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“A very fire and brimstone kind of preacher,” Adam said. “All gays are heading straight to hell and all that.”
“Oh.” Caden’s shoulders slumped. “That’s terrible.”
“It was hell growing up in my house,” Sam shared. “My father was not one to spare the rod.”
Caden frowned again but Lincoln whispered into his ear and his eyes widened. “He hit you?”
Sam shrugged. “Hit me, beat me, locked me in my room, called me names. It started before I can even remember.”
Caden’s eyes filled. “Sam!”
“Everyone around us knew. Our family, the congregation, and even my father’s staff. It was something that no one stopped and by the time I was a teenager, I was fully rebelling. The clothes and makeup? If I was going to be beaten, then I was going to be beaten for being true to myself. The night before my high school graduation, my father found a pair of my pink thongs in the laundry, and I honestly thought he was going to kill me. I packed my bags that night and hid them in my car. I was supposed to meet my family for this big elaborate dinner to celebrate but after I walked the stage, I got in my car and drove like a bat out of hell. I didn’t stop driving for twenty-four hours.”
Across from him, Caden’s tears fell, and Sam’s own eyes filled up.
“I had to get away.”
Adam was hugging him so tight that it was getting hard to breathe.
“I stayed with my grandmother. She never told anyone where I was, but my family was getting increasingly suspicious. They threatened to come retrieve me, but my grandmother hated my father, was disappointed in the daughter she’d raised, and protected me. I was sent here to one of her best friends so I would be safe.”
“Susie,” Adam said softly.
Sam nodded. “My grandmother and Susie had been friends in college. She knew that I would be safe here and no one knew where Susie had moved to.”
“I’m glad you came here,” Caden said. “What if you went somewhere else and we never met?”
“We were always meant to be friends and we all came here for a reason,” Adam stated firmly. “But there is a reason that you’re telling us now.”
Adam was the smart one out of all of them. He’d probably even figured out what Sam had to say. It didn’t make the words any easier to speak though.
“No one other than Susie knows who I am,” Sam told them. “Oh, and the lieutenant. He knows too.”
“My lieutenant?” Lincoln asked.
“Yeah, he saw my paperwork at the hospital and my full name. He knew immediately.”
“I still don’t get about the name thing. How everyone knows?” Caden said.
“My father is very outspoken about his view on homosexuals and how awful we are. He’s heading the movement to get same-sex marriage overturned and illegal again.”
“He’s that awful man on television calling us abominations?” Caden asked.
“Yes.” Sam cringed. “And he’s running for president in the next election. It was announced last week.”
“Does he know where you are now?” Lincoln asked.
Sam could see the protectiveness flowing out of Lincoln.
“I don’t think so, but I’m worried about him trying to find me now that reporters are asking more about his family and his missing son.”
“You’ve covered your tracks? There shouldn’t be a reason he’d look here though, right?” Caden asked.
Here was the other big news. He looked at Caden. “I’m still the same guy that I’ve always been.”
“Of course,” Caden said.
“I’m rich. I have a trust fund from my grandmother. She never told anyone where I went but she also left me most of her money. My family tried to fight the trust, but she had lawyers set up at her passing and they took care of everything. I never had to go to court myself.”
