"Well, if you need me to take her again, I'm here," she said before smiling at me kindly and then leaving.
No, it wasn't perfect, but I'd take it. When Mike showed up about an hour later, I'd take that too. He came with beer for the boys and a bottle of scotch for Violet. It was a small bottle, but she hugged the man for his thoughtfulness. I had a feeling that Maisie had helped him out, though.
So, while Faith told Ash all about her Thanksgiving dinner and what she had helped to cook, the rest of us headed out the back. Cy lit the fire pit, making the area around the table feel rather comfortable. Lucy followed, demanding that Mike hold her so her feet wouldn't get cold. Sissy was with Faith, of course.
Mike popped the top off his beer and let out a deep sigh. "So, Maisie dragged my ass to church today. Did you know that Ash said something to her? Like right before they grabbed him, he told her I was serious, so she's been calling me lately. She also stops by the garage before her shift."
"Nice," I said. "Guess you were just being too subtle, huh?" Or chicken-shit, but I wouldn't say that.
"Well, my point is that they prayed for Ash at church. The real nice kind, too. Not like they used to where they hoped to chase the devil out of you people. They prayed for him to get better fast." He sucked back a drink of his beer. "Yeah, and it sounds like Charlie Morgraves and Tim Booth got fired yesterday. Six state troopers are now stationed up there, and there's some internal affairs guy taking over the place."
"No shit?" Violet asked.
Mike just nodded proudly. "Yup. According to Dan, that officer you know? Yeah, sounds like shit's hitting the fan. Someone from the state is riding their ass hard. I'm guessing that's the one guy? Um, Berto?" He paused. "Is that really his name?"
"Roberto," Cy clarified. "Berto for short."
"Well, pretty sure the whole department's about to get canned. I mean, 'cept for Dan. His partner got written up for not escalating shit. Sounds like he was here that night they pulled guns on you, Cy."
"Three guns," Cy muttered. "Which means he didn't draw on me. He must've been the guy by his car."
"No idea," Mike admitted. "I just figured that you'd like to have a little good news finally." Then he grinned. "And I got a little for you too, Violet. Paul Simmons is pissed at his contractor. He was planning a big development deal with some real estate developer, right? Like, one of those big companies that makes the little ranchettes? Yeah. Guy not only backed out, but stepped down as the head of the company."
Violet just smiled. "Which means Billy did it. Simmons no longer has a reason to want Southwind."
"In theory," Mike countered. "He was kinda ranting about how Southwind has fucked this whole place up and it's all your fault this town is going to shit. See, everyone in town has been talking about how someone tried to kill Ash for being queer. Shit, and there's a lot of people who are saying queer instead of fag, too. Talking about how he's bi, not gay, and all that." He waved that off. "Yeah, anyway, Ricky Simmons, Paul's boy? He said he's gay. Said it real loud to a bunch of people at the Grill too. Like, it's all over."
"We already knew that," Cy admitted. "Well, that he's gay. Not that he finally decided to come out."
"What?" Mike gasped. "I mean, I figured out about Luke, but that's only because we were attached at the hip through high school. How'd you know about Ricky?"
Cy just smiled. "Because I wasn't the one making out with some guy back there, Ash was in Europe, and everyone else at Southwind was straight. Excluding Bea and Vera, of course."
Mike just bobbed his head slowly. "So you've known Ricky's gay for a while and ain't never said shit?"
"I would never out someone," Cy said. "But it also took a while before I figured out that it was Ricky. I just knew it wasn't me - even though Simmons swears it was."
"Nice," Mike said. "I'd just brace for Paul to try to sue you or something. No idea, but that man wants to burn this place to the ground. He's sure that Vera and Violet are nothing but trouble and need to be put in their place."
"I am in my place," Violet assured him.
Mike hung around for a while, saying he had to work off the investment Ash had made in his business. At his request, I showed him a few of the projects I still had to get to, like the fencing for the horses. Mike started making plans to come out to help a few times a month. He also admitted that he now had enough work to actually grow a bit, and he was thinking about hiring someone to run the office, since he didn't want another "wrench monkey" in his damned garage.
It was the next day when Cats Peak blew up. Our first hint was a text from Mike saying something was going down at the Grill. Not long after that, Emily called Violet to let her know that Charlie Morgraves had been arrested by the state troopers. Bit by bit, information began to trickle in, but there wasn't much.
That afternoon, my phone buzzed with an alert from the gate. Someone else answered it before I could, so when a tap came at the front door, I headed over to open it, only to find my brother on the other side. I had to pause for a second, because his face was not one I had expected.
"John?" I asked.
He grinned. "Yeah, um, just dropped Sadie off at the barn for work today, and heard the most interesting news."
"Ok..." Because I couldn't imagine what news would make him decide to stop here in the middle of the day. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" But I opened the door wider, inviting him in.
"My day off," he explained as he stepped into the house. "First, I heard your boyfriend got hurt pretty badly. How's he doing?"
"Ash," I said, giving him the right boyfriend. "And he's ok. He's actually making trips down the hall on his own now, although he'll still ask for help if he thinks it will get him a little more attention."
"So the little guy," John said, pausing. "Well, not that either one of them are little, but the smaller of the two. Lighter hair?"
