Family. Landon had to admit, even with the personal red tape they still had to get through, Landon thought the word summed up what could be. Landon signed his mileage sheet, counting the days until he was finished with that particular task, then headed back to Jay’s office.
They’d agreed to maintain their working relationship as they had, being circumspect at work. They did still live in Montgomery County, and the crew was still full of men who wouldn’t appreciate Jay and Landon’s type of love. But that didn’t mean Landon had to ignore the man. After all, he hadn’t seen him in two days. Silly or not, he’d missed Jay. But Jay’s kids had needed him.
He knocked on the door and found his daddy sitting in one of the chairs across the desk from Jay.
“Oh, sorry, guys. I can come back later.” Dammit.
Landon’s daddy stood, heaving a sigh. “Naw. I’ll get out of y’all’s way.” The slight turning up of one side of his daddy’s lips relieved some of the tension Landon hadn’t realized was there. “No more neckin’ in the office, though.” His daddy pointed at Landon.
Landon and Jay both quailed.
Ricky belly laughed. Old bastard. “Y’all ain’t very smooth.” He grew somber. “But I don’t want trouble for y’all. I suspect there will be some anyways.” His daddy looked at him. “Landon, I was just telling Jay here that I’m not okay with this. But I’m okay with this.”
Landon’s brows went up. His daddy rarely discussed his being gay. In fact, the statement was downright confusing. But he nodded, acknowledging his daddy was trying. That was more than most of the old timers around those parts would do.
“Figure y’all got enough trouble without me getting on your case. Just don’t cause no troubles for us here, okay? You’ll be done in a few months, then you two can… do whatever you two do.” Ricky looked decidedly uncomfortable with those words.
“Yessir,” Landon and Jay replied in unison. Their gazes met, Jay’s held more than a little humor. Ricky harrumphed and made his way out.
“Well. That was something,” Jay stated.
“They’ve had a long while to get used to it. Remember, I told ‘em years ago.”
Jay nodded sagely. “I remember you’d said that. Guess after all the drama, I expected something more climactic.”
“I think we’ve had enough of those climaxes.” Landon fluttered his eyes at Jay. “I can think of other climaxes to focus on now.”
Jay let out a put-upon sigh. “That’s not keeping it out of the office.”
“Gotta get it where I can,” Landon teased. Jay shook his head, resigned but smiling.
“What do you need, Petty?”
“Just came to see how you were.”
Jay leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m good. Things at home are still tense with the girls.”
Landon’s eyes widened. “Beth’s still here?”
“Oh, naw. She went back the other night after I left your house. But Millie has been spending a lot of time on the phone with her.” Jay frowned. “She’s probably gonna go live with her mama when she moves back here after Christmas.”
“Oh, Jay,” Landon said sadly, moving to sit on Jay’s desk, putting a hand out. He felt relief wash through him when Jay’s frown morphed into a half-smile and he took Landon’s hand, giving it a quick squeeze before letting it go. “It’ll be okay. Probably would have turned out that way either way, once Bethany moved back down. This is just sooner than I’d thought.”
“You think it’ll be okay?”
Jay looked at Landon fondly. “I know it will.”
“If you need anything…”
“I do,” Jay responded.
“Oh?”
“The kids are going to their school’s fall something-or-other tomorrow night. Curfew isn’t ‘til eight, so I need you to invite me over to yours. Maybe we’ll have some dinner. Just the two of us.”
Landon’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. “I’d like that.” Landon looked toward the half-open office door, then shot a smirk Jay’s way. “Think you’re too sore for us to give that a go again?”
Jay choked on the coffee he’d been drinking. “Damn you, Landon.”