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A week later and things had been quiet. Too quiet. It had Steven on edge.
To make matters worse, after a lot of coaxing from Billy, Steven had submitted his Three Starr Avengers manuscript to an agent. He knew that it could take months to hear anything, but anytime his phone chimed with an email notification, text, or phone call, his heart leapt to frantic levels.
At this rate, he wouldn’t need a publishing deal, because he’d be dead from the stress of it all.
His phone rang...again, and his heart raced...again. He glanced down at the caller ID...his lawyer. That certainly didn’t calm his heart rate any. “Hello, Belle,” he answered.
“Major Hardesty, how are you doing this morning?”
He didn’t want to do the chitchat thing. “I was doing fine, but I have a feeling that’s about to change. What’s going on?”
“As you know, we’ve been monitoring your father’s social media, assuming he would use his substantial platform to build a case against you.” His father had hundreds of thousands of devout, Christian followers who thought he was God’s perfect being, and they’d been expecting him to use them to sway the media against Steven. They’d all been surprised when that hadn’t happened yet. But from the warning in Belle’s voice, it had begun.
“Yes,” Steven said. “What has he done?”
“A bit of what we expected, but he’s used a much more subtle approach than I had predicted. His church has kicked off a Family First campaign that’s focused on bringing our country back to the Christian home and hearth. He’s never once targeted you specifically, but his sermon yesterday was about the evils of letting sin into our communities through families that go against the ‘god-ordained’ unit of a man and woman nurturing their children.”
Steven had to unclench his jaw to force words out. “In other words, this is a not-so-veiled threat against the LGBTQA community.”
“Exactly.” As if the community didn’t have enough issues, but now his actions had set his father—a very powerful and influential man in their country—on a direct warpath against the community Steven wanted to be a part of.
“Is there anything we can do?”
“Yes. You have several options that we need to discuss, but I’d rather not do it on the phone.”
“Okay.” He glanced at the clock. He’d finally been cleared to drive, but he didn’t necessarily want to take Laynie into the lawyer’s office. She already knew way too much about what was happening, which seemed so wrong. No seven-year-old child should be exposed to the world’s ugly realities so early in life.
But Billy and Eric were at one of the neighboring ranches...something to do with a conflict over the BLM grazing rights. “Let me make some phone calls to see if I can find a babysitter for Laynie, but I should be able to arrange it where I can come in this afternoon.”
He could call Gage, the wing commander, and ask if one of his twins could babysit, but Laynie didn’t know them, and he hated to trigger her separation anxiety.
“That sounds good. You know, if you want to bring her here, we have a summer intern who could play with her in an adjoining office.” Belle said.
“Really? That might work out better. Are you sure it won’t be an issue?”
“Not at all. Just give me a fifteen minutes heads up before you plan to be here, so I can make sure I’m available.”
The call ended. Feeling sick to his stomach, Steven pulled out his laptop and began searching for his father’s new Family First initiative. He needed to know exactly what he was battling to be prepared.
***
BILLY PULLED INTO THE parking lot of Espresso Life. After his meeting with the rancher’s cooperative, where he’d again had to deal with repeated attacks from both Mr. Wheeler and his old crony, JJ Marcum, about Billy’s “unfair” access to BLM lands, he wasn’t ready to go back to the ranch.
He could really use a drink, but coffee with Felicia provided a close second favorite diversion from the stress in his life.
He got out of the truck and entered the coffee shop, and Felicia waved him over. “I already ordered your latte since I got here early.” She pushed the large cup toward him.
“You are a queen among women.” He took a sip and exhaled, trying to let go of all his stress.
She watched him with raised eyebrows. “Stressful day?”
He gave her a wan smile. “These days, it’s a stressful life.”
She frowned at him in concern. “Is everything okay? Steven’s still living with you, isn’t he? Is that becoming a problem?”
