Chapter 8
Teague
I t only took seconds for me to process what I was seeing. Pretty man was still here, which at first glance was a bonus because I’d get to apologize and explain. But he was not just crouched down and petting Steve. No, the man was literally cowering behind the dog. Because of me. I had to fix it.
I did the only thing I could think of, threw my hands up, and called, “I come in peace! I mean you no harm!”
For a moment, there was silence, then Dana let out a snort of laughter and her frown morphed into a slight smile. “Of course you don’t. Your…Regan called to tell us you’d be doing the Sugar Rush deliveries.” She moved her attention to the man who was slowly standing. “Charlie?”
Charlie. Pretty man had a name, and it fit him. I’d never thought much about names fitting a person before, except for that kid I went to high school with whose parents named him Leslie, but he was the burliest, gruffest man I’d ever met. But Charlie looked like a Charlie, not Charles or Chuck. I liked it. Not that my opinion of his name meant anything, because it was his name no matter my feelings on it.
Focus, Teague.
“I’m okay, D,” Charlie said, his voice shaking just a little. “I’m just going to…” He pointed over his shoulder at the building, and then his long legs ate up the ground as he hightailed it back inside.
I dropped my hands—why was I still holding them up?—and then my head. “Fuck.”
“Teague?”
Dana’s voice brought me sharply to the here and now, and I quickly moved to grab the three boxes Regan had packed for Black Dog. At the last second, I grabbed the smaller fourth box and stacked it on top. I carefully bumped the truck door closed to not wobble my tower of pastries and headed toward Dana.
“The other day, Charlie overheard me in the store on the phone, and I think I scared him.” I knew I had. It had been clear then, but even more so now. But for some reason I didn’t want to admit that to Dana. “I really need to apologize.”
Dana led the way into the dining room but glanced back over her shoulder. “You? Scare someone?” She scoffed. “Teague, I hate to break it to you, but despite your size, you’re the softest, squishiest marshmallow around.”
“Normally, yeah.” People always seemed to think that would offend me somehow, but I didn’t care that I was known for my good nature. I liked being the good guy. “But it was Bart.”
Dana made a face like she smelled something gross as she held open the door for me. “What’s his problem now?”
Dana and Nic knew about my sister and her husband’s beliefs, as well as their attitude toward me and Regan. I’d met them when Dad and I had come to collect a few trees they’d wanted taken down to make more room in the back of the property. I didn’t know the pair really well, but I’d been out here on more than one occasion over the past few months, not only to deliver pastries for Sugar Rush but to drop off firewood as well. It was still too hot for fires in the fireplaces in the cabins, which I didn’t think they were renting out yet anyway. But they had a firepit that they’d used on occasion for the guests they’d had so far. During those visits, we’d got to talking a little.
“It’s a whole ass thing,” I said, with a weary sigh. “But their oldest is gay, and he’s here and they don’t want that.”
“Say no more.” Dana could figure out the rest and didn’t need me to go into detail. I followed her to the table along the far wall and set the boxes down. I separated them out, keeping the smallest box in my hands.
“That one’s the regular, then this one is gluten free, and this one is nut free.” Pointing to each one with my free hand.
Dana smirked. “I can read. Regan marked them.”
“Yeah. Uh.” I sucked in a breath. “Listen. Where’s Charlie? Do you think he’ll talk to me? I really want to apologize.”
For a long moment, Dana just looked at me. Her dark eyes roamed over my face, and I stood there, trying not to fidget. Dana wasn’t as protective as Nicole was. That first time we’d met, I thought the little spitfire was going to gut me if I so much as said one word wrong to her wife. And I got it. Small town in Northern New York, where the counties leaned red and backward, and me looking like a big redneck lumberjack. Of course, Nic had been worried. I’d panicked that day too, rolling up my sleeve and pointing to the blue, purple, and pink moon phase tattoo I had on my biceps.
But whatever Dana saw in my expression, she must have decided was okay, because eventually she nodded. “He’s probably in the office. Come on.”
I followed her back out into the sunshine, which wasn’t yet baking but would be soon, and then in through the main door to the lobby. It was cool but bright. The bay window let in a lot of light, but the air conditioning was cranked up enough to combat that. I looked around as Dana headed behind the counter and into the office, noticing the large frame that had once been a mirror but was now a notice board, complete with corkboard and push pins.
“Hey, what happened to the mirror?”
Dana froze, and from the office I heard a distinctive growl. Nic stormed out a moment later, her expression thunderous. Honestly, she was a bit terrifying.
