His Kindred Spirit

by Sloan Johnson

  “Aww, does that mean you like it when I drag you down there and read to you?”

  I swatted Brook on the ass. He knew damn well it’d become one of my favorite pastimes. That’s why I purposely chose to write my note into an unused notebook. For whatever reason, Brook never read from a book that wasn’t ragged and well-loved. Someday he might see the words I’d written this morning as the sun rose, and they’d be a reminder that what he felt for me wasn’t one-sided.

  Brook turned his head and kissed my cheek, stiffening when the french doors leading out to the patio opened. “That man has the world’s worst timing.”

  “While it’s refreshing to see that the two of you are getting along, I have to wonder if it’s occurred to either of you that this is neither the time nor the place for such displays,” James scolded as he ambled through the lobby. “Dane, are you ready for lunch?”

  “Sure. Give me just a minute.” James disappeared into his office off the lobby. I turned to Brook, needing a bit of reassurance from him. Now that I was getting ready to talk business with my uncle, it was imperative that I know Brook would be with me tonight, and I told him as much.

  I’d expected Brook to tell me he’d be up as soon as the last guest was checked in, so his response nearly knocked me on my ass. “We’ll have to see. I have to leave when you guys get back. There are some family matters I need to deal with.”

  Why was this the first I was hearing about something going on with his family? Or had he told me, and I’d been so wrapped up in my own daytime drama that I hadn’t paid attention? The latter was far more plausible. I quickly schooled my features, determined to come across as unaffected. “Sure. I mean, maybe it would be best….”

  Brook pressed his lips to mine, cutting off whatever I’d been about to say. When he pulled away, he held my face in his hands. “Dane, I’m not saying I won’t be there, but I do have to go home first. Grandpa hasn’t been doing well, even if he won’t admit it to me. I want to check on him, see if I can get him to let me make a doctor’s appointment. The last thing I need is him having any sort of emergency. The hospital here sucks, which means they’d transfer him to Myrtle Beach at the very least.”

  “Would you like some company?” The offer was out of my mouth before I could second-guess myself. The only family of someone I’d been fucking that I’d ever met was Grady’s parents, and then only because I met them before we were together. Meeting parents, or grandparents in this case, gave a level of commitment I’d never been willing to make. Until now. “Never mind. You probably don’t want—”

  The little shit shut me up for the second time in a minute. “I’d love it. He’s asked after you, but I wasn’t sure you’d want to hang out with him. It’s bound to be a boring night, listening to him bitch at the television.”

  “If it’s where you’re going to be, there’s nothing I’d like to do more.”

  Chapter 10

  (Brook)

  WE NEED to talk.

  I stared at the four-word text message I’d received, a hollow pit forming in my stomach. If Dane sent such an ominous message immediately following his lunch with James, the news couldn’t be good. It’d been increasingly difficult for me to keep what I knew about James and his struggles from Dane as we’d grown closer. As much as James wanted to respect his father’s wishes to keep the business in the family, his spending habits made that nearly impossible. The visits from those he owed money were becoming more frequent and heated as the weeks went on.

  If James insisted they sell the inn, would Dane agree? His life would be simpler if he wasn’t tied to a business states away from the rest of his life.

  Meet me at Bomber’s at 7, I responded. That was just long enough for me to run home, check on Grandpa, and get back to the main drag. Guilt crept into the back of my mind over how little time I’d spent at home since the week before the inn reopened. Grandpa tried to settle me, telling me it was important to have goals in life, but he also wasn’t aware my absence had little to do with my loyalty to the inn and everything to do with the way Dane Montgomery twisted me in knots.

  “You staying the night with that Montgomery boy again tonight?” Grandpa asked while I sorted his medication into the organizer. I lost count of the pills and had to start over. Grandpa was old-fashioned. He knew I was gay, but it was a topic we never discussed. He said it was easier that way because he didn’t want to choose between his God and the boy he’d watched grow into a man. “Oh, come on now. You think I don’t still hear all that’s goin’ on in town? It’s no coincidence you stayin’ up there at the inn started about the same time Old Man Montgomery’s grandson came to town. From what I hear, he’s a good-lookin’ man. Polite too.”

  “Yes, sir, he is,” I confirmed, wondering who in the heck Grandpa had been getting his information from, because his hip still wasn’t up to him walking down to the pier for morning coffee.

  “So, you gonna fess up to what you’ve been gettin’ up to after hours, or we gonna keep on pretendin’ like you’re that dedicated to your job?” Grandpa shuffled into the kitchen, dumping the dregs of his last cup of coffee for the day down the drain. “I’m not a fool, boy. And I think it’s a good thing this boy’s here now. Phillip used to worry about him same as I worried ’bout you. You may be just what one another needs so us old farts can rest in peace.”

  “Oh please, you’re probably going to outlive us all,” I scoffed. No way could I think about a world without Grandpa in it. There’d never be a day I was ready for that.

