an unfortunate impression on you the last time you met, but he had just tried some new medication and I’m afraid he didn’t react well to it.”

  “Oh! Oh, that explains so much!” Maggie laughed. “Why didn’t you or Nick just say so?”

  The minute she was out of earshot, Reuben pounced. “Oh-ho, so Nick was here with you last time, was he? Thought you hadn’t been on a date with him before?”

  “He took me to brunch, Reuben. It was definitely not a date. I’d just been to the old house for the first time and I was a mess. He took me out to get my mind off of it.”

  “You know, we talked about how you’re falling for him, but you also do know he’s gone on you, right? Like, totally gone.”

  “Reu, it’s complicated. I know you’re all excited, but it’s more than your average complicated.”

  Over brunch, Chet did his best to explain his and Nick’s sordid history. He told Reuben first about high school, then about all of Nick’s apologies and how Nick had been since Chet came back to town. Reuben was uncharacteristically silent for most of the telling, only posing a question here or there when he didn’t understand or Chet had left out a detail. Chet ended with what he’d told Nick, about forgiving him, and how he’d agreed to the date afterward.

  “You’re very quiet,” Chet said when he’d finished his story and Reuben still didn’t say anything.

  “I’m just thinking I oughta move here to Rubyville where all the drama is! Nashville is a snoozefest compared to around here!” Reuben joked, but his smile seemed a little put on and he dropped it completely almost right away. “Chet, you know I don’t get serious very often.”

  “Try never?”

  “Shut up,” Reuben said, tossing a balled up napkin. “You’ve been through a lot since coming back. I mean, obviously, you’ve been through a lot, period, but coming back has thrown it all back in your face.” He reached over and put his fingers lightly on the top of Chet’s hand. “But everything you’ve been through since you came back, Nick has been right there, trying to make it better for you. He fucked up some kinda bad back in the day, but he’s not that boy anymore. And neither are you. Don’t let this one get away, Chet. He’s good for you.”

  Chet wasn’t sure how to deal with Serious Reuben or the emotions he had dredged up with his speech, so it was just as well that Serious Reuben had a very short shelf-life and reverted almost immediately back to normal, ridiculous Reuben.

  “Now, hurry up and finish eating so we can go back to the farm and call your mama’s baby daddy.”

  Chet drove them back to the farmhouse by way of the high school and a few other landmarks from his childhood at Reuben’s request. Then, when Reuben wouldn’t shut up about it, he found the listing for Simon Keith, Walker’s former farm manager, and dialed his number. His heart thrummed as the line rang, but he wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved when he got voicemail. He left a message he was sure was mostly gibberish and hung up.

  “All right. I’ve done it. Happy now?” he asked Reuben in annoyance.

  Instead of answering, Reuben pulled him into a hug and didn’t let go until Chet had stopped crying. Once that was over with, Reuben insisted they shower and go shopping. He had seen a candy shop on the square that he hadn’t shut up about, and Chet knew that would be their first stop.

  Midway through their fourth store, with Reuben having tried to buy out the first two, Chet’s phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but he was almost certain it had to be Simon returning his call. He left Reuben in the store, gesturing to his phone as he walked out, and answered the call before it went to voicemail.

  “H-hello?”

  “Uh, hello, is this Chet Barnaby?”

  “Yes. Is this Simon?

  “It is. Um, I don’t have much time to talk right now, but are you free to have coffee on Friday morning? I’m afraid I won’t be free until then.”

  “Friday morning is perfect,” Chet said, more cheerfully than he felt. In truth he was terrified.

  “Wonderful,” Simon said. He named a local cafe. “Say ten o’clock?”

  “Yeah, great,” Chet said. “I’ll see you then.

  They hung up and Chet proceeded to freak completely out.

