Broken Wings

by Bethany Brown

  “Just checking. Are Mom and Dad with you?”

  “Yeah. He the boyfriend?”

  “Yeah. I want to wait until Mom and Dad get in here before I introduce him. That way I’ll only have to do it once.”

  “Bradley.”

  “Mom.” Brad pushed past Isaac and went to wrap his mother in a tight hug.

  Joyce Wilde was a tiny woman. Her sons did not get their height from her. She pushed Brad away and reached up to stroke his cheek. Her blonde hair was in a bob around her face. Brad could see faint traces of smeared makeup around her blue eyes.

  “Joyce, why don’t you let me give the boy a hug?” Ken suggested. Brad moved away from his mother and found himself enveloped in his father’s strong embrace. Ken pushed him back and looked him over. “You look like you need more sleep.”

  Kenneth Wilde was an older version of his two sons, with the same coloring as Isaac. The three of them were similar in height, but Isaac’s extra inches made him the tallest. Ken looked tired, but he was smiling.

  “You look tired too, Dad.”

  Ken wrapped an arm around Brad’s shoulders. “Are you going to introduce us to your friend?”

  “Sorry,” Brad replied with a blush. “Mom, Dad, this is Patrick. Patrick, these are my parents, Ken and Joyce, and my brother Isaac.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Patrick stated. “I’m sorry it couldn’t be under better circumstances.”

  Brad watched as Patrick stepped forward and shook hands with his parents and his brother. He had to force his eyes up from his lover’s ass. When his eyes snapped back up, he caught his brother grinning at him. Brad felt his face heat in a blush. He couldn’t believe his big brother had caught him checking out Patrick’s ass.

  “We heard the piano as we came in. Was that you?” Joyce asked. Brad smiled as his mother linked her arm through Patrick’s and pulled him over to the couch. Since his mother had positioned herself in the middle of the couch, Brad sat on her other side instead of next to Patrick.

  “Yes.” There was a polite smile on Patrick’s face, but his eyes held a tinge of panic. It made Brad think that Patrick didn’t have much practice meeting the families of his lovers.

  “You’re very good.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Maybe you could teach Brad how to play.”

  “Mom, why would you want to torment the guy like that? Just because he’s dating Brad doesn’t mean he needs to suffer,” Isaac commented. Brad felt his blush return as he saw Patrick freeze next to his mother.

  “Isaac, this really isn’t the time to make jokes,” Joyce remarked. Brad managed a grin as his brother looked properly reprimanded.

  “Perhaps we should start going through things?” Ken suggested.

  Joyce sighed. “That’s a good idea.”

  Brad felt a bit of his happiness drift away. They were here to go through some of his grandmother’s stuff. He watched as his mother headed up the stairs to where his grandmother’s room was located. Isaac and his father had just stood up when he felt a hand grasp his.

  “You going to be okay?”

  “Yes. No. Maybe?” Brad sighed and leaned against Patrick’s shoulder. “My family is here. You’re here. I can do this.”

  “Okay. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

  “Kitchen?”

  “I might not be able to go through personal belongings with you, but I can toss out spoiled food with the best of them.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Not a problem, Angel,” Patrick replied. He pressed a kiss to Brad’s cheek before standing and heading into the kitchen. Brad watched him for a moment before climbing to his feet. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was up to this. Hopefully the living room wouldn’t contain too much that would send him into a weeping fit. He had to save some tears for the funeral. Plus, he was pretty sure someone was going to corner him about Patrick.

  Fun times.

  PATRICK was attempting to remove the remains of what he thought was a rotten cucumber still covered in plastic from where it had been wedged in the back of the fridge when he heard someone come into the kitchen. He gave the vegetable one last tug and ended up falling on the floor as it came loose. He looked up to see Isaac standing in the kitchen.

  “Are you having a fight with the fridge?”

  “Yes, but I think I’m winning.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Not sure, but I got the gross rotten thing out of the fridge, so I think that’s a point for me.”

