“You want to wait around for a few minutes?” Brendon shifted in his seat. The Texas heat was already kicking in, obliterating the idling truck’s ability to keep the cab cool. Sweat beaded up on his brow and back, tickling a little trail down his spine.
Shaking his head, Zeke let go of Brendon’s hand and put the truck in park. “I’d like to go to Virginia’s café, maybe get a slice of pie and a cold drink, if…” He trailed off, looking down at the floorboard.
Brendon’s heart skipped a beat as he realized what Zeke was saying. It was a huge step for the man, walking the few blocks through town and sitting in the local diner, right across the street from where he’d been assaulted.
Giving the area a quick scan, Brendon figured it was safe and gave in to the need to hug Zeke. It was only a brief hug, a mere few seconds, but it seemed to give Zeke the strength he needed. Brendon grinned as his lover shut off the truck and got out, shoulders back and head held up high. Who would have thought Zeke would come so far so fast? Well, he knew the man was special, had from the first time Gloria had shown him Zeke’s picture.
He met Zeke at the tailgate and they began walking the short distance to the café. He was so happy to be where he was, he barely registered the roar of an engine. When he understood what the racket was, he scowled as a jolt of fear shot through him.
Then Zeke yelled, “Brendon!” and shoved him hard enough to bounce him off the big glass window of the café.
Brendon didn’t feel the pain of smacking into the café’s window. No, he was too busy screaming, running as he watched the front bumper of Eva’s car hit Zeke. A sickening crack filled the air. Brakes screeched as Zeke careened over the hood and into the windshield. A spider web of cracks appeared at the impact before Zeke’s body slid off the side of the hood onto the sidewalk.
Brendon was kneeling at Zeke’s side as soon as he landed, heart breaking at the image of his lover lying broken and bleeding. He could hear shouting in the background—a woman’s voice high-pitched and venomous, other people yelling and angry—but nothing penetrated other than Zeke. Brendon felt frantically for a pulse, watching for Zeke’s chest to rise and fall, and went boneless with relief when he found both, weak as they were.
Blood covered Zeke’s face, pouring from gashes caused by the impact with the windshield. It was hard to tell what were cuts and what was just blood-soaked. He knew tears were streaming down his cheeks, landing on Zeke’s battered face, but he could not back away, couldn’t stop himself from lifting Zeke’s head into his lap and holding him to his chest.
“You’ll be okay, Zeke, you will,” Brendon murmured, trying to reassure himself as well as his lover. “Help will be here soon, baby, I promise.”
Still, he jumped when strong hands landed on his shoulders, squeezing before someone knelt down beside him. Brendon tore his gaze from Zeke long enough to meet the sympathetic gaze of a dark-haired man wearing a paramedic uniform.
“You need to let us help him,” the man said calmly, waiting for Brendon to step back. Letting go of Zeke and moving away was the hardest thing Brendon had ever done, but he knew the paramedics had to take over. He scooted back and was helped to his feet by a pair of men who held him up when he would have stumbled. Brendon looked out over the gathering crowd, then at the men who were helping him remain upright. What he saw astounded him—looks of concern and regret, even tears, on the faces of those surrounding him and Zeke. He felt humbled and terrified all at once, his head spinning as he tried to take it all in.
“Brendon.” The voice behind him startled him out of his confusion as he turned to face the speaker. Sheriff Stenley stood behind him, shoulders slumped and anger vibrating off him. Brendon stepped away from the men beside him and walked over to the sheriff, giving him a curt nod.
Stenley looked down at the ground as though fascinated by the pavement, then met Brendon’s gaze. A tic in the sheriff’s jaw caught Brendon’s attention as he waited to hear what the man had to say. God help him, if they let that bitch get away, someone was going down. Stenley must have read the look on Brendon’s face, because he shook his head and pointed his thumb at his cruiser.
“She’s in the back, Brendon, cuffed and waiting to go for attempted murder, and tack on a list of hate crimes with the shit she was spewing.”
Brendon nodded, waiting for the rest, though it was all he could do not to go to the sheriff’s cruiser and rip Eva’s head off. Stenley cleared his throat before continuing.
“You should know that Eva’s husband John was in the car with her, giving orders, if what that woman is saying is true. That damned preacher tried to run, but a group of our good citizens, including some from his own congregation, tackled him and held him for me.”
