by Andrew Grey
Pierre tapped him on the shoulder, and Evan reluctantly turned away. “I got in touch with your family,” Pierre told Wes softly. “They are on their way to the hospital to be with your brother.”
Wes nodded. “Thank you.”
Pierre tilted his head away, and Evan released Wes’s fingers and stepped a few paces away. “He isn’t expected to make it. I suspect he could already have passed away, but no one will say anything until his family gets there so they can have a few minutes with him.” Pierre patted his shoulder and then left him, Greyson, and Wes to themselves.
“What did he say?” Wes asked right away.
Evan met his gaze and then lowered his eyes. “Pierre said that Trey isn’t expected to make it. Your mom and dad are on their way, and he hopes they get there in time.” That was as good a way to sum it up as possible. “Do you want me to take you?”
Wes bit his lower lip and seemed conflicted. “Don’t the police need me to make a statement or something?”
“They will, but I can take you to the hospital if you’d like. That way you can be with your mom and dad.” Evan gently placed his hand on Wes’s back, deeply needing to provide some comfort, but unsure if what he was doing was enough, if anything could possibly be enough.
“I don’t think I want to see Trey.”
“That’s fine. Your parents are going to hear some of what happened, and maybe it’s best if the truth comes from you and me. Or at least the version of the truth that you want them to know.” Evan stepped closer. “We know what happened, and the exact details aren’t likely to make the papers. Trey is not expected to live, so the only version of what happened is the one you tell them, and ultimately Greyson.” Evan waited while Wes mulled it over. “Do it for your mom and dad.”
“What do I do, lie?” Wes asked as he nodded.
“No. But you leave out the worst of it. Trey got involved with the wrong people, and that cost him his life. They don’t need to know how he treated you and his kid. Greyson isn’t going to remember what happened, and then when he gets older, you can eventually tell him whatever version of the truth you think will be best for him.”
Wes nodded and rested his head against Evan’s shoulder. Greyson, who was worn out, slept in Wes’s arms with his head on his shoulder. “With Trey gone, I think I’m going to petition for full legal custody and guardianship. I want Greyson to be my son.”
Evan smiled and nodded. “I wouldn’t have expected anything else.” He gently stroked Greyson’s hair. The little one had wormed his way into his heart the same way Wes had. “Come on. I’m going to let the sheriff know where we’ll be, and then we can go to the hospital, okay?” When Wes nodded, Evan found the boss and told him where they were heading, and then he drove Wes and Greyson to the hospital.
Wes’s mom and dad sat next to Trey’s bed, his chest barely rising and falling, the sheet pulled all the way up to his neck, a monitor showing that slow decline of his bodily functions.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Wes said, and hugged her while Evan held Greyson. “I tried to keep him out of trouble and….”
She patted Wes’s back. “Some tasks are out of our hands,” she whispered, and turned back to Trey, taking her husband’s hand as the last bit of life slipped quietly away from their older son.
Evan moved closer to Wes and stayed there with him and Greyson.
No one moved for a long time, and then Wes’s mother wiped the tears from her cheeks as the nurse came in and turned off the monitors. Trey was beyond anyone’s help now, and all Evan could do was try to care for the people left behind.
“I want to go,” Wes said softly. “I need to get Greyson to bed, and I’m sure that tomorrow there will be plenty to do.” He seemed almost automatic.
“What about the arrangements?” his father asked, a little lost.
“You and Mom do whatever you like. I’m done with this.” He was tired of them looking to him to handle things. “I’m going to be at Evan’s house on Pomfret, and I’m going to figure out what I really want.”
“But he was your brother,” his mom said.
“Yes, the same brother who held a gun to me and Greyson not an hour ago. He nearly hurt Greyson and threatened to take him away because he thought that Greyson would provide him some sort of shield while he was on the run.” Wes kept his voice down, but anger rang through the room in palpable waves. “He chose to get involved with these people. No one forced him or coerced him. This was all Trey’s fault, and he got what he deserved.” Wes shifted Greyson to his other shoulder and turned toward the door. “He didn’t care about anything other than himself. Look what he did to both of you, what he cost you. Trey didn’t even give a damn about his own son. So, I’m sorry, but I refuse to mourn someone with no heart and no sense of anything other than himself.”
