Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
Connor
TWENTY-FIVE MILES TO FREEZING
I’ve got the sleeve of the flannel tied around my head covering half my face in an attempt to stave off the cold, but my lips are numb, and I know that if I’m out here much longer, I’m going to need more than a warm cup of coffee to bring me back to temp.
I’ve been walking for twenty minutes now, and the wind picks up, hitting my back like a wall of ice, but helping to push me forward at least. Every step for the last mile has been like my feet are wearing lead boots.
I just have to get to Levingston, and then I should be able to hitch a ride out of town with a trucker or grab a ticket on a train leaving the next town over.
I have a plan, that’s all I have. I know I ran for years with less than that, but this feels so different than before.
When I ran all those years ago, I was running from a bigoted family who disowned me when they found out I was gay.
Leaving felt like a triumph. Like I was running not just away from the headlines and hatred, but toward a life of my own, the way I wanted to live it.
This is not that. I found the life I wanted on the Beaker Brothers Ranch, and now I am just running.
I trudge on, making my way around the next bend when I finally see the warm glow of Levingston.
Kerrie’s, a truck stop diner on the edge of town, is lit up in blue neon and like a beacon of warmth through this chill.
I use the boost of energy seeing it gives me to push through the weight of my boots and soaked jeans, pushing through the door five minutes later with a thud.
“Shit, man, what happened to you?” a trucker asks as he checks me out over his shoulder.
“Car trouble,” I reply, stripping off my head covering and moving over to the fireplace on the far wall. I drop my bag and collapse onto my knees on the rug.
“It’s normally best to stay with your car, but judging by the cold front coming in, you probably made the right choice heading here,” the waitress says, coming over with a steaming cup.
I don’t even care what’s in it; I drink it down, the smooth chocolaty milk coating my tongue and throat in perfect heat.
“Thanks,” I say between sips, and she lifts a blanket from the chair back and layers it over my back.
“No worries, love. I’ll make you something to eat. Pumpkin soup and bread sound good?”
“Yeah, that would be great, thanks.”
I finish the cup and rub my hands together in front of the flames, finally able to feel my fingers.
But my feet are still freezing, so I shove out of my boots and set them in front of me, and then strip out of my jeans.
I’m wearing several layers of long johns underneath, the lower ones water resistant, so once the jeans and the top layer are off, I throw some dry gray sweatpants from my bag over top and change out my socks for dry ones, too.
My toes are super pale, and the skin around the nails has a scarily blueish tint.
Thankfully, it looks like I’ve staved off frostbite, but it was close.
“Here you go, Hun. I’ll hang those for you,” the waitress says, setting a tray down on the small table beside me.
“I can do it,” I say, going to stand, but my legs are so cold and stiff it’s a struggle, and she shakes her head.
“You just sit there and get warm. Do you need me to call the doc?”
“I’ll be okay once I thaw out.”
“Well, if you change your mind, let me know,” she says, moving a chair closer to the side of the fire to hang my jeans over.
She lays out my socks, too, and it’s the sweetest thing.
I have to keep reminding myself that there are good people and places out there other than the ones on the Beaker Brothers Ranch.
I’ll find somewhere that feels like home again. Someday, maybe.
My legs thaw, and I gain full feeling in my hands by the time I’m through the soup. I check my boots, thankfully, they’re almost warmed through, too, and I take my tray over to the counter where the truck driver is flipping through a newspaper, sipping his coffee.
“Any chance I can grab a ride out of town when you leave?” I ask him. He glances my way briefly before returning his attention to the paper.
“Thought you said you had car trouble, won’t you be needing to get that seen to?”
“There’s no digging it out of the ditch it landed in. I’ll sort it out when the weather clears. For now, I need to keep moving.”
“Got an important date, do ya?”
Fuck, my date with Hayden. He’s going to be waiting for me. I can’t even text him to apologize because I didn’t get his number. Why would I when he was staying a stone’s throw from my place on the ranch?
“Yeah, something like that,” I reply, and he nods.
“Well, I’ll be heading out in a couple of hours. I can take you as far as Boston, but then you’ll be on your own. Does that work for you?”
“Yeah, thanks, it does.”
Okay, in a few hours, I will be on my way again. I can wait that long. My stomach growls.
