Page 70 of Danny Hall Gets a Lawyer

They were idiots, but they were my idiots. And from the way Miller was shaking his head and smiling at them, maybe they felt a bit like his idiots too.

I stood up, leaving my unopened beer on the bench, and pulled Miller to his feet. “Goodnight, assholes.”

Leaving them all still laughing—even Cash, silently—I tugged Miller inside the house. I kept hold of his hand as I drew him down the hallway and into my bedroom. Once we were inside with the door firmly shut, I grabbed the front of Miller’s shirt and reeled him in for a kiss. It didn’t take long for it to turn hot and heavy, but when my hand slid over Miller’s ass, he pulled back, flushed and breathless, and said, “Wait.”

“I’ve been waiting all day,” I said. “You know watching you lift shit drives me crazy.”

He laughed. “I want to show you something.”

“I’ve seen it,” I said, “and it’s amazing.”

He laughed again. “I’ll take the compliment, but I’m not talking about that.” He took his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, flicked through a few screens, and then held it out to me. “This.”

I squinted at the photo of a sapling.

“It’s the same as the one Harlan cut down,” Miller said. “Well, it’s not exactly the same, but it’s related. Literally. Did you know they can DNA test trees?”

I blinked at him. “What?”

“It’s coming from Richmond,” Miller said. “I was going to wait until it got here to surprise you, but it turns out I’m shit at keeping secrets. Also, it was Marty who ran your tree’s DNA and got it through one of his arborist contacts, and I knew if I didn’t tell you, he’d accidentally spill the beans.”

I stared at the picture. “Being shit at keeping secrets seems like it could be a problem for a lawyer,” I said as happiness bubbled up inside of me.

“Lucky you’re my boyfriend, not my client.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I like it better this way too.”

“Just think,” he said. “Someday that little sapling will be as tall as your tree was. It’s going to look great.”

“It’ll take a lot of years until it’s that big,” I said.

Miller smiled. “We can wait.”

“Yeah,” I said, my heart swelling. “I guess we can.”

Watching trees grow with Miller? That sounded like a hell of a plan to me.

THE END