  “Sounds good to me.” Isaac walked over and sat in one of the kitchen chairs. “So, you’re the guy who got my brother to bat for the other team.”

  “Well, that was blunt.” Patrick sat up and tossed the cucumber in the garbage bag he had pulled over to the fridge.

  “I like to get straight to the point.”

  “Fair enough.” Patrick leaned against the now-closed fridge door and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you have a problem with me dating your brother?”

  “That depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On if you plan to break his heart again.”

  “Wasn’t part of my plan.”

  “It better not happen. I have no problem beating the shit out of you and I will if you hurt him again. Once was enough.”

  “Like I said, I’m not planning on hurting him.”

  Isaac gave him a wry smile. “Well, you get points for being here right now. How long have you been here?”

  “Couple of days. I flew out as soon as he called.”

  “Wow. That must have cost you.”

  “Money doesn’t matter. Especially not when Brad needs me.”

  “So my little brother has you whipped, does he?”

  Patrick laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure he does. I’d do anything to see him smile.”

  “Anything?”

  “That tone makes me think that you want me to do something and are going to use my feelings for your brother to get me to do it.”

  “Wow,” Isaac exclaimed with fake shock, “you really are a detective.”

  Patrick gave a dry chuckle. “You think you’re funny, don’t you?” All Isaac did was grin at him. “What do you want?”

  “I’m hungry. Think you can go and get us some food?”

  “I can do you one better. I found enough stuff in the fridge to be able to make us all something.”

  “You cook?”

  “I do.”

  “Wow. Looks like my brother found a keeper. Maybe I should find myself my very own gay detective.”

  “You could put an ad in the paper.” Patrick climbed to his feet and stretched. He felt his back muscles loosen. His chat with Isaac had gone better than he had expected.

  “I could do that. Of course, if I got myself a boyfriend, my parents might get a tad upset at the idea of not having grandchildren.”

  “How are your parents dealing with Brad dating me?” Patrick asked. He started pulling out the food from the fridge that still looked good. He was hoping that the cooking would keep Isaac from noticing how invested he was in the answer.

  “Oddly enough, I think they’re more concerned with the long-distance thing than the fact that you’re a guy.”

  “Huh.”

  “So, what are you making us?”

  “Leftover casserole.”

  “You found a casserole in the fridge? And you’re feeding it to us?”

  “No. I’m making a casserole out of what was left in the fridge.”

  “That makes more sense.”

  “See, I’m not trying to poison all of you.”

  “Want me to tell them that you’re cooking?”

  “Sure. It’ll be a while before it’s ready, so you can probably get some more sorting done.”

  “Okay. I’ll let them know,” Isaac replied. “Don’t forget to make coffee.”

  “There is no coffee. I checked. Seems like Annabelle was a tea drinker.”

  “Crap. I forgot about that. Should I make a coffee run?”r />
  “Depends on how bad you want coffee.”

  “I need coffee. Sometimes I think I need it more than air.”

  Patrick laughed. “Then you might want to make a coffee run. You should check with the others first.”

  “You want some coffee?”

  “Dear God, yes.”

  “I’ll get some. Back in a bit,” Isaac replied. He gave Patrick a nod before he left the kitchen. Patrick listened as Isaac walked through the house before he went back to cooking. Once the casserole was in the oven, he was going out for a cigarette. He was going to need it. There were two more members of Brad’s family in the house who hadn’t cornered him yet.

  Maybe two cigarettes would be a better idea.

  Two cigarettes and a beer.

  Patrick groaned and rubbed his suddenly sore head. It was going to be a long day.

  “SON, can I talk to you?”

  Brad looked up from where he was packing books into boxes and saw his father standing in the doorway. “Sure, Dad.”

  Ken walked into the room and sat on the floor next to Brad. “Your grandmother sure had a lot of books.”

