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  Jarrett stuck out his hand and Elijah took it. “Good to see you, brother.”

  Thayne watched the two brothers closely. Jarrett had once said his mother described them as two sides of the same penny and Thayne’s heart ached for him. Elijah’s eyes seemed to darken as he gripped his brother’s hand and he dropped it quickly. The entire interaction had taken mere moments but the atmosphere in the room had changed, becoming heavy and dreary when it had been lighthearted only a few minutes before.

  There was a sound at the front of the house and Thayne blew out a long breath when he heard Mark call out for help with the groceries. Jarrett was almost immediately in motion, leaving his aunt, Thayne, and Elijah standing in the kitchen at the sound of his father’s voice.

  “Coming, Daddy,” Jarrett said, disappearing through the doorway.

  Thayne glanced at Edie and she put down the knife she’d been using to cut up lettuce, setting both hands on her hips.

  “Well, don’t just stand there with yer bare face hangin’ out. Go help,” she said in exasperation, looking directly at Elijah. Thayne and Elijah exchanged a quick glance and then turned to follow Jarrett through the doorway.

  “Hey, Daddy,” Elijah said as Mark passed the two of them with both arms laden with paper grocery sacks.

  “Hey, boy, Special Agent Wolfe. There’s more in the truck.” He kept going and Thayne walked back out the front door where they’d come in just a few minutes before. They walked over as Jarrett turned away from the lowered tailgate with two bags of groceries. When he saw Elijah he held them out to him.

  “Make yourself useful,” Jarrett said.

  Thayne held his breath as Elijah stared at him for a split second before he cracked the tiniest of smiles. Thayne blew out a huge breath in relief. Maybe this whole thing isn’t going to be so horrible after all.

  ****

  An hour and a half later, Thayne and Jarrett were leaning back in lawn chairs watching Steel, Elijah, and Jase throwing a football around the backyard. Dinner had gone well. It was clear that the family tried to avoid the topic that had estranged Jarrett from his family to begin with and they all seemed to be walking on eggshells for a little while. As the time stretched, Thayne noticed everyone began to relax. They joked with each other and even Elijah began to smile when one of his younger brothers told a humorous story about college life. By the end of the early afternoon supper, they’d retired from the farm table to the yard and started up a flag football game. Edie had gone in to grab a pitcher of iced tea and Thayne took the time to glance around the yard at the trees that lined the property on three sides. Beyond the lawn there was what looked like a vast forest, not a neighbor in sight anywhere nearby.

  “It’s so beautiful here,” Thayne said, lifting his Corona longneck to take a sip. The beer was cold and went down easily. The heat of the day had cooled off quickly and it was now early evening, with only about a half hour of sunlight left.

  “It is,” Jarrett said, sipping his own beer. “I hadn’t realized how much I missed it until I came back.”

  “Are you glad you did?”

  “Yeah. To be honest, it went a lot better than I ever expected it would. They might be behaving themselves because of you being here but whatever it is, I’m grateful. I somehow thought I’d fight with my father and Elijah and I really didn’t want to put Steel and Jase through that. Daddy and Elijah weren’t here on my last trip or it would have gone worse and it would hurt Edie. She’s the last person on earth I want to hurt.”

  “I can tell you love them all very much. You have a great family, Jarrett.”

  Jarrett turned to look at him and Thayne felt his heart skip a beat the moment he recognized that look of devotion on his lover’s face. The way Jarrett wore his heart on his sleeve more and more with him gave Thayne such an incredible high, he couldn’t quite think what to do with the emotion. He was so in love with this man and he wanted to tell him. He was almost determined to do it here and now.

  The football suddenly smacked Jarrett’s beer out of his hand, landing right in between their lawn chairs but not until sending Jarrett’s beer bottle spinning in midair coating them both with the frothy brew. They both shot out of their chairs, dripping with beer as Elijah and Steel came running up. Jase had thrown himself back on the grass and was laughing like an idiot. Thayne realized immediately who was at fault for the wayward football.

