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As painful as the thought was, maybe if Beckett opened up to Santee, then his mate would do the same. “It’s just that…” He ran his hand over the railing beside him. “It’s just that my dad made this gazebo.”
Santee looked around. “It’s nice workmanship.” He glanced at Beckett. “So why does that make you sad?”
Sitting forward, Beckett scrubbed his face. “I’m going to be honest with you, conejito.”
“I like it when you call me that,” Santee said. “I heard your brother when he told the human that it meant bunny.”
“His mate,” Beckett replied. “The human’s name is Bran.”
“Oh. Okay.” Santee nodded. “So what do you have to be honest with me about?”
Already Beckett could see apprehension in his mate’s blue-gray eyes, like he was bracing himself for…something. “My parents died about a month and a half ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Santee took Beckett’s hand in his and squeezed it. “You clearly don’t want to talk about it, so we don’t have to if it’s too painful for you.”
Beckett squeezed Santee’s hand in return. “They were murdered.”
Santee gasped, placing a hand over his mouth.
“They went on a vacation in Costa Rica. My brothers and I didn’t live here at the time. It was Hayden who got the call.”
Santee threw his arms around Beckett and hugged him. For a moment, Beckett sat there stiffly, and then he curled his arms around his mate, resting his cheek on Santee’s hair. “Thank you.”
Beckett felt a surge of gratitude toward his mate. He knew he was lucky to have found him, especially after everything that had happened.
Santee pulled back but kept his hands on Beckett’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea what to say.”
Beckett took a deep breath, feeling the weight of his sadness begin to lift just a little. “There isn’t anything anyone can say,” he said softly. “But it’s hard, you know? Losing them like that...it’s not something you just get over.”
Fuck. Beckett wished he hadn’t decided to open up to Santee. This was not how he’d wanted to spend his morning.
“If I lost my parents, I wouldn’t get over it in a month and a half,” Santee said.
“Where are they?”
“Traveling,” Santee said. “Last I heard, they were in Italy.”
“Do they travel a lot?” He wanted to know everything about Santee. Besides, if they talked about his mate, then Beckett could shove his feelings back down.
Santee’s arms slid from Beckett’s shoulders, and then he pressed his hands between his knees as he looked around the backyard. “They left about a year ago. It was something they’d always wanted to do.” He smiled at Beckett, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m happy for them.”
Although Beckett could tell that Santee really loved his parents, there was also something more going on. Don’t push him to talk. Let him set the pace. “They sound wonderful.”
His mate shrugged. “Yeah.”
Just as Beckett was about to ask another question, Milly called out that breakfast was ready.
Taking a chance, Beckett kissed Santee’s temple. “Let’s go eat before she comes outside to drag us to the table.”
“Would she really do that?” Santee looked hesitantly toward the back door.
“Nah.” Beckett stood, taking Santee’s hand in his. “She’s a sweetheart, conejito. But I do want to apologize for my brothers in advance. Sometimes they can be a bit much.”
Santee bit his lower lip as they walked toward the house. Maybe Beckett had been wrong. It was possible that Santee had something going on, but it was also possible that he did fear being around so many predators.
Although Santee was a shifter himself, people had bad experiences, and there was a possibility that Santee had had one when it came to predators.
* * * *
