“Well, that actually sounds like a good time.” He hadn’t minded Aiden at all, and Jett had been incredibly polite, if a little confused at how her son had ended up with him.
“Next year, we’re thinking about Washington state. Zane really wants to see Seattle, and I thought that would be a neat trip with the kids.”
“It’s a nice area. Seattle is big for me, but a few days and then out to like, Olympia? I could handle that. It’s arty, that little town. You’d like it.”
“Oh, that’s cool. You’ll have to help me find us a good place to stay.” Ichabod offered him another kiss. “We need to talk about going down and getting your stuff from your dad too, unless you think he’ll bring it up for Christmas.”
“Oh, if he decides to come up, he’ll bring the trailer. I guarantee you. He’ll bring me some cows, too, if I know him, along with a big bunch of stuff for the kids.” His dad wanted grandkids. These would be like built-in babies.
“Well, they are all about having grandparents who think they’re the coolest. So bring it on.” Ichabod patted his butt, nodded to him. “All right, I’m gonna go clean out half the closet and make sure that that dresser is ready for you. Get on making me cinnamon toast.”
“Bossy bossy.” He had never lived with a man like this where it was a family. It was a little unnerving, but damn cool.
Or at least it would be if Rick wasn’t such a prick.
Chapter Eighteen
“Okay, Dad, we need to talk.” Zane’s face was like a thunder cloud, and Ichabod didn’t even have to guess what the problem was.
He nodded once, closed the bedroom door behind his eldest son. “So go ahead. Let’s talk.”
“They called me into the goddamn social worker’s office today! The school counselor! I look like I’m some kind of a psycho now.” Zane’s eyes were snapping with a pure, clear fury. “What did you do?”
“What did I do? What do you think I did? Come on, kid. I didn’t do anything.”
“Is it because you’re gay? I mean, is it because you’re sleeping with Ellis? Because, you know, it’s legal to be gay. It’s legal to have a gay lover or a gay person. And my pop was gay. What the hell?”
He nodded and put one hand up, because the last thing he needed was for Zane to go and scare Allie and Michael. “Okay, I’ll tell you everything. There’s not a whole lot to tell, honestly, but I need you to keep your voice down because I don’t want you to scare your brother and your sisters. Fair?”
That got him a dip of the chin. “Fine. I won’t yell. Tell me what’s going on. Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t youwarnme?”
“Well, because, my dear boy, until they rolled up this morning, I didn’t know either.”
Zane blinked at him and sat down on the edge of his bed. “No shit? They came here?”
He nodded and sat next to his son. “No shit. They came here. Your sister and I were working in the studio, so she was a total mess. They walked in on her when Ellis had popped her in the bathtub and scared the hell out of her.”
“Okay, one, that’s gross. Two, that’s gross. Three, tell me it’s not because you guys are gay.” Zane looked like he was about to turn green, his teenager staring at him like he couldn’t figure out whether or not he was going to be furious or burst into tears.
“All right, one, it had nothing to do with me being gay. Two, it had nothing to do with Ellis being gay. Three, it haswaymore to do with somebody wanting this land and thinking that this was the way that they could get it.”
Zane blinked, then stood and started pacing, the motion like a lion at the zoo. Suddenly Zane could see his boy in a courtroom somewhere, making his closing statement, passionate and convincing. “Wait, wait, you’re telling me that I could possibly lose my whole family because some asshole wants a fucking ranch?”
Ichabod tried to decide if this was the time to say, “Watch your mouth,” and he decided possibly not. There was a time and place for pure fury, and none of the littles were in here, so that was okay.
“First and foremost, son, they can’t take you away from me. It’s not like you’re just hanging out here. I’m your legal parent. You know when we all did the adoption, youremember both you and Michael? You’re my son, and no one is going to take you, land or not.”
And if Ellis didn’t deal with this Rick guy, in short order, Ichabod would. He was not a violent man, he was not even an aggressive man, but these were his babies, and his teenager was scared. They had made his baby girl cry, and God knows what had happened with the middle two. Hopefully nothing. But enough was enough, and shit was fixing to hit the fan.
You didn’t mess with a man’s babies.
“You promise?” The last time that he had seen Zane look this vulnerable was the day his daddy had died.
The simple fact this Rick fucker had brought his teenager back to that space and time was enough to make him homicidal.
“You have my word. There is no force on earth, clear? Nothing. I would go to hell and fight the devil himself for you guys. You’re my kids.”
Zane nodded. “I told them we were happy, the house was good, nobody fought —any more than anybody ever fights. I mean, it’s a family.”