Billy shook his head with a chuckle, realizing just how long it had been since he’d sat down and had a chat with his best friend. “No, just the opposite in fact. I have a lot I need to tell you. A lot has happened, but we need more than your fifteen minute break to explain it all. Would you and Gage—and the twins, too—want to come out to the ranch for dinner? We have a lot to explain, and I think it would be nice for us all to spend some time together.”
Steven had been worried about Felicia’s reaction to their relationship. While Billy expected things would be awkward at first, he needed all of them to get past that. He needed Felicia in his life. She’d been his best friend for too many years to lose her just because she and Steven used to date, too.
He shook his head. He didn’t want to dwell on that fact. He didn’t like knowing that she’d had Steven first. Jealousy had never been something he’d really had to deal with...until now.
She hesitated just a moment. “Do you think Steven will be okay with that?”
He nodded. “No doubt about it. We actually were discussing that we needed to have you guys out for a cookout over the weekend. If you can’t make it tonight, tell me when, and we’ll make it happen. It’s important.”
With Steven fighting for custody for Laynie—a child Felicia probably didn’t even know existed yet unless Gage had told her—he needed everyone he could get in his corner, including his ex. Felicia would actually be a good character witness for him. Who else would know him better than the person he’d dated for six months? And he knew for a fact that regardless of how things had ended between them, Felicia wouldn’t think twice about testifying about how good of a guy Steven was.
“Okay.” She nodded. “If you’re sure. Let me text Gage and make sure he doesn’t have something else going on.”
Two minutes later, Felicia nodded at him. “It looks like we’re a go...at least Gage and me...and maybe London if she doesn’t get a better offer between now and then.” Felicia shrugged. “Regardless, if she comes, she’ll probably bring a book or hang out with the horses all night. She misses getting to go out there with Austin. Which reminds me, did anything ever come of all that?”
Billy shook his head. When they found the cameras, they had decided it would be safer for Austin to stop working the ranch. They were worried he might be in danger. Billy had hated losing the summer help, but Austin’s safety was more important.
“No. We still don’t know who placed the cameras there or what their motive was.” Since they hadn’t heard anything else out of the guy, he’d hoped that it was just a weird fluke. It was even possible that Steven’s dead stalker had placed the cameras there. There was no doubt that guy had been off his rocker enough to do something that creepy.
Felicia tilted her head. “Well, something has changed with you. You seem...I don’t know...happier, looser.” Her eyes widened theatrically. “Wait a minute. Have you met someone?”
Dang, she really did know him well. But before he could answer, her cell phone chimed. She snatched it up and looked at the screen. “Oh, hell, I have to go. A dog that came in last night is crashing.” She shot up and grabbed her purse and coffee. “I’ll see you tonight, and I’ll be expecting answers, mister.”
“Sounds good,” he called after her. He just hoped she was as excited for him after she found out that the new guy in his life was her ex.
He stood, and wiped off the table. His phone rang on the way out to his truck. Steven. “Hey, there, handsome. I was just thinking about you.”
“Good things, I hope.”
At the low growl in Steven’s voice, his groin heated. “Always, but we’ll have to put any thoughts like what I know you’re thinking on hold for a few hours. I just met Felicia for coffee, and she and Gage...and maybe London...are coming out to the ranch tonight for dinner.”
For a moment, the line was silent, and Billy wondered if he shouldn’t have made the plans.
“Good,” Steven said although his voice sounded a little strange. “I need to talk to Gage, anyway.” He hesitated. “Did you tell Felicia about us?”
Billy stopped by his truck and looked across the parking lot at the scrub-filled mountainside. “No, she had an emergency come up at the clinic so I didn’t get a chance.”
“Okay,” Steven said cheerfully. “Well, then tonight will be filled with all kinds of firsts for me. The first time introducing my daughter to my friends, and my first time acknowledging the fact I have a boyfriend to my friends. Hopefully, it’s not the last time I get to talk to my friends.” Steven’s chuckle sounded way too high pitched to be real. He sounded almost hysterical, definitely not his normal, calm demeanor.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry,” Steven said. “My dad has made his first move, and the whole situation has me stressed out. I went from not being able to acknowledge being gay to myself to having my dad attack the entire LGBTQA community because of me. And it’s my fault. It just sucks, you know? How can they be like this? They know me. They raised me. They know I’m not an evil person.”
