A Younger Man (40 page)

Hoyt’s sigh carried through the phone. “You got that habit of interrupting from your mother,” Hoyt said, issuing a familiar lecture. “I was going to say I can’t do anything to stop whatever this woman has set in motion so far, but with time I might be able to find something to counter her claims.”

“Zane doesn’t have time,” Noah reminded Hoyt, urgency coursing through his very being. “Patty has already fired the first shot.”

“I appreciate that,” Hoyt replied, “but I can’t pull a miracle out of thin air. You need to get me whatever information you have about this woman, and you need to give me every legal document and court statement or decision that has been made in relation to your friend and his rights to have custody of his siblings. I have to know the facts that already exist, and have a talk with her lawyer, before I can decide on a move.”

Yes.
Noah went light-headed, and he sank his weight against the wall. “Thank you, Dad.”

“If this father was of sound mind when he appointed his stepson as guardian to his children then I don’t like it when someone tries to play dirty and override his wishes after his death. Get me the information, so I have a place to start. From there I’ll see what I can dig up.”

“I’ll have it for you tomorrow.” Emotion swelling his chest to painful proportions, Noah blurted, “I love you, Dad. Bye.” Noah hung up fast, just in case his father didn’t say the words back. The man had agreed to help, and right now, Noah had no right to pine for more.

Pushing himself away from the wall, Noah put in a call to Zane.

* * * *

With the restaurant one busboy down, Zane wiped down tables after the lunch crowd had passed, hoping that the familiar work would help focus him for his impromptu meeting with Hoyt Maitland today. Almost two weeks had passed since getting that text from Aunt Patty. She had agreed to meet Zane at her home for an informal conversation tomorrow—although Noah and Hoyt would be with him. As of now, Zane didn’t have one idea how he was going to convince the woman to back down from her plans.

Even though Noah’s father had agreed to help, Zane couldn’t stop his imagination from wandering months ahead into a courtroom, where he envisioned a pair of bailiffs dragging Duncan and Hailey away from him after the judge had declared him unfit and given custody to his aunt. In the time since he’d received Patty’s threat, Zane had barely eaten, and when he wasn’t at one of his two jobs he’d taken to plastering himself to his brother and sister, to the point where they were getting sick of him and wondering what was going on. Zane hadn’t told them about Aunt Patty’s power move yet. The most secret part of his soul, a piece that still believed in miracles—after all, his mother had found Burt, and Zane had Noah now—Zane prayed he would never have to tell them anything. Zane didn’t want Duncan and Hailey to know that this woman they so loved and treasured was trying to tear them all apart.

The double doors swished behind Zane. He whirled, parting his lips on the expectation that he would see Noah and Hoyt. Instead the second bane of Zane’s existence—this one in a cowboy hat—sauntered up to him with that familiar grin that said he planned to stir up trouble.

Before Clint could spew a single threat, Zane spat in a low tone, “I made a full payment to you last week, and you’ll get another one when I get paid again. But I swear to God I do not have time to deal with you today,” Zane could only focus on one crisis at a time, “so get the hell out of here right now.”

Clint slipped his Stetson off easy as you please, but anyone looking in his flinty eyes would see that he was anything but a friendly cowboy. “You might want to check your manners again, because I don’t think it’s a good idea to mouth off to the person who holds your life in his hands.”

Zane laughed outright in Clint’s face; panic wouldn’t let him rein it in. “You don’t have any idea how much I don’t care about you right now.” If Patty took him to court, her lawyer would certainly uncover these stupid loans; whatever balance Zane still owed then wouldn’t matter. The fact that he’d been a dumbass for not only taking one loan in the first place, but two more after that, would seal the deal on his fitness as a guardian to two kids. “You will get another payment on time. Everything else is just threats.”

“You should think twice about how you talk to me, boy,” Clint murmured with vicious softness. “Otherwise I might not be so nice to you next time.”

The door whooshed open behind Clint, and in a split second, Noah had his hand pinched in a vise around the back of Clint’s neck. Noah dipped down, right in Clint’s face, and nothing but pure darkness filled his stare. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but you have bothered this man at his job for the last time. If I don’t hear that you are as polite as a goddamn nun the next time you come into this establishment, I will find you, and you will be sipping the rest of your meals out of a straw.” Noah then released Clint’s neck and added, “Are we clear?”

