Sundae's Best (Briar County 2)

“No, just that you’re going. And you didn’t ask—you don’t have to. Even if I have to stay at a hotel alone and you’re with them, I want to be there for you, close to you if you need me.”

Grady turned, pulled Deacon to him, buried his face in his rain-soaked neck. He couldn’t find the words to say what he felt, but somehow, he didn’t think he needed them. Deacon already knew.

Chapter 28

Deacon

They drove to Grady’s hometown, a small community outside Savannah. It was close to Harmony in size, maybe a little bit bigger but not by much.

Roe and Holden had taken Moose for them, and Olivia would be acting manager while he was gone—Tasha and Leroy doing what they could to fill in if needed since Deacon didn’t know how long he’d be gone. They had a decent stock of ice cream, but if they needed more, his family could help make it. Deacon hoped it didn’t come to that because as much as he loved them, he didn’t like anyone else to make his ice cream.

They’d learned that Grady’s father had been driving the tractor on an embankment when something happened. Somehow it flipped, part of it landing on his father’s leg. There were other injuries as well.

But he was awake, and before his surgery, he’d asked for Grady. His only son.

They hadn’t talked much about how this would go. As far as Deacon knew, Grady hadn’t told them he would be with him. He didn’t know if that meant he was staying at the hotel and would be there for Grady when he wasn’t with his family. He just knew he’d had to go. There was no way he could sit back and wait in Everett unless Grady had wanted him to. That wasn’t really how he worked.

It was early in the morning now. They’d driven through the night, and Grady had to be hungry because he was, but they hadn’t eaten.

“We should get some food in you first,” Deacon said as Grady drove.

“Not really hungry.”

“Baby…you need to eat. I did that when Patty was sick, not taking care of myself. I’m not gonna let you do that to yourself.”

When Grady looked at him, his hazel eyes full of gratitude and sorrow, Deacon knew he’d said and done the right thing, that Grady needed someone who was there just for him, who wanted to take care of him. Deacon wanted to be that man—that day and always.

“Thank you for being here with me.”

That was what you did when you loved someone. You protected them, comforted them, gave them what they needed. Grady had done that for him from the start. “Always.”

They went to their hotel first. It was older, but then it was the only one in town. They’d booked a room with one bed, and he could see the young clerk wondering about it. After Deacon paid, he made Grady a cup of coffee from the pot they kept in the lobby, and then they went up to their room.

Before they did anything else, he put in an order for breakfast to be delivered from a small diner in town that he’d seen on a flyer downstairs. While he did that, Grady checked in with his sister.

“Food’s on the way.” He sat beside Grady on the bed.

“Thank you. Cat said he’s stable. She stayed with Mama at the hospital last night. Betsy is at home with the kids.” While he knew how much Grady’s family meant to him, he hadn’t told Deacon a lot about them until the drive there. Cat—Catrina—was the one who’d called. His other sister was Betsy, the oldest of the three of them, and named after their grandmother. Grady was the baby of the family—finally the boy his dad had always wanted…the boy who’d turned out to be gay. That wasn’t what Chester Dalton had had in mind when he’d pictured his son.

Deacon moved so he was lying down and tugged Grady with him. Grady came easily, wrapped his arms around Deacon, the two of them holding each other.

“My dad and I, we were so close when I was little. He used to take me to work with him. He can do anything—fix anything, build anything, put anything together. He taught me that, and some of it came naturally too. He’s a jack-of-all-trades around here, and people come to him for everything. Got a hole in your roof? Call Chester Dalton. Your tractor needs fixed? Talk to Chester Dalton. Even at his age, he was always doing something. I used to want to be just like him…and when I started to realize that I wouldn’t want a wife one day, I knew it would be what tore us apart. I spent so much time hating that part of myself, Deke, trying to wish it away. When I acknowledged that it wouldn’t change, I ran away to hide it, thinking I could just pretend with them, that they’d never know.”