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It was something he did all the time now. Even in front of the ranch hands. If any of them had had a problem with it, they hadn't said so, or I just wasn't aware of it. But things were running smoothly at the ranch, even after Curtis had gathered the hands together and announced that going forward, the late Del Tipton should always be referred to as Del Sterling and if anyone had a problem with that, they could get the hell off his ranch. Not one man had left. Xavier and I hadn't made a dramatic announcement, but we also hadn't hidden our relationship. Surprisingly, a couple of the ranch hands who'd seen us kiss when we’d returned to the ranch the morning after we’d gone in search of Xavier had slapped us on the back and said things like, "About time" and "Congratulations."
Uncle Curtis had already had Del's headstone changed so that it read Sterling now and he'd added an inscription that simply said, Beloved Husband of Curtis. Del's mug continued to grace the tray of coffee that Xavier, Jules, and I had been joining Uncle Curtis in having for the past several nights, but it didn't bother any of us. If and when Curtis decided to put that mug somewhere else, it would be his decision and when he was ready. I personally had no problem having the reminders of Del all around the house. I also fully intended to ask Uncle Curtis to share memories of the uncle I hadn't known well enough.
I was still struggling with accepting the idea that my father had been behind so much damage that had been inflicted upon Xavier's family. I’d said as much the other night while we’d been in bed, but Xavier had made me promise to work on letting all that go. That he wanted it to be just us going forward and not the past. I’d cut ties with my father, but still spoke with my mother. I hadn't told her about what my father had done to Olivia Price because that wasn't my secret to tell. But the more I talked to my mother, the more I was beginning to realize that ever since I’d confronted my father, she’d started to ask questions herself. I hoped it was just a matter of time before she recognized that he wasn't the man she thought he was.
I'd also told her about Xavier, and while surprised, she hadn't condemned me, either for being gay or for being in a relationship with a man she still believed had come after our family. I knew that was something we’d have to clear up at some point if she wanted to be a part of our lives. I wouldn't allow anyone to treat my man with any kind of disrespect. I wanted to shout from the rooftops that he’d actually been the honorable one, but I’d promised him that I would keep his secret and would take it with me to the grave.
Xavier and I had also talked about whether or not to tell Sara I was, in fact, also her brother. While the little girl was very bright for her age, she was still just a child and we determined that exposing her to such adult information just wasn't something she needed at this point in her life. Maybe once we got her home with us, as well as Xavier's mother, then we could figure out how to approach the topic. As it was, I was enjoying the process of getting to know my little sister. We’d talked a couple times via video chat and I'd even gotten to help her with her math homework a couple nights earlier.
When Xavier released me from the bone-melting kiss, I sat there dazed for a moment. It wasn't until Uncle Curtis tried to steal a pancake off my plate that I snapped back to reality. I smacked the back of his hand, but he hung on to the pancake and shoved the whole thing into his mouth.
I cut into my pancakes, what was left of them anyway, at the same time that I held up the bank statements. "I'm almost done with this one, but why are there so many withdrawals of the same amount of money every week for the last six months?" I asked. The man had literally taken out hundreds of thousands of dollars from his accounts, but I had no clue what he’d spent the money on. "Did you put some money in your retirement account?" I had those records too, but I hadn't seen the money there either.
Uncle Curtis finished chewing on the pancake he'd stolen from me, then looked from me to Xavier and back again. He folded his arms and stuck a finger in our direction. "So you two are together for good, right?"
