“It’s you,” Deacon said. “Why have you been following me?”
Shit. His gaze darted back and forth between Roe and Holden. This…couldn’t look good and would likely lose him his job, but that didn’t matter at the moment. Deacon did.
“I’m not… I mean, it probably looks like I am. I did look for you, but…can we talk about this somewhere else?”
“No, I think you better explain now and pretty damn quickly.”
So it looked like they were doing this right there at Covington Supply Co with Roe and Holden. “My name is Grady and um…I’m looking for Birdie.” A flare of something Grady couldn’t understand flashed in Deacon’s stare. Whatever it was, it appeared hot and angry. Heart in his throat, pulse running overtime, Grady hurried to get the words out before Deacon got the wrong idea. “I knew Nathan. He was my best friend. I know how much Birdie meant to him. I came here because of him, and now that I’m saying this, I realize how crazy it sounds. It’s just, he always talked about Briar County, about his home and his family, and specifically Birdie, and—”
“You’re too late. She’s dead,” Deacon cut him off, Grady’s heart dropping to his gut, sadness trying to tug him under for a woman he didn’t even know.
“She’s…” They were both… Shit, he couldn’t imagine, but he didn’t have a chance to finish, to ask, because Deacon turned and walked away.
Birdie was dead, just like Nathan.
“I didn’t know,” Grady said, turning to Roe. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what you’re thinking about me right now. I just…wanted to meet them, wanted to have someone to share Nathan with. Hell, I don’t know. Maybe I’ve lost my damn mind.” He clearly had. What had possessed him to come here?
“That’s why you were looking for Deke that day?” Roe asked.
“Yeah. I haven’t had the balls to talk to him yet, probably because my good sense was telling me how crazy this whole thing is.”
It was Holden who reached out then, put a hand on Grady’s shoulder, and squeezed. “Pain affects us all differently. I can see it, though, why you came.”
“Me too,” Roe said, and Grady thought maybe they got it, maybe since they knew about his sexuality, they’d guessed about Nathan. Shit, this really had been a mistake. He was outing Nathan, and even in his death, that was wrong.
“We weren’t…” he began, about to tell them that he and Nathan hadn’t been lovers, and maybe then they wouldn’t assume Nathan was queer, but Roe stopped him.
“Whatever you were is your business. No one has the right to anything you don’t want to share. He was your friend, and you loved him.”
“He was my closest friend,” Grady said, more appreciative than he could say for these two men.
“How about we get back to work?” Roe suggested.
“Thank you,” Grady replied, relieved, and they did just that.
Chapter 4
Deacon
Nathan’s friend.
The man who’d been hanging around Sundae’s Best was Nathan’s friend…who now lived in the area? Deacon wasn’t even sure, but the man must be here for a while, at least, since he worked at Covington Supply Co.
He couldn’t wrap his brain around it. None of the pieces fit together. Maybe it would have if he’d listened to the guy, but hearing him say he’d come to see Patricia…that he was looking for Deacon’s wife and didn’t know she’d passed… He couldn’t explain his reaction, but it had thrown him for some reason, and now…now he just wanted to talk to Patricia. She’d loved her little brother so damn much. He’d been her world. She’d been proud of him when he went into the army, but heartbroken too. Then, he hadn’t come home afterward, living in other places, making excuses for why he had to visit them rather than the family visiting him. Never introducing them to girlfriends or friends, and then…then he’d died.
“Somethin’s different this time, Deke. I know it is.” She’d been so excited for Nathan’s visit. She’d always been one to trust her gut. If Deacon believed in that kinda shit, he would have thought she was psychic. She just…knew things sometimes, knew when something was a good idea or a bad one. Knew when something was about to change, like she had with Nathan’s visit, only he hadn’t made it home. And when she’d been diagnosed, though she didn’t say it to him, he could see that she knew she wouldn’t survive it.
He hadn’t been able to sleep all night, wondering about the guy—Grady, he’d said his name was—and why he’d wanted to see Patricia, and Christ, hearing her called Birdie. Nathan had been the only person in the world to call her that, and she’d loved it.
Deacon got up early the next morning. Luckily, one of his employees was opening up the shop that day, so he didn’t have to worry about making it down there—though oftentimes, even if he had the day off, he ended up there anyway.