Wes’s mother stared at Wes openmouthed. “You just never understood him.”
Evan had to give Wes credit—he didn’t get angry or even raise his voice.
“No, Mom. You don’t get it. There was never anything there to understand. Trey wasn’t that deep. He was just selfish and out to get whatever he wanted, and to hell with the rest of us. Well, like I said, I’m done.” Wes took a deep breath. “It’s time Greyson and I make a life of our own. I’m going to petition for full custody of him, and then I don’t know what I’m going to do, but somehow I’m going to build a life of my own, and I suggest you do the same. But as for mourning him, that isn’t going to happen.” Wes turned to the door and stepped out into the hall. “He isn’t worth the effort.”
Evan followed, and Wes strode through the hospital and out the automatic doors into the parking lot. It was dark, and he went to the car, where Evan unlocked the doors. Wes got Greyson into his seat, and Evan slid behind the wheel. “Did you mean all that?”
“Yes,” Wes said calmly.
Evan wasn’t buying it and figured that this bravado was Wes trying to keep things together. He had spent too much time trying to help Trey to just give up all at once. Evan didn’t argue as he drove back to the house and parked in his usual spot. Wes didn’t say anything the entire time.
Evan had received a message that the police had followed up at the house, and Pierre had said that he’d made sure it was secured. His intention was to go to a hotel so he could have a chance to clean up any residual mess, but Wes got Greyson out of his car seat and carried the half-asleep boy into the house and took him right up the stairs.
Wes remained quiet, and Evan went into the kitchen to find it spotless, with no trace of what had happened before. Pierre and the guys had clearly outdone themselves. Evan sent a thank-you to Pierre and the sheriff before grabbing a couple of beers and a bag of chips and returning to the living room to wait for Wes.
“Greyson and I will find a place of our own and be out of here in a few days, if that’s all right.” Wes came into the room, standing almost stiffly with tension. “I meant what I said. I am not going to mourn a would-be kidnapper, and I have to build my own independent life.” Evan lifted one of the beers, and Wes took it, sitting down. “I never did that. I stayed with Mom and Dad, and when the time came, I took care of Greyson, but I stayed at home. I tried to be the peacekeeper. Mom and Dad didn’t want to be bothered, so they turned a blind eye to Trey and everything he did.”
“You can’t blame your mom and dad for Trey’s actions.” Evan took a swig of beer.
“I don’t. Trey is responsible for them, and he paid the ultimate price for what he did. But Mom and Dad enabled him, and they are going to carry whatever guilt or regret they harbor for the rest of their lives.” Wes set the beer bottle, untouched, on the coffee table. “But I have to leave them behind. I have to figure out my own life and do my best for Greyson.”
Evan nodded. He couldn’t argue with that. “And what about you? How do you see that life?” He swallowed and placed his bottle next to Wes’s. “Close your eyes and tell me what you see.”
Wes did, and after a few seconds, he shrugged. “I don’t kn
ow. Nothing.”
“There’s an old saying: if you can’t visualize it, you can’t have it.”
Wes scoffed. “Then what do you see?”
Evan got comfortable and leaned back, closing his eyes and letting his mind wander. “There are two that I see. The happy one….” He sighed.
“Yeah. What’s the happy vision?” Wes said softly. “I could sure use some happy about now.”
Evan let the images solidify a little. “I’m in the backyard of this house, and there’s laughter and I’m not alone. A play castle in the back sunny corner of the yard with a young boy, blond and laughing, crawling up and down as he slides. I can hear his laughter. And then an arm slides around my waist and a man, kind of skinny but definitely cute and hot, presses right against me. ‘Well, deputy captain,’ he says softly. ‘You did good.’”
“Captain, huh?” Wes said, with the first hint of mirth Evan had heard in hours.
