“Eww. Nice visual, K.”
“The point is, no one around here cared. They were good neighbors. Good people. If the three of them held hands and skipped down Main Street naked, screaming about free love, or made out in church, or bragged about their kinky threesomes at the VFW, things would’ve been different.”
“You really think so?”
“I know so. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts once it’s common knowledge that Edgard’s moved in with you guys, everyone will think it’s great Trevor’s good buddy is there as a live-in ranch hand. The three of you will become entrenched in the minds of the community as a package deal. Honestly, Chass, no one will ever be the wiser that you are the middle of a Trevor and Edgard sandwich every night.”
“Except I sorta hinted to that bratty Brandy Martinson we were havin’ threesomes before any of this came to pass. She’s probably blabbed to the whole county.”
“Then the damage is done. Enjoy your notoriety. Be nice not to be a McKay for a change.” Keely squeezed Chassie’s hand. “There is no such thing as ‘normal’ even in Wyoming. You create your own family. Do what makes you, Trevor and Edgard happy in your own home. Besides, my mother always says the most meaningful relationships are those that don’t have a public face.”
“Wise woman, your mother.”
“And if Cam was here he’d command you to follow your bliss, say ‘fuck you’ to the world, and let the chips fall where they may.” Keely smiled wistfully. “Grab happiness whenever and wherever you can, Chass, ’cause you know how fleeting it is. It can be gone before you know it or ever get a chance to enjoy it.”
The cordless receiver on Keely’s desk rang and she grabbed it, spinning it around to check the caller ID. The blood drained from her face.
Chassie’s stomach dropped as if she’d swallowed a stone. “Keely. What’s wrong?
Who is it?”
“U.S. Government. Unlisted. Oh sweet Jesus.” She raced out of the room and banged on Colt’s door, yelling, “Colt, now,” and Keely’s footsteps thumped down the stairs, followed by her brother’s.
Fifteen minutes passed. Didn’t bode well that Keely hadn’t burst back with the good news everything was all right. Chassie forced herself to go downstairs.
In the living room Colt stared out the window, his hands jammed in his back pockets.
Carolyn sagged into the couch, crying silently as she stroked Keely’s hair. Keely sat on the floor with her head in her mother’s lap, arms wrapped around her mother’s calves.
Her eyes were closed through the tears falling to the floor.
Carson’s voice drifted from the dining room. Chassie leaned against the wall, waiting for the right moment to ask what’d happened. Her heart ached. God. She wished Trevor and Edgard were with her.
Colt swore and turned around. When he noticed Chassie, he shot a questioning look at his mother, and she slowly nodded at him. “They found Cam.”
“Oh thank God. Is he okay?”
“No. He’s…fu—screwed up. Bad. Seriously bad. Cam had surgery two days ago, right after they found him, barely alive. Somehow the army misplaced our number and were just now able to let us know what’s goin’ on.”
“Surgery? For what?”
Colt swore again and balled his hands into fists at his sides. His jaw was clenched so tightly Chassie didn’t know whether he’d be able to speak.
“Surgery to amputate his mangled left leg. They cut it off below the knee. Evidently he lost the pinky finger on his left hand. He suffered from shrapnel wounds over the lower half of his body, burns to his chest and something…with his face, I didn’t catch all of that part. Far as the doctors could tell, he’d sustained no brain damage in the week he was MIA. Luckily none of his internal organs were hit.”
She was as dismayed as she was relieved. At least he was alive. “Are they sendin’ him home?”
Colt nodded. “As soon as he’s stable they’re transporting him to Walter Reed. He’ll be there for some time before he’s discharged. They don’t know when.”
Carson slipped back into the room and dropped next to Carolyn on the sofa. He put his big hand on Keely’s head and stroked her hair. “Carter sends his love. He can’t come home with Macie set to go any time…”
Carolyn patted his thigh. “Did you tell him it’s all right to stay there and focus on his wife? And Thane?”
“Yeah. Cord and AJ are on their way over. Same for Colby and Channing. And the kids.”
“Good.”
“Listen, sugar—”
“Did you call Cal and Kimi?” Carolyn interrupted. “Or your other brothers? What about Kade? Kane?”
Chassie wondered if they’d remember to call the West side of the family, but chose not to point it out.
“No.”
Colt said, “I’ll do it. It’ll give me something to do besides think about gettin’ drunk.”
