by Turner, CJ
The Insta page, under his massaging and a giveaway, had grown to 1,000 followers overnight. Facebook was a little trickier, but with ads, he grew those likes as well. Twitter lagged as it could. It required more following and unfollowing to build the number, but he got it a respectable 500 followers.
He had even started a blog and posted pictures there, but it was more for the ease of auto posting than anything else. A few blog platforms made that easy. The platform that Manu had chosen for his little blog was on a blog farm that did nothing to improve sales, but Manu obviously didn’t have a clue about building a blog. The only thing good about the platform Manu chose was that it offered a selling page where a client could book a tour, so Alister linked the blog he built to Manu’s selling page. Manu’s platform took a hefty percentage, though, and Alister hoped he could convince Manu to move everything to the new blog. Alister bought the dot-com name and paid for five years for the domain. That would instantly bump up the ranking once the search engines indexed the blog, but that could take a while. And he needed content, so he reached out to a freelancer he knew and bought twenty posts about taking tours in the Rockies. The guy was working on them now.
One of the biggest “likes” on Insta was the shot he took of Manu looking over his shoulder while riding Sally. And Alister had to admit, Manu looked damned handsome on that horse. He only wished Manu could have ridden him before the Grim Keeper showed up and dragged Alister away.
Bored and sad because Manu had not shown as promised, Alister plugged away at posting content. He had no way of knowing if it represented a bump in Manu’s business, but he hoped it would. He didn’t blame Manu for not showing. With his gun and threatening manner, the Grim Keeper put a dent in the whole ‘let’s seduce Manu’ thing. Still, Alister had hoped Manu would care enough to check on him.
A knock on the door raised his hopes but, instead, his doctor walked in.
“How are you feeling, Alister?”
“I’m great, Doctor Chase. I want to get out of here.”
“Well, let’s take a listen to your heart and see how it's doing.”
Alister sighed. He knew how his heart was doing—down and out because a certain mountain man didn’t show.
The doctor pressed his stethoscope to Alister’s chest, and as he did, Alister noticed a bracelet on the doctor’s wrist.
“Hey, I know what that bracelet is.”
“Um, hum,” said the doctor as he continued to listen. The doctor pulled back. “Well, I still hear the murmur I found yesterday, so when you get home, you should make an appointment with a cardiologist. I can give you a referral.”
“A murmur? What does that mean?”
“Most times, nothing big, and it can happen for several reasons. Now, what were you doing when the breathing problem popped up?”
Alister felt his face color. There was no way he would answer he had got done frotting a sexy mountain man when the attack came.
“I was on a horseback tour in Rocky Mountain National Park.”
“I see. Struggling in altitude means you probably shouldn’t try to go too high into the mountains until you get an answer on the health of your heart. We treat a murmur with medication and, depending on its cause—surgery. But it’s the mitral valve, which is the easiest one to treat.”
“Oh,” said Alister. He had always been in peak condition, and the thought he might have a physical defect did not appeal to him. His parents would lovingly interfere even more in his life. Alister didn’t want to think about it. Instead, he crooked his finger at the bracelet the doctor wore.
“You wear the hook away from your heart. That means you aren’t in a relationship.”
“That’s right. How do you know about it?”
“There is a legend in my family of the sea captain that founded our family in the colonies. Captain Grant brought a hook bracelet he had made for his wife in St. Croix and told her to wear it always, so no man got the idea the Captain wouldn’t come home to her.”
“That’s a great story. My mother met my father in St. Croix and gave this to him when they got married. He wore it every day until he, I mean, they passed.”
“I’m sorry,” said Alister. “It’s great you honor your father.”
“Thanks. I wear it to remind me to take their ashes to St. Croix, but the life of a doctor. I can’t seem to get away. I have to finish my rounds. I’ll write up your discharge papers, and the nurse will come in to go over them with you.”
“You’ve been awesome, Doctor Chase. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. You’ve been a great patient, and I appreciate that.”
Another knock at the door made Alister’s heart flip-flop hoping it was Manu, but Sebastian entered.
“How are you doing?” he said.
“Great. The doctor is discharging me.”
Sebastian shot the doctor a concerned glance.
“Should he?”
Dr. Chase shrugged his shoulders. “There is nothing more I can do for him here. We discussed his next steps and his limitations. Okay, Alister. Take care.”
“Thanks, Doc.” The handsome doctor walked from the room, and then Sebastian whirled on him.
“Limitations?” he hissed.
Alister huffed. “Geez, would you settle down? He told me I have a heart murmur as if it’s any of your business. It’s probably congenital, and often they don’t show up until your body experiences stress. It’s not serious. I won’t die. You can stand down on the Alister Grant health watch now.”
“And just what are your limitations?”
“I shouldn’t go too high up in the mountains until a cardiologist looks at it. Do you know one? You seem like you might with the way your eye twitches when I talk about heart problems.”