  35

  Nick had been so anxious for the date to come, but now that he only had a few hours until the day, he was losing his mind with nerves. The fact that Chet was meeting his real father that morning only helped put the pressure on. Nick offered to go with him, but Chet had rightfully declined. Now Nick was wondering if he should cancel. Feeling at a loss, he decided to call his mom, and she easily talked him into having an early lunch.

  She came to the office to meet him and unfortunately, Nicholas was coming down the hallway just as she walked in. Nick had stepped to the door of his office, so he could hear them bickering. He frowned and stepped out into the hallway behind his father.

  “You know, it’s funny. I know that both of you raised me to be a respectful, professional adult, and yet I see no evidence that either of you is capable of being any of those things.”

  They both shut up immediately, staring at him in stunned silence. Nick didn’t speak to them that way very often and never collectively like this, but he was tired of their continued bickering.

  “Chet and I managed to work out our differences and act like adults, so why can’t the two of you do the same? You’ve been divorced for decades. How can you still have so much animosity after all this time?”

  “The boy has a point,” Lauren said mildly from her post by the phone.

  Nicholas put on his best boss voice and said, “This doesn’t concern you, Lauren.”

  “No. And yet you’ve brought it into my office where I have to listen to it. Again,” she said, pointedly.

  Delia, to her credit, took a deep breath, and said, “My apologies, Lauren. You’re absolutely right. And so are you, Nick. I’m sorry.” Then she squared her shoulders and looked at Nicholas. “You. Me. Lunch on Saturday at my place. Noon. We’re going to talk.” Her face softened again as she looked at Nick. “You ready to go, sweetheart?”

  Nick was no longer sure he was ready, but he nodded.

  “Can I bring anything?” Nicholas asked belatedly.

  “A conciliatory attitude,” Delia said as she strode out the door.

  A few minutes later, they were in the diner, sipping coffee and waiting for their orders. His mother had shaken off the whole episode in the office as if it had never happened, but Nick was having a harder time. He was beginning to realize his childhood was more complicated than he’d thought. Maybe there was a reason he’d expected his parents to yell at him for being gay. He couldn’t get int
o that now, though. He’d save it for his therapy appointment that was finally approaching.

  “So. What is it you want my advice about?” Delia asked, shaking sugar packets, even though she’d already sweetened her coffee twice.

  “You know, melting coffee ice cream would be quicker,” he teased.

  “Meh. Wouldn’t be sweet enough.” She winked. “Quit deflecting, though. What’s up?”

  He gave her a quick recap of events that had occurred with Chet since the last time they talked. Their food came in the middle, but otherwise, he didn’t pause in the telling. Her chin was practically on the table by the time he’d finished, and her coffee and food had remained nearly untouched.

  “Well. That’s a lot, isn’t it?”

  “Do you think I should offer to postpone tonight?” he asked.

  “Hm. Well, on the one hand, it might be courteous, but on the other hand, if things go badly, he might take it as a rejection.”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

  “At any rate, I suspect that you will hear from him as soon as the meeting is over. It sounds like you two are already well into being friends. I expect he will need one of those more than ever.” Delia, evidently feeling the matter resolved, tucked into her food at last.

  Nick picked at his own food for a minute before finally coming to the conclusion that his mother was right. Chet would definitely contact him after he met his father.

  Wouldn’t he?

  36

  Ever since Simon had returned his call and agreed to meet up, Chet had been a nervous wreck. Now the day was here and he could barely contain himself. Both Reuben and Nick had offered to come with him, but Chet thought having either of them might be a bit much for his father to handle on the first meeting. Now, as he sat in a coffee shop alone, waiting for his biological father to arrive, he was regretting that decision, no matter how logical it had been.

  “Chet?”

  One look and Chet knew. Simon Keith was his real father. Chet could see some of his own familiar features on this stranger's face, and he saw Simon searching his features in a similar way. Chet had given few details on the phone, only suggesting that he thought Simon might be his father, but Simon was more than willing to come and talk about that and about Chet’s mother, so that seemed a good sign.