Peach Tree Family: Gay Romance

by Trina Solet

  And to be honest Theo doubted he was strong enough to turn down Seth a second time. Not that Seth was testing his resolve with anything except just being buff and flexing and bending all the damn time as they picked up stray branches. There were plenty of them lying around, but Seth still pointed to some dead trees he thought they should cut down for firewood.

  When he pointed to one in particular, Ace objected. "Not that one. It looks like a robot." Then be showed them how exactly it looked like a robot.

  "We don't even have a working fireplace, so don't worry about it," Theo told him. "Let's go back. We don't want Seth to be late for work."

  Heading back to the house, Seth got a little ahead of him but Theo wasn't ogling him as much as he was trying to figure him out. Was he straight? Theo had been sure of it at first, but now he didn't know.

  Wishful thinking was scrambling his judgment though he didn't know why it should. Seth wasn't the guy for him, and he wasn't even looking for anyone to hook up with right now. But as long as Seth was there, right in front of him, Theo couldn't get him out of his head.

  At the inn, Theo had familiarized himself with the booking software they used, and now he was studying the seasonal patterns. The owner, Andy Brighton, had put together tons of data for him to study.

  When he saw the file, the manager, Mr. Copeland, who turned out to be Mr. Brighton's fiancé, told Theo, "You don't need to memorize all that. Just look it over to get the gist."

  As long as he wasn't busy, Theo figured he might as well study the data. There was a lot, tons of charts and analysis, but Theo didn't mind. It was better than listening to Dustin, his coworker, talking about all the bands he had ever been in. "I was in this band Doll Finger, and then it was Slime Production, then Declination, then..."

  "Is there an end to this list?" Theo asked him.

  "Ahh yeah. I mean some of these bands were like the same dudes just reshuffled around. You know how it is." Dustin nudged his shoulder, and it reminded him of doing that when he was cooking with Seth. Of course when it was Dustin, it was completely different.

  "No," Theo said to Dustin though he actually had friends who were in bands.

  "Like I used to be in this band The Sweaty Spoon. Then they went all heavy and changed the name to Mutagen Puss. No Y, just puss. A lot of people make that mistake."

  "These band names are starting to make me nauseous," Theo said then noticed that Mr. Copeland had stopped by reception and was now fixing Dustin with an icy glare.

  "Dustin, what did I say about pushing your extracurricular activities during business hours?" Mr. Copeland said.

  "But it's just Theo," Dustin said.

  "Mr. Atkins is on front desk duty. Don't distract him or disgust him," Mr. Copeland told Dustin.

  "Yes, Mr. C."

  Mr. Copeland didn't like that. "Mr. C? And the rest?"

  It took Dustin a minute before he figured out that he meant the rest of his name. "Mr. Copeland?" Then he added, "Sir."

  "There you go," Mr. Copeland said.

  As soon as he stepped away, Theo heard someone call out, "Baby on board."

  "What was that?" he wondered.

  "Just word going around that Lucy is here. That's Andy's kid," Dustin said.

  That reminded Theo that everyone there called the owner by his first name, so Theo should too. "That's a big deal with Andy's kid?"

  "This whole place is like a Lucy fan club. The only thing bigger is when Helen brings in her homemade doughnuts. Then we have a stampede. I've been trampled to death a few times," Dustin claimed as Theo gave him the side-eye.

  He was going to go back to looking over the data when he saw Andy come in carrying a baby and Mr. Copeland went over to greet them and to take the baby from him.

  "Let's go meet Mr. Atkins. He's our newest employee and he's very diligent," Copeland said. "He's diving pretty deep into your daddy's charts and graphs even though I told him he didn't have to."

  "Why would you tell him that?" Andy asked him.

  "For his sanity," Mr. Copeland said over his shoulder and gave his fiancé a smirk.

  He then brought the baby over and introduced her to Theo. The baby was cute, but the whole time, Theo was thinking of Ace as a baby, their dad holding his tiny hand, kissing each one of his chubby, little fingers.

  Once when he was holding Ace and gazing at him, their dad told Theo, "When I look into his eyes, it's like I can see everything, all the answers to all the questions in the universe."

