24. Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Four
Hugo
“ I ’m not certain why I’m here.” I glanced around the sunny, bright yellow office of one Justin Bridges.
Counselor.
PhD psychology student.
Coworker of Copeland’s mentee Dr. Kennedy Dixon.
Dr. Dixon would’ve seen me, but one of her seven sisters had some kind of medical emergency and she, along with apparently the rest of the Dixon sisters, had descended upon the hospital.
Justin’s comment had been simply, “Kennedy’s sorry, and the hospital has no idea what they’re in for with the sister invasion.”
By necessity, he’d given me the tour of Healing Horses Ranch. Apparently that was normally the job of Rainbow Dixon—Kennedy’s younger sister and the manager—but she was…with the other pile of sisters.
My head spun. One sister was enough. Truly. And remembering the names of my now four nieces and nephews was plenty. Healthy baby Mia made the fourth and, Leonora swore, the last.
I didn’t have to worry about my family’s legacy. Leonora might no longer carry the Threadgold name, but she’d ensured the security of the next generation.
And had given me permission to send along the baby photo to our father.
Small steps.
I gazed down at the yellow labrador retriever at my feet.
Tiffany was the ranch’s official comfort dog. Her services were completely optional.
Right…like I was going to say no to those gorgeous dark-brown soulful eyes and the happy grin as she panted.
Now she rested against my leg as I petted her head.
“Sorry about that.” Justin stepped into the room, closed the door, then made his way over to me.
I’d dropped into the oversized couch and made myself at home. I figured that was okay.
He handed me a bottle of water, then sat himself. “Denise, another counselor, has an open slot, so she’ll handle anything that comes up. I’m not certain I ever realized how much Rainbow actually does around here until she took a break.” He winced. “Not that having a sister in the hospital is a break—”
I held up my hand. “I get it.”
The man smiled and my breath caught.
Cope had obviously never met Justin.
And clearly Kennedy had never described him.
Or someone might’ve thought to warn me I was meeting my twin. Red hair, red beard with gold flecks…only Justin’s eyes were a lighter shade of blue than my own.
Well, almost my twin—I had a few white whiskers, while Justin, clearly more than a decade my junior, didn’t have any.
“I’m gay.” I wasn’t certain why I felt the need to blurt that out, but I did.
Justin smiled. “I was aware. I am too, if that makes any difference.”
“It doesn’t.”
“That’s cool.” He uncapped his water, took a sip, recapped it, then put it on a table next to his high-backed chair. “I researched you after Kennedy asked me to help you out today.”
“Oh.” I frowned.
He held up his hand. “These days, it’s just the prudent thing to do. I might not always tell my clients, although I believe honesty is important. You seemed like a guy who wants it straight.”
“I do.”
“And I’m someone who likes to work with as much information as possible. Without making judgements.”
I eyed him. “The video was a pretty hot kiss.”
He coughed. “Uh, yes it was. And I understand it was released without your consent.”
“Well, the kiss was consensual.”
“I would agree it certainly appeared consensual. But coercion can be powerful—”
“He didn’t coerce me. And neither of us knew we were being recorded. And yes, the person who taped us admitted he shouldn’t have done so, and everyone seems to agree the recording should’ve been destroyed. But it wasn’t. Here we are.”
“You got your job back.”
“Thanks to a very high-priced attorney.” I winced. “Oh, and the fact I didn’t do anything fucking wrong.” I winced again. “Sorry.”
“No apologies necessary. Everything that gets said in this room stays in this room. Unless you admit to abusing a child or being a danger to yourself or someone else.”
“No, no, and no.” I stroked Tiffany’s soft fur. “She’s very…mellow.”
Justin smiled. “Yes, she is. I think she carries the heaviest load in the place. She doesn’t just take care of patients…she takes care of us as well.” He gazed outside. “Of course, the horses do their fair share as well.”
“Yeah. I read up on this place. After Cope suggested it.”
“You’ve come a long way.”
“Vancouver’s not so far. My parents own a chalet in Whistler, so we left the city regularly. The drive out here was less treacherous than the Sea-to-Sky highway.”
“That’s true. The highway to Mission City’s pretty tame, and our back roads are well-maintained.”
“Right.”
“But that’s not what you’re here to discuss.”
“No.” I eyed Tiffany.
She met my gaze.
I tried really super hard not to think of another pair of dark-brown soulful eyes. “I always wanted a dog as a child. My parents wouldn’t allow it.”
“That’s unfortunate. I have a mutt my husband and children adore.”
“You do too, I suspect.” I caught his gaze.
“Yeah.” He smiled. “Have you ever considered getting a pet yourself?”
