Chapter 10
Thomas wanted to let himself hope that Rhys was showing signs of jealousy, but he was also trying to be cautious. Based on what he’d heard so far, he thought it was safe to assume there was some kind of friction or rivalry between the two cousins, so he wasn’t sure he could take Rhys’s displays of possessiveness around Scott as personally as he would have liked. Either way, he was no more thrilled about Scott tagging along than Rhys was. Something about Scott rubbed Thomas the wrong way. Maybe he was being unfair and biased because of the way Rhys had described Scott before they met, but Thomas thought Scott was being a little too pushy and trying too hard to turn on the charm.
But in all fairness, Scott hadn’t oversold the view from Clingmans Dome. They parked in the visitors’ lot and hiked up to the top, and Thomas could feel the pull of the steep climb in his calves even though he was in good physical shape. Once he reached the observation deck and saw the view, all thoughts of pain and strain receded. He leaned against the guard rail and gazed at the valley stretching out below and the mountains surrounding it. He caught glimpses of houses and a ribbon of road winding along the mountainsides, but otherwise, it looked unscathed by human hands.
“We’re lucky it’s a clear day,” Rhys said as he moved to stand beside Thomas, his gaze turned toward the expanse of trees carpeting the mountains and valley below. “We’re up high enough that we could end up in the middle of a cloud on an overcast day. A lot of folks assume it’s fog, but it’s a low-hanging cloud.”
“I’ve never been in the middle of a cloud before,” Thomas said, trying to imagine what that would be like. “Well, other than on a plane, I mean.”
“It obscures the view, but it’s pretty in its own way,” Rhys said. “It makes things colder and a little damp, and it’s kind of spooky because the trees are just dark shapes in the mist. Kind of like something out ofPlague Z,” he added with a one-sided smile.
“I wouldn’t mind seeing that sometime,” Thomas said. He’d kept his jacket on because the higher elevations were so much cooler than down in the valley, but he was still a little chilly, and he stepped closer to Rhys for warmth. “But I’m glad it’s clear today.”
“Are you cold?” Scott’s expression was one of concern as he reached for Thomas as if to draw him nearer, but Rhys snaked his arm around Thomas as soon as the words were out of Scott’s mouth.
“A little, but this is better,” Thomas said, tucking himself under Rhys’s shoulder with smug satisfaction. He hadn’t been angling for this, but he wasn’t going to turn it down.
A disgruntled look flashed across Scott’s face, but it swiftly shifted into a friendly smile. “Well, let me know if your other side gets cold.”
“I’m fine,” Thomas said, leaning against Rhys’s side to soak up the heat Rhys was emanating. “Rhys takes good care of me.”
“I do try,” Rhys said, regarding Scott with a bland expression as he gave Thomas an obvious squeeze.
Going back down to the parking lot was much easier than going up, and by that time, Thomas’s stomach was growling loud enough that Rhys heard it and laughed.
“I don’t know what kind of sandwiches Mama made for us, but knowing her, they’ll be stacked high,” he said.
The sandwiches turned out to be roast beef with cheese, lettuce, and thick slices of tomato, and one was plenty for Thomas even though Viv had made two for each of them. After lunch, Rhys cleared the table and left Thomas and Scott alone while he threw away the trash and packed up his saddlebag. Thomas braced himself for several minutes of awkward silence because he didn’t have anything to say to Scott, and he wasn’t inclined to make small talk.
“Thanks for letting me tag along,” Scott said, fixing him with a somber look, and Thomas raised both eyebrows, surprised by the remark.
“To be honest, you didn’t give us much of a choice,” Thomas said. Such bluntness wasn’t normal for him, but he didn’t care much about ingratiating himself to Scott the way he did to Viv, Charles, and the rest of Rhys’s family, and besides, he wanted to make it clear that this would be a one-time occurrence.
“Fair,” Scott said, inclining his head to acknowledge the point. “I’m sorry for butting in. It’s just…” He laced his fingers together tightly and released a quiet sigh. “Rhys and I used to be close, but I guess you can tell things are a little rocky.”
“A little,” Thomas said, remembering how Rhys had referred to his cousin as a pain in the ass — and not in a way that sounded at all affectionate.
“It’s my fault,” Scott said, turning his gaze downward. “I did something stupid when I was a lot younger.”
Thomas waited for follow-up information, but Scott remained silent. Oh, the drama. Thomas resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and he widened his eyes as if with concern because curiosity would eat him up if he didn’t find out what happened.
“I’m sure it couldn’t have been that bad,” Thomas said, mustering more sympathy than he actually felt to infuse his voice.
Scott slowly lifted his gaze to meet Thomas’s, and Thomas recognized his cue to lean forward. He’d worked on a soap opera for a year, so he knew how this scene was supposed to go.
“I broke up Rhys and his boyfriend.”
“Andy?” Thomas didn’t have to feign shock and alarm at that revelation, but Scott shook his head quickly.
“No, this was before Andy,” Scott said. “I was eighteen, and Rhys brought home this hot guy he met working on a movie. We had chemistry, so I flirted with him, and we got a little carried away one day. I’m pretty sure Rhys thinks we’d been carrying on behind his back, but it was just that one time.”
“Once is enough,” Thomas said, a hard edge in his voice. Part of him felt like he shouldn’t judge Scott too harshly, since teenagers could be self-absorbed and make bad decisions, but Rhys had gotten hurt as a result, and his protectiveness wouldn’t let him look past that.
“I know,” Scott said, his voice heavy with enough remorse that Thomas thought it was genuine despite the inherent theatrics of Scott’s little scene. “Things haven’t been the same since, and I hate that.”
“Have you talked to Rhys about it?” Thomas asked. “Maybe if you let him know you still feel bad about it after all this time and you don’t want one mistake to keep coming between you, he’d be willing to put it all behind him.”
“I’ve been afraid to rock the boat by bringing it up, you know?” Scott smiled wryly, and Thomas felt a twinge of genuine sympathy. Maybe he’d been too quick to judge Scott based on Rhys’s perception, which was probably skewed by their estrangement. Scott had been a little pushy, sure, but maybe it was his awkward way of trying to reach out to Rhys and start the reconciliation process through proximity. Given Rhys wasn’t in Waynesville for most of the year, maybe Scott wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to reconnect with his cousin while he had it.