“What did you do?” Her tone was low, menacing, and I involuntarily took a step back despite having more than a foot and at least a hundred pounds on her.
“I threatened Bart, and Charlie overheard,” I explained quickly, needing to head that off before she laid into me. That at least got her to soften her stance, even if she was still scowling in an epic way. I raised my voice a little, even though it was probably not necessary in the small space. “I just want to say I’m sorry, Charlie. Maybe explain, if you’ll let me. I swear, that’s not my usual.”
Charlie appeared a second later, still looking pale, but not as scared as he had been. Nic stepped in front of him, keeping herself between me and her friend, even though Charlie towered over her as well. That earned a hint of a smile from Charlie, though it was gone a second later. He touched her shoulder.
“It’s okay, Sweetie.”
He took a breath, and then another, before he stepped around Nic and came closer. He still kept his distance, and he was definitely still wary. But at least he was here and seemingly willing to listen.
I thrust out the box that Regan had packed for me, my payment for the day, but though I already mourned the loss of the sweet treat, I knew it had better purpose. “Unicorn Fart?”
Charlie blinked. “What?”
With my other hand I flipped open the top, then tilted the box down a little so he could see what was inside. “It’s the best thing Regan makes; I will swear on anything. Consider it a peace offering."
A beat passed. Then two. Finally, Charlie took the box from my hands, staring at all that rainbow goodness. He set it down on the front desk and then said, quietly, “Thank you.”
Relief coursed through me. Step one complete. Now for the more important part. “I’m sorry that you overheard that. That you met me at my worst. I promise I’m not normally like that. There were extenuating circumstances. Can I explain?”
Charlie glanced at me, then back down and nodded. Some of the tension left my shoulders.
“Thanks. Okay, so the thing is…well, there’s too much. Let me sum up,” I said, paraphrasing one of my favorite movies when I realized that Oakley probably didn’t want all his business aired out to strangers. I gave the barebones version, softening the tone and letting everyone read between the lines. “My sister and her husband are part of the LDS church, and they have certain feelings about the rainbow community. Their oldest son, Oakley, who is grown and can make his own choices by the way, is here and they’re mad about that. It was my brother-in-law on the phone, and he was threatening Oak. We’ve been dealing with it since Oak got here, and I was angry. Because they don’t get to harass him anymore, eh?”
Charlie chewed on his lips for a second. “You want to protect him.” He finally looked up at me and there was something in his eyes that said he got it. That he understood what it was like for someone to stand between a victim and the one who hurt them.
“I do. And I will. I swear I won’t actually resort to violence unless I absolutely have to, but I don’t want that.” I took a step closer and when Charlie didn’t step back, I took it as a win. “I’m sorry I scared you, even for a second. Can we start over?”
Charlie didn’t answer for a minute, and I let him take his time. Eventually, a smile graced his lips, just a little quirk upward at the corners. “Sure.”
“Great! Hi. I’m Teague Mulligan.” I held out my hand.
Charlie’s smile grew a little and he slid his palm into mine. “Charlie Caldwell.”
“Nice to meet you, Charlie.” I didn’t let go of his hand, even though I knew I should. It just felt too good in mine, the warmth of his palm, the touch of his fingers. “And I should apologize, too, for staring at you in the store, but you’re just so pretty that I—”
Charlie yanked his hand back and picked up the box. “Thanks for this. It looks great. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it.”
“Oh, um. Yeah.” Okay, so the compliment had been a step too far. Got it. I retreated a couple of steps, giving Charlie the space that he clearly needed. “Regan is amazing, and I’m not just biased. If you like it as much as I think you will, I’ll make sure they include one every day for you.”
“Thanks. I have to get to work.” Charlie was looking at anything but me, and he took his box back through the door into the small office. I stared after him, not quite sure what I did wrong. I had the urge to apologize again, but from the way Nic was staring me down, I figured now was not the time.
“See you later, Teague.” Nic’s voice held a firm note of dismissal, and even though I really wanted to talk about what had just happened, I figured I should cut my losses. Now was not the time to push my luck, and hopefully, I’d have a chance to talk to Charlie again. I would be here every morning for the foreseeable future. That had to mean I’d get the opportunity.
I lifted my hand in a wave, threw out a “see ya” and left before I put my foot in my mouth again. Cricket followed me to the truck, demanding a few more pets before she trotted away to do her regular patrol. Once I slid into the driver’s seat, I stared at the building for a long moment before I started the engine and put the truck in drive.