“Yeah. You could call me sheriff, but I think that’s pushing it.” Evan smiled at Wes. “But then again, if we don’t dream big, then nothing happens.”
Wes scoffed. “So, this little fantasy of yours….”
“What about it?” Evan turned to Wes, opening his eyes.
“How can you know that’s what you really want to be happy?” Wes stiffened. “I mean, you’ve known us for a week, and—”
Evan chuckled. “It may sound simplistic, but I knew I loved chocolate ice cream the first time I tasted it.” He leaned in to touch his lips to Wes’s. “And I knew I loved my garden the first time I stepped into the backyard and saw it.” He let his gaze rake over Wes to ensure he got the full effect of his meaning. “I know what I like, and I know when someone touches my heart. Is this love at first sight? I don’t know.” He shrugged. “And I don’t care. But I do know that I don’t want you to go, and that if I let you leave, then I’ll miss out on something pretty special.” Evan paused. “But… that doesn’t mean anything unless you feel the same way.”
Wes swallowed and didn’t move or say anything. He just stared into Evan’s eyes. Now it was Evan’s turn to be nervous and anxious. He figured it was turnabout after the last few evenings. “I find it hard to believe that I can meet someone who….” Wes gulped hard. “I kept thinking that maybe I was looking too hard and seeing things that weren’t there.” He sighed. “I wanted there to be something between us, so I wondered if I was seeing it because I wanted it.”
Evan wasn’t sure what Wes was getting at, and he waited, but his anxiety ramped up.
“But I wasn’t, was I?”
“I don’t think so.” It took him a few seconds to catch up to Wes’s line of thinking. “Though your reasoning was a little circular, I think you’re seeing things clearly.”
Wes shifted closer on the sofa. “So I guess the question is, what do you want?” He smiled, probably since Evan was the usual one to ask that question.
Evan nodded and slid even closer to Wes. “I want us to give this a chance. I want to make up the extra room for Greyson with a proper crib and bed for him to sleep in. Maybe paint some zoo animals on the walls and eventually get a big-boy bed.” Evan cleared his throat. “And speaking of big boys, I want his daddy—and yes, that’s who you are, never doubt that—I want his daddy to share my extra-big-boy bed. I want to look after both of you, hopefully for a very long time to come.”
Wes seemed to relax a little more, leaning against him. “What I want is a partner.”
“Me too,” Evan agreed quickly.
Wes nodded. “And I want someone who will let me look after and protect him just as much as he may want to protect me.” He poked Evan lightly in the ribs. “I know it’s in your nature, and maybe it’s in mine to parent. So I’m going to watch out for you just as much as you watch out for me.” He stood and straddled Evan’s knees, sat on them, and leaned right in close enough that Evan could feel Wes’s heated breath on his neck. “So don’t you go pushing me behind any more walls whenever some psychotic relative decides to break into the house and hold us at gunpoint.”
Evan smirked. “Point taken. If that ever happens again, I’ll be sure not to do that.” He leaned forward, his hands sliding up Wes’s back, drawing him closer. “How about if we agree to look out for each other, and that we’ll both look after that amazing little boy asleep upstairs.” Evan would remember forever the day they watched Greyson take some of his first steps.
“Yes.”
“And we’ll make up a room for him and put the climbing castle in the backyard… someday. We’ll also go out and get both of you the things you need to make yourselves comfortable.” Evan figured that was enough talking and kissed Wes hard, just as the doorbell rang. Evan groaned, and Wes climbed off, sitting on the sofa as Evan answered the door.
“Wes,” he said quietly, coming back into the room with Wes’s parents behind him. “We have visitors.”
“Mom and Dad, what are you doing here?”
“Your mother was quite upset, and after dealing with things at the hospital, we talked on the way back to the hotel, and….” His father seemed about two seconds from bursting into tears, something Wes had never seen in his life.
“We all need some distance and a chance to heal,” Wes offered as he rose to hug each of them. “We can talk about everything once the grief is past us a little and every emotional nerve isn’t so raw. Okay?”