  “I swear I’m gonna kick your ass!” Jarrett yelled. He jumped out of his lawn chair and took off across the yard headed right for Jase. Jase saw him coming and scrambled to his feet, still laughing, and ran away as fast as he could. Thayne watched the two brothers as they chased each other around the yard. By the time Jarrett finally tackled Jase, they were both laughing so hard it had become contagious. Elijah’s harsh expression of a few hours before had vanished and it was replaced with a visage that so closely resembled Jarrett, Thayne still took a double take every time he looked at him. Steel, the stocky brother who resembled a bear with his fuzzy beard, was bent over with both hands on his knees watching his brothers and gulping in huge breaths of air as he gasped out laughter at them. For Thayne’s part, he found the Evans men delightful and he was so happy that Mark had reached out to find them and invite Jarrett back to spend some time with them.

  Mark was an enigma. Watching him sitting flopped back in a lawn chair beside Edie who’d come out to watch the fun and games, sipping an iced tea, was like watching an outsider to the family. He looked so normal, smiling at his boys’ antics, it was hard to believe that he was one of the most well-connected and powerful men in the entire world. Thayne knew he must have the president’s ear when he was needed to weigh in on a military intelligence matter that involved the CIA. He was handsome and Thayne couldn’t help but wonder if Jarrett would be just as good-looking when he was Mark’s age. He wondered if he would be around to witness the changes time would bring to Jarrett’s face.

  Thayne turned his attention back to Jarrett where he cavorted across the grass with Jase. Watching him crack up laughing after turning the hose on, Jase had completely erased the worry he’d seen in Jarrett expression when he’d found out he’d be coming back to Lewisburg. Thayne thought it was like looking at two different men. Seeing his family had been good for Jarrett.

  “They look really happy, don’t they?”

  Thayne was startled out of his musings and looked up to see Mark standing beside the lawn chair Jarrett had vacated. He nodded and smiled at him. “Yeah, they really do, especially Jarrett. I can’t remember seeing him this happy before.”

  “Mind if I sit?” Mark asked.

  Thayne held out his hand toward the chair. “No. Not at all. Take a load off, sir.” Somehow the man had snuck right up on him without even making a sound. He looked across the lawn at Jarrett who was chasing Jase with the hose as Mark sat down in Jarrett’s chair.

  “I appreciate you asking us out to the house,” Thayne said. “Jarrett really missed all of you even though he wouldn’t admit it if you asked him.”

  Mark looked at him. “You know my son pretty well, Special Agent Wolfe. That’s something that actually surprised me when I heard he was working at the ATF with a partner.”

  “That he was working as an ATF agent or that he was working with a partner?”

  “A little of both actually. Ever since he was a little kid, Jarrett has always worked best within a rigidly disciplined environment. That’s what made him a great Marine. I’m just surprised he joined the ATF, though I suppose I should be thrilled considering the alternative.”

  “You mean working as a mercenary?” Thayne said, deciding that there was no reason for subterfuge.

  Mark’s eyebrows rose and Thayne was surprised he’d shocked him.

  “Jarrett told you about that?”

  “Not in so many words. He’s indicated that he’s not proud of everything he’s done in
the past, and the mercenary work was one of the things that bothered him more than any others. I think the ATF has been good for him too.”

  Mark smiled. “Is he a good partner?”

  Thayne didn’t really know what Jarrett’s father was trying to get at but he made the decision to try to be as honest as possible. “Jarrett’s a great partner, sir. There’s no man I’d rather have on my six.”

  Mark smiled at the military reference. “I never saw any history of military in your file, Special Agent Wolfe.”

  “No, no military. I suppose I’ve picked up a little of the lingo from Jarrett.”

  “Yes, I see.” They were silent for a few moments, watching Jarrett and Jase. Both were soaked with water from the hose and even though they’d abandoned it, their clothes were dripping.