Billy hurt for Steven. His parents were the evil ones, and that was a hard fact to swallow after being raised to love them no matter what.
“You’re right. You’re one of the very best people I know, and that will win out in the end. We have to believe that. Now go home. I want to see you.” And touch him. Because when Steven was upset, he needed touch. Billy was happy to give it.
***
STEVEN TOOK A DEEP breath as he washed his hands in the upstairs bathroom, amazed at just how much easier it was to breathe now than it had been a month ago. But then, his entire world was in a much different place than it had been a month ago. Who would have guessed so much could change in a short amount of time?
His stomach rolled with nerves. Felicia and Gage should be here anytime, and he wanted to see them, but that didn’t stop the trepidation. Would they like Laynie? Would they accept Billy and him? What would Gage do about the firestorm his dad was likely about to drop on the Air Force PR department?
He stopped in the doorway of Laynie’s bedroom just as the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” Billy called from downstairs.
Laynie looked up at him from where she played with some Legos on the floor.
He reached his hand out to her. “Are you ready to meet some of daddy’s friends?”
She hesitated and slowly shook her head. “I think I should stay up here. I don’t want them to not like me and then leave.”
Oh, god. There went his heart, crashing into the rocks and shattering. He stepped into the room and crouched in front of her, grabbing her hands. “Honey, that’s not what happened with your grandparents. I’ve told you this before. Them leaving had nothing to do with you. They were upset about me being boyfriends with Billy. It was not your fault. If anything, they really wanted to take you with them.”
He hadn’t told her about the custody case, but with his dad’s actions, he needed to at least give her a little bit of a heads up in case this blew up around them. He needed her to be prepared.
Her face scrunched up. “Why would they want to take me?” She vigorously shook her head. “I don’t want to leave you, Daddy.”
He pulled her into a hug. “Don’t worry. I don’t want you to leave, either. I’m trying to convince them of that, but your grandfather gets ideas in his head, and it’s hard for him to let them go. I’m working with the woman you met earlier today, Ms. Adams, the lawyer. She’s trying to help me convince my dad that he’s wrong.”
And that had to work, because the idea of losing Laynie made his chest hurt in a way that made him think he wouldn’t survive her being taken from him. He had to use every tool in his arsenal to keep that from happening. Which meant he needed to go down and face his friends.
He stood up and held Laynie’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go downstairs and say hello.”
She nodded. “Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I’m more than sure. And you know what? My friend has a daughter that I think he brought along tonight. Maybe if you two get along, we could talk about her babysitting you sometimes, and you could have fun girl’s nights.”
Laynie’s eyes lit up. “Would she do my hair and polish my nails?”
He laughed. That was such a different attitude than she had about him doing her hair. Maybe he needed to take lessons from a girl on how to do it better. “Maybe. We’ll have to talk to her about it.”
“Okay. Let’s go.” She skipped down the hall as he followed after her.
At the bottom of the stairs, Laynie turned to check he was still with her. Steven could hear voices coming from the kitchen, so he grabbed her hand and led her that direction. He steeled himself as he entered the room.
London sat along the wall on a barstool, thumbing through her phone, not paying any attention to the adults in the room.
The three adults all swung their gazes to him and Laynie as they crossed the threshold. He felt her grip tighten on his hand. She looked up at him in trepidation.
He flashed her a reassuring grin. “Hey everyone. I want you to meet my daughter, Laynie. Laynie, this is my boss, Colonel Winston, and Billy’s best friend, Dr. Parks.”
Felicia smiled at him and skirted around Gage to come over to Laynie. Since she didn’t show a bit of shock, he figured Billy had given her forewarning about his daughter. She bent down and produced a hand for Laynie to shake. “Hi, Laynie. You can call me Felicia. I’m very excited to meet you. I hear you’re an animal lover.”
