“Where’s Irene?” Trish asked when Elsie stepped out.
“Can’t I do anything without that woman?”
Cal gestured at the sedan. “You’re driving her car.”
“Well, that’s ’cause my son sold mine right out from under me. He said I was a menace.”
“I thought you agreed to sell it after you had that wreck at the Tastee Freeze,” Cal said.
“Maybe I did, but only because I was railroaded into it.” She smoothed down her skirt. “Anyway. I wanted to come on my own. Irene doesn’t even know I’m here.”
Trish narrowed her eyes. “Does she know you have her car?”
“Yes, but she thinks I’m at the doctor.”
Trish and Cal exchanged a look that said one of them would be driving Elsie home.
“So what brings you out here?”
“I brought you a cake.” She opened the back door and brought out a tin cake safe. “I knew you’d need one what with Beckett running out on you.”
“He’s not—”
Elsie held up a hand. “He’s scared to stay. I get it. Folks ’round here don’t make it easy on people like y’all, but we’re not all so bad.”
Cal took the cake and drew Elsie into a hug. “No, you’re not. Come on in and have something to drink.”
“Are you going to tell me to mind my own business like Beck did when I visited him?”
Cal knew better than to try. “No, ma’am.”
“Good.”
When they were all seated on Cal’s porch with glasses of tea, Elsie said, “Beck is already pining for you, and you need to go after him and convince him to stay right here.”
Cal sighed. “It’s not that simple.”
“It is. Have you told him you love him?”
Cal nodded. He’d been powerless to keep himself from falling in love, and so had Beck, but what good had it done either of them? Now Cal wasn’t just alone like he’d been before Beck, his heart was ripped in two.
“Then it’s as simple as asking him to stay. Do you want him here or not?”
Did he? He’d never wanted another man around him all the time. But Beck was different. Beck was everything. So why the hell was he letting fear stop him from getting what he wanted?
“Beck doesn’t want that teaching job,” Elsie said. “He wants to be right here with you.”
Cal frowned. “Did he tell you that?”
“No, I can just tell. I was happily married for sixty years, you know. I understand what love looks like, even if other people refuse to. Did I tell you my granddaughter and her girl are getting married? You know they let you do that now?”
Cal bit his lip, trying not to laugh. “I do know. Tell her I said congratulations.”
Elsie nodded. “I will.”
“You really think Beck and I would stand a chance of keeping this business going if we were openly together? Even before Lulu Johnson caught us, Oak Baptist preschool threatened to cancel their visit just because of rumors Beck and I were going out.”
“That school ain’t worth shit.”
Cal spewed tea onto his lap, and Trish started coughing like she’d swallowed the wrong way.
“My grandson used to go there, but all they do is fill out Bible worksheets. When they told my daughter not to read Harry Potter to him, she pulled him out and put him in the Episcopal preschool. You ought to call them; they’re all right with gays.”
Trish coughed again. This time Cal was sure she was trying to keep from laughing.
“You okay, honey? You’re not taking one of them summer colds, are ya?”
“No, Miss Elsie. I’m fine.” She turned to Cal. “You know there are lots of preschools farther away that might find it worth the drive to visit the farm. There’ve got to be plenty of places in Greensboro where they wouldn’t care a bit about who you were partnered with. And maybe more of us in town need to talk up your farm as a destination to anyone we know in the area. If enough of us made a show of support for the opportunities you offer, more people would be okay with it.”
“You would do that?”
Trish nodded and so did Elsie. Then Elsie’s phone rang loud enough to wake the dead. Trish almost fell out of her chair.
“Sorry. I can’t hear the fool thing when it’s in my purse if I don’t turn it up.” She pulled it out and looked at it. “It’s Irene.” She showed Cal and Trish the screen as if they might not believe her.
“Where are you?” Irene hollered when Elsie answered. Cal could hear her as clearly as if she were in the room.