  “I figured that we could donate the romance novels, but I kind of want to keep the one about card counting.” Brad grinned as his father laughed.

  “I always knew that she cheated at cards.” Ken started to shift in a nervous manner.

  “Dad?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’m guessing that you didn’t come in here to talk about Gran.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “What did you want to talk about?”

  “So, you’re dating that young man down there?”

  And here we go. “Yes.” Brad nervously chewed on his lower lip. “Do you like him?”

  “He seems like a nice young man.” Ken sighed. “I guess I’m just surprised.”

  “But I told you about Patrick.”

  “I know. Honestly, until I met him, I didn’t really believe you. You never showed any interest in men before Patrick.”

  “Dad, just because I didn’t show any interest doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.”

  “Why didn’t you ever tell us?”

  “I wasn’t really sure how. Plus, without there being anyone that I wanted to date, I didn’t really see the point.” Brad sighed and leaned against the bookcase. “I’m sorry.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for, Brad. You just took me a bit by surprise.” Ken slung an arm around Brad’s shoulders. “Your mother and I will always support you.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” Brad smiled at his father. “So what do you think of Patrick?”

  “I’m impressed that he flew here to be with you. What does he do again?”

  “He’s a cop.”

  “That can be a dangerous job.”

  “I know,” Brad replied. He thought back to the reason behind Patrick’s first visit to Alberta. Brad wasn’t sure how he would react if Patrick got shot again. Just the thought made his stomach churn.

  “Your mother and I are a bit concerned about the long-distance thing.”

  “So far we’re doing okay.”

  “You know I’m just a phone call away if you want to talk.”

  “I know.” Brad rested his head against his father’s and closed his eyes. He felt his father give him a squeeze and a small smile formed on his face. He and his dad had spent a lot of time in the same position when Brad was younger.

  “Well, it looks like the two of you are slacking,” Isaac commented from the doorway.

  “You’re one to talk,” Brad countered. “What are you doing?”

  “Going for a coffee run. Want something?”

  “I would love a coffee.”

  “Same here,” Ken agreed. “And get your mother one of those latte things that she likes so much.”

  “Will do. Hey, what type of coffee does your boy drink? I never asked him.”

  “Just plain coffee,” Brad replied. “The stronger the better. He drinks so much of the stuff I’m actually surprised that he’s not twitching right now.”

  “If he is twitching, he’s hiding it pretty well. I’ll be back in a bit.” Isaac nodded at them and left the room.

  “I should probably get back to packing books.”

  “And I should go and see what your mother is up to.” Ken got to his feet with a groan. “Keep up the good work, Brad.”

  “I will.” Brad watched as his father nodded at him and left the room. Once he was gone, Brad went back to sorting through the books. He moved around the room to get to another stack and ended up sitting with his back facing the door. After a few minutes, he felt someone settle behind him. When strong arms wrapped around him, he leaned into the embrace.

  “How are you holding up, Angel?”

  “Okay, I guess.” Brad shifted until he had his head resting against Patrick’s shoulder and his lover’s arms wrapped securely around his waist.

  “Anything you need?”

  “Well, you’re here and my brother went to get me coffee, so no, I don’t need anything.”

  “Good.” Patrick pressed a kiss to the side of his head.

  “I don’t know what to wear tomorrow.”

  “You just need to wear a dark suit, Angel. Do you have one?”

  “I think so.”

  “If you don’t, I’m sure we can find something. I may even have packed more than one suit. Oh, that reminds me. Do you have an iron?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “I’m going to need to iron my clothes for the funeral. I didn’t really pack neatly.”

  Brad chuckled slightly. “In a hurry, were you?”

  “Just a little bit.” Patrick kissed him again. “All I could think about was getting to you.”

  Brad pulled out of Patrick’s arms and turned so he was facing his lover. He reached out a hand and ran his fingers along Patrick’s jaw. Moving into Patrick’s personal space, Brad straddled Patrick’s lap and wrapped his legs around Patrick’s waist. Patrick’s arms went around his waist, and Brad could feel his hands spread out against his back. Brad slid his fingers into Patrick’s hair.

