23. Vail

23

VAIL

Many days and nights I spent in a nightmare, even once I was no longer living in it. I was still trapped in my head where Gil continued to hurt me. Over time, I learned to push him out and focus on my present and future, where he wasn’t allowed. After Hartley told Jordan and me about Gil breaking into Hartley’s old rental, I was done. Fucking over it. No more. I had the men I loved and a wide-open future ahead of me. Fuck. Gil.

What better way to put me in a great mood than to visit my family. Forest joined me today while I went to see Cat and my niece and nephew. Cat couldn’t wait to see Forest. Dana was out running errands for a while. I told her she wasn’t allowed to yell at him for the shit with Hartley and how Forest left him to handle everything. Forest had been punished enough. If Hartley was good, so were the rest of us.

“I haven’t seen your sister in forever,” Forest said from beside me in the back seat of the SUV. Oleander drove and Sheldon sat in the passenger seat. Sheldon had a fascination with Forest, or so Hartley said. I couldn’t tell if it was Sheldon being protective or if he saw something in Forest. Either way, that was between them.

“She’s going to love seeing you again.” I was relaxed and happy. I had my best friend by my side, men up front I considered friends, and we were pulling into the driveway of my sister’s house.

We were barely out of the vehicle when the front door opened and my nephew ran out without a coat on, arms wide. At least he had boots on. I scooped him up off the ground and strode toward the house where Cat held the door open.

“He needs a coat,” I told her.

“Oh, please. He was outside for thirty seconds. He’s fine.” She held my niece and handed her to Oleander as soon as he was close enough. “Here you go. I’m taking a break.”

I turned once I was inside to see the absolute glow Oleander had at holding Ivy. Whether or not he wanted to have another child someday was for him to know, but if he did, he would be an amazing father. He loved children.

“Keep that baby away from me,” Sheldon muttered, skating around Oleander.

“Forest Weathers!” Cat yelled. “It’s about time you visited me.” She closed the door behind her, not waiting for him to take his coat off before hugging him and planting a kiss on his cheek. “It’s been a long time. And you need to eat. Jesus, you’re thin. Dana made a peanut butter pie. I know it sounds like it’s just peanut butter and crust, but it’s not. You’ll want to eat the whole thing. Anyone else want a slice? I’ll bring it out to the living room.”

“For breakfast?” I asked. It was still early in the morning.

“It’s good any time of day.”

Everyone said they would like a slice. We took seats. Me with Carson on my lap, and Oleander with Ivy in his arms on the couch. Sheldon stood by the door so he could easily look outside. Forest followed Cat into the kitchen to help bring plates and drinks out, then took a seat in one of the chairs.

Carson climbed down to sit on the floor where he waited for his slice and shook off his boots. Cat gave him one first. He had it mostly devoured before the rest of us had taken a bite, then he was off to his room to play.

“So, what’s it like living here instead of California?” Cat asked Forest.

“It’s a welcome change. I missed Hart and Vail. It’s great to be with them again.”

“You’ve stopped drinking?” I shouldn’t have been surprised. She knew not to bring up what happened. Instead, she found a way around it to ask him about his alcohol consumption.

“I haven’t had a drop since I talked to them on the phone. As soon as we hung up, I put everything into motion. Speaking to them breathed new life into me. California was too far away. After losing Pop, everything hurt. But hearing their voices, I wanted my family.”

“That we are,” Cat said. “I hope you’re including me in that.”

He grinned. “Of course.”

“You drank a lot?” Sheldon asked. He was still near the door, half watching outside, half with his gaze on Forest. It wasn’t the first time Sheldon had heard this. Although, it was the first time he asked Forest about it.

“Yes and no. When my grandfather died, I didn’t handle it well. Hart and I lost our parents when we were younger and moved in with him. He was the kind of man who loved you with his whole heart. It hurt when he passed. I was there for the funeral and burial, but I was so upset, I flew home and left the hard work to Hart.” He shook his head. “It was awful of me. When I got home, I couldn’t cope and started drinking heavily. Our mom was an alcoholic and an addict. I knew better, but I wanted to be numb. Anyway, I haven’t touched it since I called Vail to yell at him.”

“For what?” Sheldon asked, his voice calm as usual, but there was more to it. Like he held back from stepping forward to make sure Forest was all right.

“They didn’t tell me they were together. I found out through my asshole cousin, who saw it on a website or something.”

“We should have told you,” I said. “That was on us.”

“And I shouldn’t have yelled.”

“We’re good now.”

He grinned. “We are.”

Cat took a sip of her coffee. “Mom called.” She just had to slide that in there.

“Lucky you,” I said.

“She wants to see you. So does Dad.”

“As long as I’m not with Jordan.”