Elsie cheeks turned pink. “I’m…uh… I’m at Cal’s place.”
“What? You went out there without me?”
“I didn’t want to wait. Cal can’t afford to waste any more time.”
What did that mean exactly?
“Let me talk to him,” Irene said.
Elsie held out the phone. “She wants to talk to you.”
“I heard.”
Cal didn’t dare put the phone too close to his ear. “Hello, Miss Irene.”
“You can’t let that boy get away. I know you think Helen didn’t approve of you, but it was your granddaddy she had a quarrel with. She loved Beck more than just about anything, and she’d be mad as a hornet if she thought Elsie and I let you hurt him. She wanted him living on her land, and you’re the one who can make that happen.”
“I think you’re overestimating me.”
Irene laughed, and Elsie and Trish joined in. Great, they were all ganging up on him.
“So what am I supposed to do? Drive up to Charlotte and—”
“He’s not in Charlotte,” Irene said.
“He’s not?”
“He was going to leave yesterday, but he needed another day to finish cleaning the house out. Lucy saw him gassing up the truck a little bit ago, but you might catch him if you hurry.”
“Truck? You mean like a U-Haul?”
“No, a big black pickup. Dodge Ram I think she said it was. He must’ve borrowed it from somebody, but it wasn’t loaded up yet.”
Cal didn’t want to get his hopes up. Even if he were willing to come out about his relationship with Beck, it might be too late. “You really think I’ve still got a chance?”
“Yes, I do, or I wouldn’t be calling.”
Elsie and Trish both nodded in agreement.
“Get off the phone, and go get your man,” Irene said and hung up.
Cal sat frozen for a few seconds. Then he dropped Elsie’s phone back in her purse and took off.
Katie appeared from the woods and ran with him. “Come on, girl. We gotta catch him before he gets away.”
She gave a high-pitched yip and ran ahead of him to the truck, where she pawed at the passenger door until he caught up. He dug his keys from his pocket, beeped the truck unlocked, and let Katie in. Then he raced around to the driver’s side. If he thought he wouldn’t hurt himself, he’d have slid across the hood like the fucking Dukes of Hazzard.
He cranked the engine and Katie barked, urging him on as he turned around and took off down the driveway, faster than anyone should go on a gravel road. What if he was too late? What if Beck had already left?
“Shit!” he yelled when the truck swerved after hitting a rough patch of gravel.
Slow down.
I can’t.
He looked both ways for traffic as he neared the end of the driveway, hoping he wouldn’t have to come to a full stop.
A truck whizzed by, a black Dodge Ram with the bed piled high with furniture and boxes.
No. No. No.
Katie howled mournfully. Did she know it was him?
Cal came to a stop.
Was he really going to chase Beck down?
Hell yes!
If he went the other way and circled around, he’d come out close to the bridge in time to hopefully see Beck go by. He spun out of the driveway, almost going into the ditch but managing to right himself in time at the last moment.
Katie barked, a happy sound this time
, as if to encourage him.
He drove faster than he ever had. Please don’t let this be the one day the highway patrol sets a speed trap on this road.
He turned off on a narrow state highway and punched the gas. He slung the truck around a sharp curve, and Katie nearly fell off the seat. “Sorry, girl.”
When the road ended at the main highway, Cal waited, hoping no one came up behind him. A truck came into view. It was black—was it? Yes, it was Beck.
Cal turned out and sped up to catch him. He moved into the passing lane and came alongside Beck, then punched the horn several times. Beck glanced over at him, but he kept going. Had he recognized Cal?
Cal laid on the horn and motioned for him to pull over. The turn that led to the overlook where they’d viewed the bridge was just ahead, but Beck hadn’t even slowed. He considered pulling out his phone, but he doubted Beck would answer, and he wasn’t sure he could control the truck and make a call without slowing down. He gave three more sharp blasts to the horn, and just at the last second, Beck turned on his signal and slowed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“He’s gonna stop, girl. He’s really gonna stop.”
