Page 259 of The Defiant Curse

That it was.

“Just give her some space.”

That was probably for the best. No one wanted to bother her or upset her.

As they divided up, Ethan kept helping with the horses, and Graham was curious.

“Michael told me she wants more animals. Are you going to be okay with that?” he asked. “We rescued these horses from slaughter.”

He pet Juliet as he was brushing her down.

“And she wanted a bigger barn built.”

He knew why he was asking.

Ethan was notoriously difficult when it came to animals being adopted. Mostly, dogs.

It was clear that Michael had told his husband that.

Honestly, it wasn’t that he didn’t like them, but as a kid, he didn’t have pets. They barely had enough money for food for them. On the reservation, the dogs ran wild, and there was a good reason.

They had a better chance on their own than chained to a doghouse with Natives in charge.

So, technically, they all had pets.

Kind of.

“I’m good with it. I just don’t like dogs eating my shoes. That stems from my childhood.”

Graham let him talk.

“When you don’t have a lot growing up, and you knew you weren’t getting more of something, you were very protective of it.”

Graham got it.

“I’m sorry you had a bad upbringing.”

Ethan shrugged.

“It wasn’t bad. It was just…lean. Tell me about your life before the military,” he said, knowing some things about Graham, but not a lot. He did know his parents turned him out when they found out he was gay.

And that pissed him off.

He’d never tell CJ or any of the kids to leave. He’d never pack them up. Well, he’d likely be packing CJ up—for his prison sentence.

But that was a whole other situation.

At his curiosity, Graham moved the one horse into the stall, and began working on another one.

“I had a good childhood. I’m an only child, that I know of, but my parents were good parents until they found out I was gay. I made the mistake of telling them before I could go to university. I had to join the military to survive. That’s how I got lucky on a joint military venture and met D’Artangnan—I mean Michael.”

Ethan focused on the man.

“I guess I’m glad you had to go into the military then. I know that Michael was heartbroken over you for years.”

He let him talk.

“Elizabeth had to talk him down from the ledge MANY a night. She even had to go get him from a bar or three when he’d gotten into a fight or was too drunk to call a cab.”