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“That’s real good news,” Mike said once the truck had pulled off down the road, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Steady work for Rhett, and right in town too. He won’t need a car or anything for that.”

“Yeah,” I said, shaking thoughts of my daddy away. “So who’s this Xavier person? I don’t think I’ve heard that name before in my life.”

Mike and Cash exchanged a look that I couldn’t quite decipher, something amused passing between them like they were sharing a joke I wasn’t in on yet.

“Xavier’s the sheriff’s boyfriend,” Cash said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Been together, what, four or five months now?”

“About that,” Mike agreed. “He’s a wedding planner from New York City, if you can believe that. Came down here to plan Lucas and Beau’s wedding, actually, since he and Lucas are old friends. Beau’s the state barbecue champion several times over. I’m sure he’ll be entering the competition at the fair this year too.”

My eyebrows about shot up into my hairline. “Sheriff Webb’s got a boyfriend?”

I hadn’t meant for it to come out quite so surprised, but there it was, hanging in the air between us. Sagebrush’s sheriff, the same man who took over for his daddy when he retired, and the same one who wrote Dale a parking ticket last year that he was still sore about. That man, who seemed so guarded and careful, had a boyfriend.

“Surprised?” Cash asked, that same smirk as always creeping back onto his face.

“I mean, a little,” I admitted. “Guess I’m still gettin’ used to how many of us there apparently are runnin’ around this town.”

“Us?” Mike asked gently, not missing a beat. “You got something to tell us, Westley?”

By the time I realized what I’d done, it was far too late to take it back. My face went hot, hot enough that I figured I was beet red, like I’d been out in the sun for far longer than an hour or two. I opened my mouth, then closed it again, scrambling for some way to walk it back that wouldn’t make things worse.

“I just meant—” I started, then stopped, because there wasn’t really a good way to finish that sentence that didn’t dig the hole any deeper.

Mike held up both hands, that same easy, unbothered smile still sitting on his face. “Hey now, you don’t gotta say anything you don’t want to,” he said. “I ain’t tryin’ to pry it out of you.”

“It’s alright,” Cash added, leaning back against the stair rail with his arms crossed, looking about as relaxed as a man could look. “This is a safe place, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I stood there for a second, my heart still hammering, feeling exposed in a way I hadn’t felt since I was a kid caught sneaking out past curfew. But looking between the two of them, the easy way they stood together, the patience in Mike’s face, I figured maybe there wasn’t much point in dancing around it any longer. I wasn’t ashamed of how I felt about Rhett, but telling people about it was uncharted territory.

“It’s Rhett,” I said finally, my voice coming out quieter than I meant it to. “Me and Rhett. He got jumped because the ranch hands thought he was gay. That’s why my daddy threw me out for defendin’ him. I didn’t know it then. He was just my best friend. But now… we’re... together, I guess. If that’s the right word for it.”

Neither of them looked surprised. If anything, Mike’s smile just got a little wider, warm and unbothered, like I’d told him the sky was blue.

“Figured as much,” Cash said, not unkindly. “The way you two look at each other. Pretty easy to spot once you know what you’re lookin’ for.”

“You ain’t gonna say anythin’, are you?” The fear crept back in fast, my stomach clenching. “I mean, I don’t care so much anymore what my daddy thinks. But Rhett, he’s still scared. Real scared. If word got around before he’s ready⁠—”

“Westley.” Mike’s voice was gentle but firm, cutting through my spiral before it could really get going. “Nobody here is gonna say a word you don’t want said. That’s not how we do things. You tell folks in your own time, your own way. It’s nobody’s business to rush that along.”

I let out a long sigh, some of the tension draining out of my shoulders. “Thank you,” I said. “Both of you.”

“Don’t thank us,” Cash said, pushing off the rail. “Just means you got more people in your corner than you thought you did yesterday. That’s all.”

I nodded, still feeling a little raw around the edges. But it didn’t feel bad, not the way I might’ve expected. It felt more like setting down something heavy I hadn’t realized I was still carrying.

“Guess I should get back up on that roof,” I said, clearing my throat, eager to have something to do with my hands again.

“Guess you should,” Mike agreed, that easy grin back in place like nothing at all had shifted between us. “And Westley?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell Rhett we’re happy for him. For both of you.”

I nodded, my throat too tight to manage much more than that, and turned to grab the ladder, my mind already racing ahead to how I was going to tell Rhett about the job, and about this too. I wondered if he’d be as relieved as I felt, or if it’d just give him one more thing to be scared of.

I hoped for relief.

Chapter 18