Peach Tree Family: Gay Romance

by Trina Solet

  "Wish the oven worked to make you roast chicken. That was my grandpa's favorite," Seth said as they headed to the produce section.

  "Maybe I'll get the oven fixed one of these days. Getting that furniture from Julian and Rob was a big help, plus Mitch gave me a huge break on all the work he did, especially since you helped out."

  "That was nothing," Seth said modestly.

  "It was a major favor and I appreciate it," Theo told him. He wanted to remind Seth that he did plenty for them already, but it only made him frown.

  At the house, Seth and Theo started cutting up the chicken and the vegetables. Working in close quarters with Seth, Theo did notice that he seemed ill at ease sometimes, but didn't try very hard to keep his distance. It was like he was embarrassed but still wanted to stick close. Theo didn't know what to think of his attitude.

  When the dinner dishes were cleared, Seth sat at the table again and showed them a brand new deck of cards. Theo recognized the watercolor of Stone Creek Inn on the backs of the cards. "I bought this deck of cards from the inn gift shop to celebrate my new job. Thought we could play."

  "Strip poker," Theo whispered to shake him up.

  Seth gaped at him and blushed. "I was thinking something we could all play."

  They played for Lucky Charms then Ace wanted to build a house of cards. Except he called it a castle of cards.

  "That is a better name," Seth agreed and it turned out he had a very steady hand. He and Ace built the castle of cards while Theo stayed at his laptop, but mostly he watched them, amazed at Seth's patience.

  At Ace's bedtime, Seth was still there. "You don't have to go, right, Seth?" Ace asked him.

  "It's getting late," was all Seth told him.

  When Theo got back from seeing Ace off to bed, he had to find Butter. Ace was ready to get out of bed and search for her. Theo knew that Ace slept better if she was with him.

  He found her right away and watched Seth pick her up so she wouldn't scratch at a chair leg. "No. We don't scratch up things in here. We want to keep things nice for Ace and Theo." Seth then rubbed his face over the cats back a little and hummed. "You're a sweet one. Ace did good getting you. He sure did."

  His voice was deep, his hands slow and gentle as he stroked the cat's fur. Theo almost groaned. He wanted to take the cat's place have Seth murmuring to him, stroking his hand down his back, rubbing his face over Theo's skin and humming his appreciation.

  "Ace was missing her," Theo said and took her from him. As he did, his hands brushed over Seth's forearms and he repressed a shudder.

  When he got back, he was disappointed to see that Seth was in a rush to leave. Maybe Theo didn't hide his attraction to him well enough.

  "I better be going. Thanks for letting me come over," Seth told him at the door, but Theo noticed the truck keys were still on the hook by the door.

  "The keys," Theo said holding them out to him, but Seth didn't take them.

  "I'll walk it."

  "You want to walk back to town in the dark? That doesn't make any sense. Either take the truck or stay the night." Theo hoped staying the night didn't sound like a threat to him.

  For a moment Seth was undecided. Did he think Theo was offering him something other than to sleep over? "I'm not up to anything. I won't be jumping you in the night," Theo told him.

  "I didn't think that," Seth said and he took the keys from him. Their hands touched and Seth drew back gripping the car keys in a tight grip. "I'll be by in the morning to pick you up."

  Watching him leave, Theo felt his heart sink. He pretty much chased him away, didn't he? But it was damn confusing the way Seth acted and the reason he moved out. Theo just couldn't figure him out.

  Chapter 20

  Seth had the dinner shift on Sunday so he was free to go with Theo and Ace to the Hayes's for lunch. Before anything was settled, Ace showed no doubt that Seth was going with them, so he figured he better not say no. He put on the green sweater Theo bought him and met up with him and Ace.

  He wasn't sure how Theo felt about him going along. He was always guarding his emotions, but Seth was still sure that Theo wasn't happy with him. Sometimes it was like he was mad that Seth left, other times it was like he wanted him to leave. But that didn't mean Seth could stay away.

  At the Hayes's, everyone greeted them at the door. The dogs got Seth's attention, but he also told Sam how much he was looking forward to seeing how he made pizza from scratch.

  The kids went off inside to watch something, and the guys had a look at the herb and vegetable garden. "We'll be using homemade sauce Sam made from the tomatoes he grew right in this garden," Wyatt bragged, and Seth was amazed at how much pride he always showed in Sam.