  “I’m not surprised you’ve read my file. If it was my son’s partner, I’d want to know who the man is that stands at my son’s back,” Thayne said. “That said, I think you know he’s been a good partner to me. Like I said before, he’s pulled my chestnuts out of the fire many times and I trust my life in Jarrett’s hands. He’s a capable man, your son. You should be very proud, sir.”

  Mark looked at him, staring at his face as he seemed to search for deception. Thayne figured he must have found none when he nodded. He turned away and looked back at Jarrett and Jase. “I am incredibly proud of him. He was a superior Marine. I think that’s why I was so upset when he retired. He could have risen in the ranks all the way. It’s a cryin’ shame that he chose to quit. I always thought he had more in him than that.”

  Thayne couldn’t very well tell Jarrett’s father about how his lover woke screaming from dreams in the middle of the night when he was especially stressed at work. He couldn’t tell him how haunted Jarrett’s eyes had looked when they’d investigated the site of a fireworks explosion in San Diego when he’d so obviously had a flashback. But he certainly wasn’t going to let Mark Evans believe his son was some sort of man without substance.

  “Jarrett is one of the most valiant men I’ve ever known, sir.”

  Mark sat up straight, staring hard at Thayne. “I never suggested otherwise. I was only referring to my disappointment in him leaving the service when he did. I never for a second believed he was anything less than brave and good.”

  “It’s my understanding that there’s more to your estrangement over the past few years,” Thayne ventured. He figured he was either going to get open hostility or be able to have a dialogue with Jarrett’s dad. Either way, Thayne had nothing to lose and he didn’t want to hear any more about Mark’s disappointment in his amazing son.

  “He’s told you about that?” Mark Evans looked a bit surprised.

  Thayne nodded. “That you and Elijah didn’t react kindly when he came out to you, years ago? Yes. He’s told me and since I have nothing to lose, I’ll just say, that kind of attitude has cost your family many days like today. It makes me sad for Jase, Steel, and Edie, and it makes me angry to think that you and Elijah think of him as less than a man because of who he chooses to love.”

  Mark’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t have looked more shocked than if Thayne had slapped him in the face. Thayne felt a surge of regret that it had come out the way it did but the truth was, he was pretty disgusted that Jarrett had been forced to stay away from his family because they had problems with his sexual orientation. In Thayne’s opinion, if Jarrett had volunteered to fight for his country on a battlefield, then he should be allowed to love a man with all his heart if that’s what he wanted. Thayne was convinced that one of the reasons Jarrett had isolated himself from his family for so many years was because they thought he was less than a man.

  “He actually thinks that I think he’s less of a man because he’s gay?” Mark asked, sputtering.

  “Yes, sir. I think he does.”

  Mark stared at Thayne for a few seconds, his eyes clouded and dark. He finally turned away to look at Jarrett who was now sitting with Jase, Steel, Elijah, and Edie, waving his hands and talking. They all began to laugh and Thayne couldn’t help but wonder what craziness he’d been talking about. Elijah seemed to be enjoying himself even though he laughed less than the others. The ice was broken at least. Mark drew Thayne’s attention as he began shaking his head.

  “I never meant for him to feel that way,” he said, sounding profoundly regretful.

  “Then you should tell him before we leave West Virginia to go back home.”

  Mark pinned him with a serious gaze. He stared at Thayne for a long time before nodding. “I’ll do that, Special Agent Wolfe. I never realized how bad he felt or that I was the cause of it and now that I see it so clearly, it makes me mad at myself.”

  “Good. I think it will be good for Jarrett to be able to talk to you. He needs his family. It was horrible watching how he felt when he was estranged from all of you.”

  Mark looked at him closely, frowning just a bit before realization seemed to wash over his expression. “I’m beginning to think you are very important to him too—perhaps not just as partners on the job.”

  Thayne sighed and glanced at Jarrett before looking back at Mark. “I hope so. I’d die for him.”

  Mark reached out and patted Thayne on the shoulder. “Let’s hope it never comes to that but just the fact that you are willing makes all the difference.”

  Thayne nodded at him and then noticed Edie was strolling across the grass coming their way. “You two finished jawin’ and ready for some pie?”

