As he walked back to his office, Laine couldn’t help but wonder how much more he could take before he broke. God willing, he wouldn’t ever get an answer to that.
Brendon watched the sheriff walk off, studying the defeated droop of his shoulders. Laine might seem fine to everyone else, but there were little tells, small nuances that one had to know to look for. Beside him, a low growl slipped from Zeke’s lips. Brendon, turned on and irritated at the same time, started to set his lover straight but stopped when he saw the teasing grin on Zeke’s face. He wasn’t quite able to bring himself to smile back, instead darting another worried glance at Laine’s retreating figure.
“Something’s wrong with him.” Brendon pushed at the small of Zeke’s back.
“I’ve been saying that since we met him, babe, but you refused to see it.” Zeke tossed in a look that all but said ‘Duh!’
Brendon fought against a smile—he was not going to encourage Zeke. Not for this, anyway. He applied a little more pressure to Zeke’s back and looked up at him through his lashes. Sometimes that worked. “Go talk to him, please?”
Zeke snorted and shook his head. “I know that look, and I don’t want to go talk to Stenley. What the hell am I gonna say to him? Let’s have an Oprah moment?”
Brendon tried to cover his chuckle with a cough, not that he thought his lover was buying it. Time to try a different tack. “Then I guess I can go talk to him and you can hang around at the café or something so he doesn’t feel like we’re ganging up on him. Hopefully, it won’t take long.”
Zeke studied him. Brendon knew what he was looking for, but he wouldn’t find it. Brendon wasn’t attracted to Laine—nor was Laine attracted to him. They were friends, plain and simple, and he’d really like for his lover and his friend to get along. Somehow, Brendon doubted Laine had many close friends.
He knew the second Zeke gave in by the way his brilliant green eyes seemed to turn a darker shade—and the resigned sigh that pushed from his lover’s lungs was a dead giveaway, too. “All right, I’ll go talk to the man, but why you think he’d tell me anything…” Zeke shook his head and gave Brendon’s hand a quick squeeze. “I’m only doing this because I love you.”
Brendon wanted nothing more than to throw his arms around Zeke and kiss him until they were both breathless, but the small town of McKinton, Texas was not that tolerant. At least, he didn’t think the folks here were, and wasn’t willing to bet their lives on it. He settled for letting his hand trail down Zeke’s arm, brushing the hand on the cane with his fingertips.
“Thank you. I love you too.” Then Brendon couldn’t help himself—he leaned over and whispered into his lover’s ear, “But you know you’re worried about him, too.”
Zeke opened his mouth for what Brendon assumed was a denial. He didn’t know which of them were more stunned with what actually came out.
“Yeah, I am.” Zeke snapped his mouth shut and turned to follow Laine.
Zeke managed to get the door open without dropping his cane, something he seemed to have trouble with for some reason. He glanced up at Doreen’s excited squeal, the sound nearly puncturing his eardrums. Doreen never squealed, not that he’d ever heard before. It wasn’t a pleasant sound, even if it did warm his insides. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that not everyone in this small town hated him.
“Ezekiel Mathers! It’s about time you stopped in to say hi!” Doreen was up and had an arm around his waist before Zeke could protest that he didn’t need the help. When her other arm came around him and Zeke comprehended the fact that Doreen was hugging him rather than trying to help him limp along, he was glad he hadn’t snapped at her.
“I’m so glad to see you!” Doreen leaned back as Zeke patted her awkwardly on the back. “You look pretty good, Zeke.” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows at him and Zeke thought he’d stepped into an alternate universe. Doreen was a lot of things—tough, determined, female—but he surely couldn’t remember her being this much of a flirt. Then again, hadn’t he learnt that he didn’t know the people of this small town as well as he thought he did?
“You’re looking good yourself.” Zeke winked at her and immediately felt himself blushing. He cleared his throat and took a steadying breath. “Is Sheriff Stenley busy?” Suddenly, the idea of talking to Laine didn’t seem as intimidating as staying out here with Doreen.
Doreen laughed and released him, mostly. She held on to his free hand and tugged him along behind her. “Sure, Sheriff Stenley is available. He’s probably not doing anything other than sitting in his office brooding.” Doreen glanced back at him, a troubled look on her face as she stopped walking. “You know”—she shot a glance at the sheriff’s closed door, her voice dropping to a whisper—“he feels responsible for what happened to you. I think it’s been eating at him.”
Zeke felt sucker punched, and not a little confused. He’d had no idea Laine felt that way. “Why should he feel responsible? He wasn’t driving that car. For that matter, if I’d filed charges on Eva sooner, she wouldn’t have been out on the loose and I wouldn’t be standing here holding a cane.” That was a truth he had to live with, his own bundle of anger and guilt that Brendon refused to let him get bogged down in. But who did Laine have to help him?
Shaking her head, Doreen clucked her tongue. “It wasn’t neither of you boys’ fault.”
Zeke wasn’t even going to protest being called a boy. Doreen would ream him
