Brody nodded, then found his voice. “Yeah, I’m good too. Just—you know. Here to get the dogs,” Brody immediately regretted how stilted his words sounded.
“Right. Let me get them.” Diego opened the back door to his car and Brody heard the puppies before he saw them. “Weather looked bad, so we got an early start in case we had to pull over,” Diego said.
“Smart move.” Diego had always been the smart one, Brody remembered. He looked the same, tall and slim, with olive skin and eyes the color of warm caramel, with a hint of gold that seemed to draw you in. But there were changes too. Diego had long hair now, pulled back and tied behind his head. Even stranger—Brody's gaze was drawn to the colorful tattoos peeking out from under the sleeves of Diego's hoodie as he opened the crate in the back of his vehicle, and that sent warmth radiating through him and sent his thoughts off in a million directions. He couldn't help but imagine what secrets those tattoos could hold if revealed. “You live in Houston?” he asked as he opened the back of the suburban.
“Yeah.” Diego stuck to one-word answers, so Brody didn’t ask anything else. It took a few minutes, but soon all three puppies were transferred and ready to go. Diego stuck his finger in the crate and stroked one of the puppies. “They had some water, but they didn’t feed them anything this morning. Just in case they got sick on the road, you know?” he said, looking up at catching Brody’s eye.
“Right.” Brody shivered at that penetrating gaze. His nephews turn in their seats to look at him and Diego before their attention turned to the wriggling puppies, who started to whimper and press against the crate, trying to get close to the boys.
Just then, the passenger side door of Diego’s car opened, and a young man popped out. His shocking pink hair and bright smile startled Brody for a moment. “Don’t forget this,” he said as he tried to dodge the rain drops, waving a plastic bag in his hand. “Snacks and vet paperwork for the little dudes.”
“Great. Thank you for bringing them.” Brody wanted to know more. Ten years since he’d last seen this man and there was so much to say, so many questions to ask, and stories to tell Diego. But not now, at least, and that broke his heart because Diego had once been the one person that Brody could tell anything and be sure that he wouldn’t be laughed at. “Thanks.”
The corner of Diego’s mouth lifted in a smile. “No problem and thank you for transporting the dogs. Are you dropping them off?”
Brody shook his head. “No, I run the rescue. Me and my partner, I mean. I’m taking them home with me.” There was more to say, more to ask. But the rain started coming down harder and neither of them had umbrellas—and people were waiting for them.
Diego nodded and glanced over at the boys in the suburban, both already infatuated with the puppies. He smiled sadly. “That’s good. The dogs, they’re good little pups. Um, take care, okay? Drive safe.”
“You too.” Then— “Diego.” Brody didn’t know what to say, only that this couldn’t be the end. Not like this.
Diego turned around and stared at him. “Yeah?” he answered with a swallow, those dark eyes questioning him.
Brody wasn’t sure if it was the clouds and rain, but he’d never felt sadder in his life. His heart hurt, but it was time to leave. “It was good seeing you.”
Diego nodded, then jogged back toward his car. Brody closed the back door and headed back inside the suburban. He waited until Diego’s SUV backed out of the parking spot before he did the same. When both cars got to the street, Diego and his friend went left, and Brody turned right.
He still couldn’t believe it. Diego Duarte, all this time. After that night, when Brody’s parents found them together, Brody had been shipped off before he’d even had a chance to say goodbye to any of his friends, his teachers, the guys on his football team—and Diego.
That night, that moment, was the last time he’d seen Diego.
A million questions flooded through his thoughts, but right now, it was Jonah asking him a question. “Who was that?”
Brody’s thoughts buzzed around his head like a whirlwind, but he managed to breathe and center himself. “That—was a man I used to know, a long time ago. He brought us the puppies that we’re going to train to be service dogs.”
Jonah regarded him with curiosity. “Were you friends with him?”
We were so much more than that, Brody thought to himself, but those memories didn’t belong to anyone else. Just the two of them, sharing secrets and sharing kisses. “We were good friends in high school. Diego was very smart and used to help me with my chemistry. Otherwise, the coaches wouldn’t have let me play football or baseball.”
Then Jace piped up. “Why did that other guy have pink hair?”
Brody laughed at that question. Kids noticed everything and weren’t afraid to ask. “Because some men like pink hair. Some men like mustaches and beards, and some like to be bald.”
“And that’s okay?” Jonah asked.
“Absolutely, it’s okay. As long as a person’s not hurting anyone else, they can be whoever they want to be.” He caught Jonah’s eye. Was this time to have the talk? Brody wasn’t dating anyone and hadn’t wanted to since he’d moved back to Cielo Springs, but that didn’t mean he wanted to hide himself from his nephews or feel like he needed to be ashamed of who he was or who he loved.
But Jonah’s attention quickly turned back to the puppies, and Brody sighed. He’d talk to them if something happened and it became necessary, but there wasn’t anyone he cared for right now—or anyone who wanted to be with him.
In fact, the last person who’d ever made him feel that way was currently driving in the opposite direction, heading home to his life in Houston.
Brody’s thoughts focused on Diego for the rest of the trip home. The way he looked, the way he smiled, the way he smelled. Brody couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him all these years. Had he married? Had he started a family? What was his life like now?
Diego Duarte.
Brody couldn't help smiling as he remembered how it had started. Senior year in high school, he asked the smartest kid in his chemistry class for help so he could stay on the football team.
Little did he know then how important that question would be.
