“But she’s in love with you, and I thought…I thought…”
Impossibly, the room grew even more silent. Roe was pretty sure everyone had stopped breathing.
“Wyatt!” Lindsey rushed out, but he heard it, heard the confirmation in her voice.
Roe turned, looked at her. “Linds?” People had said it before, but he never believed it. She knew he was gay. She’d always known, and she’d always supported him. Lindsey told him everything. If she had feelings for him, or if she was confused, she would have talked to him. That was how they did things. “Linds?” he said again.
The quiet was broken by the sound of a chair clattering to the hardwood floor. Across the table, Wyatt shoved to his feet and ran out.
“Wyatt.” Lindsey stood too and went after him.
Roe handed his truck keys to Holden. “Sorry about this. I gotta go. I’ll get a ride home.”
Holden nodded, support in his eyes.
Sean’s words from earlier came back to Roe: “So you really are gonna stay?”
Holden was moving to Harmony and hadn’t told him? Roe didn’t know what that meant, if maybe Holden hadn’t said anything because he didn’t want to keep this—whatever was happening between them—going.
Without another word, he went after Lindsey and his son.
He found them in one of the barns.
They were sitting together on a haystack, Lindsey with her arms around Wyatt, who was crying on her shoulder. Damned if Roe’s heart didn’t tumble out of his chest. Lindsey’s eyes were red-rimmed too.
Too many thoughts were playing tug-of-war in his head—Holden was staying, Wyatt had thought there was a possibility his parents would be together, Lindsey was maybe in love with him.
How could he have not known that? The last one especially. They’d been best friends most of his life. They talked about men, and she knew his secrets and supported him when he told her he was gay and through his coming-out process all those years ago. They’d talked about Holden. How could he have fucked up so badly and not seen?
Or had he not wanted to let himself see?
She glanced up, her gaze landing on him, the sadness and embarrassment evident in her eyes. Then she nodded down at Wyatt, as if to say they’d deal with their stuff later. Wyatt came first. He always came first for them.
“Hey, buddy.” Roe walked slowly their way. Wyatt wiped his eyes, leaving a smudge of dirt on his cheek, but didn’t look at him. “Guess we got a few things we should talk about, huh? Can I join you?”
He nodded but still didn’t speak. Roe sat beside him.
“First of all, I want to tell you that I’m sorry I kept what was happening with Holden from you. I know it can be confusing sometimes, but certain things really are more adult business. I didn’t want to tell you unless I knew it was serious.”
“He moved in with you!”
“Temporarily, as I told you. And that’s my decision to make, but you do live there too, so it was something I wanted to discuss with you. They moved in not because of Holden and me, but because we worry about Sean and Marilee. It’s very serious, what’s going on with them.”
He sniffed. “I know…and I don’t want them to get hurt.”
“That’s my boy.” Roe squeezed Wyatt’s knee. He was so damn proud of the kid they were raising. He wasn’t perfect, no one was, but he cared about people, and that was important to Roe to instill in him. “Going back to Holden, I didn’t tell you because I thought it would end soon. He was going back to Atlanta, and I figured that would be that.”
“But he’s not now?” Wyatt asked.
That was a good question. “I’m not exactly sure. It’s a conversation Holden and I need to have, but regardless of where he lives, that’s not a guarantee we’ll be together. It’s difficult sometimes—adult stuff. That’s why I didn’t want to drag you into the middle of it.” Roe wanted to be with Holden, though. Wanted it almost more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. That didn’t mean it would happen. Life sometimes had other plans. He was old enough to understand how it went.
“But you want to be?” Wyatt asked, finally facing Roe. “You love him?” Funny, how a kid’s mind worked. It was automatically love. Not like, not want to date. Love. But the truth was, Roe did love Holden. He loved him for his heart and his capacity to love, even though Holden didn’t see it like that. For the way he took care of his family, and the way he made Roe laugh, and how he undercharged for work because he wanted to do nice things for people.
He loved that he always tipped big when they went out to eat, and for the growing friendship between Holden and Evie. Hell, even for his relationship with Vince, and Holden’s complete honesty with Roe about Vince, and with Vince about their relationship.