Faith nodded once, making it clear that she was on board with that. "Because no one else needs to know what superpowers the Shades of Trouble have."
A bark of laughter burst from Billy's mouth. "I like that. Superpowers." He smiled at the girl. "I can also get on board with being Uncle Billy too."
"Yeah?" Faith asked. "Because I don't get to see my other uncles."
"My brother," Luke explained. "My family doesn't really talk to me. Her mom's brother moved out of state years ago."
"Well, then I guess I'll have to come home more often," Billy decided. "But, speaking of home, what's the status of Southwind?"
"Everything has been quiet since we got back from court," I told him. "The front gate was pushed down with something big, like a full-size truck or a tractor. Someone spray painted a threat on the door, but those are the only things we could find."
Billy was nodding as he took that in. "No damage to the cabins or other property used for the camp?"
"None," Cy assured him. "I checked. We just upgraded them to solar power, and the new air conditioners seem to be just fine."
Billy began using his thumb to pop the knuckles of the fingers on that same hand. "Ok, so that much property damage just to leave a threat doesn't make much sense. Now, I know that Simmons blames this place for his son, but - "
"What about his son?" I asked, trying to keep up.
"Ricky," Billy said, looking up at me. "He's gay."
"What?" Cy asked.
Billy just bobbed his head. "Yup. That's why you were accused of making out with some guy on his property, Cy. Wasn't you, though. It was Ricky's boyfriend. Simmons caught them, but he started yelling before he was close, so the boys split. Ricky ended up saying it must've been someone from Southwind, which is how it all started."
"And because I was here," Cy realized, "everyone assumed it had to be me."
"Yeah," Ash grumbled. "I never should've left."
"Yes, you should've," Billy countered. "One gay guy can't make up a couple. Gran knew it wasn't Cy. Took me a while before I found out it was Ricky, though. Met the guy when we were chasing the cattle back across. We talked here and there. I told him about you getting in trouble for it, and Ricky said he hadn't meant for that to happen." He reached up to scratch at his beard. "I don't think he's a bad guy. He's just in a bad situation, and I knew Gran would never hold you accountable."
"But Simmons would beat the shit out of him," Ash breathed.
Billy quickly looked at Faith. "Are they supposed to talk like that in front of you?"
"I've learned to ignore it," she admitted. "My dad even cusses in front of me now."
"No!" Billy gasped. "And I'm sure you'd never say bad words, right?" Then he winked.
Right on cue, Faith giggled. "I let my best friend do all of that."
Billy smiled at her, then turned back to the rest of us. "The issue we're dealing with is that Paul Simmons is not accepting of his son being gay. Either he knows or he suspects, and regardless of which it is, he's going to blame Southwind for corrupting him. Men like Simmons think that their problems are always caused by someone else. It's never just the way things are, and it's always some type of a conspiracy theory."
"Sounds like Mr. Simmons," Luke agreed. "I can also say that neither of his children come home often. Annie keeps trying to have large family gatherings on the holidays, but they both tend to be working or already agreed to spend the time with someone else."
"Because the family is toxic," Cy murmured. "But what does that have to do with Simmons trying to chase us away from Southwind?"
"You should also know," I told Billy, "that Simmons seems to think that making Luke break up with me will send me packing."
"Since," Luke explained, "she went away to be a model in Europe as a teen. According to him, she got picked on by girls in school, couldn't take it, so she moved away to hide from it. If we break up, he's convinced that she'll do it again."
"Sexist piece of shit," Billy snarled, snapping his mouth shut at the end like he hadn't meant for that to come out. "Sorry, Faith."
"It's ok," she assured him. "I won't wash your mouth out with soap until tomorrow."
He smiled, but this time it looked forced. "Simmons wants the land and minerals," he went on. "I've been updated with that much. He also seems to have made this a personal vendetta."
"He tried to buy it from Gran when she was in the hospital," Luke explained. "Vera wouldn't see him."