  Theo had leaned over to see for himself. All he saw was Ace drooling and staring, but it was still nice.

  As he was thinking about Ace, Theo couldn't help worrying about how he was going to make sure their aunt didn't get him back. She did kick them out, so it's not like she cared. His best bet was that she would simply give up on Ace.

  Their bosses moved off with the baby and Theo got a text from Seth letting him know he picked up an extra half shift. For no good reason, seeing the text made him smile.

  "Girlfriend text," Dustin said knowingly while pointing at Theo's face.

  "Wrong."

  Dustin wouldn't accept that. "You can't fool me. No one smiles like that because they got a text from grandma. It's a girly girl."

  "I'm gay," Theo informed him.

  He realized his mistake only when Dustin said, "Boyfriend. Same difference."

  "No. Just a friend... or something." Theo didn't know if they were friends. Were they?

  "Got it. Friend with benefits. But I was still in the ballpark," Dustin insisted.

  Theo was about to deny that by saying Seth was just a guy he was living with, but he decided to stop before he dug himself in any deeper. Maybe he could ask Dustin to tell him more about his band experience. But now Theo was picturing Seth the way he saw him asleep that morning, and realizing that he never jerked off while thinking about anyone else any more.

  Chapter 10

  The café got busy and Seth ended up with a few extra hours and some good tips. Done with work at the same time as Hannah, he stepped out in front of the café with her. Stopping for a bit, he wondered if he should spend some time in town since Theo and Ace wouldn't be home yet. Walking would take him a while so they might get there right when he did, or even pick him up on the way if he got lucky.

  "I thought you had that noisy old truck," Hannah said looking around. "I don't see it."

  "Theo has it at the inn," Seth told her.

  "I'll drive you over and you can get it," she offered.

  Seth shook his head. "Oh, no. I don't want to bother him. But thanks anyway. I'm just going to walk to the house."

  "Walk? More like let Theo walk all over you," she said. "You're supposed to share that old wreck, aren't you?"

  Seth couldn't believe she was saying that. "He drove me to work."

  She rolled her eyes. "Fine. I'll give you a ride to the house."

  "You don't have to do that. I'm alright walking."

  "I already said I was doing it. I can pick up Shawn to go over so he and Ace can hang out," she said, inviting herself over.

  "They won't be at house yet. But I'll text." Happy to have an excuse to text Theo, Seth told him what was up then passed the word to Hannah. "Theo is just finishing up then he'll be getting Ace. He offered to get me too, but I told him I have a ride." Seth told Hannah so she'd know she had the wrong idea about Theo.

  "Sounds like they might be at the house by the time I get Shawn and we get there."

  Seth didn't think so, but it did take her a while. Shawn wasn't eager to go for a visit, and Hannah wanted to change.

  "Ace is just a little kid," Shawn complained while the two of them waited for Hannah in front of their house.

  "So?" Seth said and watched the boy shrink back. Seth didn't want him putting Ace down, but he didn't want to scare him either. Maybe he was giving people mean looks without realizing it. Theo and Ace never showed any sign of it, but that guy at the thrift store did.

  By the time they were parking in front of the hou
se, Theo and Ace still weren't back.

  "There isn't even a proper dirt driveway," Hannah complained as she got out of her mother's car.

  "It's just a bit overgrown," Seth said then he saw Shawn going over to the porch steps. "Better stay off the porch. It still needs to be fixed."

  Looking bored and annoyed, Shawn only sat down on the steps and kept playing a game on his phone like he had done the whole drive over.

  "Can we go inside?" Hannah asked since Seth didn't invite them in.

  "Sorry. There's no key for that front door and I can't get you in through the side either. I don't have a key," Seth told her.

  "You don't have a key?" Hannah said and Seth could tell she was gearing up to gripe about Theo again.

  "It's padlocked. I don't even know how many keys there are," Seth told her.

  "Two. They come with two," Hannah said.

  "Theo is doing me a favor letting me stay here, you know," Seth told her.

  "So you don't feel you're entitled to a key?"