Katie shuffled over and licked Cal’s face. He laughed and pushed her away as he changed lanes and followed Beck onto the road that led to the overlook. They drove all the way up the steep hill. Beck parked close enough to the cliff edge to see the bridge, and Cal stopped just behind him. He leaped out of his truck and reached Beck as he opened his door.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Beck yelled.
Katie barked and circled Beck’s truck, but both men ignored her as they stared at each other.
“You’re acting like a maniac. You could’ve caused a wreck!”
Cal realized how insane his actions must’ve looked to other drivers, but with adrenaline coursing through him, he didn’t give a fuck.
He was breathing as hard as if he’d run after Beck instead of driving. Say something.
“You can’t leave.” There. He’d managed a few words.
“What the hell is going on?” Beck demanded, but as Cal tried to find the right words, Beck’s expression went from angry to concerned. “Is everything okay? Is someone hurt?”
Cal dragged in a few more ragged breaths and then said, “No. I just need you to hear me out.”
“Fine.” Beck looked wary, but at least he hadn’t told Cal to go to hell.
Cal circled around the truck, opened the door, and sat in the passenger seat. If he was in the truck, Beck wouldn’t drive off.
Beck shifted in his seat and studied Cal. “Are you sure you’re okay? You didn’t hit your head or something? You’re acting insane.”
“I’m fine. Physically, at least.” He dropped his head against the back of the seat and looked down toward the bridge as he took a long, slow breath. “I’ve been talking to Elsie and Irene.”
“Oh. I’ve nearly lost my mind talking to them too.”
Cal chuckled. “Yeah, they can do that, but…” Cal sat up and met Beck’s gaze. “Irene called and said you were leaving this morning. I was afraid I’d be too late.”
Beck glanced out his window, like Irene might be hiding in the trees. For all Cal knew, she was.
“Has she been spying on me?”
Cal shook his head. “Lucy saw you at the filling station, and then she saw Irene, and she told her, and—”
“Good God, this town is a lunatic asylum.”
“Maybe, but I’m thankful for it today because I got to you before you left town, and you’re still here, and—”
“Cal, what exactly are you saying?”
“I want you to stay. I want you to be my business partner, but I also want you to be my partner in other things—in everything. And I don’t want to hide what you are to me. No matter what happens with the farm, it won’t be as bad as you leaving.”
For just a second, Cal saw hope in Beck’s eyes. “Are you serious?”
“Yes. Very. Is there a chance you still love me?”
Beck turned away and looked down at the river and the bridge. The sound of the water seemed amplified as Cal waited, hope dwindling with each second ticking by.
Then Beck looked back at him. He reached up and brushed his fingers over Cal’s cheek. Cal didn’t dare breathe.
“I’ve loved you since the first time you kissed me. No, since you stood there, calm as could be, holding a squealing piglet. And I’ve never stopped.”
“But you were going to drive away?”
“Until a maniac nearly ran me down.”
Cal swallowed against the lump in his throat. “I know it was crazy, but I had to stop you. I had to tell you how I felt.”
Beck nodded. “I wouldn’t have stopped for anything less insane, because even though I love you, I couldn’t reconcile with the idea of keeping what we have secret forever.”
Cal’s pulse whooshed in his ears. He’d come so close to losing Beck. He still might lose him. Stay calm and just talk. “I actually thought about putting the farm up for sale so I could follow you to Charlotte.”
Beck’s eyes widened. “You what?”
“I couldn’t do it, though.”
“And you shouldn’t. You love your land. I would never ask you to do that.”
Cal nodded. “I know, but I was asking you to do something that made you uncomfortable.”
“I agreed to it, just not for the long term.”
Cal’s heart was beating so fast, he thought he might pass out. “I can’t hide forever. I know that now. And I can’t ask you to. We fucking deserve to have our cake and eat it too.”
Beck grinned. “What exactly is the ‘cake’ in this analogy?”
