They both let that sink in. Nathan beamed with pride up at the clouds.
“That’s wonderful, mate,” Eamonn said. “But you have to come clean.”
If only it were that easy. Some flashing alarm inside Nathan kept warning him that this would all blow up in his face. Because that was what Nathan did: he took good things and ruined them. This was why his dad kept his distance from him and his real family wanted nothing to do with them.
“They’ll hate me. Liam will hate me,” Nathan said.
“I thought you were just shagging.”
“We…” Nathan thought about the way Liam smiled at him on the farm, and the way he spooned him in bed. Just the image of Liam’s face in his mind caused his heart to pump a warm feeling throughout his body, followed by a surge of panic when he pictured losing him forever. “I have to go. Thanks for chatting, E.”
Nathan tucked his phone in his pocket and looked at the rolling green hills against the cloudy sky, hoping that maybe they had a solution to get him out of this mess.
Chapter 23
Liam
By the end of the next week, lambing season had finally wound down. The new family pens were built, mothers and lambs were sufficiently bonding. And Liam would not have been able to get through it without Nathan. He was grateful to Mark for putting up those flyers, for more reasons than one.
To celebrate the end of the season, Liam took Nathan out to dinner as colleagues. After not leaving the farm for a month, he figured they deserved a night on the town. Liam made a reservation at a restaurant overlooking the water. He wanted Nathan to get the full experience of the city.
On the drive into Wellington, Liam pointed out places he used to frequent. The café where he’d pick up his morning coffee. The street stuffed with dive bars where he and his co-workers would party after a long night. The old cinema where they would watch their finished product and clap for each other’s names in the credits. It seemed like a whole lifetime ago.
“Do you miss it?” Nathan asked him. He was fashionably dressed in a blazer and pressed jeans. Liam kept up with a similar outfit, although his blazer was more of a light jacket, and his jeans had a permanent crinkle in them from too much wear.
“Do I miss it?” Liam repeated as he looked out the window. Each location had a memory and a story, and unfortunately, many of those stories involved Kelly and Craig. “Miss is the wrong word. I liked my life then, and I like my life now.”
“But your life now is better, right?” Nathan asked with a smirk.
With you in it?“Yeah.”
Liam forwent valet parking in favor his special spot on a quiet side street about which few people knew. They arrived at the restaurant early, and the host suggested they could wait at the bar until their table was ready. Nathan and Liam traded a knowing look. That was a bad idea waiting for happen. Liam suggested instead they go for a stroll on Cuba Street, a promenade with shops and good people-watching that led to Lambton Harbour.
It was a clear night, and as Liam looked ahead to the water, he thought he could see to America.
“It’s beautiful. It feels like I’m in this secret corner of the world,” Nathan said.
“You Brits, thinking you’re still the center of the planet. What if we’re at the center, and England’s in the corner?”
Cuba Street was alive with people gathering at pubs, filtering in and out of stores, and eating al fresco. Hints of the salty ocean breeze fluttered in the breeze. Liam liked being able to share this with Nathan.
“I’m glad you’re here. I could not have gotten through lambing season alone.”
“How’d you do it last year?”
“I had a smaller flock, and I leaned on Mark. A lot.” He and his usually even-keeled brother had gotten into several screaming matches as Liam figured out what he was doing. Mark worked a full-time job, took care of the kids, and still made time to assist him. Having such a dependable, caring brother made up for having three shitty ones. “But all farmers have rough seasons in the beginning. I’m sure my mum and dad did, too.”
“You’ll be able to deliver lambs in your sleep next year.”
Liam heaved out a breath. “If I’m still on the farm.”
Nathan bobbed his head up. “What do you mean?”
He pulled up an electronic copy of the real estate agreement on his phone and showed it to Nathan.
“You’re selling the land?”
“I don’t know. Grates Realty is a very well-known company here. They know what they’re doing.”
