Chapter One
~ Victor~
Victor sighed and spun the knob on the safe in his room. It was tucked away in the back corner of his closet. Most people used safes for important documents or money. Victor used his small, hotel-like one for clothes. Clothes that he could never let his family see. He stood up and closed the door, turning to his bed and picking up the forest green shirt he’d been wearing earlier. His shorts were next. It always felt weird to him to put usual clothes back on after he spent some time in the skirt and tank top he had. He shrugged his shoulders, adjusting the fabric against his skin.
Two knocks on his door made him jump. It had to be his mom or dad. Paxton was at the campus and no one else really came up to the bedrooms. He glanced once more to make sure his closet door was shut and moved to unlock his bedroom door. His parents respected their privacy but he wouldn’t risk someone walking in on him. He lived with a supportive family, but he didn’t want to push how far that support went. The son of a rancher getting caught wearing more feminine clothing; even Victor knew there would be confusion and judgment there.He just had another week before he moved into the apartment at university.
“Hey, we’re about to eat.” His mom smiled at him and he nodded. He grabbed his phone off the dresser by the door and followed her downstairs. The house was rarely ever empty, but with Paxton busy with her job and his dad working on upgrading things around the ranch, his mom seemed to be trying to get more involved in his life. It wasn’t a bad thing. He loved his mom. Loved his entire family, including those added in by the foundation. But his mom was asking him nearly every day if he was ready to move out and how he planned on fixing things up. She would suggest they could go shopping. The apartment came furnished with the basics: bedframe, dresser, desk, and a couch in the living room. He knew she wasn’t ready for an empty house, but he was excited to have his own place and be able to decorate.
William, the owner of the Found Family Ranch foundation, and Brett, the foundation’s go-to business guy and property manager, were sitting at the table with his dad. It’d been over five years since the foundation was started. The first time he met William, he wasn’t even a teenager yet. His parents were supportive and Paxton came out as bisexual soon after, but seeing his dad jump so easily into this business deal that would help a lot of people was nice. Brett and his boyfriend-then-husband, Wylon, stayed in the guest house during the building process and for a while after it was up and running. They moved out of the house and a couple months later, his uncle, Xander, moved in. Victor didn’t know the whole story, but he watched him throw himself into work for months until Wright came along.
He didn’t get involved in the dramas or going-on around theranch. He was happy for his uncle and now his sister for finding their person. The wedding for Xander and Wright was intimate but fun. Wright’s grandparents, a few aunts and uncles, and two cousins came down. Wright had only met them a handful of times since he came to the ranch, but they seemed to genuinely care for him. Zaya, his sister’s girlfriend, on the other hand, kept her family at a distance. He knew she had money and was a yearly donor to the foundation. But most of her time she spent out with the cattle. She still joined them for dinner from time-to-time and they obviously joined for family events, cookouts, and celebrations.
“Hey, look who it is!” William shot a smile toward Victor as he sat down. “Are you ready to move to the city?”
“I am,” Victor said. He sat down next to his dad. William was sitting one chair over, giving his mom the space on the other side of his dad. Brett was sitting at the other end of the table. “I’ve got most everything packed and ready to move next week.”
“Have you met the person you’re going to be sharing with?”
“Not officially,” Victor said. “We’ve messaged here and there, but he isn’t very talkative. At least over text.”
“So you’ll get along great,” Brett said, leaning forward and hitting the back of his hand against Victor’s shoulder lightly. He sat back in his seat just as Victor’s mom came back with the final dish. They started passing around bowls of chicken, mashed potatoes, and veggies. As always, his mom’s cooking was spot on.
“How has the new tenant been?” His mom asked once they were all settled with full plates. There was enough left that Paxton and Zaya would have some leftovers once they got home.
“He’s alright,” William said. “Says he’s settling in nicely. He gives compliments to whoever made those brownies last week as a welcome.”
“That would actually be Victor,” Patrick said. “I think he made enough for us, the tenants, and the ranchers.”