Laynie nodded shyly. “I like cats, like Whiskers.” She gently turned her stuffed cat to Felicia so she could see the animal.
“Ooh,” Felicia petted the stuffed cat’s head. “She’s beautiful. Did your dad tell you I’m a veterinarian? That means I’m an animal doctor. So, if Whiskers gets to feeling poorly, you let me know, and I’ll see what I can do to fix her right up.”
“Thank you,” Laynie said quietly, but her smile seemed wide and open.
Felicia stood up straight again and stepped into Steven’s space to give him a hug. “And you,” she said. “You’re looking so much better. I think ranch life and fatherhood suits you.” In a lower voice, she said, “She’s perfect, Steven.”
“Thanks.” He stepped out of her hold. It was more like his entire life and Billy suited him. He’d found his true self here.
He glanced over at Billy, who frowned at Felicia and him in concern.
Steven smiled at him and winked. It was funny that Billy might show the slightest jealousy. He should feel something with Felicia being here, but he felt...nothing like what he used to. She wasn’t that person to him anymore, and she didn’t affect him even one-tenth as much as a single look from Billy did.
Felicia caught the moment of flirting and glanced over at Billy, her eyes widening. “Well, well, well,” she said as she eyed her best friend. “I think things are making more sense now.”
Gage looked back and forth in confusion between all of them. Billy had flushed red, and Steven couldn’t help his grin.
“I think I missed something here,” Gage said.
Felicia sauntered over to where Gage and Billy stood. “Well, I noticed earlier today that something had changed with Billy. We were just getting to the good part, but before he could tell me who he’d become involved with, the clinic called me.” She glanced between him and Billy. “I’m not imagining it, am I? You two are dating?”
She tilted her head at Steven. Since he’d dated her seriously for six months, he could see her wheels spinning as she puzzled it all through. He grinned to make it a bit easier as bubbles of nervousness erupted in his belly.
He nodded. “Um, yeah, that’s part of why we wanted you two to come over.” He glanced at Billy, who nodded to urge him on as he stepped from behind the counter to wrap his arm around Steven’s waist.
At that move, Felicia’s eyes widened comically. “What... When? How?”
Billy barked out a laugh. “Really? How? Is that really the question you want to ask?”
Felicia flushed red. “No, don’t give me a hard time. This is just a surprise.” She focused on Steven. “You know...because you were...straight, weren’t you?”
He waggled his hand in the air. “Um, this is all fairly complicated to explain.”
He glanced over at Laynie. It wasn’t exactly a conversation he needed to be having in front of her, either.
But right now, she wasn’t paying any attention to him. She was shyly waving at London, who was working hard to hide her smile as she returned the small wave. “Hey, Laynie. I forgot to introduce you to London. She just moved here over the summer. Maybe you can take her out and show her Cat. I saw him in the yard earlier.”
Laynie nodded, her eyes shimmering with excitement as she looked at London with hopeful eyes. “Do you like cats?”
London nodded. “I do. Felicia has a cat that’s come to live with us. Cagney sleeps with me. I like that.”
London stood, and the two of them headed toward the back door. Laynie said, “I wish Billy’s cats would do that, but they all live outside. He says they can’t come in because they have fleas.”
Felicia propped her hands on her hips. “Billy Starr, you told her your cats have fleas? What kind of vet does that make me?”
“One that’s protecting her best friend from his allergies,” Billy said.
“Which reminds me,” Felicia said with a frown. “Where is Mutt? Normally he comes and greets me immediately when I drive up.”
Steven felt Billy suddenly stiffen. “Mutt died.”
Felicia gasped. “What? But how? Was he sick? Why didn’t you call me?”
Billy turned and looked out the windows of the back of the house and rubbed the back of his neck, something he did when he was uncomfortable. “There wasn’t anything you could have done, Fe. We found him, and he’d been...” Billy began to pace. “It doesn’t matter. It happened the same weekend as everything else. Let’s just leave it at the fact that he’s dead.”
