“No?None for you? Fine.” From there, Braydon started going from one person to another– even complete strangers – handing out balloons. There obviously weren’tenough people in the waiting room, but that didn’t seem to stop Braydon, hejust made his way out into the hall. Ethan knew he’d have all of the balloonshanded out in no time. The guy was crazy.
“Whatare you doing?” Another familiar voice sounded from the hallway. A strangledlaugh followed by, “No. I don’t want a damn balloon.”
Ashe watched his cousin Jared Walker – also known as the new man in charge ofWalker Demolition – make his way into the waiting room, he considered escapingwhile everyone’s attention was diverted. Ethan prepared himself for theconfrontation that he expected to come.
WhenJared looked his way, Ethan nodded in acknowledgement but sent up a silent prayerthat his cousin wouldn’t stop to chat. He didn’t have anything to say to theguy. Especially after the last couple of conversations they’d had.
Granted,Ethan respected the fact that Travis had hired Jared to come in and manageWalker Demolition now that he was fully immersed in the new resort, but thatdidn’t mean Ethan liked the guy. Ok, so he liked the guy, he just wasn’t fondof the ass chewing he had received on Blake’s behalf.
Technically,up until that morning, Blake was an employee of Walker Demolition and Ethandidn’t understand why he had to be the one to take the heat every time Blakefucked up. Which had been frequently, Ethan knew.
Blakewasn’t the most reliable, didn’t usually come into work on time, and sometimesdisappeared for a couple of days without bothering to even call and let Ethanknow where he was. And despite the fact that Ethan had been dating him – forlack of a better term – he wasn’t his keeper. Nor was he his boss. Not thatJared seemed to understand that. So, needless to say, they’d butted heads sincethe day Jared showed up right around the first of the year.
Nowthat Blake wasn’t working for them, Ethan wondered if that would help thestrained relationship that had started to develop since the first week ofJanuary when Jared had shown up out of the blue. There was a story behind hiscousin’s reason for relocating to Coyote Ridge, but out of respect to Jared,Ethan had never tried to get to root of that reason. Watching as Jared shookhands with Travis and then Curtis, Ethan started to wonder why he hadn’t putforth the effort.
Itwasn’t like Ethan had wanted anything to do with running the family business.He had more than enough to do in the mechanic shop, and that’s actually wherehe wanted to stay. He liked being out of the limelight, staying in the shadowsand not having to deal with any of the political bullshit. Jared seemed to besuited perfectly for the job, although Ethan knew for a fact that if he neededhis cousin to get his hands dirty and help out in the shop, he’d be capable ofdoing that as well.
Hmm…he certainly wasn’t going to tell Jared that Blake quit, that was for damnsure. The last thing he needed was some nosy family member getting all up inhis business.
Chapter Two
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Beaustood in the background, watching as the Walker family rejoiced in the newestaddition to their family. Being in the midst of all of their excitement, Beaucouldn’t help but feel it too. Having grown up as an only child, he had foundhimself drawn to the Walker household because there was always something goingon, and he had fit in from day one.
TheWalker family was the exact opposite of his own family. Curtis and Lorrie dotedon their children, spent time with them, and encouraged them in everything theydid – even now, when they were all full grown.
InBeau’s house growing up, encouragement came when it benefited his father andonly then. Not that it was necessarily a terrible thing because growing up Beauhad worked his ass off to please his father. It hadn’t done much good, but thebest memories he had were those rare times his father looked at him as thoughhe hung the moon. Never mind the fact that it all came crashing down during hissenior year of high school.
Itwasn’t that his parents didn’t love him, he knew they did. They just didn’thave much time for him. Growing up, his father had been right there rooting himon in all his football glory, but, maybe because of that, their relationshiphad always been tense. At times, Beau felt like his father was more his coachthan his actual parent. And, when the day came that his football dreams crashedand burned, an even bigger gap formed between them. Beau had never questionedit. Having felt as though he let his father down, he never even thought to askwhy their relationship had dwindled as fast as his future had.
Sincehe’d had the welcoming arms of the Walker family, Beau had simply continued toput one foot in front of the other, finding himself spending less and less timeat home and more time at Zane’s. At first it was strange because growing up,Zane was as much a part of Beau’s family as he was Zane’s. Surprisingly, Zanehadn’t questioned the rift between him and his father, but that’s probablybecause Zane hadn’t understood it either. After all, Curtis Walker was the oppositeof Ben Bennett.
WhereCurtis was supportive, Ben was critical. Where Curtis laughed with his boys,Ben frowned, never understanding the joke or the reason for so much happiness.And Beau’s mother, Arlene, was very much like her husband.
Andnow, considering the direction that Beau’s life had taken, the revelation he’dmade about himself, he couldn’t imagine sharing his innermost secrets with hisparents. He knew how they would react if he ever had the guts to tell them hewas gay. After having spent a lifetime not caring what people thought of him,for some reason, Beau cared what they thought. Which meant their relationshipwould continue to be strained because Beau had no intention of letting themdown again.
So,as long as they accepted him, Beau would continue to find comfort within theWalker family, celebrating their triumphs, mourning their losses and everythingin between.
Beauturned and smiled like a fool as Zane approached. He refused to bring down thecelebration, and he knew the first person who would suspect he was dwelling onthoughts better left alone was Zane.
“What’sup?” he asked casually, readjusting his stance, but not moving from hisposition against the wall.
Zaneglanced around the room and then back at Beau like he was expecting someone tosneak up on him.
“Youwanna grab something to eat?” Zane’s question was said in a conspiratorialwhisper, which was a dead giveaway that the man was up to his mischievous ways.
“Why?Cafeteria food calling your name?” he asked Zane as he watched Braydondisappear out into the hallway again, Brendon and Jessie right on his heels.
“Youknow it,” he answered with a grin.
“Liar.”
Zanelaughed.
Beauhad known Zane long enough. Knew how his brain worked. And the last thing Zanewas thinking about was hospital food. In fact, the way Zane was eyeing V, Beauknew he was craving something a lot more appetizing.
“Nah,I think I’m gonna hang here for a few more minutes. Then I’ve got to head intowork. But I’ll catch up with y’all later. Maybe we can get a beer after work.”Beau declined the invitation to their rendezvous as nicely as he could.