“I didn’t realize the recipe was already doubled to begin with,” Victor said. He’d been home while everyone was either working or out. His mom had gone to the farmer’s market in the Fairwind town limits. He wanted something sweet and found his mom’s stack of recipes in a little box in the kitchen. “They were good, though.”
“Can’t argue that,” Brett said. “I’m pretty sure I ate at least three of them before I even made it home. Feel free to make that mistake more often.”
“We can also stop by campus here and there,” William said with a joking tone. “You know, if you want to take after your mom and cook.”
Victor’s cheeks heated while they joked about him cooking. He didn’t mind cooking; enjoyed it most of the time. He definitely preferred to bake over cook, but both ended with decent food. Their conversations bounced throughout the meal. He spoke up a few times, answering questions when he was asked something, but mostly he just watched and listened. The new tenant, he found out, was actually going to be working on campus. Victor hadn’t met him yet. His sister was much more outgoing than him, making it a point to at least introduce herself to each tenant. He knew that most of the people were there to lay low or start their lives over so he let them be. Of course, he wasn’t rude. If they came to family events or something, he would talk to them. Victor respected their privacy just like he liked that everyone respected his. Hewas always worried that someone was going to find his secret. The less people he talked to or became friends with, the less people that could get close enough to possibly find out.
The conversations went from cooking and food to stories about when William and Brett were living on campus. Brett was all too happy to tell Tracy about how oblivious William was to Clark’s feelings and vice versa. William scoffed and said it wasn’t his fault he identified as demi, meaning he needed to have that emotional connection first. Victor knew they were business owners and were wicked smart and serious when needed, but listening to them around the table now, he had to remind himself they were both hitting their thirties.
Another turn in conversation went back to the foundation. William was talking about the new houses up North and the outreach programs they were part of. There was money talk and terms that Victor didn’t understand. He was going to school to be a teacher. He tried his best in school and did fairly well. Not quite the level of his sister, but he passed all his classes and tests. He made the decision last year, when he got a teacher that fully believed in him. Their county school was small and it wasn’t known for advanced classes. There were very few. But he had a teacher the beginning of his senior year that really pushed each of the students to figure out what they wanted in life. She met with each student, going over transcripts and options. Several students weren’t planning to go to college or university. She never judged, always encouraged. Victor wanted to be like her.
“Food was great, Mom.” He stood and grabbed his plate when dinner was over. They all grabbed something to clear the table. Victor and his dad were on horse duty, but William and Brett offered to do the dishes since hismom cooked. He offered his mom a side hug. “Thank you.”
“Of course, sweetie.”
His dad followed him outside. He was in his typical work clothes, a white tee with a flannel over top, jeans and a belt, and his boots. Victor was in a tee, shorts, and tennis shoes. Not exactly the best thing to be wearing to muck out stalls, but he’d done it numerous times before.
“You’ve been kind of quiet lately,” his dad said when they were in the barn alone. Well, in the barn without any other human ears alone. “Is everything alright? I know we’ve been busy this summer.”
“Yeah, I’m good.” Victor gave his dad a smile that he hoped would pass as genuine. He really didn’t mind how everyone was busy this summer. His parents gifted him with a car for graduation so he was able to come and go with friends as he pleased. The only thing his parents asked was to help a couple times a week with the horses and clean up his mess in the house. They still did dinner most nights and had their family get-togethers so it wasn’t like they were all just doing their own things all the time.
“Are you ready to move out?” The horses had been out most of the day and he knew they’d have to clean up the paddock field in a couple days, but it meant the stalls wouldn’t be that bad.
“Would you be offended if I said yes?” Victor’s words were joking, but also held the smallest bit of truth.
“Not at all,” his dad said easily. “Your sister did it; it’s only fair that you should get that chance too. I don’t like that you haven’t met this roommate of yours yet.”
“He doesn’t seem like a bad guy,” Victor said. He shoveled a pile of wet bedding and dumped it into the wheel barrow theywere sharing between the stalls. He was already working up a sweat. “He said he’ll be there on move in day, didn’t care how we fixed up the apartment, and said that I could choose which room I wanted. I get the impression that he won’t actually be using the apartment much.”
