Chapter 6 Joey
SIX
JOEY
Ten years ago, I acted on impulse with Travis, and everything went to shit.
Now, I was back in Haven Grove, ready to take over the family business, and I was torn right down the middle about whether I should just bring up the past and whatever the weird vibe was between us, or if I should just let Travis play things his way.
The good news was he didn’t seem disgusted by me.
I honestly think that had been one of my biggest fears for so long after we parted ways less than amicably.
The better news was we’d fallen right back into our banter and friendship. Funny how a life-long relationship can slip so far apart yet fit right back together like the pieces of a puzzle after so many years. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz.
I wanted to sit him right down and say, “Look, as you probably guessed, I’m gay.
My dad forced me to get engaged to a woman shortly after that last summer, but neither of us could go through with the lie—she’s actually one of my closest friends now.
I just recently left my shitty job working for my shitty dad because my fiancé broke things off—and honestly, I couldn’t be happier.
I’m sorry for my part in things when we were kids, but if we’re going to be working together, it would be really good for me to know if this is completely platonic or if the looks and vibes you’re giving me actually mean something else. ”
Oh god, not only were we working together—which was both our dreams come true, at least as kids—we’d be living together and sharing a bed.
I couldn’t be grateful for the snake-infested RV because I’d probably have nightmares about it for the rest of my life, but I wasn’t going to question fate if she used a reptile infestation to nudge Travis and me together.
I’d learned a lot about myself over the years.
I was definitely more a speak your mind type these days, but I wasn’t sure the first day Travis and I were unexpectedly thrown back together was the right time to bring up the past and demand to know what he thought the future might hold.
My attraction to him—specifically, my unrequited attraction to him—when we were kids was my blind spot.
Assuming he liked me the way I liked him just because we were best friends, spent all our time together, and he sometimes looked at me in exactly the way I wanted him to look at me was what got me in trouble.
Knowing what I knew now, would I still shoot my shot back then?
Yeah, probably.
But I’d time it better.
Approach it differently.
Anything to avoid the bone-deep pain and hot, rolling tears as I watched Travis walk out of my life.
Now that we were both in Haven Grove for what seemed like the long-haul, maybe I could take the time I should have taken back when I was a horny teen not thinking things through.
Travis and I talked like no time had passed as I drove us into town. Everything between us had always been so easy.
Until it wasn’t.
“Let me buy dinner tonight to make up for breakfast,” I said. I pocketed the keys as we headed toward the Riggs Family Roadhouse.
Travis looked like he was about to argue, but I cocked a brow in challenge.
“Yeah, okay.”
He opened the door for me, and I swore I wasn’t imagining the whisper of his hand at the small of my back as I passed.
“Pick a table,” a big guy behind the bar called out. “Full menu at the bar too.”
“I drove, you pick the seats,” I said with a bump of my shoulder against his.
Travis made a path toward the end of the bar, and we settled in on the high-back stools.
“Welcome to the Roadhouse,” the big guy said, sliding two menus in front of us.
“I’m Henry. We’ve got Sam on the grill tonight—the special this weekend is pot roast, potatoes, carrots, and homemade rolls.
My better half has raspberry chocolate ganache cake on the menu that pairs perfectly with our amaretto coffee. ”
“The cake is good with plain ol’ coffee too,” a voice grumbled to my right.
Henry rolled his eyes and sighed. “That’s my father, Casey Joe, the town grump who really isn’t as bad as he’d like you to believe.
” He flicked his father with the bar towel.
“We have several mocktails to choose from in addition to soda, tea, coffee, and juice. I’ll start you with some waters and be back for your drink orders. ”
“You boys new around here or just passin’ through?” Casey Joe asked.
“We both grew up here,” Travis said, reaching in front of me to offer his hand, his shower-fresh scent filling my nostrils and making me want to bury my nose into him and sniff him all over. “Travis Dean Cooper.”
Recognition filled Casey Joe’s face. “Well, I’ll be damned. I was talkin’ to your grandpa not too long ago.” He turned to me. “Wait, you’re the Morton kid?”
I held out my hand. “Joseph Morton. Most people call me Joey.”
Casey Joe frowned. “Seems like your grandma called you something else.”
Smiling, I nodded. “She always called me J.C.”
Casey Joe slapped the table. “That’s right.” As he spoke, another man slid onto the stool beside him. Without hesitation, he leaned over, pressed a kiss to the newcomer’s lips, and placed a hand on his thigh. “This is Bryce Armstrong, he owns Armstrong Health & Fitness.”