“Stop. I do not know a cardiologist. At least not for my health. I do have a client—”
“Of course,” Alister sighed. “Well, send Daniel his number so he can arrange the appointment.”
“Are you going home?”
“And risk a plane? Those go higher than a ride in the mountains. I think not. I have Daniel looking for an apartment for me here in Boulder.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” said Sebastian. “I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work like that. And I have more than enough room.”
“No, no. I appreciate you taking me in, but I shouldn’t impose any longer. And since my parents know where I am, I have access to my usual resources.”
Sebastian stared at him with suspicion. “You’re not staying here for your health, are you?”
Alister fanned his face. “I do not know what you are talking about.”
“Look, Manu can’t see you.”
“What do you mean?”
Sebastian looked away. “Forget I said that.”
“What have you done, Sebastian Brevard?”
“Me? Nothing. The sheriff arrested him.”
“What? Tall, Dark, and Grim, get in here!”
His bodyguard stuck his head inside the door. “Mr. Grant, I do have a name.”
“What happened to Manu Martin? Why did the sheriff arrest him?”
“The charge was third-degree assault,” said his bodyguard.
“What? Where are my clothes? We’re getting out of here now.” Alister flung his sheets off him and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He waved Sebastian away. “Out. I don’t need gawkers while I dress.”
“Wait,” said Sebastian. “He can’t see you. There is a restraining order.”
“That’s utterly ridiculous. Who asked for one?”
“Your lawyer.”
“My lawyer? Who is behind that? My father?” Alister was all shades of indignant now. “Out, both of you, now.”
Alister stood with his hands on his hips while the two men left the room. Then he picked up his phone and dialed Daniel’s number immediately.
“Alister. Thank God. I thought you were angry with me.”
“I have bigger problems right now. Here is a list of things I want
you to do, and I need them done now.”
Chapter 10
Manu
Manu waited two nights in the jail for his arraignment, and this night they gave him a restraining order for him to stay away from Alister.
Manu examined the papers in shock. It gutted him to think that Alister felt the need to go to such an extreme to keep Manu away. He didn’t understand it, and the more he thought about it, it put him in a foul mood.
He didn’t understand why the sheriff arrested him. The lawman wasn’t clear on the charges. Manu heard some words like “assault” and “endangering,” but none of it made sense. He did nothing wrong, but there was little he could do until the arraignment.
“Martin, you have a visitor.”
“Who is it?”
“He says he’s your father.”
Manu took a deep breath and let the deputy cuff him and take him to the visitor’s room. His father sat at a table looking a mess. Instead of his usual crisp shirts and gray suits, he wore a polo shirt and khakis.
“Dad,” said Manu.
“What is this nonsense, Manu? They charged you with third-degree assault.”
Manu drew his mouth in a tight line.
“I don’t understand it. I took a client on a tour and, before I knew it, his bodyguard showed up waving a gun in my face.”
“The man went to the hospital, Manu.”
“Yes. He suffered altitude sickness.”
“His lawyer said you should have known he couldn’t handle mountain heights. You endangered his health.”
“Hey, he signed a liability waiver. I checked it before I left. And I gave him oxygen. But he didn’t have real trouble until the bodyguard showed up and scared the hell out of both of us.”
“Look, son. This mountain tour business isn’t working out for you. Come home, and I’ll get my lawyers to straighten this all out.”
Should he? His father was right. Manu had one problem after another with his fledgling business.
His father gave him a piercing stare.
“They may be able to talk the district attorney out of the sex charges. I’m sure the man’s family wouldn’t want that bit about their son let out.”
What? Anger fired through Manu now. What game did his father play?
His father continued in an even and calm tone as if discussing the weather. “There is an eyewitness account from the bodyguard that you engaged in indecent behavior. Son, we can go home. The church will help you—”
“Get out!”
“What?” His father looked at him with shock on his face.
“Leave. Get out of my life. I’ve done nothing wrong. And if you can’t or won’t believe that about me, then there is nothing I can do. But I will not have members of my family think I’m a sick person that needs the church to cure my soul.”
“Son, you should think this through carefully.”
“What the hell do you think I’ve done since I was fifteen years old? I’ve figured things out. Leave now, and don’t darken my door until you get a more enlightened attitude.”
His father stood frowning.
“God help you,” he said. “I’ll pray for you.”
“You do that,” said Manu coldly.
His father walked away through the locked doors, opened and closed by the guard. That man and his money were probably the only chance to help Manu out of his mess. But Manu had his pride, and he wouldn’t accept help from any person who found Manu’s life objectionable. Manu suffered in that household when he could not deny his natural inclination toward men. At first, Manu thought he was sinful and would burn in the fires of Hell, but that seemed illogical to Manu. How would a loving God make you one way and then insist you live another or consign you to hell if you didn’t? It was just one of the many fallacies of logic he found in his church. And when he went to college far from home, he discovered a world that embraced all kinds of people.
“Let’s go, Martin. Back to the cell.”
