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EPILOGUE
The placethey ended up buying was just a few kilometres up the road. It was three hundred and eighty hectares of land that wasn’t much use for anything other than billy goats and hunting. Mountains, rocky cliffs, water streams, and trees.
It wasn’t originally for sale, but Harry expressed interest, offered way over market value, and the deal went through without a hitch.
When he’d promised to give Asher everything he deserved, he meant it.
There wasn’t even a house on it. Well, not what many people would call a house. It was a large barn-style shed made of wood and steel, mostly run down, but it had a kitchen and a bathroom. The last owners had put it there years ago, intending to build a proper house that never happened.
It was all open space, one huge room with an old pot-belly stove, and a large porch that looked down to the valley below. There were no neighbours. They were surrounded by a few kilometres of forest. The shed itself was in need of a lot of work, but it was absolutely perfect.
As soon as Asher had walked in, he looked around and grinned. “Yunho would be horrified,” he said with a laugh. “But Harry, this is it.”
Twelve months on, they spent all their time building and fixing the place. They acquired some weapons, they hunted, they made target ranges on their property, and they often had competitions on accuracy, speed, and agility. They made slow love, they fucked hard, and some days they never left their bed at all. They fought too, over stupid shit like cooking and cleaning, sometimes over the shooting competitions, but for the most part, living with Asher was pure and utter perfection.
Harry had bought an old Patrol ute because the Jag wasn’t built for trips to the hardware or driving along the track through their property. Personally, he preferred the old, beat-up four-wheel drive over the brand-new luxury car.
This particular day, he’d gone to town for their weekly supply run. He’d been to the grocery store and the hardware, and of course the bakery. Harry had once made the mistake of making Asher try a lamington and now he had to buy him one every week.
He carried the bags inside and saw that Asher was perched up on his favourite recliner, FaceTiming on the laptop with Yunho. They’d been back to visit him once in the last year and were planning to go again in a few months.
Harry took a small tin of mints out of the bag, walked it over to Asher, and gave Yunho a wave. “Hey.”
Yunho waved on screen, and Asher grinned at Harry. There was a peacefulness in his eyes. “Is that everything out of the truck?”
“One more. I’ll get it.”
He continued his conversation with Yunho and Harry went back out to the ute. The last thing was a box from the front seat and he carried it carefully back inside.
“What have you got there?” Asher asked. “Did you buy me a cake?”
Harry snorted. “No. It’s not a cake.” He put the box on the couch beside Asher. “Open it.”
Asher’s eyes went wide. “Is it for me? Is it a MAC 50?”
Harry laughed. The box was nowhere near big enough for that. “Not quite.”
Asher opened the box and gasped. He looked up at Harry. “Are you serious?” He smiled, stunned and teary-eyed, then gently picked up the tiny black kitten. He cradled it to his chest. “Oh my God, Yunho, look! A baby. Harry, you got me a baby.”
Well, it was a baby cat, but yes. “There was a box of them at the hardware. They’re eight weeks old—”
“There was abox of them?” Asher yelled. “And you only got one?”
“Oh no,” Harry lied. “No. That’s not what I said.”
Yunho laughed on the screen. “I’ll let you go. Good luck, Harry.”
The screen went black.
Not that Asher cared. He was still staring at Harry. “There was more?”
“No. I mean, there was. But that was the last one.”
“You lie.”
Harry blinked, backpedalling as fast as he could. “I’m pretty sure that was the last one.”
“Harry.”