  “Something on your mind, Angel?”

  “Have I thanked you for flying out here?”

  “Yes.”

  “It means a lot to me that you came.”

  “Anything for you, Angel,” Patrick replied. Brad leaned forward and captured Patrick’s lips in a kiss. He licked gently at Patrick’s mouth until his lover opened for him. Brad shifted closer as he twined his tongue around Patrick’s. When Patrick moaned, Brad pressed himself against his toned chest. He could feel Patrick’s hands digging into his back as the kiss went deeper.

  Feeling the need for air, Brad pulled out of the kiss. After pulling air into his starving lungs, Brad used the hands still in Patrick’s hair to tilt his lover’s head to one side. He licked down Patrick’s throat before finding a suitable place to bite. Patrick moaned beneath him.

  “Bradley, do you need any help with the… oh my!”

  Brad pulled himself out of his lust-induced haze to see his mother standing in the doorway with a shocked look on her face. She also appeared to be blushing. Brad pulled his hands out of Patrick’s hair as he felt his lover hide his face against his neck. “Mom!”

  “Um… I just… I… did you need any help with the books?”

  “No. I’m doing okay with the books.”

  “That’s good. I think I’ll go and see if your father needs any help.” Joyce smiled faintly before hurrying away from the door.

  “Well, that was embarrassing.” Brad sighed and ran his hands over Patrick’s back as the older man slumped against him.

  “I can’t believe your mother walked in on us.”

  Brad pressed a kiss to Patrick’s hair. “It’s going to be fine.”

  “No, it’s not. I wanted your parents to like me.”

  “My parents do like you.”

  “Your mother just caught me mauling you!” Patrick exclaimed. He pulled away far enough for Br
ad to see the horrified expression on his face. “How is that supposed to give her a good impression of me?”

  “Patrick, calm down, sugar.” Brad cupped his lover’s face in his hands. “Can you take a deep breath for me?” Brad waited while Patrick did as he instructed. “Feel better?”

  “No, not really.”

  “Not even a little bit?” Brad stroked his lover’s face and neck before digging his fingers into Patrick’s tense shoulders. He leaned forward and kissed Patrick’s forehead, smiling when his lover moaned happily.

  “Okay, maybe a little bit.”

  “Good.”

  “I should go and check on the food.”

  “You’re making us food?”

  “I thought you might get hungry and I wanted to feel useful.”

  “You’re amazing,” Brad stated. He pressed his lips to Patrick’s in a gentle kiss. “And you taste good.”

  Patrick laughed. “Thanks, Angel. Now, you need to get off of my lap so I can go to the kitchen.”

  “Plus, we probably don’t want to embarrass my mother any more than we already have,” Brad added with a grin. He moved his hands as Patrick dropped to the floor and covered his eyes with his arm.

  “Mean, Angel. You have a mean streak.”

  “So people say.”

  “Get off of me.”

  “You sure you want me to?”

  “No, not really, but that’s kind of the point.” Patrick ran the fingers of his free hand over Brad’s leg.

  “Fine, I’ll get up.” Brad rolled off of Patrick and settled next to him on the floor. “You can go check on whatever you’re cooking now.”

  “Thanks.” Patrick gave him a quick kiss before climbing to his feet. Brad watched as he left the room. His lover really was an attractive man. Brad stretched and crossed his arms behind his head. He could feel the pull in the muscles of his back. He was also starting to feel tired again. Hopefully Isaac would get back with the coffee soon.

  He was going to need a lot of coffee to get through the next few days.

  Chapter 13

  PATRICK grabbed an empty tray off of the food table and headed into the attached kitchen. The church hall was full of people from the funeral. Annabelle Wilde had been a very popular woman. Patrick was pretty sure that most of the town had shown up. Thank God the church ladies had made enough food to feed an army.