Chapter Twenty-Six

Brian had missed so many days of work. He wasn't sure what to expect when he walked into the office. Sometimes he felt as if the place would fall around him if he weren't there, and then there were the times when he took time off. Everyone was still working steadily. Barring any natural disaster, he supposed if there were any problems, he could solve them easily.

His phone rang. His assistant would answer it and patch through all his personal calls automatically, so he knew it was likely his mother or maybe Greg. He picked up.

"Brian, it's Mommy." His mother was the only one who called herself that. Brian hadn't since he was a toddler. "I heard through the grapevine that you have a new boyfriend." The grapevine that Lynn Stockwell spoke of was Beverly Heath, telling the grocery store clerk—Brian could never remember her name—who'd told Ms. Yarwood, his parents' next-door neighbor.

"His name is Greg Mitchell." Brian smiled at the thought of Greg. He missed him already, and they had only parted that morning. Greg was well enough to go back to work, so Brian had as well. It was the first time for each of them.

"Mitchell. Mitchell. Is he from town?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I went to school with a Mitchell once. That boy was a drinker."

"Greg has never taken a sip in his life." Brian lied through his teeth. If he didn't, then his mother would worry for no reason. Brian had learned to keep all explanations as simple as possible. "Greg works for Travis Heath, Mom. He's in college to be a large animal vet."

"Does he have a family?"

"Yeah." At least that part was true. Leonard was Greg's father and Neil, his brother. Isaac and Kyler as well. His mother didn't need any other explanation.

"Dad wants your young man and his family to come to dinner."

Brian let out a burst of laughter.

"Why is that funny?"

"Because Dad and Leonard are going to love each other."

"That's a good thing though, isn't it?" His mom sounded unsure.

"Not for you. Leonard is one of those good old boys that Dad loves to talk to."

"Well, it should be fun for everyone then."

Brian chuckled some more. His mother was already annoyed. He could hear it in her voice. She hated when Brian teased her about stuff like that, but she'd never spoken out on it.

He hung up a few minutes later and got to work. It seemed like Landon had done a great job in his absence. He needed to talk to him about a raise. He might not have been at the office long, but Landon had stepped up when needed. That required a reward.

Brian made a note of it as someone knocked on his door.

"Come in." Brian knew he didn't have an appointment.

The last person he expected was to see Andrew in full police chief's uniform enter his office.

Brian stiffened, and his stomach flipped. "Is Greg okay?"

Andrew sat in the chair opposite Brian as if he didn't have a care in the world. "He's fine, vato. Sorry to scare you."

The tension left his body. "Thank God."

"I came to let you know I'm moving out. Kendrick's renting me the apartment above his bar." Andrew stood up and held out his hand.

Brian stood as well and came around his desk. "Seems too formal for being roommates for so long." Brian gave him a hug of the one-armed variety before leaning against the desk.

"You sure you want to live above the bar. That can get noisy, I bet."

Andrew chuckled. "I'm from the city. It's always noisy there."

Brian wouldn't know. He'd never lived anywhere but Pickleville. "Well, don't be a stranger."

"No one's a stranger in Pickleville, vato."

Brian chuckled. "That's true."

The door opened, and Kyler came sailing into the room without knocking. Greg followed him, shaking his head and mumbling about knocking on closed doors.

"Did you know your secretary totally put the moves on Greg?" Kyler said as he sat in the chair Andrew had vacated. Kyler looked Andrew up and down about three times before he said, "Chief."

"Kyler." Andrew nodded at Kyler dismissively.

"Oh, so it's gonna be like that. You're gonna stand there and act like we didn't exchange body fluids." Kyler nodded his head as if he was okay with that, but his face said otherwise.

"I'm sorry. I have to go." Andrew wouldn't meet any of their gazes. His eyes remained on the floor as if Brian's brown carpeting was the most fascinating thing in the room.

"Come over for dinner sometime, yeah?" Brian asked.

"Si." Oh, using Spanish had to mean Andrew was uncomfortable.

Kyler rolled his eyes and slumped in the chair even farther. To the average person, it seemed as if he hadn't a care in the world, but Brian saw the way he watched Andrew as he walked out. Andrew had plunged a knife through Kyler's heart.

Brian kissed Greg on the lips before pulling away and address Kyler, "Are you okay?"

"It's fine. I'm fine." Kyler absently played with a rip in his jeans.

Brian decided to let it go. "So, to what do I owe this honor?"

"You didn't take lunch this morning."

"You gonna take me to lunch?" Brian smiled and leaned into Greg, grabbing another kiss.

"More like, he wants to have you for lunch." Kyler chuckled.

Greg wiggled his eyebrows. "Do you have time?"

"It so happens that I always have time for you. I thought you'd be working."

Greg smirked. "I would be except my man forgot to take lunch this morning and now I have to make sure he eats."

They might have a few problems with communication they still needed to work out, but the love was there in every single caring gesture.