“Goddamn it!” Brendon felt like a scared, angry, hurting fool. Why hadn’t any of them thought about John Calencia being one of the intruders last night? It made sense. The man was aware of Eva’s behavior, had never censored it. Hell, the fucker most likely encouraged it!
He turned back and watched the paramedics working on Zeke, saw the stretcher being rolled up.
“Is there anything else, Stenley?” Brendon couldn’t keep the bitterness from his voice, even though it wasn’t the sheriff he was furious with. It was Eva and her evil spouse.
“I’m sorry. Brendon, that’s what I want to say. I’m sorry.” Sheriff Stenley’s eyes glittered with moisture and guilt as he apologized.
Brendon nodded—he’d talk to Stenley later. He didn’t blame the sheriff for Eva being an insane bitch any more than he blamed the man for Eva’s husband being the spawn of Satan. Right now, though, his focus was on Zeke. He turned and followed the paramedics as they began wheeling the stretcher to the ambulance. When they loaded Zeke inside, the dark-haired man who had spoken to Brendon earlier turned and placed a hand on Brendon’s arm.
“We can’t let you ride back here with him.” Those understanding eyes had Brendon’s own overflowing with tears again. “But, if it’s okay with you, my brother Nick”—the paramedic gestured to someone in the crowd, calling him over—“will give you a ride right behind us to the hospital.”
Brendon looked at Nick, finding the same understanding in his eyes.
“All right, okay. Thank you.”
The brothers nodded at Brendon before Nick grabbed his elbow and led him to the truck. Nick clicked a button and unlocked the automatic doors, climbing in once he saw Brendon seated.
“Brendon, right?” Nick asked, following the ambulance onto the street. Brendon nodded, not caring if the man saw or not. He felt like he was going to shatter any second now. All he could think about, all he could see was Zeke flying into that windshield, over and over. The first sob tore out of him before he could stifle it, ripping through him and turning him inside out. Brendon tried to stop, but his body wouldn’t—couldn’t—cooperate. He didn’t care if he was making a fool of himself in front of this stranger, or if he was making the man uncomfortable. All he wanted was to have Zeke safe in his arms, unhurt and un-traumatized by this new attack.
Brendon wasn’t even aware of the truck coming to a halt until his door opened and Nick reached in to pull him out. He felt the man hesitate for a second before Nick hugged him, hard, uncaring of Zeke’s blood on Brendon’s clothes. He slapped Brendon on the back a few times before letting go. Brendon looked at the man, confused as hell.
Nick grinned and took Brendon’s elbow once again. “I’m not gay, buddy, but you can’t tell me you didn’t need a hug. And I’m secure enough to give you one. Went to school with Ezekiel, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know. He, uh, doesn’t talk about the past much.” Brendon figured that was as much of an explanation as he could offer right now. Forming coherent sentences was struggle enough.
“Yeah, well, maybe you could let him know that he still has friends. Some of us miss him like hell, ya know.” Nick nodded at Brendon’s surprised look. If they had missed Zeke, why hadn’t they visited? Called? Broken Eva’s kneecaps? The other man mu
st have seen the doubt in Brendon’s face, known where his thoughts were at—mostly.
“We tried, you know. He wouldn’t let us in when we came over. Hell, most of the time, he wouldn’t even answer the door, or take our calls—nothing. I don’t know if it was because he was protecting himself from more rejection, or if he didn’t trust us not to…well, act like some of the other people in town. But the fact is we wanted to be there for him. I wanted my friend, and I wasn’t the only one. So, just let him know, will ya, that he has friends, okay?” The serious look in Nick’s eyes as they walked through the hospital doors told Brendon what he needed to know.
“All right, yeah, I’ll tell him. Thanks.” Brendon nodded at Nick then headed over to the nurses’ station, everything forgotten except Zeke.