  “Could happen, but it’s still comforting to think you may not wander lost once I’m gone, too scared to leave home,” he told me as he settled into the chair. “I know you don’t wanna hear it, but I’m gonna say it anyway. You’ve always been one to live your life tryin’ ta make other people happy. That’s a piss-poor way to live. You need to think long and hard about what’ll make you feel good about yourself. If you get swept away in a rip current tomorrow and find yourself nose to nose with St. Peter, what accomplishments have you made? I ain’t talkin’ ’bout things like takin’ care of everyone, because we all know that’ll get ya plenty of points, but what have you done to live? What’s your dream?”

  Dreams aren’t set in stone, I wanted to tell him. They were like the shore, changing with the days. Most recently I’d allowed myself to consider what a life with Dane would be like. The two of us, living on the top floor of the inn, running it like a scaled-up version of a bed-and-breakfast. Dane would handle the business aspects, and I would be there for the guests. I’d become an ambassador for the mailbox, encouraging people to read from the archived notebooks in the library of the breakfast room, pointing them down the beach to leave notes of their own. Perhaps it was a foolish aspiration in life, but I wanted to be a steward for Sunset Beach, helping the town grow and thrive when many other cities along the coast struggled. We didn’t need the flashy attractions of Carolina Beach or the party atmosphere of Myrtle. We were a sanctuary for the families who needed to unplug for a while. But all of that hinged on Dane, and that was a lot of pressure on a relationship with a man who probably wouldn’t be there much longer. Some dreams were never meant to be any more than that.

  “You don’t hav’ta answer me. I see you’ve got somethin’ in your head,” Grandpa said, letting me off the hook. “Now, leave me to finish this up. You’ve better places to be than keepin’ watch over an old man.”

  WHEN I got to Bomber’s, Dane was sitting at the bar, a bottle of beer dangling between his fingers. We made eye contact through the mirror, which was when I knew something was off. He didn’t flash me the wicked smile I’d come to look forward to. If anything, he seemed to tense at my presence. I slid into the seat next to him and asked the bartender for a bottle of the same brew Dane was drinking.

  “Everything okay?” I asked. His thigh stiffened when I slid a hand over his knee. Knowing he’d gone to lunch with James today to discuss the future of the inn, a pit formed in my stomach as my mind leaped to the implosion
of my life. Dane might be sitting next to me, but it felt as if he was already long gone. It’d been stupid of me to think he’d walk away from his entire life up north for the wishes of a man he’d never known.

  Dane tipped back his beer, still staring straight ahead. Setting the empty bottle on the bar, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. The bartender returned with my drink, and I pointed to Dane’s empty. With a quick nod, the bartender took the bottle and replaced it with a full one.

  “Did you know James was planning to sell the inn?” Dane finally asked through gritted teeth.

  “No,” I responded, even though the thought had crossed my mind. Leading up to the renovations, there were comments James made about how the inn would be an attractive property but only if it was given a facelift. When I’d tried to suggest we visit some other inns along the coast to see what they were doing to grow their businesses, he’d brushed me off. He wasn’t interested in the place being a draw for guests, or at least that was the impression I had.

  “So when he admitted he encouraged you to get to know me, to have you show me around, he was lying?” Dane hung his head, muttering about what a fool he’d been. I reached out to him and he flinched away. “Just tell me the truth, Brook. Was I a pet project to you?”

  “No! Never!” A few of the bar patrons gaped at my shrieked response. My chest tightened, because there was truth in James’s accusations, but I couldn’t allow Dane to think our time together had been a lie. Hell, for the first time in my life, I felt like I was living my truth. Dane did that for me. But if there was any chance for us, I had to be completely honest with him and hope he’d understand. “Yes, James wanted me to show you around town. He never told me why, and I figured it was because we were close in age and I’ve lived here my entire life. Does it even make sense for him to coerce me into getting close to you if he was trying to manipulate you into agreeing to sell the inn?”

  “That’s what I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out,” Dane admitted. “James is a stranger to me. Sure, we share some genetic material, but I don’t know him. Hell, until today, I thought his endgame was getting me to convince my dad to come down here and start over, but now everything’s been tossed around to the point I don’t know which way is up anymore. I should’ve known better than to assume he’d want his long-lost family around. Life doesn’t work out that way.”

  The bartender dropped off two menus in front of us, and I pushed mine away. No way could I even think about eating with the way my gut churned. I was torn between wanting to stay to convince Dane everything he felt happening between us was real, and wanting to sprint down to the inn to punch James for hurting the man I was falling in love with. What kept me on the barstool was that I wasn’t a fighter. Never had been. Knowing my luck, I’d take a swing at James and wind up on my ass, bruised because I fell into an inanimate object. And then I’d lose my job because I’d taken a swing at the owner. That left me with comforting Dane as my only option.

  “I know it’s a minor consolation and you probably won’t believe me, but I do think your uncle wants to reconnect with your dad and get to know you. But he’s made some poor life choices, and personally, I think that’s why he’s looking to sell the inn,” I told him.

  Dane’s shoulders relaxed slightly, so I continued to tell him everything I’d seen over the past few months, mostly since Phillip had passed away. The strange visitors who left James in a foul mood. The hushed whispers on the phone before James slammed his office door closed. The distance he’d put between himself and any personal connection to the inn.

