Evan’s eyebrows rose. “Oh?”
“Yeah. We got to talk. I’m better when I can talk through my grief.” Mick stuffed a piece of pizza into his mouth. He liked to chatter when he got nervous or sad.
“She’d say we found the silver lining,” Evan said. “Well, you did.”
When Evan smiled, warmth shot through Mick. He was still crushing on Evan. Crazy. When Evan met his gaze, he wanted to smile back. He wanted to touch him again. Evan didn’t seem to be pulling away, either. Could they sort themselves out and maybe be friends? Something more? The desire to avoid him wasn’t at the forefront of his mind. At least they’d come full circle and could be on friendly terms. He just wished he wasn’t attracted to Evan James.
Evan ate in silence. He could listen to Mick talk for hours. Mick’s chatter helped him. When he needed to be quiet, Mick talked. Where he wanted to escape into himself, Mick forced him to stay present, which was good. If he got lost in his head, then he’d have a hard time getting back out.
He wasn’t in a good place. His grandmother was dead. But, in her wisdom, she’d forced him and Mick to be friends. He could lean on Mick. He hadn’t had someone to trust like that in forever. Most everyone wanted something from him. Not Mick.
“What’s your favorite memory? Or your favorite story involving your grandmother?” Mick asked. “I can tell mine if you want me to go first.”
“Go ahead.” He wasn’t in the mood to talk. He had plenty of good stories, but would rather just exist for a while. He had no desire to fiddle with his phone, play guitar or much else. The numbness overwhelmed him. The only reason he was eating was because the food was there.
“My favorite Martha story involves her getting her hair colored. She’d gone to choir practice and one of the ladies had a purple stripe in her hair. Martha decided she’d like one, too. She drove to the salon—Glynnis now calls her shop a salon—and told Glynnis what she wanted. I got a call at seven that night. She’d managed to get a flat tire and needed help. Well, the service station was closed and she was stuck. I left the office and met her in front of the salon. She had a hat and sunglasses on. You know Martha. She wasn’t the type to hide behind anything. I helped her with the tire and asked if she needed anything else. I wanted to ask about the hat, but I kept that to myself. She said no and refused to remove her disguise. I couldn’t help but worry about her so I pushed her to ditch the hat and glasses. Here Glynnis had misunderstood her and given her rainbow hair. She was ashamed to show anyone, but then her tire blew and she couldn’t hide so she used the hat and glasses. I said, ‘girl, you’re just in time for pride month. Rock it.’ She brightened right up and sported that rainbow through June. She was so proud. The next year she had her hair done that way on purpose and rode with me in the pride parade. I loved it.”
He grinned. His grandmother was good at encouraging. He would’ve loved to have seen her all dolled up for the parade.
“She looked good with rainbow hair.” Mick put his balled-up napkin down. “I’ll miss her.”
Evan hesitated. The words were there. Could he vocalize them? “When I was a kid, my grandmother told me she wasn’t fond of funerals. They were too depressing.” He stared at Mick. He’d never told anyone this story. “She said when she passed, she wanted to be propped up and waving. I know it sounds terrible. She wanted a recorder added so she could have conversations with the mourners. It sounds so ridiculous and I know she knew that, but it made the heaviness of my father’s funeral easier.”
“We were lucky to have her as long as we did.” Mick switched seats and settled beside Evan on the sofa. He grasped Evan’s hand. “We were.”
“Yeah.” He clung to Mick. He needed the anchor. “I’m going to have to stay here.” Part of him didn’t want to—he wanted to go back on tour. The rest of him looked forward to putting down roots.
“In Cedarwood?” Mick asked.
“Someone has to run the farm.” He’d worked on the land and could do it a second time. Besides, he had to do something to keep him occupied.
“We’ll have to go through the will, but you’ve got two boys from the vocational school who help, so you’ll have extra hands,” Mick said. “But you knew that. You’ll have to figure out what you want to do with them, but I’d suggest keeping them on.”
“It’s so they get experience, so I’ll keep them on.” He had few choices otherwise. He needed the help.
“Well, let’s make sure you’re getting the farm. I know what she wrote in her will, but we have to go over it later when you’re feeling up to it. Then we have to file it.”
“I assumed I’d get the farm.” He hadn’t expected her to do anything else.
“You do, but she had plans for the property.”
“Oh.” Well, shit.
“Evan, she wanted you to stick around. No selling it off, no walking away. She wanted you to settle down, work the land and be a part of Cedarwood,” Mick said. “Maybe she thought she’d live longer, but she wants you here.”
“She said all that?” Although he wasn’t surprised, he wished she’d have told him during one of their phone calls. Hell, he was shocked she hadn’t tried to hook him up with Mick and expected them to have a happy