“Can I order a burger, please?” I say, and the waitress nods.
“No problem, Hun, I’ll bring it over.”
“Thanks,” I reply, pulling out a fifty and placing it on the counter under the saltshaker by the register. “This should cover it and the soup, and I’ll grab another cup of that amazing hot chocolate if you have it.”
She nods, and I make my way to the booth nearest the fireplace, popping my bag on the seat beside me as the rest of my things continue to dry. The road outside is completely covered in a blanket of white, and the snow falls in heavy diagonal sheets, blocking my view of the moon above.
Someone shoves open the door to the diner, and the wind howling follows them inside.
“Connor!” Nial calls out, and I spin. “He’s in here,” he yells out the door and then jogs over.
“What are you doing here?” I ask, and he laughs.
“Me, fuck man, what are you doing here?”
Before I can answer, the door swings open again, and in comes Dean, Atlas, Skye, Sally-May, and Perry.
“Connor, thank the stars,” Sally-May says, wrapping her arms around my neck and squeezing tight. “When we saw your truck, and then you weren’t there.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask again.
“We’ve come to take you home,” Dean says, sliding into the booth opposite me. Nial files in after him, and the others crowd around me like they want to be sure they block any path to leave.
“You don’t understand. I had to leave,” I say, avoiding eye contact with any of them.
“We know why you ran,” Dean says, and I shake my head.
“You don’t.”
Nial reaches over and lays his hand over my forearm, and I look up.
“We know. And wow. Like really, wow, but also we love you, and we don’t care that you kept that part of your past from us.”
“I lied to you for years,” I say, my gaze moving from one to the other, but instead of the disgust I had envisioned seeing on their faces if they knew who I used to be, I see scared smiles.
Atlas leans against the side of the booth.
“We knew you had a past. Fuck, every person and animal, for that matter, on Beaker Brothers does. It’s not who you were that we care about, Connor. It’s about the person you are.”
“Even if that’s true, I can’t keep hiding from my past. They’re looking for me now. Sooner or later, they will find me, and that could mean a huge headache for all of you.”
Sally-May shrugs.
“We’ll be fine. We love you, Connor. You’re not going anywhere except back home with us.”
“Yeah,” Skye chimes in. “We’ll protect you if anyone finds you. We can send Chewie after them.”
“Those chickens would probably do a better job scaring people away than that llama.” I chuckle, and it’s the first time since I left that I can finally breathe.
“Look, I know I have a lot of explaining to do,” I say, and Nial leans forward.
“All I want to know is why are you here if you are like a private-jet rich?”
Dean folds his arms over his chest.
“Ignore that question. I don’t care why you came to Beaker Brothers,” he says, and I swallow the lump in my throat. “I only have one question.”
“I’ll tell you whatever you want,” I concede. It’s the least I can do.
“Do you want to leave?”
What?
He stares at me, one eyebrow cocked as he waits for my reply. “Well, do you?” he asks.
“No.”
He slaps a hand down on the table.
“Good. Then that’s it. We should get back. We left Denver and Preston holding down the fort, and this storm is headed that way. I’ll give Pres a call to start sending everyone home, don’t want them stuck on the roads in a blizzard.”
Nial pushes up from the table just as the waitress arrives with my burger and fries in a takeaway bag. Nial grabs the bag and opens it, pulling out a fry.
“Seems like you’re all set here,” she says, handing me my change. “Get home safe.”
Sally-May nods.
“We will, Dolly, and thanks again for the call.”
“What call?” I ask, and Dolly winks at me in reply and leaves.
“You don’t worry about that. Come on, time to get you home.”
Skye grabs my jeans from the chair.
“I’ve got this stuff. Come on, let’s go.”
I climb from the booth still completely in awe of the fact that they all came after me. Like all of them. They have a ranch full of guests, and they all drove through a literal snowstorm to find me and bring me home.
“Hey, Con,” Dean says as I follow Atlas and Nial to the door.
“Yeah?”
“You don’t owe us anything. We’re a family, all of us.”
“I’m starting to see what that really means,” I reply, and he loops his arm over my shoulder as we walk out together.
“Now, how about we see if we can get you back in time to salvage this date?”