“I reminded her where we live and told her she was more than welcome to fly up, but if she wanted to see you, she had to see you and the men you’re in a relationship with.” I didn’t hate my parents. However, I refused to be ashamed of who I was with. They didn’t have to love Jordan. He deserved respect as my partner though. Hartley, I thought they’d be fine with. They’d remember him from when he was younger.

“I’d tell them to fuck off,” Forest said. The room went quiet.

Cat busted out laughing. “I’d pay to see that.”

“What? I remember how they didn’t like Vail being gay when we were teenagers. That shit won’t be forgotten.”

“We get along better now,” I told him.

“Obviously.” He rolled his eyes. “If they don’t like you being with Jordan then they don’t need to visit you. Screw that.”

Sheldon watched Forest, a slow smile forming on his lips. He caught me looking and quickly turned away.

Oleander shifted Ivy on his lap. “Life’s too short for hatred. If they don’t like how you live or who you’re with, I agree with Forest. They don’t need to visit you. Love shouldn’t be dependent on the people involved. None of it should matter. Just love.”

Cat propped her chin on her palm. “I want to wrap you in a blanket and never let you go.”

Oleander grinned. “I’d let you as long as I could bring Ivy with me.” My niece reached up to pull on a piece of Oleander’s dark hair. He had it down today, falling to his shoulders.

“What did Mom say?” I asked Cat.

“That you know how she feels. She wouldn’t mind seeing Hart, but she won’t be in the same room as a criminal. Her words, not mine. She acted all aghast to even say the word criminal.”

“I don’t want them here then. I have enough love around me.”

We sat with my sister, talking for a couple of hours. Ivy went down for a nap, as did Carson. The sky was darkening from the weather, not from the time. The forecasters were calling for snow so we decided to head back into the city. It was good spending time with my family.

Just outside of the city, I noticed Oleander looking into the rearview mirror repeatedly.

“What is it?” Sheldon asked, turning around.

“That gray Subaru has been on our ass since we left Cat’s.”

Forest and I turned as well. That was when the Subaru sedan started to drive around us on a double yellow line, riding alongside the SUV. They finally sped ahead and got in front of us. Oleander backed off the gas, but it didn’t do much good when the Subaru slammed on the brakes on the road that snow was starting to stick to. The Navigator careened into the back of it, all of us jolting forward, our seat belts keeping us in the seats. I didn’t have time to get my bearings before Sheldon was out of the SUV.

“Are you okay?” I asked Forest.

“I’m good. You?”

“Fine.” I’d probably have a bit of whiplash, but everything was where it was supposed to be on my body, and I didn’t have any immediate pain.

“Get down!” Oleander yelled as tires screeched to a halt outside. Another car must have driven up.

Forest and I ducked but there was only so far we could go with our seat belts on. Oleander opened his door. A shot rang out. He jumped out, slamming the door shut. More shots were fired.

I unbuckled and dropped to the floor, trying to pull Forest with me. He got his seat belt off and followed me down. I wasn’t sure how long we sat there for. It could have been a minute or ten.

Tires screeched again. Seconds later, the back of the SUV opened.

“Don’t move, you two,” Sheldon said. The sound of something big and heavy landing in the back reached me but I didn’t look to see what it was. The hatch closed. Sheldon got into the driver seat. “Don’t get up. Stay where you are.”

“Fuck,” Oleander bit out.

“Put pressure on it.”

“What?” I yelled and sat up as the other door closed.

Oleander clutched his arm as blood seeped through his jacket. “I’m okay, Vail.”

“You’re fucking bleeding.”

“Hold on.” Sheldon put the SUV in reverse then in drive. He hit the gas and flew down the road. Pressing a button on the steering wheel, he told it to call Jordan. The sound of a phone ringing came through the speakers.

“What happened?” Jordan asked, his tone biting.

“Staged accident with two other vehicles and shots fired.”

“Where’s Vail?” he yelled.

“I’m okay,” I told him. “We were all wearing our seat belts. Ollie’s bleeding though.”

“Safehouse, Sheldon. Now.” The line disconnected.

“I’m already on my way,” he muttered to himself.

We flew down a country road, well over the speed limit. Something rolled around the back that I guessed was a body. Sheldon took the corners with practiced ease, the SUV hardly swaying even on the slick road.

“Is whoever back there dead?” Forest asked.

“Nope, but he’s going to wish he was.”

I didn’t look, didn’t want to. I hated violence but couldn’t blame Sheldon and Oleander for firing back at whoever was after us. This had to do with Gil. My guess was they thought they could kidnap me and take me to him. They were wrong. They’d severely underestimated Jordan’s men.

“How bad are you hurt?” I asked Oleander.

“I think it went clean through. Could have been a lot worse.”

“Sheldon, will Jordan call Alton?”

“I’m sure they’re both on their way.”

“Good.”

For the rest of the ride, all I could do was face forward and help find another rag for Oleander’s arm. I didn’t need to know about anything behind my seat.