This had not gone at all like I’d expected. And I’d definitely messed up again. But it was a different kind of messing up this time, and at least he knew I wasn’t some asshole who beat people on the regular. Or homophobic. That was the important part. Maybe he just didn’t want me to hit on him. And if that was the case, I could fix that too.
Eventually. I hoped.
“I need a job,” Oak complained as he sliced tomatoes for the salad we were having with our sandwiches for dinner. It was too hot to cook a real meal. It was already past six in the evening, but the temperature was still above eighty. My cottage didn’t have central air, though I had an A/C unit in both bedrooms to make it bearable to sleep. The rest of the place relied on ceiling fans and a good cross breeze, if the weather cooperated.
“You’ve only been here a week and a half, kiddo.” I tossed the meat and cheese on the table, then turned back to the fridge for the condiments. “Give yourself some time. I got you.”
“I know, Uncle Teague. But I’m not a mooch. I need an income so I can contribute and I need to get a new car and—”
“Hey.” I handed him a cucumber to cut up next. “I know. And you will. But seriously. Think about your options. It doesn’t have to be a job, either. SUNY Plattsburgh isn’t far, and I’m sure you could get in. You only have one year left. Don’t you want to finish your degree?”
I was so focused on trying to find the pickles—they’d somehow gotten shoved to the back of the top shelf—that it took me a moment to realize that Oakley hadn’t answered. I shut the fridge doors just as they started to squawk at me for being open too long and turned to face my nephew. Who was very carefully not looking at me.
“Oak?”
He blew out a breath, carefully set the knife down, and then turned to face me full on. “What if I said I didn’t want to go back to college?”
I shrugged one shoulder and sat down. “Then I’d say, ‘why not?’”
Oak eyed me. “Just like that? No demands or lectures?”
“Not from me. College isn’t the only good option out there. If you want to do something else, or go to trade school…. I mean, there are tons of ways to be productive and get a job. Higher education isn’t the be all and end all.”
Oakley nodded but didn’t say anything. He brought the salad to the table, and we both assembled our sandwiches in silence and dished up the salad. Oakley still didn’t say anything after we started eating, but I let him think. Absorb. Whatever he was doing. I was pretty sure he didn’t doubt my words were sincere, but he was doing some mental gymnastics over there. It was all over his face.
“I wasn’t ready to go to college,” he eventually said, after I’d polished off one sandwich and was making another. He shook his head. “I mean, I was ready to get out of my parents’ house, but like, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. Like, at all. I had to fight to get them to agree to the University of Utah, but they wouldn’t hear of anything but college. I think they only finally agreed because it was close enough to come home all the time.”
“You want chips?” I stood to retrieve them, but when I held the bag out to Oak, he shook his head. Oh well, more for me. I retook my seat. “So basically, you just went to get out of the house and picked the best option that was secular?”
“No way was I going to a Mormon school.”
I nodded. “And your major? Comp Sci, right?”
“Yes. Which I hated, but I figured I could do a lot with it, since I had to be there.”
“Yeah, I hear ya.” I crunched one chip and then another, remembering to actually swallow before I continued. “So, what do you want to do?”
“I dunno.” He picked at his sandwich, then stabbed at his salad, without eating anything. I watched him for a minute, then wiped my mouth and tossed the napkin on the table.
“Can I tell you what I think?”
“Sure, I guess.”
“I think that you were in one of those, what’s the word? Untenable?” I thought about it for a second and decided it was close enough. “Yeah. I think you were in an untenable situation. You no longer believed what you’d been raised to believe, you’re gay, and you love your parents despite everything. You did the best thing for yourself at the time. And yeah, shit hit the fan and the plan took a hard left turn, but that just means it’s time for a change. If you wanna work for a bit while you figure that out, then go for it.”
Oakley let that sink in. “You’re pretty smart, Uncle Teague.”
“I have my moments. You done with that or gonna keep picking?”
Oakley pushed the salad away but picked up his sandwich. He took a few bites, chewing each one slowly, and then finally asked, his voice small, “Can you love someone and hate them at the same time?”
My heart cracked further. I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone, least of all my own nephew. And hate was a strong word I didn’t like to use. Sometimes, though, it was the only one that worked. This, at least, I could answer with perfect honesty. I’d been doing it for the past two decades with my own sister. “Yeah, Oak. One of the perks of being a complex human. You can still love someone even when you hate them.”