Chapter 22
TY LEFT the mayor’s office in a daze with Ollie’s hand in his.
The past week had all blurred together in his head. Nothing felt real. Maybe it was the sudden relief from the stress of this meeting? From the end of the schoolyear? Maybe—
They stepped back into the main meeting hall, and Ty stopped in his tracks.
No one had left.
For the first time, he took in the full picture. Several people held signs with slogans: Friends of Tyler Morris. Protect Our Good Samaritans. SUFFOLK HIGH SCHOOL LOVES COACH M.
Jenny Darel, who always glowered at Ty when he went to use the copy machine, was there, wearing a button—jeez, most of them had buttons—bearing the EMS symbol inside the Maltese cross.
Ty tried to swallow, but there was a lump in his throat. He managed it on the second try. “Ollie… what…?”
Ollie tugged Ty’s hand until he turned toward him, then put his hand on Ty’s face. He leaned their foreheads together. “They weren’t going to let Chiu chase you out of here without a fight.”
They nothing. Ollie organized this. Ty’s eyes stung. “Nobody’s ever—” His throat closed up again. He couldn’t finish.
“They fucking should,” Ollie said fiercely. “And as long as I’m around, they always will.”
Ty squeezed his eyes shut and let Ollie hug him for a long minute.
Then he wiped his eyes and turned to the crowd. “Uh—”
They descended on him as one with handshakes and thanks—staff from the school, off-duty paramedics, Jake and Peggy and Jason and half a dozen parents, three kids from the baseball team, and the redheaded sixth grader who threw spitballs .
At some point Eliza supplanted Ollie at his elbow, because Ollie was off playing hero to someone else now. He might not like the word, but Ty knew one when he saw one.
“How did he pull this off?” he asked Peggy as the lineup of people began to subside.
“Me, mostly.” She smiled sunnily. “Never underestimate the power of a phone tree.”
“Hey, I helped,” Jason butted in.
“Jason got the buttons printed.”
Ugh, Ty hated crying in public. “ Thank you .”
But the parade had not yet finished. At the outside doors, Theo was waiting with Mel, Cassie, and Ollie’s parents.
Theo had added a button to his baseball jersey. Cassie’s shirt read SOMEONE I LOVE LOVES TYLER MORRIS.
Oh God, their mom was wearing one too. Even Ollie’s dad had a button.
“Ty!” Theo broke forward into a hug. “Grandma says you showed that asshat.”
Ty could not have stopped the laugh if his life depended on it, so he hoped Mrs. Kent didn’t take offense. “I’m so glad I’m not your teacher anymore, bud.”
When Theo released him, Mrs. Kent stepped in and tried to squeeze the life out of him. “I haven’t seen my son so animated in years,” she whispered fiercely. Then she kissed his cheek and released him. “Thank you.”
Ty shook his head. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You loved my son.” She pursed her lips. “That’s enough.”
Ollie’s dad didn’t say anything about the meeting, but he shook Ty’s hand firmly, his right hand clasped on top, as if to echo his wife’s words. “That window holding up okay?”
“It’s perfect,” Ty said. “Thank you again.”
The rest of the weekend went by all too quickly. The assembled crowd descended on the local diner for pie and coffee. After an hour Ty begged off to go home, because he needed to have a good cry and then sleep for three hours.
Theo went home with Cassie and Mel for a sleepover. At this point Ty and Ollie probably owed Cassie and her husband about a hundred free babysitting nights .
He cleaned off the blood, faceplanted in his bed, and didn’t wake up until almost sunset, when Ollie slipped into the bed with him.
“Hmm,” Ty hummed, turning over to face him. “Oh, are we celebrating a victory?”
“Well,” Ollie hedged.
He kissed Ollie’s chin and then crawled down his body. “Let me thank you properly.”
Afterward, when they were lazing in bed, Ty running his fingers through Ollie’s hair, he said, “So.”
Ollie tilted his head up just enough to meet Ty’s eyes without dislodging his hand. “So?”
Ty tugged gently in reproof. “Seems like you found something fulfilling to do.” He’d never seen Ollie so animated as he was at the town hall meeting earlier.
With exaggerated patience, Ollie said, “I am not going to be your kept man.”
This time Ty’s tug was less gentle. “I meant your scheming.” He shook his head despairingly. “I can love you for more than your hot body, you know.”
Ollie pinched the fat over Ty’s hip.
“Ow!”
“Deserved it.”
“Hmm.” Another tug, gentle but prolonged, until Ollie rolled off of him and scooted up the mattress to share Ty’s pillow. “Seriously. You put a lot of work into that. How much time did you spend with Eliza?” Someone had to have gone over those contracts with a fine-toothed comb. Ty had no doubt Ollie could’ve done it, but it made so much more sense for him to bring Eliza in, considering she’d probably presided over them the first time around anyway.
Ollie’s cheeks were a bit pink, but it could’ve been exertion. “Pretty much every waking moment you weren’t with either one of us.”
“Except for the time you were organizing with Peggy and Jason?”
“And Henry. That man would cross the Delaware for you. And Jake, which was awkward.”
Ty smiled and tucked his hand under his head. “I’m sure you managed fine.” He paused as something occurred to him. “Wait, do you think Alan Chiu broke into my dad’s office to look for evidence or something before I found it? ”
“Not personally , but the idea crossed my mind. I only thought he might’ve hired someone to do it after I started digging through the paperwork, though.” He said it with relish, even though they’d probably never know for sure if that was what happened. The smug satisfaction looked as good on him in bed as it had at the town hall.
“So what was it that got you? Unraveling the mystery? Or was it putting the bad guy in his place?” Was Ollie destined for a life of private detective work? Ty super hoped he didn’t want to be a cop, but he could probably live with it.
“Oh no.” Ollie shook his head minutely, his eyelashes brushing against the pillowcase. “It’s much more embarrassing than that.”
Good. “So?”
Ollie took Ty’s hand and laced their fingers together. “It’s, uh…. Well, I’ve watched you do it, you know. Go through life trying to make the world a better place. That’s what I wanted to do when I was younger too. I thought joining the military would help me do that, but that… wasn’t the right path for me.”
Ty kissed Ollie’s knuckles and waited for him to continue.
“But this week I got to see, you know, I can make a difference. I can make this town better. And suddenly there’s a vacant seat on town council. Word has it the mayor’s going to call a special election on Monday.”
Ty could just see it. Mayor Atkins better watch her back. This whole town loved Ollie Kent almost as much as Ty did, and no way was he going to stop at council member. “And you’re going to let your name stand?”
Ollie cleared his throat. His flush darkened. “I already filled out the paperwork. Um. And I… might have looked into taking some political science courses.”
Ty could practically feel his excitement. “That’s awesome. You’re going to be a great president one day.”
“Ty.”
“I’m serious. You’re good-looking, charming, you’re a veteran, you’re a dad—total package. Where do I sign up? Ollie Kent 2036?”
“That’s kind of a tight timeline.”
Ty shook his head. “I believe in you.” And he was so fucking proud .
Too bad he wouldn’t be around to see most of it.
Or would he?
Ty’s flight to Chicago was supposed to leave tomorrow morning at ten. He didn’t want to leave Ollie, but he didn’t want to give up what he’d built in Chicago either—friends who appreciated him, coworkers who had his back.
At the party this afternoon, Brent had asked if he might reconsider applying to the Orford Township EMS.
And—he could, couldn’t he? Ty’s father might have stolen this place from him for more than ten years, but Ollie had stolen it back.
A plan formed in his mind, and he smiled. “Hey. Do you think the new town council might finally approve a new firehouse?”