“Wait until you wake up with a thousand mosquito bites.” He wondered if Holden struggled with sleeping a lot. He seemed to like his space at night, since this was the second time Roe had seen him out here late. “Still, I wouldn’t change it for anything.”
“You ever leave?”
He was surprised, for some reason, that Holden was keeping the conversation going. “I did. When I was eighteen and graduated, I was out of here. Went to college, moved to DC. Had a lot of fun partying, learning who I was. Then I did the work-your-ass-off lifestyle where the most important thing was how high I could climb the ladder and how much money I could make.”
Holden’s eyebrows squeezed together in shock. “No shit?”
“What, you thought I was nothing more than a country bumpkin?”
“I didn’t say that, but I have a feeling you see me as some city slicker.”
“Lies!” Roe finished his beer.
“But you came home.”
“I did.” Roe nodded. “This is where I belong. Maybe I am just a country bumpkin?”
“I think your son might tease you for being old if he hears you saying country bumpkin.”
Roe didn’t know why it hit him just right, but the response made a laugh burst from his lips. “You fucker. Just remember, I’m assuming if I’m old, you are too. We look about the same age.” Really, though, as much as Roe joked, he didn’t feel old. He knew he wasn’t. There was a whole lotta life left to live.
“Don’t feel it, man. Not at all.”
“I was just thinking the same.”
Christ, he was enjoying this. Roe liked to simply stand there and talk with Holden. There was something about him that felt like they just clicked. Holden might think he was crazy if he knew Roe was thinking that.
He heard the goats making noises in their pens. Crickets started going crazy. Yeah, this was home. He loved it.
“You might hear me clanking around in the barn in the coming days. I’m gonna clean it up, maybe build some new shelving. I’ll try not to start too early.”
Holden surprised him by saying, “I can help.”
“Don’t have to, but I’m not gonna turn down an extra pair of hands.”
“I’d think you were crazy if you did.” Holden smirked, making heat pool in Roe’s gut.
There was a vibration sound, and Holden pulled his cell out of his pocket. It was late for a phone call, but Holden said, “I need to take this. It’s my boyfriend.”
His…oh shit. Being gay himself, maybe he was supposed to have some kinda radar for that or something, but if Roe did, his was broken where Holden was concerned. Or hell, maybe he was just out of practice after being away from the city for so long. All he knew was, he sure as shit hadn’t expected Holden to say he had a boyfriend. “I’ll, um…I’ll let you get to it. I need to head to bed anyway.” He gave Holden a simple nod, then headed for his house. Just his luck that a man would show up in Harmony, who attracted him in a way Roe hadn’t felt in a long time…
And he’d be gay.
But he’d have a boyfriend.
Wasn’t as if it mattered really anyway. Roe loved his life here. Men like Holden didn’t stay. He’d said so himself.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Holden
“Hey,” he said, answering Vince’s call.
“Hey yourself. Wha’cha up to, gorgeous?”
“I was talking to the neighbor.”
“The hot guy you told me about?” They didn’t really do jealousy between them.
“Yeah, but then I mentioned my boyfriend was calling, and he took off like someone jabbed him in the ass with a hot poker.”
“Holy shit, you’ve been there less than a week and you’re already talking like a small-town boy.”
“Ha-ha,” Holden replied, his thoughts still on Monroe. Was the guy a homophobe? Holden didn’t know how else to explain it, not only his quick retreat, but the look on his face when Holden told him who was calling. If the guy had a problem with it, he’d take his sister and nephew and find somewhere else for them to rent—maybe somewhere with a bedroom for him when he visited so he wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch. He’d already offered, of course, but Marilee said she didn’t want to take that kind of money from him.
It was a shame, though. He liked talking to Monroe. He’d seemed like good people, but now he wasn’t so sure.
Holden mostly listened as Vince chatted. He’d just gotten back from a dinner out with friends, and was telling Holden about his plans for the week. Between his job and the parties and the work get-togethers he had on the schedule, Holden knew that even if he were in Atlanta, with no scheduled flights, he and Vince wouldn’t see each other that week.
A few minutes later they got off the phone, and Holden went back into the cabin.
He managed to get some shut-eye, and woke up when Marilee was getting ready for work in the morning.
“Shit. Sorry. I tried to be quiet so I didn’t wake you.”
“It’s okay.”
“You’ve always been a light sleeper.”
When he was young, it was because he liked to keep an ear out for when his parents came home late, drunk or high. Or when they were fighting. When that happened, he often went into Marilee’s room and slept on her floor. She was always more sensitive than Holden was to their arguments, or when they’d throw things or have wild nights. It was important to him to make her feel safe. “I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
“Jesus, Holden. You were such a good brother.”
He waved off her statement. “We don’t gotta do this again.”
“Me man. Me don’t like emotions,” she teased.
“That was a fairly accurate impression of me,” he joked back, and they both snickered. “I’m going to try and get Sean out of the house again today. I’ll text you and let you know what’s going on.”
She nodded, grabbed her purse and her keys. “Thank you, Holden. Seriously. I love you so much.”
“I know you do, kid.”
“I’m a little old for you to still call me that.”
“Not to me.”
She smiled, then slipped out the door.
Holden made himself a cup of coffee and cleaned up around the cabin for a while. His thoughts kept returning to Monroe. Jesus, he was disappointed in the man’s stilted response. Though he never understood why anyone cared who someone else was in a relationship with, it didn’t typically bother him. He didn’t want assholes in his life, but he was uncharacteristically disappointed in Monroe—which was ridiculous as he didn’t even really know the man.
He let Sean sleep in. When he woke up and drowsily stumbled into the kitchen, Holden asked, “What do you want to do today?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged.
“Well, figure it out, kid. What do you like?”
Sean gave him a deep frown. “I don’t understand why you keep trying to hang out with me. You don’t have to do that to get on Mama’s good side.”
Fuck, this kid broke his heart. “I’m not doing it to get on your mom’s good side. I’m doing it because I want to spend time with you. You’re my nephew.”