Both of them nodded. “We hoped that you could help with the funeral—”
Wes shook his head, and Evan stood next to him. “I think that’s something the two of you need to manage,” Evan said. “Wes has been through enough already because of Trey. You need to fully take over that burden now, and let him have some peace.”
Wes took his hand, squeezing it.
“He has what he can manage with Greyson.” Evan found it hard to believe that they had come here, under the guise of reconciliation, in order to get Wes to do more of their work for them. It made him angry, but he’d kept his voice level with great difficulty.
Wes nodded. “Yes. You need to do this.”
Evan motioned to the chairs. “Do you want some coffee? I can make it.” Look at him, being hospitable for the sake of Wes’s family, even if he wanted to chuck them both out on their ears.
To his surprise, they nodded, and Evan went to make coffee while they sat. He got out the pot and started it brewing, Wes talking softly in the other room. Talking was good, and they all seemed to need it.
Evan brought in the coffee mugs on a tray with a little sugar and milk. They each took one, and Evan sat next to Wes on the sofa.
“We were just sharing stories.”
“Trey wasn’t always the person he was the last few years,” Wes’s mom said quietly. “He was a good little boy, happy, energetic. And then things changed when he got older, and we didn’t know what to do. I can’t believe my boy is gone.” She put her hands over her face and began to cry.
Wes’s father set down his mug and held her. “Come on. We should just go.” He helped her to her feet. “Thank you both. This is going to be a difficult couple of weeks.”
Evan saw them to the door and made sure they got to their car and drove away. Then he closed the door and went back to the living room, where Wes gathered up the dishes and then carried the tray to the kitchen.
“We should go up too.” Wes turned out the kitchen lights and took his hand. “You know, the vows when people get married say for better or for worse….”
“Yes, they do.” Evan guided Wes upstairs. It seemed they were starting out with the worst, so things could only get better….
THINGS GOT worse before they got better. Wes was a wreck, and the following days were filled with questions, more questions, as well as the eventual release of Trey’s body and a funeral. Evan held Wes at night and was there to support him during the day as best he could. But it was going to take time, and plenty of it, before he got over what had happened. Evan knew it.
However, one night, a week after the funeral, once Greyson wa
s sound asleep, Evan rolled over and realized Wes was awake—in every way possible. Evan turned and engulfed Wes in his arms, their lips finding each other’s in the dark.
“I want you,” Wes whispered.
“You have me, and you always will.” Evan tugged Wes on top of him, their kisses growing stronger, more urgent and needy, fast.
Wes broke apart and reached for the nightstand, opened it, and pressed a small box into Evan’s hand. “I think it’s time.”
“Sweetheart, are you sure?” The emotional highs and lows of the past weeks had rivaled any roller coaster on earth, especially the dips at the funeral and when the details of Trey’s involvement in the drug-related groups had come out. “You don’t need to feel as though—” Evan quieted when Wes placed his fingers on his lips.
“I want to feel you inside…,” Wes whispered.
Evan nodded, kissing him harder. He rolled to the side, glancing at the bedside clock, happy tomorrow was Sunday and the two of them had all night, because he intended to take all the time in the world to show Wes just how much he loved him.
Hands, lips, legs, and chests explored and heaved as the two of them came together for the first time. Evan was careful and gentle, Wes insistent and more forceful. Together they were perfect. They soared together, their passion burning away the residual hurt and pain that still lingered, replacing it with joy, heat, and love that filled the room and spilled out the door to encompass the entire house and everyone in it.
“Love you….” Wes groaned as he neared completion, cupping Evan’s cheeks as his head lolled back and his back arched, the last vestiges of his control slipping away, which only tore at Evan’s tenuous last grasps.
“Love you too,” Evan whimpered, and they both rocketed into the throes of ecstasy, orbiting the moon and returning in a matter of exquisitely intense seconds, followed by hours of afterglow, then sleep, and a repeat just as the sun rose the following morning.