Taking a step back, Clint lifted his hands up, hat still in one. “We’re all friends here.”

Noah bared his teeth like a wolf. “No we’re not. Leave.” Black coal fires still lit his eyes. “Now.”

Clint shot Zane a look that made a shiver run down Zane’s spine, and then he strode out of the restaurant.

As soon as Clint disappeared, Noah rubbed his hand across Zane’s shoulders. “Are you all right?” He could surely feel Zane trembling.

“Not really,” Zane admitted, “but not because of him.” That wasn’t entirely a lie. His nerves had been shot for nearly two weeks, because of Patty, and Noah knew it. Still, more than Noah’s physical strength, it was his very nearness and calm nature that soothed some of the chaos inside Zane. Zane looked up at Noah, adoration filling his being, and squeezed his hand. “Thank you.”

His face still all harsh lines, Noah countered by brushing the softest touch against Zane’s cheek with his knuckles. “You and the other servers should let the owner know if that jackass comes in here and harasses any one of you again. I’m sure that’s not a work environment she would want for her people.”

Zane forced a tight smile. “I know; you’re right.” Lifting his focus past Noah, Zane automatically straightened to attention at the sight of big, silver-blond Hoyt Maitland. “Sir. It’s good to see you. Thank you again for agreeing to help me.” Zane had expressed his appreciation to Hoyt on multiple occasions, but God, he couldn’t help himself. “This means everything to me.”

Hoyt’s features were as rough as his son’s, and right now his face was ruddy too. Without a doubt Zane knew Noah’s father wasn’t yet okay with witnessing his son’s affection for another man, not even an innocent, quick handhold or a brush to the cheek.

Even with his obvious discomfort, Hoyt nodded and offered his hand in greeting. After Zane shook it, Hoyt said, “Why don’t we sit down?” Grim lines filled his face once more. “One of my retired investigator buddies found something I think you’ll want to see.”

Once they’d all taken a seat, Hoyt slid a folder across the table to Zane. Before Zane could open it, Hoyt put his hand on top of the file and lifted his gaze to Zane’s. “Let me share a few things before you read what is in this file.”

Hoyt’s piercing stare made Zane take his hands off the table and tuck them between his knees. “Okay.”

“First, one of my friends who is still practicing law is very aware of the lawyer representing your aunt. The guy is young; an up-and-comer, and he is ambitious. He also has certain personal views that would make him an eager representative of your aunt. This is not speculation; this is fact based on knowledge and observation from my colleague.” Hoyt’s visage graver than grave, he went on. “The firm he works for is known to have an inside track to getting their cases onto the dockets of the judges they want.”

Zane blanched, and Noah muttered, “Fuck.”

“As your attorney,” Hoyt kept his attention on Zane, “I cannot advise you to use the information in this file in any way other than through the legal system. In point of fact, I haven’t even officially read it myself. I’m just passing along information from a friend. You look at it. I can’t give you one word of advice. You read it, you sleep on it, and you make the decision. Tomorrow we’ll all go to your meeting with your Aunt Patty. When we get there you’ll let me know if I’m to listen in on your conversation with your aunt as your legal counsel.” With a nod, Hoyt took his hand away. “Understood?”

Zane nodded and opened the folder. As he began reading, he started shaking.

He had a future again. If he dared make the move necessary to take it.

Chapter 20

Wearing his nicest jeans, dress shirt, and the only tie he owned, Zane lifted his hand and knocked on Aunt Patty’s door. Zane clutched the file from yesterday in his sweaty palm, and even though he had guzzled a bottle of water just a few minutes ago, his mouth and throat felt as if he’d spent the drive sucking on a salt lick. Noah and Hoyt stood back and to Zane’s right. Once Noah had seen the glider on Patty’s porch he’d stated that he and his father would wait for Zane right there and be within shouting distance if Zane needed them.

Zane fully understood, however, he needed to do this on his own.

With tension thrumming through him, Zane put his knuckles to the wood with more force. “Aunt Patty, it’s Zane.” Pictures of Duncan and Hailey grew front and center in Zane’s mind, lending strength and volume to his words. “You agreed to have this talk. Please open the door.”