Bryce reached over and shook both our hands. “Nice to meet you both.”
My throat tightened and my heart tried to pound its way out of my chest. Two extremely attractive men just kissed right in public in Small-Town, USA.
Holy.
Shit.
Maybe being back here wouldn’t mean suffering just for the chance to be my true self.
“They’re the grandsons of the Coopers and the Mortons. Remember I was telling you about the campground and the bait and tackle shop?” Casey ran his hand up and down Bryce’s thigh.
Bryce nodded. “Absolutely. I remember getting bait and going fishing out there a few times as a kid.”
Casey Joe gave a grunt of acknowledgment. “Only other businesses in Haven Grove that have been around as long as ours.”
Travis and I must have had questioning looks on our faces because Casey Joe went on.
“Riggs family. We own the peach orchard, the Juicy Peach general store, and the Roadhouse,” Casey explained. “Only other business been here almost as long is the Dairy Palace.”
“Not Glazed Buns?” Bryce asked.
“Nah, they came a while back, but not as old as us.” Casey turned toward us again. “Now, you boys were probably too young to remember Henry,” he gestured toward the man behind the bar, “but you might remember my youngest, Hudson.”
I nodded and felt Travis do the same. “I remember the Riggs name. Don’t remember Henry, but I feel like I heard the name Hudson Riggs. I think he was four or five years ahead of us.”
Casey nodded along. “That sounds about right. He’s the one runnin’ the orchard and the store mostly.
Not sure you’d remember—he might have been gone around the time you two were old enough—but Lance Ingram’s family owned the Dairy Palace, he was my best friend…
still is even though he’s a damn cradle-robbin’ traitor—”
Bryce snorted and shook his head as Henry returned with waters. “You boys know what you want?”
Travis hadn’t even looked the menu, but I knew he’d go for the special. He was always a sucker for roast no matter which grandma was fixing Sunday dinner. “I’ll have the special. He’s buying,” he jerked his thumb my way, “so go ahead and add on the cake and amaretto coffee.”
I grinned and tried to tamp down the butterflies in my stomach. Did I seriously get to do this for the rest of my life? Away from the city. Away from my hateful father and addict mother. Away from a job I hated.
And now I got to spend every day with my best friend in the greatest little small town the Midwest had to offer? I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
“Double it,” I told Henry.
“So, you’re back in town to take over, huh?” Casey Joe asked. “Bet your grandparents were glad to see you.”
Travis snorted. “Glad to see us so they could scoot on down the road.”
Casey Joe laughed. “Time’s a wastin’, gotta get on down to the sunshine state.” He took a drink of his iced tea. “What do you boys have planned for the place?” Then he frowned. “You’re keepin’ it all, right? Not lookin’ to sell?”
I glanced quickly at Travis, and we both shook our heads. “No, we’re not lookin’ to sell.”
“Why? You hear something about someone wanting to buy?” Travis asked with a frown.
Casey Joe shook his head. “Nah. Time to time we get folks out here wantin’ to buy up land, lookin’ to turn the area into a parkin’ lot or factory space.
Even heard some counties around here are dealin’ with companies wantin’ to put in big ol’ data centers.
Folks are fightin’ that shit because of how bad it is for the environment and all.
” He took another swig of his tea. “The campground and the bait shop are part of Haven Grove. No one would want to see them go. Anyone lookin’ to buy would probably wanna drain the lake and fill it in—now wouldn’t that just be a fuckin’ shame?
” He knocked his knuckles against the bar.
“Tell you what I’ve always told my boys.
As long as we’re bringin’ in a profit we can live on and we’re still enjoyin’ the job, we keep it in the family.
Ain’t nothing some big city group can bring to Haven Grove and make it any better.
People need a mall or some shit like that?
They can drive on up the road like the rest of us do. ”
Henry returned with two large, shallow bowls of pot roast, potatoes, and carrots, plus a basket of steaming hot rolls and tubs of butter. “Jack will bring your cake over in a bit, and I’ll have your drinks ready. Enjoy.” He pointed his finger at his father. “Don’t talk their ears off.”
Casey Joe held up his hands. “Me? I don’t even fuckin’ like people.”
While Travis and I ate, I stole glances at Casey Joe and Bryce. They looked to be about the same age. They were both in great shape which made sense if they were involved with the gym.