As much as Chassie wanted to go home to hear what’d happened with Trevor and his family, she knew she’d stay with the McKays. Someone needed to fix meals, wash dishes and watch Gib and Ky so the adults could talk without distractions or interruptions.
Chassie said, “I’ll see about fixin’ some lunch,” and disappeared into the kitchen to call home so Edgard knew not to expect her.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Trevor was halfway home when Chassie called and told him about Cam McKay. Her subdued tone and distraction was a sign for him not to tell her what’d gone down with his family. He owed her a full explanation, face-to-face, not another half-assed deflection of intent. Not another bald-faced lie.
It’d been a shitty test to see how she’d react to moving to the Glanzer ranch. Making her think he was considering it, even when he hadn’t been. Because Trevor had passed his own test, and finally understood how perfect his life was. He’d married a wonderful woman he loved with his whole heart. He was able to spend his daytime hours outside working land he owned and loved. He finally acknowledged that he could fill the empty part he’d resigned to remaining empty. The part of him that’d belonged to Edgard; the part of him that’d always loved Edgard.
Even as the words repeated in his head he felt foolish. Loving another man. But he did. What Trevor felt for Edgard went beyond simple lust and sexual experimentation.
Friendship, companionship, shared interests, rockin’ sex—exactly what he and Chassie shared, which near as he could figure, was love.
Could Edgard live with Trevor’s affection only in private? Could Chassie deal with sharing Trevor with Edgard? Could Trevor handle both Chassie and Edgard’s demands?
Could he let a relationship develop between them without jealousy?
Most importantly, could he convince Edgard that it didn’t matter if people outside their household knew they loved each other, just as long as they knew? It wasn’t hiding the truth. It wasn’t giving into outdated societal morals. What passed between the three of them was private. Not boasting near and far about their sexual preferences and dynamics wasn’t unusual, it was normal.
Let it go. Your brain is fixin’ to explode.
Soon as Chassie came home they’d address the questions and concerns reasonably, like rational adults, because he’d be damned if he’d let Edgard walk out of his life again.
Edgard’s pickup was parked by the barn. The woodpile had been split and stacked.
The driveway cleared after a day’s worth of snow. A light shone in the kitchen. Smoke curled against the purplish twilight sky, making the little farmhouse tucked among the trees postcard worthy.
He grabbed his duffel and headed inside, wondering what Edgard was doing after the last cattle check, wishing Chassie was here to meet him. Trevor hung up his coat and shed his boots, and noticed Edgard in the kitchen waiting for him instead. Automatically his heart lightened a bit.
“Hey. How were the roads?” Edgard asked.
“No problems except outside of Lusk. But even that wasn’t bad.” Trevor rubbed his cold hands together. “Hear anything else from Chassie?”
Edgard shook his head. “Nothin’ new. Damn shame about that McKay brother.
Gonna be rough on the whole family. I’d say he’s lucky to be alive, but that sounds a little hollow.”
“I know what you mean.” Trevor tamped down his nerves and moved in front of Edgard, setting his hands on Edgard’s shoulders.
Before the wariness in Edgard’s eyes scared him off completely, Trevor jerked the man into a full body hug. “I missed you.”
Edgard read Trevor’s underlying meaning. Trevor hadn’t meant missing him for the last day, but for the last three and a half years. Edgard returned the embrace with a murmured, “Same here.”
They were content to hold each other for a good long while, just because they could.
Trevor pulled back and cupped Edgard’s face—that beautiful, familiar, smiling face.
He gloried in the pleasure shining in those topaz eyes. “Ah hell, Ed”—he cleared his throat—“I love you. I ain’t ever said it to you, but that don’t mean I didn’t feel it then or now.”
Edgard’s long pause seemed to steal every bit of wind from Trevor’s sails. Until that magnificent smile appeared. “I could be a total dick and say it’s about fuckin’ time, but I won’t. I’ve changed too. I realize we’re both in a different place than we were years ago.
I’ll confess I like hearing it now, meu amore.”
“I figured you would.” Trevor bent his head, letting their breath mingle but never breaking eye contact. “I ain’t ever gonna be ashamed of admittin’ it to you. I don’t care what anyone else thinks. I care what you think. Can you live with that?”
“Yeah, especially after living without it.”
Trevor let his mouth deliver on the promise with an extensive, lazy, wet kiss. A full-body kiss, pelvis grinding on pelvis, cocks perfectly aligned. They were breathing hard when they broke apart.