The door whipped open, and Zane’s aunt stood on the other side, impeccably coiffed and dressed. “I am not your aunt. I never was.” She looked as though she wanted to gouge out his eyes.

“Then I will simply call you ma’am.” Zane countered her rancor with manners. “But no matter how you wish for me to address you, we need to talk.”

“Call my lawyer to set up an appointment. I’ve changed my mind.”

Zane slid his hand, the one still gripping the file, against his aunt’s door.
Here it goes.
“Or instead of calling your lawyer, I could call the police.”

Patty scrunched her perfectly penciled eyebrows. “Why on earth would you do that?”

So she doesn’t know, or she’s a really good actress.
Zane couldn’t be sure yet. Still, out of deference to his love for Burt, he glanced up and down the nice, quiet neighborhood block, and asked, “Do you really want us talking about family matters on your porch?”

“Fine. Come inside.” Patty stepped out of the entryway. “But make it quick.”

Before stepping over the threshold, Zane found Noah a short distance away and held his gaze. The look exchanged only lasted a few seconds, but the encouragement and support conveyed through Noah’s rich, warm eyes steadied Zane’s core and helped to ease the buzzing in his head and heart. Noah tilted his head toward the glider where he would wait, and Zane knew his back was covered even though he walked into the lioness’s den alone.

Patty led Zane to the kitchen and indicated with a nod that he sit down. After he did, she took a seat at the head of the table and laid one of her rigid, unblinking stares on him. “You’re not keeping those kids. I already have this house ready for them, each with their own bedroom. It’s just a matter of time before the court gives them to me.”

As Patty spoke, she fiddled with a spoon on the linen placemat in front of her, mimicking a stirring motion, as if she were thinking about serving herself tea. “Or if you don’t want those pictures becoming public, you can just tell the court you want me to have the kids. You don’t have a career to worry about ruining, but I understand your sugar daddy has somehow managed to keep himself a nice reputation, even after telling everyone he’s a gay. That’s nice in theory,” she offered a little shrug, “but I bet if they see graphic pictures of him screwing a much younger man they might think twice about how they really feel about having a homosexual working in their homes.”

God, how Zane wanted to shout and rail in this woman’s face, but he forced himself to merely shrug right back. “That’s true, but then again, the public isn’t who is going to decide who gets custody of Duncan and Hailey. You need a court to do that.” Matching the tap of his finger against his folder to the rate Patty twirled her spoon, Zane didn’t blink either. He nailed Patty to her chair with his stare as he dropped his bomb. “I think the bigger story is the fact that the woman who wants to take a pair of happy kids from a hardworking young man—who just so happens to be gay and in a monogamous relationship with a stable, older man—has two adult sons of her own who are currently breaking the law and have been doing so for quite a while. I think that might be the bigger headline, not to mention more relevant to the courts, than the fact that I’m in a relationship with another guy.”

The spoon dropped from Patty’s hand with a loud clank and she went very still. “You’re lying.”

“No, actually I’m not.” Zane worked with every fiber of his being to remain cordial—but was also deadly serious. “You’re not the only one who’s allowed to hire an investigator. My guy is retired and had a lot of free time to dig for me in a short amount of time. As it turns out,” Zane flipped open the file and slid it across the table to Patty, “your boys have been busy. That auto repair shop your husband used to own—that your oldest son now runs—is also a chop shop. Small-time right now, according to my guy, but growing at an ambitious rate. He says your husband probably wisely kept the chop shop small in order to stay under the radar, but your son doesn’t seem to share that view. I don’t have to tell you that your youngest works there too, and so I’m sure he’s in that mess knee-deep himself. Not that he needs it,” reaching across the table, Zane flipped a few pages back in the folder for her, “because he’s doing a fine job as a collector for a bookie. But better than that, it’s looking a whole lot like he’s started himself up a cockfighting ring. Now I don’t have definitive proof on that yet, but my investigator is working on that as we speak.” Zane leaned back in his chair, his attention on his aunt, and settled his arms against his chest. “How much do you want to bet it won’t take him long to find it?”

With unsteady fingers, Patty flipped through all the papers in the file, creating a mess. “This isn’t true.”