Ethan (Alluring Indulgence) (28 page)

For
now he’d let this be enough. Tomorrow or the next day, or even the day after
that, then Beau would worry about his next step. Should it have to be without
Ethan, then he’d put one foot in front of the other the way he always had
before. It would hurt, would tear his heart to shreds, but it wasn’t like he
hadn’t experienced it before. He’d managed to let others push him away and he’d
survived.

He
was sure he could do it again.

He
just didn’t want to.

♀
♂

Lorrie
waited patiently for Curtis to hang up the phone and join her in the living
room. She knew what the call was about and hearing information on Ethan’s
whereabouts had become essential to her sanity. Luckily, thanks to her discreet
eavesdropping, she knew things were fine. She was grateful for that.

“He’s
all right,” Curtis grumbled when he appeared beside the couch a few minutes
later.

“Where
is he?” she asked calmly, offering her husband her full attention.

“Houston.
With Beau.”

“Who
told you?”

“Zane.
Beau left him a voicemail before they left yesterday. And I called Jared. He
confirmed. Ethan stopped in to let him know as well.”

Lorrie
released the breath she’d been holding. She had every right to be nervous when
it came to Ethan. Although her son didn’t realize it, Lorrie and Curtis were
both aware of what had happened to him all those years ago. They were blessed
with boys who were concerned about one another, and although Sawyer had kept
Ethan’s secret safe from the rest of his brothers, he’d had the common sense to
call their father the night Ethan had been hurt.

Remembering
the event risked stealing several years off of her life because at the time,
Lorrie had worried about her son’s well-being and not just in the physical
sense. Especially after the devastating loss of Gavin Reardon several weeks
after Gavin’s older brother had beaten Ethan.

It’d
taken everything in her power to hold Sawyer and Curtis back, threatening them
both with the law if they even thought about going after Jimmy. Although she fully
believed that disturbed young man deserved punishment, she did not believe it
should come from her family. The possibility of losing one of her boys or her
husband wasn’t something she ever wanted to consider; that included the
possibility of one of them spending the rest of their life in prison.

And,
that afternoon, as soon as they were unable to locate Ethan, she’d gone into a
full blown panic. From the sound of it, the boys at least had the decency to
make sure she and Curtis would know they were all right.

“When
will they be back?” she asked Curtis, enjoying the sigh of relief knowing that
Ethan and Beau were both ok. She couldn’t deny her excitement over the fact
that they were together either. Those two young men were looking for something,
and she had a sneaking suspicion that they had already found it, but if she had
to guess, one or both of them was being stubborn.

Some
alone time would do them some good.

“Friday
or Saturday, Jared said. Ethan’s going to Kaleb and Zoey’s to watch Mason on
Saturday night.”

“Good.
Good.” Lorrie had seen the way Ethan’s eyes lit up when he was around Mason and
she liked the idea of him spending time with his nephew.

Curtis
moved across the room to the coat rack, and Lorrie watched carefully, weighing
her next question. “Where are you going?”

“Moonshiners.”

She
had a feeling he was going to say that. “Did the boys invite you?”

“Yeah,”
Curtis said solemnly. “Travis called earlier. He’s worried about Sawyer.”

Lorrie
stood from her seat and watched her husband as he shrugged on his well-worn
Carhartt jacket before tucking his cell phone in the inside pocket.

“Please
be careful,” she told him.

Curtis
gave her that sexy grin that still made her insides tingle. She loved him with
the same passion she’d had when they first met. Although her heart had grown
much more attached over the years and when she thought he might step in to
defend their boys, she couldn’t help but worry.

“Is
everything ok with Sawyer?” she asked, knowing the answer before he said it.

“He’s
having a hard time with what’s going on with Ethan.”

Rightfully
so. Sawyer had been the one to take care of Ethan, to nurse him back to health
when the worst had happened. Although Ethan didn’t know it, Lorrie had checked
in with Sawyer daily, making sure that her boy was being taken care of. Since
then, she knew Sawyer had become extremely protective of Ethan.

“Call
me when you’re on your way home,” she told Curtis, making her way across the
room. Grabbing the edges of his jacket gently, she pulled him close and went up
on her toes when he leaned in for a kiss.

“Will
do.”

Lorrie
released Curtis, watching as he walked out the back door. Despite her husband’s
need to keep her sheltered from the trouble that seemed to be brewing when it
came to her children, she knew something was going on. She might not have the
specifics, but she fully intended to find out.

After
all, what kind of mother would she be if she weren’t prepared to ensure her
boys were safe? All of them.

♂♀

Curtis
pulled into the parking lot of Moonshiners, his gut churning after the story
he’d heard from Travis just a short while ago. Even though Travis insisted that
he should stay home, Curtis wasn’t having any of it. He’d raised his boys
right, taught them to stand up for themselves and those who needed standing up
for, but Curtis believed whole-heartedly that not all lessons could be learned
the easy way.