Sudden suspicion hit him. Mutt had been a good watchdog, keen about alerting to any stranger on the ranch. “Wait. I knew Mutt had died, because you told me while I was in the hospital, but I was too out of it to piece it together. It happened that same weekend. Did Dalton Kennedy kill your dog?”
Steven felt sick. He already knew the answer though. Billy’s pale complexion gave him the answer without any words. “Oh my god. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because there was nothing you could have done, and you were dealing with enough. Besides, I don’t know for sure that he did it. It may have just been coincidental timing. I don’t know. Just like I don’t know who put up cameras all over my property, or who is trying to mess with my herd grazing up in the mountains. But regardless of all that, there was nothing you could have done anyway.”
Steven stepped up to Billy, hurting at the visible pain in his eyes and grabbed his hand. “I could have given you a shoulder if you needed it.”
Billy cupped his cheek, even as his expression softened. “You’ve given me that and more already.” Their eyes met, and Steven’s heart rate kicked up at the emotions he saw there.
Gage cleared his throat, and the two men quickly separated. Steven glanced up at them, embarrassed. “Sorry.”
“It’s no problem,” Gage said. “It seemed like the two of you forgot we were here, so I thought I’d try to save us some embarrassment. So, you need to explain what all has been going on. I knew you’d had some concerns, and that was why you weren’t comfortable with Austin being here, but this sounds like more than a little bit of trouble.”
“Unfortunately, you don’t even know the half of it,” Billy said. “Let me grab the steaks, and we can explain everything while I’m cooking on the grill.”
They relocated outside where everyone was given drinks, and they all dug into the chips and guacamole that Billy had made earlier in the evening—his mother’s secret recipe. As they inhaled the delicious dip, they took turns explaining everything that had gone on, including the details of what had happened with Laynie’s mothers.
Steven looked at Billy. “As I’m recounting all this, it’s suddenly occurring to me that since I got involved with you, my life has come to resemble a soap opera.”
Billy shook his head. “Hey, you can’t blame all that on me. You’re the one with the narcissistic, evangelical father throwing us at the press.”
Steven winced. “True.”
“Back up,” Felicia said. “What the hell, Steven? I can get why you wouldn’t tell me you were gay. Hello, that might have put a little bit of a damper on our relationship, but I couldn’t believe it when Gage told me who your father was. Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
He gave her a wan smile. “For pretty much the same reasons...I didn’t want to own up to that part of my life. My dad likes to control every aspect of his environment, including his family. I’ve tried my hardest to keep him separate from my life. He’s all about how he appears to his church, regardless of anything or anyone else. While on the surface, he’s always bragged about his military officer son, behind closed doors, my choices have always been a battle. He expected me to go into his ministry at his side. I’ve always been his biggest disappointment. And now, I’ve exceeded his expectations on even that.”
He turned to Gage. “He’s coming after custody of Laynie because of my ‘homosexual lifestyle.’ He’s using his church and the public relations media it can generate to come after me. The PR office on base needs to be prepared. I don’t think it will take long for the news outlets to figure out what his endgame is since the papers have been legally filed and are a matter of public record.”
“Damn, that sucks,” Gage said. “You have to know the base supports you in whatever you need.” He pulled out his cell phone. “In fact, I’m sending the PR office the basics right now. Knowing Major Yates, she’s going to want to get on top of this right away. We might also want coordinate our own press conference rather than going on the defense.”
He typed into his phone as he spoke. “Let me talk to the brass and discuss how they want to handle it. But you know the military is an equal opportunity organization. There’s no way in hell we will let him bad-mouth you for your sexuality, not when you’ve sacrificed so much for the Air Force. We will stand behind you.”
Emotion clogged Steven’s throat. “Thank you. That means more to me than you can possibly imagine.”
He’d spent so many years being brainwashed by his father’s homophobia that he’d missed one very important lesson... To the people who really cared about him, his sexuality wouldn’t matter in the least.