“I’m never home. Between school, my volunteering, my best friend who’s about to give birth any day…” I shrugged. I wasn’t going to mention my old feral rescue.
“That’s fair.”
“I suppose I could get a pair of cats.” I scrunched my nose.
“What’s that look for?”
“Just thinking about how much my ex-husband loathed animals—cats in particular. Which should mean that I could get one just in retaliation…but that’s not fair to an animal. I mean, I’d love them all on their own…”
“Your ex-husband?”
“The douchebag.”
Justin tried, but failed, to hide a smile. “Okay.”
“That’s what Axel calls him. Or called him. Like, on national television.”
“Ah. I didn’t have time to watch that interview. I will, though, before you come back. If you come back,” he added. “No pressure. We’re always here.”
“I appreciate that.” I gazed around the soothing room. “He won’t talk to me.”
“Your ex?”
“What? Oh no. Axel. I tried to explain to him that what he’d overheard was a misunderstanding, and then I thought if I gave him the CD that would make up for what he thought he overheard, and then…” I sighed. “He released the video and won’t take my calls.” Despite my despair, anger rose in me. “Why won’t he fucking talk to me? He did this to me, not the other way around. I’m begging for a chance to explain, and he’s the one who blew up my world.”
I’d been angry.
He’d made the video.
I’d reached out.
He’d blocked me.
“That sounds…complicated.” Justin smiled. “Why don’t we slowly unpack this?”
That didn’t sound like fun to me but, as I pulled out of the driveway two hours later, I could acknowledge feeling mildly better. We had unpacked everything about my complicated relationship with Axel. Or acquaintance? No, we’d nearly fucked. That constituted a relationship.
Then Justin gave me a tour of the ranch and I met the horses—Briar, Sugar, Sienna, and Fallon. They were just as placid as dear Tiffany who followed us around everywhere.
As Justin was seeing me to my car, an SUV pulled up.
A stunning brunette emerged and, upon noticing me, came over. She apologized as Justin introduced her as Dr. Kennedy Dixon.
I waved off her apologies, complimented Justin’s counseling skills, then drove away after having made the man blush.
Something that brought a smile to my face.
I was nearly to the bridge that would take me back to Vancouver when my phone rang.
Without looking, I hit accept on the steering wheel. “Hugo Threadgold.”
A heavy sigh. A sigh I recognized. A quick glance at my dash confirmed my suspicion.
Should’ve declined the call.
Might’ve been Axel.
Yeah, but it wasn’t.
“How can I help you, Mr. Merkerson?”
“We have a problem.”
“I can’t imagine what that might be.”
“Fucking hell, Threadgold, you know what it is. We’re in the news again.”
I sighed as I merged onto the bridge. “I hadn’t heard. Anyway, you wanted publicity.” So go suck rotten eggs.
“Not because my fucking male music teacher had his tongue down a former male student’s throat.”
“Are you trying to insinuate something? Weren’t you the one who suggested I get down on my knees—”
“No! I didn’t say that. I didn’t mean that.”
And yet he had said that, and he had meant that. Perhaps not literally—he hadn’t known Axel was gay—but he’d wanted me to secure Axel’s agreement to perform. That felt…very quaint. Almost like a lifetime ago. But that was all beside the point. Merkerson was a homophobic asshole—and we both knew it. “What do you want?”
“The McPherson Foundation has pulled their funding.”
I sighed. “Their books were seized by the police, and their assets have been frozen pending an investigation of the foundation’s financial…” I tried to remember what I’d heard in the news versus what Wentworth Chamberlain had shared. “Shenanigans.”
“I’m cutting your budget if you don’t make up the shortfall.”
Fucking hell. “You know, I’m certain Geneva Alvarez would love to do a story about how funding from the music department is being pulled even after the music teacher was vindicated and found—”
“Are you threatening me?”
“I’m suggesting you might want to find somewhere else to cut—”
“You think any department wants their funding cut?”
I sighed. “Of course not.”
“So get Grindstone to do a charity concert. I bet it’ll sell out.”
“You did not just suggest—” Fucking hell. This was what got you into the mess with Axel in the first place! Goddamnit.
“Your funding, your decision.” He cut the call.
I nearly drove into the next lane.
A sharp horn had me yanking the wheel back just centimeters from catastrophe.
I waved.
The woman flashed me the bird.
Which was also so, so, so very Canadian. Polite as a shit in person, but rabid demons behind the wheel.
I sighed.
There has to be a way to fix this.
You know there is.
Yeah, but I’m too chickenshit.
Instead of going down that road, I grabbed three salads from a fast-food chain not known for making very good salads and I headed to Renee and Copeland’s.