And
apparently Jimmy Reardon needed a good hard lesson.

Not
that Curtis was a violent man. Quite the opposite, but he believed in fighting
for his own. And what had happened to Ethan at the hands of Jimmy had managed
to go unpunished for far too long.

As
he headed into the bar, Curtis located Travis’ truck, Kaleb’s truck, as well as
Sawyer’s car. He didn’t see the others, so he assumed the twins and Zane had
other plans for the night. That was just as well.

“Hey,
Pa,” Sawyer greeted him when he stepped up to the bar, the overly loud country
and western music making it difficult for him to hear. Curtis grinned. No, he
was not getting old, he told himself. The music was just loud. That’s all.

“What’s
up, boy?” he asked as he signaled for Mack to bring him a beer.

“Not
a damn thing,” Sawyer said, glancing behind him as though he were looking for
someone.

“Something’s
up,” Curtis stated, not believing his son for a single minute. Sawyer was on
edge, his shoulders tense, his muscles geared up for a fight. A quick perusal
of the bar told Curtis who was there and exactly where they were located.

Travis
and Gage were near the pool tables, watching a couple of guys play. Looks like
they left Kylie at home tonight. Another thing to be grateful for. His boys
weren’t stupid, that was for damned sure.

He
nodded his head at Travis, acknowledging him before doing a three-sixty to see
who else was in the place. “Charlie,” he called out to his buddy who was
sitting in the far corner.

“Curtis,
what brings your old ass down here?” Charlie hollered with a gruff chuckle.

“Same
thing that brought yours down here,” he answered, lifting his beer up.

“Glad
to see you.” Curtis heard the underlying meaning of Charlie’s comment, and
that’s when Curtis noticed the four men who were sitting at a table near the
door. Jimmy Reardon was one of them. Curtis would never forget that man’s face,
would recognize him anywhere. After what he did to Ethan, he had studied his
face, prayed that he never caught the man in a dark alley or that one of his
boys didn’t either.

“Settle
down, Pa,” Sawyer mumbled from beside him. Curtis glanced down and realized his
hands were balled into fists at his side. Damn, he was pretty sure he hadn’t
been this riled up for at least… well, since what happened to Zane. And now the
horrifying nightmare of what happened to Ethan had risen to the surface once
again.

“Woohoo!
You’re up, Travis! Show that boy what you’ve got!” Some cowboy in the back of
the bar was yelling along with the other hoots and hollers around the pool
table.

Curtis
sipped his beer and turned to look at his oldest son. The grin on Travis’ face
made his heart swell. Curtis had wondered for far too long whether that boy
would ever find true happiness. And now he had. In abundance, which was what he
deserved.

“Fucking
faggots.”

Curtis’
head snapped toward the front of the room where the foul language had erupted
from at the same time Sawyer got to his feet. Instead of indulging the
dimwitted little shits, Curtis grabbed Sawyer’s arm and pulled him up short
before he could get far.

Sawyer
stared down to where Curtis’ fingers were clamped around his ropy forearm and
then back up to meet his eyes. “Not yet, son. Not yet.”

Some
of the tension relaxed in Sawyer’s arm and Curtis let him go.

The
noise in the back settled to a dull roar, but to Curtis’ relief, Travis hadn’t
moved. Then again, Gage was keeping a keen eye on the situation. Ever the cop,
that one was.

For
the next half hour, things seemed relatively normal. No more hateful comments,
the boys in the back continued to play pool and Curtis had taken a seat at the
bar and was chatting with Sawyer about the resort. Just normal, everyday stuff.
And if Curtis had even believed for one second that tensions weren’t high and a
storm wasn’t brewing within the thin walls of the bar, he would’ve been kidding
himself.

Curtis
turned slowly when Jimmy Reardon and one of the others at his table stood. They
didn’t head toward the door as Curtis had hoped. Instead, they were heading
toward the tables in the back. As though synchronized, Curtis stood at the same
time Sawyer did and they moved in behind them.

Just
a precaution, nothing more.

Speaking
of precaution… “Hey, Mack,” Curtis whispered as he passed the end of the bar
where Mack was wiping down a glass.

“S’up?”
Mack asked, his eyebrows hidden in his scraggly hair.

“Call
the Sheriff, would ya?”

Sawyer’s
head snapped in his direction, but Curtis didn’t say a word. It was high time
they put an end to this bullshit once and for all. And since Curtis had no
intention of any of his boys spending time in jail or the hospital, he was
going to make sure he got it taken care of.

♂♂

“I
still can’t believe he cancelled. What are the odds?” Ethan asked Beau as they
headed north. Back toward home.

“Think
it’s a sign?” Beau asked with a chuckle.

“Hell
no. You’re getting that tattoo.”

“Yeah?”

Before
Ethan could respond to Beau’s comment, his cell phone rang. Grabbing it out of
the cup holder, he barked a short greeting. “Walker.”