  “You’ve got pie?” Thayne asked excitedly, sitting up straight in the lawn chair.

  “Got cherry pie, peach cobbler, and Jase made vanilla ice cream this mornin’. It should be set by now.”

  “I’ll help you serve, Edie,” Mark said, rising from the lawn chair. Thayne stood up as well. Mark turned to him and reached out a hand. “I’m glad we got the chance to talk, Special Agent Wolfe.”

  Thayne shook his hand. “Please call me Thayne, sir.”

  “Okay, Thayne, then.” Mark let go of his hand and turned to follow Edie into the house just as Jase and Jarrett walked over. Both were dripping.

  “Damn, you need to dry off,” Thayne said. He couldn’t keep the smile out of his voice or off his face.

  “I’m beginning to shake with the cold. I think you’re right.”

  The urge to lean in and kiss Jarrett’s mouth was strong but he refrained. Jarrett’s eyes were dancing and Thayne actually had to ball his hands into fists to keep from touching him. He just looked so damned good with his clothes stuck to his body showing off every muscle the way they were. “The duffle’s in the back of the truck. If you hurry, there might be enough cobbler left for you,” Thayne said.

  Jarrett’s eyes twinkled even more as Jase spoke up. “Oh shit. Cobbler?”

  “And pie and your homemade ice cream.” Okay, now both men just looked downright happy as hell. Thayne found it endearing. “Hurry.”

  “Last one to the table is a rotten egg,” Jase called out as he took off, sprinting for the back door. Jarrett followed close behind.

  “Let me guess? Dessert?” Steel asked, walking up with Elijah.

  “Your father and aunt are dishing it up right now,” Thayne replied.

  Steel swung an arm over Thayne’s shoulder, surprising the hell out of him as he steered him toward the back door.

  “You haven’t had dessert until you’ve tried Aunt Edie’s baking,” Steel said.

  “He’s right,” Elijah said, speaking up.

  “You don’t have to convince me,” Thayne said surprised by Elijah’s comment. He hadn’t spoken more than a greeting to Thayne since he’d arrived. “I’m always on board for dessert.”

  Elijah nodded and they headed into the house together. The atmosphere had definitely changed. Thayne wasn’t sure exactly what had caused the cosmic shift, but whatever it
was, it gave him a great sense of satisfaction.

  ****

  Jarrett was sitting in the living room after the amazing dessert his Aunt Edie had prepared when Elijah caught his eye. The day had gone surprisingly well and the atmosphere felt like the days before Jarrett had come out to his family. He truly hadn’t expected it to go so well but since it looked like Elijah had something to say, he only hoped it wasn’t going to end on a low note.

  “Can I talk to you, Jarrett?” Elijah asked.

  “Sure.”

  Elijah stood up, clearly expecting to go somewhere that they could talk alone and Jarrett glanced at Thayne, noting his worried expression before reaching out to pat him on the shoulder. “I’ll be right back.” Thayne nodded warily but Jarrett gave him a small smile before following Elijah out to the back porch. He waited for his brother to close the door behind them and then followed him over to two Adirondack chairs out on the lawn several feet away from the back of the house. The night was cool and Jarrett was glad that he’d put on a jacket before leaving the house. Winter wasn’t too far off and it was known to get very cold even in fall in the Appalachian Mountains.

  As soon as they were seated, Elijah pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and shook one out. He held it out to Jarrett and Jarrett shook his head. He’d forgotten Elijah smoked. “No thanks.”

  Elijah just nodded and put the pack back in the pocket of his jacket. He lit his and blew out a breath of smoke before turning to look at Jarrett. “Thanks for talkin’ to me.”

  “What’s on your mind, bro?” Jarrett asked.

  Elijah smiled, his dimples appearing as he let his head loll back on the chair’s seat back as he looked up to the stars. “I haven’t heard that from you in a long time.”

  “Bro?” Jarrett asked. They’d both called each other that when they’d been kids and it felt perfectly natural coming out of his mouth.