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Outside, we say our goodbyes, Rhett beginning to walk toward his car, when I say, “Hey, Rhett?”
“Yes?” He turns to look at me, everything about him in place like it always is. “I love you, ya know that? And I’ll always be here for you.”
He sighs. “You can’t fix us, Dusty. It’ll just kill you to try, but I love you too, man.”
I watch as he gets into his car and drives away.
My chest feels heavier on my walk back to the shop than it did on my way here.
Morgan is at the shop, kneeling next to East as he explains something to Morgan about the underside of the car they’re looking at. I can’t help but stand back and watch them, enjoying the moment between them, but also, it’s two brothers when it should be three. They’re all equally to blame too. Rhett is upset that East and Morgan are getting closer, but he’s never tried to get close to East himself. All he does is look down on him. But in Rhett’s defense, I think both Morgan and East look at Rhett and see their dad.
“Hey, handsome,” Morgan says when he notices me. “Thought I’d stop in and say hi.”
“I had lunch with Rhett. He called.”
Morgan nods, and if he has strong feelings about it, he doesn’t show them. Just to make sure he knows I’m his, I walk over and claim his mouth in a scorching kiss.
“Well, shit, Dusty. I didn’t know you had it in ya,” East teases, and I flip him off over Morgan’s shoulder.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I tell Morgan.
“I was bored as fuck at home.”
This is going to be a problem. I’d love Morgan at the shop every day if this was where he wanted to be, but I know it’s not. He’ll need to find something that’s his, figure out what the fuck he wants in Birchbark other than me. If he can’t find it, this will be a disaster.
“How’s Rhett?” he asks, teeth only slightly gritted.
I nod toward the hallway, and Morgan follows. “I told him we’re staying.”
“Is this where you tell me that I should have been the one to do it?” He quirks a brow.
“No, baby. This is where I tell you I’m done.” His face goes hard, and it takes me a moment to realize how my words sounded. “Not with you. God, never with you. Fuck, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about how I worded that.”
“Jesus. You nearly gave me a heart attack.” He rubs a hand over his chest. “What are you done with, then?”
“Being the go-between with you and Rhett. I told him the same at lunch today. What’s between the two of you is between the two of you. I can’t keep running interference. I want what’s best for you all, but—”
“Shh.” Morgan places his fingers against my lips. “Our shit isn’t your problem. You don’t owe us anything, Dust. I’m just lucky you’re my man, and they’re lucky to have you as a friend. We’re not your responsibility. I mean, I can’t pretend we don’t need a referee, but you’ve more than done your part. It’s up to us now.”
Christ, I love this man. His words soothe all the worry inside me. I lick his finger, then suck it into my mouth.
“Don’t distract me. We can do that later. I just… I want to spend more time making you happy…giving you what you need. You give me so much, and I want to give you as much in return.”
“Sweet fucking man. You do.” I pull him in for a kiss, press his body against the wall, rub against him so my scent goes from me to him. “We’ll finish this later,” I say, agreeing with him. “Come and let us show you what we do with cars.”
Morgan grins. “Lead the way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Morgan
We keep busy over the next two weeks. When Dusty is off from the shop, we’re always out, doing things together. We’ve worked on the Mustang, done more exploring in the UP, visited more falls, and even spent a night out camping like we used to do with his dad when we were kids. We’ve spent more time with his parents, and with Easton, and I ran into Archer and had lunch with him. Every day I’m reminded of the beauty of this place, of all the magic that hid behind my pain when I was young that made home something I hated. It’s nice to fall in love with it, but I can’t pretend the days when Dusty’s at work aren’t long.
My whole life I’ve had people and things to help take care of—school and the twins, then college and East. Then I left, and I’ve always worked, and now I don’t know what to do with myself. Dusty looks worried sometimes, so I try to hide it. I don’t want him to worry that I won’t be happy here because I can be happy as long as I have him.
Today is one of those days, though, where he’s at work and the house is empty and quiet. I’ve cleaned, fucked around online, but my leg bounces with pent-up energy, and I know I need out of here.
I grab my keys and head to the car, not sure where I’m going. We need to plan my trip back to California so I can get my things and return the rental car, but that’s not happening today.