“Sure,” he said. He’d rather stay in a chilly cell than bask in the lack of warmth from his father.
The next morning the sheriff took him to the courthouse. They allowed him to wear the clothes they arrested him in, which was better than the deputy’s jumpsuit. They brought him in and sat him on the front bench, and he watched as one defendant after another faced the judge.
“Manu Martin,” called the bailiff.
He stood. “Here.”
“Does counsel represent you, Mr. Martin?” asked the judge.
“No, sir.”
“Objection,” called a voice.
Manu turned his head to see Alister move down the aisle.
“Are you a member of the bar, sir?”
“No. A lawyer is coming, sir.”
“That may be the case, but we don’t have time to wait.”
Manu stared. What the hell was he doing here?
“Sir, my name is Alister Grant.”
The judge looked at the paper before him.
“The victim.”
“Your Honor, Mr. Martin did nothing to hurt me. I retained legal services for Mr. Martin. All this is because my overly rich family is stupidly overprotective. Look, I have my discharge papers from the hospital.”
Alister waved papers in his hand. “They say that I have a heart defect, and that’s why I had trouble breathing in the mountains. No one knew, sir. I didn’t. Manu didn’t. He is guilty of nothing, sir.”
“Mr. District Attorney, did you or the sheriff interview the victim?”
“No, sir. The sheriff told me he was in the hospital for his injuries.”
“I’m not injured in the least.”
“Sit down, Mr. Grant. Mr. Martin, we’ll wait for this lawyer, who I hope is more filled in on the facts than the district attorney here.”
Manu sat again and did his best to resist the urge to look back at Alister. He didn’t know what to make of this. Other cases got called before a gray-suited man carrying a boxlike briefcase entered. He waited until the judge turned to him.
“Sorry, your Honor. Peter Wilson for Manu Martin. Can I speak with my client for a minute?”
The judge nodded.
Manu turned to the man hurrying toward him.
“Okay, what I got is that Alister Grant booked a tour with you, and you took him to the mountains. Did you do anything nonconsensual with Mr. Grant?”
“No,” huffed Manu.
“And you were in a private location?”
“I thought so until that helicopter showed up.”
“That’s what Mr. Grant said. Okay. Hang tight.”
The lawyer stood.
“Your Honor, we request dismissal of all charges. Both Mr. Grant and Mr. Martin have affirmed to me that their activities on the day in question were fully consensual, and they, in an off-the-trail location, enjoyed each other’s company. Mr. Grant suffered from altitude sickness aggravated by an undiagnosed heart condition. Therefore, Mr. Martin committed no crime.”
“Mr. Grant.”
Alister stood. “Yes, your Honor.”
“Is that the story you’ll tell in court?”
“It’s no story, your Honor. It’s the truth.”
“Ralph,” said the judge nodding his head to the district attorney, “either you withdraw the charges or I dismiss them.”
The district attorney took a deep breath. “Consider them withdrawn.”
“Then you are free to go, Mr. Martin.”
“Wait,” said Alister. “There is one other thing.”
“What is that?” said the judge.
“There is this stupid no contact order in place, which is highly inconvenient. If you can vacate that order, I’d appreciate it. If Mr. Martin lets me, I intend to keep ‘enjoying his company’ as much as he’ll let me. What do you say, Manu?”
Epilogue
Epilogue
One year later…
Alister didn’t deny his nervousness. He just didn’t want to show it to the world. His whole family had flow
n in, and it was simply ridiculous. Finally, he had the bodyguard, a different one than last year, shoo them away. He told them to go to his apartment and wait, but he knew they’d just migrate to the waiting room.
He stared at his phone, hoping for a message from Manu, but there wasn’t one. Manu’s business had taken off in the past year due to Alister’s marketing efforts, and Alister didn’t see much of him. And that had to change. Though Alister in the past year had acclimated to Boulder’s altitude, he wanted more time with Manu, which meant going on the tours with him higher into the mountains. So he had to take care of his little problem.
Today was the day the surgeons would repair his mitral valve. It was “floppy,” and they needed to tighten it up, so it worked better. Alister joked his mitral valve needed a “nip and tuck” like a face-lift, but he fooled no one. Heart surgery always carried risks.
A knock on the door brought his head up. He expected his sister, Livvy, to bounce in because she was incorrigible and also worried as much as his parents over him. He had tried to talk to her about what it was like for her when that nanny kidnapped him for ransom money, but she refused. One day he’d talk her into therapy so she could make peace with what happened. His whole family needed that because a twenty-eight-year-old man didn’t need his family fussing over him for every razor cut. Eventually, he would get them there. Alister was a persistent man.
But it was Manu that stuck in his head.
“How are you?” he said. His brow furrowed in worry.
Alister smiled brightly. “Come here and give me a kiss before they take me to surgery.”
Manu crossed the room quickly, and Alister threw his arms around him and kissed him with all the passion in his soul. He could do this a million times, and it would never get old. Manu pulled away. “Are you sure this is okay?”