He’d decided this deck was the perfect place to place a Skype call to his former partner. Considering it had been a few months since they’d communicated, he guessed it was time. Past time, actually.
“So, you’re making out okay there?” Beck asked. “How’s your grandpa? Oh, and your brothers, Sean and Noah, they’re living there now, too, aren’t they?”
“They’re all fine, Beck. And I’m doing good. Better than good, actually. I’ve met a very distant cousin. Her name’s Mary. I’m hoping to convince her to marry me.” Toby wasn’t going to go over the finer points of his ménage marriage over Skype. That was a conversation best had face to face.
But he and Anthony knew that was where their relationship with Mary was headed. They just hadn’t quite decided the perfect time and place to pop the question.
“Hey, that’s great news!” He grunted. “So tell me, why the hell Texas, if I may ask? That’s a hell of a distance from home for your grandpa to have settled himself, isn’t it?”
Toby realized he’d never actually explained his family history to the man. They hadn’t had that kind of a personal relationship, despite the fact that Beck had trained him and then taken him on as partner. They’d socialized sometimes on holidays and special occasions, and before moving to Texas and joining the WPD, he would have said they were close.
It wasn’t until I met Anthony that I understood how close two men could be. Brother-close. That wasn’t altogether true either, because he felt closer to Anthony than he’d ever been with his own brothers.
I guess, like Anthony, I really was meant to share a woman. A wife.
“Well, back in time my great-great-grandfather, Isiah, came here to visit his brother, Adam, and then up and left his wife and kids for that good man and his kin to care for. Turns out, the family of Kendalls here took our side of the family in as their own. Isiah’s wife had apparently been ill when her husband deserted her and she passed within the year. His oldest, Thomas, stayed and worked, contributing to the family until his youngest sibling was old enough to fend for himself. Then he followed that one to Wyoming to settle. But he’d come back a few times to visit, considering Adam’s daughter-in-law, Chelsea, his stepmother. When Thomas passed, his youngest—my Grandpa Noah—took up the habit of visiting and keeping the ties close. He—my grandpa—always considered this place as much his home as the one he made in Wyoming.”
“So you’ve got a lot of family there, then?”
“The entire town of Lusty is practically all family. It is a small town, but still.”
Beck barked out a laugh. “Lusty, huh? Well, that’s a hell of a name. Maybe why you found your bride there, too.”
Toby shrugged but grinned. What could he really say to that?
Then Beck shook his head. “Families are damned complicated, aren’t they? Complicated and sometimes just a pain in the ass.”
Topy thought of his own—and the blessedly few cousins he had back in Wyoming that were total assholes.
“That’s the truth.” But his cop instincts sat up and took notice of Beck’s tone. “How’s your gang making out?”
Beck sighed. “Jason was having a hell of a time with his middle one, Joey. Kid got mixed up in the wrong crowd. You know how it goes?”
“I’ve heard from some about that kind of thing.”
Joey Conway was hardly a kid. Toby had never known Joey’s exact age, but he had to be in his mid-twenties at this point. When he and Beck had first become partners, he’d seen Joey around quite a bit. It had occurred to Toby in those early days that Beck had the teen around so much to be a stronger male influence in his life. Then over the last few months he’d been in Wyoming, Toby thought maybe Joey hung around so much because he was interested in a career in law enforcement. Something about Joey had always rubbed him wrong, though, especially those last few months. But he hadn’t dwelled on it, because he’d wondered if his feelings had in fact been a sign of jealousy.
“Anyway, the two of them had some kind of a blowup about the time you left, and Joey’s taken off for parts unknown. I’d say he ran away from home, but he’s too damn old to be considered a runaway.” Beck grunted again. “I guess none of the words that either of us ever said to that little bugger ever made a dent.”
Toby hadn’t thought Beck had known about the little man-to-man Toby had had with Beck’s grandson. Toby had been aware over those last months that most of the members of the Conway family had done their best to talk some sense into Joey, all to apparently no success.
So one night, after a Sunday supper when he’d seen how upset Beck’s daughter-in-law had been at Joey’s attitude and habits, he’d tried. Joey had come to him outside in the back yard, a giant chip on his shoulder, and Toby had let loose.
The scene formed in his memory like some mirage from the past. He remembered the occasion perfectly, could even recall the wind kicking up and the chill starting to eat through his coat.
“If you don’t fucking get a clue soon, you little prick, you’re going to rip the heart right out of your mother—and your grandfather.”
“You’re not my fucking big brother or my fucking uncle, asshole, even if you did push your way into our family. So just fuck off. Somebody needs to whoop your ass.”
“It’s not going to be you, Joey.”
“Maybe he’ll…what do they call it…find himself.” Beck