  Going in, they kept talking about food. Sam mentioned zucchini fritters just as little Riley ran over and he made a tragic face.

  "Oh, don't panic. We're making pizza," Sam told him and ruffled his hair.

  "Ace is being best friends with DJ. They're watching Ben 10 together," Ry complained.

  "You can watch with them too, you know," Sam told him.

  "I was watching with them, but now it's a commercial," Riley said.

  Both his dads gave him a look, then Wyatt told him, "Better go back before you miss something."

  "So little bro is jealous?" Seth said once Riley was gone.

  "Boy is he," Wyatt said.

  "Were you jealous when your brother played with older kids?" Sam asked him, so Wyatt must have been a younger brother too.

  "Oh man, I was such a green eyed little monster. Didn't give him a moment's peace," Wyatt said with a grin.

  "I guess you have a possessive streak," Sam said and smiled at him.

  "So Riley is feeling excluded?" Theo said. It looked like he was taking it more seriously than Sam and Wyatt did.

  "Exclude Ry?" Wyatt thought for a bit. "I doubt that's a thing that can be done."

  They all moved into the kitchen as Sam and Wyatt made two pizzas and the rest of them watched, including the kids and the dogs. It didn't take too long since Sam had the dough rising already, but Wyatt made another batch with his help just to show how it was done.

  When the pizzas went into the oven, the kids went off to play.

  "That was impressive," Theo told Wyatt and Sam.

  "Sam taught me everything I know," Wyatt said and put an arm around his husband and pulled him close.

  He wasn't shy about showing his love for Sam. They were sure in their love for each other, sure they belonged together no matter how different they were.

  "Andiamo ragazzi," Wyatt called out when the pizzas were done.

  "He's talking Italian," Ace said as all the kids ran over.

  "I teach them a few words now and then," Wyatt said. "I tried German, but it makes Ry crack up. Every time I say something, he ends up rolling on the floor." To show them, Wyatt said a few words in German. Ry started giggling uncontrollably then he rushed at Wyatt and tried to tackle him.

  "He's a happy kid," Seth said, smiling at the sight.

  "Yeah, I don't know what I was worried about," Theo said.

  It turned out that Wyatt knew all those languages because he had lived all over Europe. He told them about it over pizza. "I was happy, but a part of me was lonely too, the part of me that craved family connections and a true, once in a lifetime love." Wyatt smiled at Sam and the boys. Sam returned the smile then leaned over and kissed him.

  At that moment, Seth made sure not to look at Theo but he was deeply aware of him.

  The guys were talking and the kids were playing with the dogs, when Ry came over to complain some more about DJ and Ace. "I'm cool too. Dads, tell them."

  "Is this about Ace and DJ being friends?" Sam asked and got a nod from Ry.

  "So you're not friends with Ace?" Wyatt challenged him.

  "I'm friends with him," Ry claimed then he ran over to Ace to confirm it. "You're my friend, right, Ace?"

  Ace didn't give him an easy yes. He shook his head. "No. You're my friend," he sa
id then Ry screamed and started chasing him.

  As they were both running around and screaming, DJ shook his head. "Being a big brother is hard," he said to Theo and made a very serious face.

  "You know it," Theo told him and they high fived.

  "They're making friends!" Ry yelled and he and Ace ran over and tried to tackle their big brothers.

  Ry did tackle DJ, but Theo had his secret weapon. "I will tickle you," he warned Ace. Stepping away from the roughhousing, he asked Wyatt, "They don't act like that after school, do they?"

  "Nah. Homework keeps them busy. DJ and Ace are pretty serious about school. And Ry... Uhh, yeah."

  Before they left, Sam printed up a recipe for the pizza he made for Seth. They were off by themselves when Sam told him, "I used to live in that room above the hardware store. That was when I thought the best I could do was just to have a job and a place to live. Then I met Wyatt."

  "You two did good finding each other," Seth told him, but he was thinking about Theo. What if he found someone? Could Seth be happy for him?

  He was thinking about it that night in that lonely room in Peach Tree. With Theo too damn far away, it was like he could feel the distance between them in every part of him. That constant ache was something he would have to get used to.