  "No, I don't," Seth told her straight out, but she only shook her head. "I have no cause for complaint, and I should know best."

  "Sorry for busting your chops. I just like to speak my mind." It was a halfhearted apology, but Seth still accepted it.

  "I can take it," he said.

  "You don't talk much. That leaves plenty of talk time for me. Maybe too much," she said.

  That made him think of Theo and how Seth liked to hear him talk, which he didn't do nearly enough. But even when they weren't talking, whatever Theo was doing, Seth wanted to be helping him with it. Did he want to be friends with him that bad? Or...

  After they hung out for a while, they heard the truck approaching well before they saw it. "Here comes that awful truck," Hannah said.

  There she was starting up again. "It runs," Seth told her.

  "It's ready for the junk yard," Hannah said as the truck came into view.

  "It's a working truck," Seth pointed out.

  As soon as the truck came to a stop, Ace jumped out and ran over, asking Shawn, "Did you see Butter?"

  Shawn was confused. "Butter?"

  "My cat!" Ace told him.

  "We haven't been inside," Seth said and watched as Theo got out of the truck slowly.

  For some reason, he was eyeing Hannah and didn't look happy to see her. Seth did text to ask if it was OK that she and Shawn were coming over, but now he wondered if Theo disliked her for some reason or if he didn't want him bringing guests over.

  Now that he was there, Theo unlocked the side door and they all went inside.

  "You all are camping out here," Hannah said on seeing the lawn chairs in the living room.

  Theo objected, "We're living here."

  "Furniture don't grow on trees," Seth told her.

  "Was that supposed to be funny?" Theo asked him.

  "Um, no," Seth said and then realized what he meant.

  Ace was still in the kitchen with Butter and Shawn when Seth heard him say, "We like our house!"

  That meant Shawn must have said something bad about the house too. They went into the kitchen where Ace was holding Butter and furrowing at Shawn.

  "OK. Sorry," Shawn said and rolled his eyes a lot like his sister did. Then he noticed that Ace hadn't let him off the hook yet. "Why you still looking at me like that?"

  "Try saying sorry like you mean it," Hannah told him even though they were two of a kind.

  Theo didn't wait for a sincere apology, he just told Ace. "You can take Butter outside but watch that she doesn't get lost."

  "I was going to cook up something," Sean said to Theo as they followed Hannah and the kids out the door.

  "We still have the stew. You can just go ahead and hang out with Hannah," Theo said but the look in his eyes was kind of mean.

  As they went out front, Seth was surprised to see a big, black SUV pulling up. "What's this now?"

  "That's the handyman who was here before, Mitch McEvers, but I don't know why he's here now," Theo said.

  "Oh, I might know," Hannah said. "I texted Rico about your padlock situation."

  "How is that any of your business?" Theo asked her.

  "I was just gossiping, and gossip is everybody's business," Hannah claimed.

  That made no sense to Theo or anybody. "What?"

  "Don't worry about me. You have her to deal with now," Hannah said and nodded her head in the direction of the little blond girl who jumped out of the SUV and was now running over yelling. "Ace!"

  "That's Mitch's daughter, Sammy," Theo said to Seth.

  Sammy was about four maybe but not shy around bigger kids. She stopped right in front of Ace and stared up at him like she would burn holes through him.

  "What?" Ace asked her.

  She jumped a few times in front of him then she yelled. "The kitty!"

  "Yeah. I texted about your cat too," Hannah said.

  Theo glared at Hannah then at Seth, who raised his hands in surrender. Hannah walked away to text some more and Seth waited with Theo for this Mitch guy.

  He was tall, built, and dead serious, and when he heard that Theo didn't know he was coming over, he apologized. "Sorry. I didn't know you weren't consulted. But these locks are free. I took them off a house west of Ashbury. They're perfectly good."

  "They're better than a padlock," Seth said and made Theo glare at him again.

  "I'll put them in free of charge, one for the front door another for the side door," Mitch said.

  "I can't keep taking favors," Theo told him.

  "Sure you can," Mitch told him. "When I came to Peach Tree with Sammy, I was in a tight spot. I got a helping hand, so there's no reason you can't. Actually you can return the favor right now and watch Sammy for me while I'm working and make sure she stays off that porch."

