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“No. I know what family means to you, Brand. You know I’ll support whatever you want to do.”
“I do know that.” Maybe it was a combination of the gigantic emotional drop-kick he’d taken today, plus the bourbon, but Brand nearly went to his knee and offered Hugo the ring. Nearly. He didn’t want Hugo to think Brand was doing this as a reaction to Wyatt’s revelation today. Brand would wait and do it when it felt absolutely right. “I know I don’t say it a lot, but I love you.”
“I love you, too. And I will be there to love and support you through this entire journey.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course. You eat dinner yet?”
“Nah. I think Mom said something about everyone helping themselves to whatever leftovers are in the fridge, so she can clean it out and go shopping. Wanna walk over?”
“Give me ten minutes to shower?”
“Sure.”
Brand reluctantly released Hugo’s hand. Once his partner had disappeared into the bathroom he pulled his phone out and called Jackson.
“Hey, man,” Jackson said with an edge of caution in his voice.
“Wyatt told me.”
Jackson didn’t speak for long enough that Brand checked to make sure they hadn’t been disconnected. “I see.”
“I wanna believe him but we went and had DNA tests done. We’ll know in a few days.”
“I’m real sorry, boss. I had no idea he was here lookin’ for you specifically.”
“I believe you. And I don’t hold any of this against you, especially since I never did tell you I had a child out there.”
“That wasn’t my business. Maybe we slept together off and on for a lotta years, but you never owed me that kinda secret.”
“Thanks.” He was all kinds of glad Jackson didn’t hold any of this against him, because he valued the older man’s friendship. “So I guess the guy you said you were happy about being with was Wyatt, huh?”
“Yeah. I didn’t wanna say anything to anyone, because I needed to keep my personal and professional lives separate after what happened with us. Not that we were bad together or anything, but I didn’t want that complication again, even though it wasn’t technically boss and employee this time. I was still his trainer, though.”
“I get that. And Wyatt?”
“Can’t really speak for him. He had his reasons.”
“Of course. Reasons he told you.” For the first time in the past couple of hours, it struck Brand that if Wyatt was truly his son, then that meant Jackson had been screwing around with his son. A guy who was literally half his age! If they’d simply both been employees the age gap wouldn’t have bothered Brand in the least, but they weren’t simply employees. Wyatt might behis kid.
A protective streak Brand had never felt before bubbled up from deep inside, and he tamped down on it before he growled at one of his dearest friends.
“Yes, reasons he told me,” Jackson said, a new edge in his voice now. “I respected the fact that he wanted to check out this potential bio father without revealing himself. And after he told me more about his childhood and stepfather, I understood his reasons for keeping things close to the chest.”
Brand sat up straighter. “What did his stepfather do to him?”
“Sorry, boss, still not gonna speak for him. It doesn’t affect his ability to work at the ranch so if he chooses to tell you about his past, that’s his choice.”
“Fair.” Frustrating but fair, and it dropped a cold ball of worry into Brand’s gut. He’d missed the first twenty years of his son’s life. A son who’d left his hometown and family behind not only to try his hand at the cowboy life but to discover his birth father. There was so damned much Brand still didn’t know. So much he wanted to find out about Wyatt, even if he didn’t end up being Brand’s son.
Odds of that are pretty fucking low. Everything fits too perfectly.
“You mad at me?” Jackson asked.
“I don’t know. I mean, I’m not really mad at you. Frustrated and resentful, I think. But you also had no real way of putting everything together until last night when Hugo told you I had a kid out there. I’m frustrated you didn’t call me right away.”
“Wasn’t my secret to tell.”