* * * *
Jesus, fuck, he hurt like a mother. Why’d he feel like this? Oh. Yeah. He was pretty sure he would never forget again. The vision of his insane sister steering her big old car, loving husband at her side, right toward him and Brendon— Brendon! Zeke tried to crack an eye open, failed and tried again, biting back a groan as light battered his poor eyeball. He blinked a few times until his vision cleared, panicking until he spotted Brendon dozing in a chair pulled up to the bed. Zeke studied his lover closely, trying to pry his other eye open, settling for the one when he couldn’t. Other than the bruising under his eyes from lack of sleep, Zeke was guessing, Brendon looked fine. Rumpled, stubbly, and exhausted, but still fine as hell.
He told himself to push aside his selfish need for comfort and go back to sleep, but figured some part of him somewhere must have disagreed, or else Brendon had some built-in lover-alert radar, because that man’s eyes shot open— Oh. Zeke could smell it now, just barely. Seemed like his mama wanted to make sure Brendon woke up. His lips twitched in a grin as Brendon gasped and leaned forward, holding Zeke’s hand for dear life.
“Zeke?” Brendon’s voice was quiet, and Zeke could hear the tears and strain buried in there. He looked into Brendon’s soft brown eyes and felt his heart melt all over again. Jesus, what would he have done if he’d lost Brendon?
“S’okay, babe,” Zeke tried to reassure him. Brendon’s tears were breaking Zeke’s heart—he couldn’t stand to see his lover hurting in any way. How bad did he look himself, and how much was Brendon hurting for him?
“Come here.” Zeke hoped Brendon knew what he meant, because his strength was fading fast. When he felt Brendon gently place his head on his chest, Zeke finally allowed himself to rest again.
After letting the nurses know Zeke had come around, Brendon sat back and watched him sleep, feeling a little better now Zeke had woke up, even for a few brief minutes. Looking at the damage done, Brendon knew Zeke was lucky to be alive. His knee was torn to hell, femur snapped like a twig, and his hip had been banged up. That was just the lower half. For that, Zeke had plates and pins, a rod in his thigh for the shattered femur. Above the belt, Zeke had bruised ribs, bruising to his spleen and liver, and cuts and stitches a few places on his face, including one by his eye which had resulted in a great deal of swelling.
The concussion Zeke had sustained had been more worrisome—he’d been unconscious for two days. Even though doctor’s tests had shown that there shouldn’t be any long-term damage from Zeke’s head injury, Brendon had worried about him regaining consciousness. As for the stitches in his lover’s face, Brendon didn’t care. He didn’t think he had ever seen a more beautiful sight than when Zeke had finally come to.
He heard the door open and glanced up to see Enessa and another woman poking their heads in. Guess the nurses passed the information on. He gave the women a tired smile and nodded for them to come in. Enessa’s face was lined with worry—she’d stayed up at the hospital with Brendon almost the entire time they had been waiting for Zeke to wake up, only leaving to shower and grab clean clothes. The other woman, though… Brendon narrowed his eyes at her. The resemblance between her and Enessa was clear. She approached Brendon and offered her hand.
“I’m Elizabeth. Uh, nice to meet you?” Her voice was timid and her introduction came across more as a question than anything else. Brendon considered ignoring her outstretched hand. After all, where the hell had she been for the past few years? In the end, the sadness in her big green eyes, so like Zeke’s, had him caving. He reached for her hand, figuring he could wait until he heard from Elizabeth herself why she’d pretty much abandoned her brother before passing judgment. Sort of. He’d try his best, anyway.
“Brendon, and maybe under other circumstances, I’d agree.” Well, that was as nice as he could get right now. Elizabeth pulled her hand back as if she’d been burned then turned to study her brother.
“Oh. Oh, God,” she murmured. When she started to reach for Zeke, she hesitated, and Brendon felt himself soften just a bit toward her.
“It’s okay.” He nodded. Whatever had driven her away, it seemed to Brendon that it had hurt her, too. Elizabeth touched Zeke’s shoulder, gently caressing her way to his cheek. Her quiet sob as she leaned in to place a soft kiss on Zeke’s cheek had Brendon’s eyes tearing up again.
“I’m sorry, baby brother, I’m so sorry.” Elizabeth seemed stricken by the sight of Zeke bruised and battered, and Brendon knew just how she felt.
“Elizabeth?” Zeke’s voice was barely a whisper. Brendon started to speak, but Enessa caught his eye and shook her head. Okay, he could do that. He could sit back and allow Zeke and Elizabeth a few minutes together. But, swear to God, if she did anything to hurt Zeke, Brendon was going to have her tossed out, sister or no.