  "That's not much of a favor," Theo said.

  Mitch lowered his head and fixed Theo with a hard stare. "Sammy is my only, precious child," Mitch said with an intensity that was downright scary.

  Theo sighed and admitted defeat. "All right. We'll watch her."

  Now Mitch smiled in triumph and got to work.

  "And I thought you could give a mean look," Seth said to Theo as they walked away to see what the kids were up to.

  "You're the one who looks scary," Theo told him.

  "Either way, Mitch wins," Seth said and they went over to where the kids were standing with Hannah and looking up at a tree. Butter was sitting on a branch and not showing any sign of coming down.

  "She's not stuck, is she?" Theo asked.

  "She's an outdoor cat. They know how to climb down," Seth told him.

  "So it's everyone crowding her. That's why she won't come down," Theo concluded.

  The two of them stood back and Seth looked over at Theo. He didn't look happy, that was for sure. Seth knew Theo didn't like people butting into his business, and here it was happening again and all because he brought Hannah over.

  "You mad at me?" Seth asked.

  Theo didn't answer, didn't even look at him.

  Seth started to apologize. "Damn. I'm..."

  Theo cut him off. "Ask me later."

  Butter wasn't budging from that branch though Ace was yelling up at her, trying to get her down. "Come on! Come here! Come on so Sammy can see you and pet you."

  "Cats don't like yelling," Sammy told him. "You have to be like this." To show him, she stood still while staring up at Butter. And hell if that cat didn't climb down to a branch right above Sammy's head so she could get nose to nose with the little girl. But then Butter pounced and jumped on her shoulders.

  Seth went forward but Sammy was laughing as the cat walked from her shoulders to Ace's.

  "That cat, I swear," Seth said relieved that Butter didn't scare Sammy.

  "You were ready to go in for the rescue," Hannah accused him.

  "She's so little. I thought Butter might have scared her."

  Sammy heard him and called out to correct him, "Butterfly!"

  "We call h
er Butter," Ace told her.

  "But you said her name is Butterfly. Butterfly is a good name," Sammy said.

  "Your full name isn't Sammy, you know," Hannah said.

  "I know," Sammy said. "But Butter is food."

  "And Sammy is a sandwich," Shawn said.

  "I am not a sammich," Sammy told him with a frown.

  "We can call her Butterfly sometimes so she doesn't forget," Ace said to try and make peace.

  "Is that good enough for you, Miss Bossy Pants?" Hannah asked Sammy.

  "I'm not bossy pants," Sammy told her then she turned to Ace with pleading eyes. "You don't think I'm bossy pants, do you, Ace?"

  Ace took a minute to come out with a long, drawn out "Noooo" that could only have a question mark at the end of it, but Sammy just nodded and smiled, satisfied.

  "You're not gonna ask me?" Shawn said to her.

  Sammy shook her head. "You're not Ace."

  "You can't argue with that," his sister informed him.

  "What's so special about him?" Shawn asked looking sideways at Ace who was petting Butter.

  Sammy was ready with an answer. "Ace has a kitty and he has nice hair."

  "My aunt said I should cut it off," Ace told her.

  "No, you should never cut it," Sammy said to him.

  "Never?" Ace said.

  "Never," she said very seriously.

  "I should get the kids a snack, right?" Seth asked Theo. "We have those cookies. Maybe milk too?"

  "I'll get it. You can..."

  Seth knew Theo was going to tell him to hang out with Hannah, so he stopped him. "No. I got it." He wanted to leave Theo and Hannah to talk, maybe get their issues sorted.

  Balancing three glasses of milk and the bag of cookies, Seth came back out just in time to hear Hannah saying, "Maybe I'm into the strong and silent type."

  Seth glanced at Theo, and saw he was glaring at him like he wanted to kill him. What the hell was going on now?

  Theo was strong and silent for sure. Was Hannah hitting on him? Seth started to wonder if that was why she wanted to come over. She did change before they came, and she did say Theo was a hottie. And being hard on Theo might have been her way of covering up what she was up to.