Roman chuckled. “Don’t worry, Dr. Phil, I’ve decided to talk to someone about the stuff that happened with my mom…and Walt.”
Gray slapped him on the back. “Man, I rock this big brother shit.”
Roman laughed but sobered when he said, “How are you doing with things?”
“It’s hard to miss someone who wasn’t really there, even when he was.”
“And Victoria?”
Gray shook his head. “Don’t really want or need that in my life. I’ve got all the family I need right here.” Once they reached the log by the stream, Gray said, “A little birdie told me that you were thinking about setting up roots around these parts.”
“Did that little birdie happen to be wearing bedazzled Nikes?”
“It may have,” Gray acknowledged.
“I found a couple of rental properties between here and Missoula that have a lot of land for Champ to run around on and the commute isn’t too bad. When Hunter’s done with school, we’ll see what happens next. But to answer your question, I think we’ve both found exactly where we want to be.”
Gray wrapped an arm around him and dragged him in for a long hug. “Welcome home, baby brother.”
Roman smiled as Ripley and Champ both began jumping against them with wet, muddy paws. “Better late than never,” he murmured as he reached down to pull Champ up on his lap.
***
Hunter parked his car in front of the hair salon and climbed out. He couldn’t help but scan the sidewalk outside his parents’ realty office at the end of the block. He had yet to make any kind of contact with them and had decided to hold off until after Roman had gotten the process of challenging the trusteeship underway. Hurrying into the salon, he easily found his grandmother sitting near the entrance. Her little brown dog, Teddy, was on her lap as the woman behind her did something to her hair that involved covering it in a strong smelling blue cream that reminded Hunter of the Smurfs cartoons he used to like to watch when he was little.
“Hey Gran,” he said as he came around the chair and leaned down to kiss her cheek.
“Oh, my boy, how are you?” she asked. Before he could answer, she looked at the woman behind her using the reflection in the mirror and said, “Felicia, this is my grandson.”
The young brunette smiled at him. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” she said as she held out her hand.
“No, no, don’t bother,” his grandmother said as she reached her hand up to push Felicia’s hand back. “My Hunter only likes boys who like boys,” she said crisply. “And he doesn’t need a beard,” she added.
Although Hunter wanted to disappear into the floor before he died of embarrassment, the brunette took it all in stride and let out a little laugh.
“Gran, do you have the papers?”
“I do,” she said as she pointed at her purse which was hanging from a hook underneath the counter in front of her. Hunter grabbed it and gave it to her and waited patiently until she pulled them out and handed them to him. “I went down to your father’s office to give him a piece of my mind.”
“No, Gran, we told you not to.”
His grandmother waved her hand as she gave him the purse back. “Don’t worry, he wasn’t there. But I made sure to tell that wife of his that they’re not getting what’s yours. I also told her that come election time next year, I’m going to find someone to run against him. And if I can’t, well then I’ll just do it myself.”
Hunter groaned. So much for the element of surprise. He leaned down to kiss her again and said, “Stay away from him, okay, Gran?”
His grandmother dismissed him with a wave but not before she planted a kiss on his cheek. Once he was back at his car, he tossed the papers on the passenger seat and began searching his pockets for his phone so he could let Roman know that the cat was out of the bag. The sound of a rumbling motor caught his attention and he looked up to see Finn’s truck on the other side of the square pulling into a spot in front of the police station. Finn and Rhys both waved to him and then Finn was motioning him over. He left his car where it was and trotted through the park. By the time he reached Finn, the young man and Rhys were sharing a heated embrace as they said their goodbyes.
“Hey, Hunter,” Rhys said as he slapped Hunter gently on the back before brushing one last kiss over Finn’s mouth. “See you later,” he murmured.
“Bye,” Finn said dreamily. It wasn’t until Rhys was out of sight that Finn finally focused on him. “Hey, I heard you saw your grandmother.”
Hunter nodded. It still felt so strange to be talking so openly with Finn but he wasn’t going to miss the chance to connect with the young man who could have become a good friend if circumstances had been any different. There was absolutely no residual attraction between them so that was one less obstacle to deal with.