Epilogue
Zeke felt like an idiot as he made his way into his house with the assistance of Brendon, and of all people, freaking Sheriff ‘Just-call-me-Laine’ Stenley. What, the man feels guilty and now we’re buddies? Zeke didn’t blame the sher—Laine, and wished the man didn’t blame himself, either. There was plenty of fault to go around, most of it belonging to Zeke, Eva and John Calencia. Him for not taking action years ago, and them just for being evil…people.
Elizabeth opened the door for him, her bright smile never letting on that she’d suffered both physical and psychological abuse at the hand of Eva when they were growing up. When Elizabeth had told them why she had left and stayed away—it was the only way she thought she could escape her abuser and tormentor, her sister—Zeke had been hard pressed not to go to the jail and confront Eva. Not that he could have, anyway. He’d been a little too busted up. Every time he thought about Elizabeth having to share a room with Eva throughout her childhood, it just about brought him to tears. He understood now why Elizabeth had retreated into her head, why she had finally fled from McKinton. From Eva, really.
“Welcome home, little brother,” Elizabeth teased, rising up on her toes to give him a kiss. She pulled the door open wider, and Zeke made his way in—and froze. What the hell? Brendon nudged him from behind, moving him further into the living room. There were flowers everywhere, cards, fruit baskets…fruit baskets?
Zeke became aware of the fact that his mouth was hanging open and snapped it shut. He turned to Brendon, choosing to ignore Sheriff Stenley’s snicker at his befuddlement. It would serve Laine right if Zeke just accidentally crutched the man in the crotch.
“What’s that evil grin for, babe? ’Cause it’s causing my ba—” Brendon cut himself off with a guilty glance at Gloria and at Zeke’s sisters. The girls started laughing, Brendon turned pink and Zeke thought his lover was just the sexiest damn thing ever.
Brendon glared back at Laine, who was almost doubled over laughing. “Shut up, you dumbass.” He turned his attention back to Zeke. “All this…stuff…is from different people in town. You know, ‘hoping you get better’, ‘sorry your sister is a psycho’—whoops, well, the oldest one, ladies. That kinda stuff. Probably a healthy dose of ‘we’re sorry we didn’t intervene years ago’ in there, too.”
Oh. Oh hell. Zeke felt the water works wanting to start up. He looked away and blinked a few times, then turned back and faced Bre
ndon. The love he saw reflected back in those warm brown eyes settled into Zeke, filling him with peace. So, he’d been a little wrong about the people in town. Zeke figured he could live with that. He’d rather be wrong and feel happy than right and afraid.
Zeke leaned down carefully, not wanting to topple himself or his lover, and took Brendon’s mouth in a sweet kiss. Here at home, surrounded by his family, his partner and, though he’d rather not admit it out loud, his new friend, Zeke felt so overflowing with love, he thought it must surely be pouring out of him. Ending the kiss, he buried his face in Brendon’s neck, holding his lover with one arm as Brendon held on tight in return.
“Thank you, babe, for everything. All of this, all of this good, it’s because of you.” Zeke pulled back to look in Brendon’s eyes, wanting him to know how much he meant it, that every word was true. Brendon’s smile could have melted the coldest heart, but he shook his head at Zeke.
“No, love. It’s because of us, our family and friends. And we can’t forget…” Brendon closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath. Zeke did the same, and heard a muttered curse from Laine. Yes, Brendon was right—they couldn’t forget. As he felt the nudge on his shoulder, watched Brendon’s eyes open big as saucers, heard another resounding curse from Laine and squeals from the girls, Zeke burst out laughing. Yeah, like any of them could ever forget Mama.
* * * *
Six months later…
It took months for Zeke not to hurt so bad he wanted to punch something when he first woke up or after a long day’s work. Brendon, God bless him, never lost his temper when Zeke turned into a snarly bastard. He just listened to Zeke bitch and massaged as much of the soreness out of Zeke’s muscles as he could.
Zeke was an ass sometimes, and Brendon deserved better, but he wasn’t giving Brendon up. Even if he’d thought to try it, Brendon wouldn’t have let him. It was a good thing Zeke was smart enough to know he had a treasure in Brendon.
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