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By the time he made it back to the ranch, his father was resting in the den and Dolly was coercing him into his second glass of ice water. Callan dropped a hand to Carter’s shoulder and said, “You okay, pops?”
“Can’t find the game,” Carter muttered as he looked at the remote in confusion.
“Football season doesn’t start for a while yet. How about some baseball?” Callan asked as he took the remote and switched the channel. His father looked okay, though his skin was slightly burned from the sun. Luckily he’d been dressed in long sleeves and khaki pants so little of his skin had been exposed.
“Have some more water,” Dolly said as she handed him the glass.
“Want some beer,” Carter grumbled.
“Tell you what. You finish the whole glass of water, I’ll get you a beer, okay?” Dolly said. Callan felt sadness go through him because he knew that his father would forget the little white lie Dolly had told him long before he even finished the water.
He led Dolly outside the door and said, “Maybe we should take him to the ER.”
Dolly shook her head. “I think that will upset him more. My friend Evelyn’s on her way over. She’s a nurse – retired. She said she’d check him out and then we can see if he should go in.”
Callan nodded, then saw the tears brimming in Dolly’s eyes.
“Callan, I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I was just so tired…”
Callan pulled her into his arms and kissed the top her head. “It’s not your fault,” he soothed. “You take such good care of him, Aunt Dolly. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he admitted.
Dolly settled, then pulled back and wiped at her eyes, a watery laugh escaping from her trembling mouth. “I’m just full of waterworks today,” she said with a chuckle. “Poor Rhys probably had to go change his shirt after I got done hugging him.”
Callan stiffened at the mention of Rhys and he hoped his aunt didn’t notice. “I need to get my horse down to the barn and cool him off. You gonna be okay here?” he asked. She nodded, then followed him to the front door. “Call me if you need me,” he said.
“I will honey,” she said as she kissed his cheek. He left the house and untied his horse from the porch railing and led the sweaty animal down to the barn. As much as he owed Rhys a personal thank you, he really hoped he and Finn weren’t around because he wasn’t sure how much more drama he could take today. And it wasn’t even fucking noon yet.
* * *
Rhys moaned as Finn straddled him and languidly kissed him, his sleek tongue expertly teasing every surface before twining with his tongue. He automatically put his hands on Finn’s waist and began rocking their bodies together as Finn continued his sensuous torture.
The day’s long events had caught up with both of them by the time they’d made it back to the house and thrown together a quick dinner. The plan had been to finish off the sandwiches while sacked out in front of the TV watching one of the many action movies Finn had in his DVD collection, but they hadn’t made it past the first gunfight before Finn was shoving their plates aside and climbing into Rhys’ lap.
Callan had disappeared shortly after he’d returned from his search for his father. He’d stayed long enough to wash down his horse, then he’d gotten in the truck and just left. Finn had called him several times, but there’d been no answer. So when the headlights flashed through the window, both he and Finn hesitated. Rhys could tell Finn wanted to say something, but was too afraid to bring it up.
“You should go check on him,” Rhys said.
Finn shook his head, but the indecision lingered and Rhys couldn’t help but kiss him hard. It was strange, but he knew it would bother him more if Finn was willing to dismiss Callan in favor of him. “Go. Make sure he’s okay,” Rhys said as he smacked Finn on the ass and lurched up, forcing the other man to his feet.
“Rhys,” he said.
“Finn, if nothing else, he’s your best friend. Go. I’ll be here when you get back,” he promised.
Finn finally nodded and hurried out of the house. Rhys went to his room and stripped off his sweat stained clothes and climbed into the shower. It had been a relief to find Callan’s father, but the man’s confusion and surly attitude had made it difficult to deal with him. Aunt Dolly had been a piece of work too, but in a really good way. After she’d finished crying all over him and fussing over her brother, she’d taken charge of Carter and had him packed away in the truck within a few minutes. Since he’d had to walk his horse back, she’d driven ahead so she could get her brother into the safety of the air conditioned house, but she’d made him promise to stop by the house for a real talk soon. It was yet another connection he probably shouldn’t be making, but he couldn’t help but want to ask her what Callan was like as a kid.
He’d never seen the man so close to falling apart as he was when Finn had comforted him before they separated on their searches today. Between Callan’s reaction to the news that his father was missing and the information he’d managed to glean from the confused, older man, Rhys was starting to understand why Callan had been hiding who he was for so long.
Rhys stepped out of the shower and pulled on a pair of running pants. He’d just tugged on a T-shirt when Finn came into his room, the worry clear on his face.
“He wouldn’t talk to me,” he said quietly as he sat on Rhys’ bed. “He wouldn’t even open the door.”
“He’ll be okay Finn. It was a lot for him to deal with today.”
Finn nodded, though he didn’t look like he really believed what he was silently agreeing to. Rhys leaned down and kissed Finn, then pulled him to his feet. “Go get cleaned up. You’ll feel better,” he urged. Finn reached up to stroke his fingers over Rhys’ mouth, his eyes heavy with those damn emotions Rhys needed to stop reading too much into.
Finn went across the hall and to his own bathroom. As soon as Rhys heard the water come on, he grabbed the tools he’d need and left the house. Callan’s house sat only a hundred feet away and was modeled exactly like Finn’s. It took Rhys a little longer to pick the lock on the front door since it was both pitch black inside and outside, but he was in the house within a few minutes.
The front part of the house was empty so Rhys made his way to the bedrooms, worry gnawing at him. He entered the bigger of the two bedrooms and came to a stop when he saw Callan sitting on the edge of the bed, a bottle in his hand. The bathroom light was on, casting enough reach into the bedroom to show that the bottle was still mostly full.