Cal let his gaze slide down Beck’s body before slowly returning to his eyes. “Anything you want it to be.”
Beck’s tongue flicked out to moisten his lips. “Good.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes. I signed a contract with the school. I’m going to have to talk to them, but if there’s a chance for us, that’s the most important thing to me.”
“I don’t want to screw up your chances to get another job, but I want you here with me, every single day.”
“Worst case, I might have to start the school year while they find someone else or—”
“Marry me.” The words jumped out of Cal’s mouth before he could stop them.
“W-what?”
Cal looked down at the bridge. There were two people standing on it, holding hands as they watched the river. “You see that couple?”
Beck’s gaze followed to where he pointed. “Yeah.”
“I want that for us. That day-to-day pleasure of enjoying something beautiful together. I know we don’t have to get married to have that, but it would be a good reason to change your mind about a job. Maybe the school would understand then.”
Beck smiled. “Maybe, but Cal, we’ve only been seeing each other for like a month and a half.”
“Yeah, I know, but I’ve wanted you since I knew what that meant. No one has ever made me feel the way you do. You’re it for me.”
“I…” Beck’s expression brightened. “Fuck, I feel exactly the same way.”
“So…? Are we…?”
Beck studied him for a few seconds. “You’re actually serious about this?”
“We could have a long engagement or whatever, or you can tell me I’m insane and we can just date, or—”
“I think I may have lost my mind, but I want to be your husband, Cal McMurtry.”
“Yeah?”
Beck nodded. “Yeah.”
“Trish predicted this, you know?”
“Us getting married?”
“Not exactly,” Cal admitted, “but she said she ‘had a feeling’ that ‘something big’ would make you want to stay.”
Beck laughed at his imitation of Trish’s voice. “Pax hinted that he thought I’d stay too.”
“Maybe they should set up a fortune-teller booth.”
“Mayb
e so.”
Cal reached for Beck’s hand and squeezed it. “So you want to move in with me?”
“Married couples usually do live together.”
“I mean now.”
“N-now?” Beck sputtered.
Cal nodded. “Yeah.”
Beck ran a hand through his hair and tilted his head like he was thinking. “If I do, we could rent out Grandma’s house as a guest cottage.”
“That’s perfect. Visitors are always asking about places to stay, and even with the new inns, there are far too few options. But are you sure you’ll be okay with strangers staying there? I know the house means a lot to you.”
“It’s not like I’d planned to live in it. I was ultimately going to rent or sell. As a guesthouse, it will still be mine. Ours.”
Cal smiled. “Ours. That sounds so good.”
Katie gave a sharp bark and started running circles around the truck.
“Do you think she knows what’s going on?” Beck asked.
“Maybe. She’s going to love having you at the farm every day, and so am I.”
Cal reached for Beck then, tugging at his hips until Beck managed to straddle him. He had to wriggle around to find space for his legs in the cramped cab. Cal grabbed his ass and pulled him in close. “Mmm, yes, just like that.”
“Don’t tell me you think we’re gonna fuck in the front seat of a truck in the middle of the day.”
Cal grinned. “I want to eat my cake right now.”
Beck’s laughter changed to a strangled sound when Cal thrust up, pushing their cocks together. Cal’s jeans suddenly felt very thin. “Fuck.”
“Mmmhmm.”
“Cal.” He heard the warning in Beck’s tone.
There was no way they could move well enough to fuck in the seat, but they’d manage something.
“Kiss me,” Cal demanded.
Beck didn’t hesitate, and when their lips met, Cal kissed him back, trying to pour all his love and need and everything else he felt into the kiss.
A few moments later, Beck pulled back and drew in a ragged breath. “Good?”
Cal nodded vigorously. “I could do that all day.”
Beck worked his hips, making Cal groan. “Are you sure? Just that?”
“You said fucking out here was a bad idea.”
Down on the Farm (Ames Bridge Book 1) Page 18