“Good.” Ichabod shot him a wry grin. “I know this isn’tfireworks, but what I feel for you is real. It’s not—” He swallowed hard. “You know, Chris has been gone a long time, and I loved him. This isn’t the same feeling.”
Ellis thought about being hurt, and then Ichabod continued.
“But I was a stupid kid when we got together. He was an adult with sons and a home and this whole life, and I was a college student and an artist, and I was wild. This is what being a grown-up and being in love is. This is knowing that there are things that are more important than whether or not I think you’re the hottest man on earth—which by the way, let me tell you, you’re on the list, number one right there at the top — but we’ve got family, animals, careers, bills, lives. I want you to be part of all of that. And the part where we’re in bed together.”
His belly clenched tight with emotion, and his jaw firmed hard to keep him from tearing up. “That’s it, honey. That’s it exactly. You think we ought to ask the kids first?”
Ichabod snorted. “Zane and Michael asked last week why you were still in the bunkhouse. The little girls, they just want you. You’re their Bell.”
And that was the God’s honest truth. He was theirs; he intended for it to stay that way. “Then I’ll start bringing things over. Shouldn’t take long. Mavis has her bed and bowl over here anyway.”
“Excellent. Now, what are we going to do about this whole CPS thing?”
“Well, you’re probably going to have to meet with that Ms. Lindsey one more time. I’m going to file a complaint about the other woman, because that was so not right, and then I’m gonna talk to Rick.”
“All right, you talk to Rick, and if this doesn’t get fixed, I’m going to talk to him.” Ichabod shook his head. “I cannot believe he would do this. Why would he do this?This land is in a trust for the kids. He’s never going to get it.”
“He’s just being a bully now because he knows it.” He kissed Ichabod’s neck. “I’ll set up a meet tomorrow. Today we need to calm down before the kids come home, huh?”
“Yeah, I think that’s probably a good idea. It makes me so mad that he would think this was appropriate.” Ichabod swayed with him as if they were dancing, holding on to his hands. “I mean, I know he doesn’t think it’s appropriate. He thinks it’s mean and he thinks he’s going to get us in trouble. But?—”
“But we’re not like him, baby. We’re not bad people, so we’re not going to get in trouble.”
“I hope not. I’m not going to lose my kids because someone’s an asshole aboutmoney.”
He stroked Ichabod’s belly. “I know. We got this, baby. I reckon I’ll learn him.” He wasn’t going to tell Ichabod exactly what he would do to Rick if he had to. They were brothers. He could get away with some shit that no one else could. But he had this need to defend these kids from that man and explain to him how the cow ate the cabbage. Not to mention that Ichabod was his damn lover, and he wasn’t going to fuck that up.
“Well, you do what you need to. I’m going to make us something to eat and try to breathe.”
It seemed like the most logical thing to do, and Ichabod would need to be calm and collected when the kids came home from school.
“Okay. What can I do to help?” He grinned, going for not crazy. Truthfully, he felt a little nuts because this whole day had been one big ball of stress. He damn well needed to calm down too. It was rough going, because Ichabod was still shaking.
“You know what?” Ichabod closed his eyes for a secondand then opened them, finding a smile. “I am going to go clean out half the closet and that tall high boy. Actually, clean out is a strong term because I’m still partially in boxes, but you know what I mean. You can make cinnamon toast. It’s light, and we don’t need all that much. Then you’ll have somewhere to put all of your clothes. What other kinds of room do you need as far as your stuff is concerned? You do have stuff?”
Ellis chuckled. “Mostly I have Rio and Mavis and my saddles. I got some clothes and a few bags to stash in a closet. Boots and hats. I got some stuff at my dad’s that I’ve been waiting on a more permanent place to go get…”
Ichabod grinned at him, winked. “Well, now you have a more permanent space. Would your dad like to come for Christmas?”
Oh, now that would be entertaining. “You do know that he’s Rick’s dad, right?”
It seemed only fair to point that out.
“Not everyone’s perfect.” Ichabod rolled his eyes. “And besides, he is still your family—not Rick, your dad.”
“He is. And he’ll like you. I’ll ask him.” His dad had seemed damn sad the last time they’d talked, in fact. So this was a great idea.
Wasn’t like Rick was going to go stay with Dad for the season.
“I think that’d be great. Everybody loves to have a holiday with family, right?” Ichabod chuckled softly. “Assuming that they’re good family and not like crappy, scary family.”
“Yeah, I’ll note that you didn’t invite your folks for Christmas.” Ellis had to tease.
“Oh no, I got them for Thanksgiving. My sister can have them for Christmas. It’s only fair.” Ichabod shot him a wicked grin and shook his head. “You know I adore them. They’re a little bit of an acquired taste, and sometimes it rubs me raw. It’s easier in the summer.”
Ellis tilted his head. “Okay? Explain?”
“Well, not this summer obviously because of moving, but lots of times we vacation in the summer with Mom and Dad. It’s much more fun because she’s not working, I’m not working, the kids are on vacation mode, so there’s not strict bedtimes and all of that. We usually go somewhere and meet, so it’s new to all of us and exciting to the whole family.”