  Seth had never lived alone before. He always had his grandpa, and then he latched onto Theo and Ace. So far he couldn't say he liked it much, and nights were the worst. In the darkness, his brain turned over questions and came up with no answers.

  The biggest question was what did he want. One thing he knew he didn't want was to see Theo with anybody else. But he might find someone the way Sam and Wyatt found each other.

  At the inn, Seth had seen a guest flirt with him. The good looking guy only got Theo's professional smile, but it still worried Seth that it would be so easy for Theo to find some other guy.

  He was almost asleep when he started thinking about Theo naked pressed up against another man, naked too but kind of invisible like he was mostly in shadow. But when Seth started picturing that man's hands on Theo, he had to push his fingers against his eyelids to make the vision stop.

  Seth's dick was hard but be wanted that other man to stop touching Theo, get his hands off him and go away. That left Theo naked, waiting, needing. Did he need the same thing Seth did?

  Seth's hand reached down, pulled his cock out. He stroked it and whispered Theo's name. In his mind, he was doing this to Theo, telling him, "You don't need anyone else. I can take care of you." Seth came much faster that he expected as he pictured how Theo looked as he was coming, as he was telling him, "Seth, you're all I need."

  Chapter 21

  Home from work, Theo was looking at what to make for dinner, when he heard Ace complaining to Butter. "Seth didn't come over."

  "He can't come over all the time," Theo told him.

  "When is he going to?" Ace whined.

  "I don't know. We'll see," Theo said, not wanting to promise too much. But the deepening frown on Ace's face got him to close the fridge and give up on making dinner. "We don't have to wait for Seth to come by. We can go into town, go to the laundromat and grab some dinner."

  Ace didn't get too excited about it yet though. "With Seth?" he asked.

  "Yes, if he's free. I'll text him," Theo said.

  They agreed to meet at the Peach Tree Café. When Theo and Ace arrived, Seth had already snagged a table for them. Before going to join him, Theo went over to Mrs. Del Rio to introduce Ace to her.

  "I heard so much about you, and I'm thrilled to meet you," Mrs. Del Rio said. Then she leaned in to whisper to Theo. "Don't you worry about that Seth getting away from you, sweet cheeks. Wherever he is, he's still your man."

  Theo gaped at her but she just winked at him and then gave Seth a little wave.

  Going over to their table, Theo was still in a state of disbelief at Mrs. Del Rio's words of encouragement. Then before they could even sit, Seth jumped in to say, "Dinner is on me."

  "I invited you," Theo reminded him.

  "I used to work here. I want to treat you for old time's sake," Seth said.

  Theo didn't find that convincing, but he decided to go along with him. "Alright." Taking a seat, he looked around and wondered if Hannah was there. He didn't see her. A waitress named Magda brought them menus and told them about the special.

  "I've got to try that special, pork chops in sticky gravy," Seth said but Ace was still looking at the menu.

  They didn't get to go out to eat often so Theo let him take his time. Seth told them their waitress was the one he was filling in for. "She's a go getter. That's what Hannah called her."

  Since he brought her up, Theo couldn't help asking, "Have you been spending a lot of time with Hannah?"

  "A little bit," Seth said and Theo felt jealous paranoia creeping up on him. Why the hell couldn't he be satisfied to just be friends with Seth?

  Even after they put in their orders and were waiting for their food to arrive, Theo was still obsessing about Seth and Hannah, and Ace was looking at the dessert menu.

  "They have hummingbird cake. Mom used to make that for your birthday, Theo," Ace said and pushed the menu toward him.

  "I loved hummingbirds when I was a kid," Theo told them. "But at first I was afraid they went in the cake. Once Mom told me there were no hummingbirds in the cake, I stopped crying."

  Seth cracked up. "Did you really cry?"

  "I was four. Cut me some slack," Theo said but Ace looked like he might have lost a little respect for him.

  The food was really good, and Ace got to try Theo's ravioli but Seth's sticky gravy was the bigger hit. He was getting hummingbird cake too, but when Mrs. Del Rio delivered it herself, she invited Ace to eat it while touring the kitchen.

  "I never got to eat anywhere as nice as this before," Seth said.

  "It's a fun place," Theo said as he thought to himself that it worked pretty well for a date night, which this wasn't. This was laundry night and a simple dinner.

