“Speaking of.” Grady nodded in the opposite direction from the ice cream cart. Roe, Holden, Wyatt, and Sean were all heading their way. He’d already gotten to know Scout enough to be able to tell when he was nervous, so he put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed, and felt his nephew relax.
“Hey, guys. How’s it going?” Grady asked when they approached.
“Just another day with goats,” Holden teased, making him chuckle.
“You must be Scout,” Roe said. “We’ve all been excited to meet you. The boys are always looking for someone else to hang out with. I’m Roe. This is my partner, Holden, my son, Wyatt, and our nephew, Sean.”
“Hey, man. What’s up?” Wyatt said.
“It’s cool to meet you,” Sean added.
“Hey. It’s nice to meet you guys too,” Scout replied. “You like football?”
“Yeah, we both play,” Wyatt answered. “You?”
“Yeah, I play too.”
Sean pointed to his nails. “That’s cool. My mom takes me to get pedicures with her sometimes.”
Grady breathed a sigh of relief. He’d known the boys would make Scout feel welcome, but it was great to hear it.
“Thanks! I just started doing it.” Scout beamed.
Cat had sat her husband down first, and she and Scout talked to him. Then she and Miller had spoken to the rest of the family. Scout hadn’t felt comfortable being there during that conversation, wanting his parents to do it. They told everyone how it was, and that they either treated Scout exactly how they always had without making a big deal of it, or they wouldn’t see him at all. Luckily, they hadn’t made the same mistakes with Scout they’d made with Grady.
“You wanna go hang out?” Wyatt asked. “We could muck around with the goats or find something else to do. Mema and Grandpa got us a new trampoline, and Holden built us a clubhouse.” Wyatt pointed toward the other side of the property.
“Tell Mom where I am!” Scout told Grady, and the three of them took off running.
Grady watched him go. “He’s not comfortable being authentic around his friends at home yet. I think it’ll be good for him to be with some kids his age who are accepting.”
Holden’s hand clamped down on his shoulder. “They’ll have fun. Lots of good people around here. It’s the perfect place to call home.”
Yeah, yeah it was. Grady would be thankful every day of his life that he’d taken a chance and had come to Briar County. “I’m gonna go help Deacon.”
“We’ll go with you,” Roe said.
As the three of them passed by Clint’s stand, where he was selling his custom works—they were definitely going all out for Goatapalooza—Grady waved at Clint, then asked Holden, “Is that Vince? I didn’t know he’d be out.” Grady pointed to the man talking with Clint and Colby, Roe’s brother. He’d met Holden’s friend once, and he’d seemed like a good guy.
“Yeah. Unexpected visit.” Holden’s voice was tight, but not because he didn’t want to see his friend. Grady assumed Vince was having some boyfriend troubles again, which was likely what that was about.
Like he knew there would be, there was a line at Deacon’s small ice cream cart. Grady’s family was sitting at one of the picnic tables close by, with Deke’s. He smiled seeing them together, then turned his gaze on his partner. The past months had been the best of his life, and sometimes he still couldn’t believe this was real.
“Oh man. You got it bad,” Roe said. “Go see your man.”
“I do, and I will.” Grady told them goodbye and went over to Deacon.
“Hey, baby.” Deacon pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “You here to help so Juan can take a break?”
“Yep.” Grady washed his hands at the portable station they had there, and Juan thanked him and slipped away. Then Grady got busy helping Deacon—every once in a while having to shoo away inquisitive goats trying to get into their stash.
The time flew by. Juan was supposed to be back soon, his break was almost over, and then Luann would be joining him so Deacon and Grady could be with their families.
When Grady looked up at the next customers, his heart skipped a beat. He paused, staring, unsure what to say or think. It was only a moment, and then his gaze immediately found his partner, who took a protective step closer so they were shoulder to shoulder.
“You’ve been busy,” Frances said.
“Yes, ma’am,” Deacon told his ex-mother-in-law. They hadn’t spoken since they’d found out about him and Grady. Grady hated it—it gnawed a hole through his gut almost every day. He knew how much they meant to Deacon and how hard it was on him to lose them.
“You brought strawberry shortcake?” Eugene said. “You know that’s my favorite.”
“I do.” Deacon was clearly being cautious, a little thrown by them approaching him. “Just a scoop?”