  “You need to find a way to separate the business and reuniting with your family in your mind. James isn’t cunning enough to lure you down here just to fuck you over. He’s desperate and scared, and this is the only option he’s allowing himself to see.”

  By the time I finished, Dane had placed a hand on my leg. “I hate that you know shit about my family and I don’t.”

  “Maybe we were brought together so I could help you fix that,” I told him. Dane didn’t talk about it much, but I knew he was craving some sort of connection in this world. He’d changed in the short time since he’d arrived in Sunset Beach, and I had my suspicions as to why that was. I liked to think I was a small part of why he was more relaxed now, but every day, he focused less on how many days until he went home. He’d stopped referring to life in New York as his real life, as if this was some fantasy he was playing out. When he did talk about leaving, it was to be there for his dad, but he’d mentioned trying to help him settle down here.

  “Maybe,” he conceded. Dane turned, took my hands, and looked directly at me for the first time since I’d walked into the bar. “I’m sorry I assumed you were part of his scheme. It hurt to hear him making it sound like this was all a game and you were his pawn.”

  “You’re used to people hurting you when you let them get too close,” I pointed out.

  He nodded, his cheeks flushing slightly as he looked away. I wasn’t having any part of that, so I crooked a finger under his chin and forced him to meet my gaze. “I get it, Dane. And I hate that that’s how you view the world. But as long as you’ll let me, I want to prove to you that not everyone leaves. Not everyone is trying to figure out how to fuck you over. There are people out there who want nothing more than to help you and love you.”

  As soon as the words flew out of my mouth, I realized what I’d just said, but I found I didn’t care. He needed to know how I felt about him. I wanted him to understand that this wasn’t an early-summer fling for me. Dane was everything, and I was going to fight to get him to stay here.

  Chapter 11

  (Dane)

  I COULDN’T believe what a fool I’d been. The inn had started feeling like home, but once again everything was being yanked out from under me. Brook knew how upset I was throughout dinner and offered for me to spend the night at his house, but I needed to be alone. I’d ignored the hurt in his eyes as we said goodbye outside Bomber’s, knowing he probably thought it was goodbye forever. Which would’ve been pretty shitty of me, since he’d made an off-handed comment about loving me. Once I had my head screwed on straight, I’d call him and apologize. It probably didn’t help matters between us that I’d snuck back into the suite, shoved all my shit in a bag, and left. I didn’t have a destination in mind, which was foolish. It was only because of a late-night cancellation that I was able to find a hotel room now that the beach was bustling with summer tourists. I had until noon today to figure out what I was going to do.

  Watching the numbers on the clock flip closer to checkout time, I was running out of options. I snatched my cell phone off the nightstand and dialed.

  “Hey, stranger.” Jen’s melodic voice made me smile even if she wasn’t who I wanted to talk to. “Grady’s getting Pax dressed, so he asked me to answer for him. How’s things at the beach?”

  “Oh, if only you’d asked that questions twenty-four hours ago.” I wished I could turn back time. Yesterday morning had been amazing. It felt right waking up next to Brook. I’d been filled with hope, seeing him still sleeping in my bed when I returned from my walk on the beach. I looked forward to our nights together and often found myself wandering into the lobby of the inn just to watch him work, hoping to catch a stolen glance or smile as he talked to the guests.

  “Awww, boo, what’s wrong?” she asked. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go through this story twice, but maybe Grady wasn’t the person I needed to talk to. Jen was the financial wizard of the family; she’d have a way out of this problem.

  “I know better than to go against my gut,” I started, recounting everything that’d happened at lunch. James had insisted I’d be stupid to hang on to the inn when there was such a lucrative offer on the table. The man had no idea how little appeal money held for me at this point in my life. I’d been born poor, lived a comfortable life thanks to Dad’s hard work, only to have it all stripped away by order of a piece of paper. It was a rags-to-riches-to-rags story, and while I hoped t
o never find myself destitute again, I sure as hell didn’t need money to be happy. I needed a place in life. A connection. Something to call my own. Sometime after two in the morning, I realized I had everything I wanted, if only for the moment. I wouldn’t let James take that away from me, but I wasn’t sure how to save it either. When I finished rambling, I could hear Jen tapping her fingernails against the table.

  “And you’re happy down there?” she asked. With everything I’d just told her, that was the first question that came to her mind? “I mean, other than the fact it sounds like your uncle is a class A dickhead. If you take him out of the equation, are you happy in Sunset Beach?”

  “Yeah, I am,” I admitted, not holding back the smile as memories of the times Brook and I shared trickled into my mind. I didn’t want to leave him. Maybe it wasn’t the inn at all, but the man that I wanted to share my life with.

  “Shit, if I didn’t know better, I’d say it sounds like someone’s in love.” She dragged the last word out a few syllables.

  I snorted at the absurdity of her observation. I liked Brook, but I wasn’t sure I’d hit the point of love just yet even if he loved me. It could happen, probably would happen, but it was way too soon. And before that could happen at all, I needed to believe I could trust him. He deserved my trust, because the more I replayed our time together, the less likely it seemed that he was manipulating me. Bile rose in my throat because everything seemed to come down to that one complicated concept.