There was only one solution. He reached out and drew Cal close, wrapped his arms around Cal’s slender waist, and buried his face against Cal’s belly.
“I’m not a violent man,” he whispered.
The words weren’t loud, but Cal must have heard him because he cradled Zeke’s head against him, and leaned to kiss the top of his head.
Maybe there were people watching and maybe there weren’t. Zeke didn’t care either way, not when he felt the sweep of absolution moving through him.
“You’re not,” said Cal. “But you were protecting me. Nobody’s ever done that before.”
“I could have done it without the rifle,” Zeke ground out.
What an idiot he was. Anger had taken over, and that was so unlike him. But perhaps the strong feeling went along with other, even more powerful feelings, unlike those he’d felt when he’d been with Betty Lou. What he felt for Cal was different, and engaged all of him, his body, his passion, and his rage.
“Maybe,” said Cal. He held Zeke even tighter before letting him go to tip Zeke’s chin up in his fingers. “But nobody got hurt. We’re both here.”
As Zeke looked around him, he realized they were alone in the shade next to the parking lot. Everything felt still and quiet, almost peaceful. As if Zeke hadn’t almost become a murderer only seconds before.
He didn’t imagine that Galen was going to run to Gabe or even Leland and tell them all about it. That responsibility laywith Zeke, and Zeke alone. As for now, he needed to make sure of Cal.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his hands going to Cal’s hips as he looked up at him. “He went at you pretty hard.”
“Nothing I’m not used to,” said Cal in a flippant way.
The words were like a stab to Zeke’s heart. Nobody should accept such treatment as normal.
At least Zeke was there to make sure Cal would never be subjected to that kind of brutality again. And just as he would with a young, abused horse, he stood up slowly and held Cal against him.
“I’ll take care of whoever needs to hear what happened,” said Cal. “Gabe. And maybe Leland, too.”
“We’ll go together,” said Zeke, feeling fierce about this. “You’re not on your own now. But I need to know what happened.”
“Because I went to prison?” asked Cal, sounding like he was worried that his time behind bars would be a reason for Zeke to reject him.
“I know why you went,” said Zeke, tightening his hands on Cal’s hips, but gently. “To get away. I guess I never understood—” He paused, thinking this over before he spoke it out loud. “I never understood why you would steal from Mr. Simms, who’d done nothing but work hard all his life for money he needs in his old age.”
To his surprise, Cal smiled, and moved between Zeke’s thighs, and laced his hands around Zeke’s neck, resting on his shoulders. Zeke looked up at him and waited.
“He never lost a dime,” said Cal. “I took money out of his account and routed it to nowhere. Even if the money had gone somewhere, it was insured, and Mr. Simms wouldn’t lose any of it. I purposefully made a mess out of the theft, so the FBI could spot it right away. They arrested me inside of a week. It was alla ploy. I never wanted to steal from him, but Preston was at me and at me.” Cal sighed and hung his head. “I caved, but I was at the end of my rope. After all my other attempts, I didn’t know what else to do, so I got myself arrested.”
“I guess I can understand that,” said Zeke slowly, leaning back to feel the pressure of Cal’s hands on his neck. “Now that I’ve met him, at least.”
“Hopefully, you’ll never have to meet him again.”
Zeke considered this as he lifted his chin, an invitation for a kiss.
They would have to be witnesses and maybe appear in court. They certainly needed to explain to Gabe and Leland what happened, and that needed to happen before anything else did. He valued the standing he had in those men’s eyes, and he was proud of his reputation as a hard working man.
“We need to get this over with.” Zeke stood up and clasped Cal’s hands in his, as a deterrent to what he really wanted to do, which was to pull Cal into the quiet shadows and kiss him hard, kiss him good. Make it plain how he felt. “I reckon it won’t get any easier.”
Cal smiled at him and rose on his toes to kiss him on the mouth. And Zeke sighed. Who knew that kissing another man—that kissing Cal—would be so simple, yet so amazing?
Gabe came out of the shadows of the woods, with Galen at his side, and who knew where Galen’s team was except that they were probably obediently at work, in spite of having no supervision. But that was Galen’s gift.
Gabe’s gift was to listen to Zeke explain the events of the morning, how Preston had abused Cal, and kept coming around even though he’d been told to stay away. Beneath those words was Zeke’s desire to put this behind him, and quickly so he and Cal could build their future together.
“What about the rifle?” asked Gabe, his voice level.
“It was pure impulse on my part,” said Zeke. “When I heard Preston had come by to harass Cal again, I grabbed it from my tent. It was beneath my cot.”
