“I’m too nervous to eat. It feels like I have angry crows in my stomach.”
“How can I help?”
“You can’t. I’ll need to… wait.” He raises his head, the color back in his cheeks. “Let me draw you.”
Will smiles. “How do you want me?”
“Naked, Will. The answer is always naked. You should know that by now.”
*
“I need to do something bad, Julie.”
She’s sitting on her bed, looking tired with dark circles under her eyes. “How bad?”
“Depends on how you look at it.”
“I’m too tired for riddles, Will. Is this about Owen?”
He shifts in his chair. “Why do you think that?”
“This is a hospice, not a morgue. Gossip passes through here just fine. You told me that you and Owen are together, and now it seems that everyone knows.”She shakes her head. “People should mind their own damn business. You’ve been taking crap from them for years.”
Will remains quiet. Julie has been spared from hearing about most of the shit he had to deal with because he always pretended to be better than he was around her.
“You’re doing it again,” she says. “Not letting me in.”
“I am letting you in. I’m here talking to you.”
“Yes, technically, but I’m still in the dark. Who do you need to hurt?”
He’s taken aback by the blunt question, but it forces him to speak frankly. “Nate.”
Julie nods. “I never liked that weasel. Are you going to be careful?”
“Yes.”
“He’s a cop.”
“I know.”
She watches him with concern, but she must see the determination in his eyes, so she doesn’t try to change his mind.
“I trust you, brother. Do what’s right.”
Chapter 19
Nate
“There’s no reason for him to start this crap all over again. We had enough of that last time, thank you very much.”
“He should just pack his shit and leave town.”
“He isn’t about to do that with his sister and all.”
Nate listens quietly to the exchange at Rodie’s. He is the one who started this storm by casually asking some people if they had heard about Will and Owen. The rumor ignited within hours, and it’s still the talk of the town three days later.
Once he hears enough, he walks back to his dim corner of the bar, knowing that neither Will nor Owen will dare show their faces around here. Will can pretend to be brave all he wants, but walking into this minefield is plain insanity. Nate wonders if his talk with Owen last night was effective. There’s no way in hell he would risk going to prison for Will, right?
