Zane nodded, still frowning in confusion. “I thought Earl didn’t even remember Nick’s name from the snake incident.”
Ty shook his head. “He was just messing with you, trying to make you nervous about hiking. Nick spent practically every leave with us after that. Ma and Dad are pretty close to him. I’m telling you this so . . . just don’t let Nick know how Dad reacted when Grandpa outed us, okay?”
Understanding finally dawned on Zane’s face, and anger swiftly followed.
“Please?” Ty tried. “Dad can handle himself, he deserves what he gets, but Nick . . . Nick sees my parents as his own.”
Zane schooled his initial emotions, merely nodding instead. “I promise. For Nick, not for Earl.”
“Thanks, Zane,” Ty whispered, and he slipped his arm around Zane’s waist as they headed into the breakfast room.
They were greeted by the others with good mornings from Earl and Mara, and knowing smirks from Nick and Kelly.
Ty plopped down in the seat next to Kelly and peered over at his friends. “What the hell happened to you two this morning?”
Nick began to snicker and Kelly rolled his eyes as he took a sip of coffee. “I fell out of the bed.”
“Fell?” Zane asked. “Or you were pushed?”
“Legit fell. Rolled right out of that thing and took the covers with me. I dreamt I was being attacked by a giant squid and woke up thinking I was drowning.”
“I woke up cold and very confused,” Nick added.
Ty couldn’t help but laugh.
Kelly smiled slyly. “What happened to you this morning?”
“I wasn’t attacked by a giant squid, if that’s what you’re asking,” Ty drawled. He glanced toward the end of the table at his grandfather, giving him a smart salute. “Gramps, how’s it going?”
Chester grumbled over his bacon and eggs, piling them all together onto a piece of bread to make a sandwich. He glanced up at Ty and Zane, narrowing his eyes before turning his attention to Nick, who was sitting next to him and minding his own business.
Chester pointed his fork at Nick’s face. “When I was your age, sonny, they used to say redheads was relations of Satan.”
Kelly choked on his breakfast, but Nick just gave Chester an enigmatic smile.
“What do they say about you now?” Chester asked him.
Nick gave an easy shrug. “They say we have no soul.”
Chester pursed his lips, nodding thoughtfully as he patted one gnarled hand against Nick’s shoulder. “Eh. True enough.”
Nick raised both eyebrows, but then he held up his orange juice and Chester toasted him by tapping his coffee to the glass. Kelly was still coughing, trying to swallow and laugh at the same time. He finally had to excuse himself and stumbled out of the room to go find somewhere to spit it out.
Ty glanced at Zane and found the man hiding his face with both hands, laughing silently. At least now he knew it wasn’t just him Chester spoke to that way. But Nick had always taken Chester’s eccentricities in stride, probably even better than Ty and Deuce did because Nick just never gave a fuck.
Nick was still smiling, shaking his head as he ate. From the first time Ty had brought him home, he’d fit into the Grady family shockingly well. Earl had taken a special interest in him after the scene Nick’s father had made at their graduation. Whether Nick’s father would have tried to hit Nick in front of them all was questionable, because men like him usually worked behind closed doors, but Ty had known immediately that he was going to have to pull his father off Nick’s if a punch was thrown.
Ty realized he was staring at Nick, frowning with the memories. Something about Nick had been off ever since they’d been deployed, and it had gotten worse once they’d returned home, but Ty couldn’t put his finger on it. Something just felt . . . wrong. Nick was keeping something to himself, something that was troubling him. Ty told himself to find some time alone with his best friend to see if he needed to talk.
Zane jabbed him in the ribs. “You okay?” he whispered in Ty’s ear.
Ty tore his eyes away from Nick and nodded, realizing belatedly that Earl had been speaking to him. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I asked how your night went, but I guess I know,” Earl said with a short laugh.
Chester began to cackle at the end of the table. “I’m the only Grady didn’t get lucky last night!”
Nick dropped his fork and put his hand over his eyes.
Chester grabbed his arm and shook him. “You want to bang something too, sonny, you can borrow my shovel!”
They were still laughing when Kelly came jogging back into the room. He looked flustered. “Guys, there’s something wrong outside.”