  "Did you get to go to cool, trendy places with your friends or dates or...?" Seth trailed off like he didn't really want to talk about Theo dating, but he had to wonder if he was thinking about dating because they were alone now.

  "I did," Theo told him. "But I had to watch what I ordered. Saving money for me and Ace was always a priority."

  "You're doing good now," Seth said, and Theo nodded but not having custody of Ace was always on his mind.

  "I got lucky and came across this guy who helped us out a lot," Theo said. From Seth's look, he could tell he didn't know Theo was talking about him. "I was talking about this trespasser who refused to leave. Does that ring a bell?"

  Now he got it. "Oh." Seth lowered his head and frowned, turning serious. "I don't want you thinking you owe me."

  Theo didn't know why that bothered him. "I owe a lot of people. Like Mrs. Del Rio. And speaking of... I can't believe Ace isn't back yet. How big is that kitchen?"

  "It's a good size kitchen, but it doesn't stretch out for miles," Seth told him. "I bet Mrs. Del Rio took a liking to him."

  Theo had a different theory about what Mrs. Del Rio was up to especially since she winked at him when she took Ace away.

  When they were ready to leave, Ace did appear along with Mrs. Del Rio.

  "Have you been hired to work here, Ace?" Seth asked him.

  "No, but I got to watch the cooking. They're fast. And when I'm big, Mrs. Del Rio said I can be the boss of everybody."

  "You think you can keep up?" Theo asked him.

  "Yeah. Theo, I'm fast," Ace said then showed them by running in place.

  "Look at him go," Mrs. Del Rio said.

  "You made this quite an experience for Ace. Thank you," Theo told her.

  "Ace is a delight, and I look forward to seeing you all here again soon."

  They left the café with Ace still a little hyper. "We're doing laundry next," Theo said to Seth.

  "I can keep you guys company," he offered.

  "
If you have nothing better to do," Theo told him.

  As they went back to the truck to get the bag with the laundry, they ran into the sheriff. As they greeted her, Sheriff Jackson stopped and told Seth, "Mr. Brewer, I understand I'll be seeing more of you around town now that you took the room at Mr. Beatty's."

  "Yes, Ma'am," Seth said and she moved on.

  The laundromat had some arcade games, and Ace headed straight there. "He's all set," Theo said and went to load the washing machine.

  Coming back he sat next to Seth and noticed he seemed a little off. "What's on your mind?" Theo asked as they sat on the plastic chairs. They were the only ones there though some of the other machines were going. Theo had already noticed that people didn't sit to guard their laundry but went off without worrying too much about it.

  Seth still lowered his voice as he asked, "You think she was giving me a warning? The sheriff."

  "What kind of warning?"

  "Like letting me know I'm not welcome here," Seth said.

  "No. I think she was just being a cop. We're new here." Theo had already told himself the same thing, but Seth seemed to be way more rattled.

  "I didn't tell you everything about how things were back in Waterfield," Seth said.

  "You can tell me now if you want," Theo said though he didn't want to push him.

  "With my parents being criminals, I didn't know how to stay out of trouble at first. I did stop fighting with the kids at school, learned to always keep my head down and kept to myself. But I got stuck with a bad reputation, and it was like open season on me all the time. It didn't help that I didn't have anyone in my corner. My mom and dad didn't stay in touch. They didn't want to keep explaining why they didn't send for me and why they hardly ever sent any money. The whole time, my grandfather's health was getting worse. I couldn't go running to him with my problems. And since I wasn't telling him my side, he got the idea that I was bringing trouble on myself." Seth took a deep breath and continued. "The sheriff already had me in his sights. Then one night about a year ago, I caught his nephew breaking into my grandpa's house. He pulled a knife on me, and I beat the crap out of him. It was dark. I didn't know who it was. The nephew claimed he was just visiting, that I invited him to watch TV and then attacked him for no reason. The sheriff went with his version of things and hauled me in for assault. With my grandpa the way he was with his Alzheimer's, I was the only witness to what really happened. The sheriff wanted me to take the fall, but it turned out his nephew had other burglary charges against him. The D.A. saw through the whole thing and dropped the charges against me. After that the sheriff had it in for me worse than ever."