They
were about half an hour outside of Austin, which meant they would hit Coyote
Ridge in about forty five minutes. His phone had been blowing up with texts for
the last twenty minutes or so but until now he’d done a good job of ignoring
it.

“Where
the fuck are you?” Zane growled.

“On
the road,” Ethan said as calmly as he could muster. He wasn’t all that thrilled
with being yelled at. “Why?”

“You
need to get your ass home.”

“On
the way. Again,
why?
” Ethan glanced over at Beau briefly.

“It’s
Dad.”

Ethan
sat up straight in his seat, the phone pressed painfully against his ear, every
muscle in his body tensed. “What’s wrong?”

“Well,
unless you consider the fact that Mom’s probably gonna kick his ass, nothing
serious.”

“What
the fuck! You scared the shit out of me, fucker. What’s going on with Dad?”

“You
know how he’s like almost seventy?”

Ethan
was getting frustrated with Zane. And his storytelling abilities weren’t rating
all that high with him at the moment either. Knowing that talking wasn’t going
to rush the situation any, Ethan kept his mouth shut.

“Well,
Trav had to bail his ass out of jail this morning.”

“
What?
”
Ethan nearly dropped his phone.

“What’s
wrong?” Beau asked, reaching over to touch Ethan’s arm.

“Hell
if I know,” Ethan told him as he hit the speaker button so Beau could possibly
help him translate. “You’re on speaker. Beau’s here.”

“Yo,
Beau! What’s up, man? Did you get that tat?”

“What
the hell is going on?” Beau asked, completely ignoring Zane’s attempt at casual
conversation.

“Well,
Dad’s in jail. Or rather he
was
in jail. He’s out now. Sheriff Endsley’s
at the house talking to him. Mom’s not too happy with him.”

“What
did he do?” Ethan asked, speaking slowly in an attempt to rein Zane in.

“According
to him, he snapped.”

“What
the hell does that even mean?” Ethan asked Zane and glanced at Beau. “You’re
gonna have to make this beast go faster.”

Beau
nodded, and the engine roared as he accelerated.

“Zane,
I need you to be serious here for a minute, bro,” Beau said calmly. “We’re
about half an hour out, but we need to know what’s going on.”

“Well,
that freak show Jimmy, yeah, well, he’s gonna have a headache this morning.
Might even need some makeup to cover up the shiner he’s sporting.”

Ethan
stilled instantly. Jimmy? As in Jimmy Reardon.

Keeping
calm, Ethan said the following words very slowly. “What did Dad do?”

“I’ll
have to let him tell you that part. I wasn’t there. But, I’m on my way to their
house now to see him. Sawyer is fit to be tied, so I just wanted to give you a
warning. Head on over there when you get back. I’ll let them know you’re on the
way.”

Ethan
nodded, realizing Zane couldn’t see him after it was too late and Zane had
disconnected the call.

“You
wanna call Sawyer?” Beau asked, his eyes focused on the road.

“Nah.
We’ll hear about it soon enough.”

Twenty
minutes later, Beau was pulling into the driveway of Ethan’s parents’ house.
Neither of them wasted time getting out and heading inside. It wasn’t hard to
find where the commotion was coming from because there were at least seven or
eight towering males standing in the middle of the living room in what appeared
to be a screaming match. Ethan couldn’t tell who was winning.

Beau
let out a piercing whistle, and the ruckus died instantly, all heads turning to
look at them.
Great. Way to call attention to us.

Ethan
took a moment to do a mental roll call, noticing that there weren’t any women
present.

Good
to know.

“What
the hell is going on here?” Ethan barked, glancing from one man to another. His
brothers were surrounding their father, but Gage had the good sense to stand
off to the side of the room, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

At
least this wasn’t a critical issue. If it had been, Ethan doubted Gage would be
grinning like that.

“Not
a damn thing. Your brothers need to learn to mind their own damn business,”
Curtis bellowed, sinking into his chair.

“You
are our damn business,” Travis argued. “And I’m not all that thrilled about
having to come get your ass outta jail last night.”

“I
warned you,” Curtis argued.

“True.
I did get a warning call.”

Ethan
turned his head to see Sheriff Endsley sitting on the couch right in the middle
of the mayhem. He wasn’t in uniform, which Ethan considered a good sign. It
wasn’t that the sheriff and his father were close friends, but they had started
to chat more, ever since the incident with Zane.

“I
told Mack to call him, did I not?” Curtis asked no one in particular.

Ethan
lowered himself onto the arm of the couch, and Beau came to stand behind him.
For some reason, having Beau there with him was comforting, not disturbing. He
figured at this point, his family knew where he’d been so explaining himself
wasn’t necessary. Not that he would tell them if they asked.

“What
happened?” Jared asked, sitting on the edge of the fireplace, his hands hanging
between his knees.

“Dad
whooped up on Jimmy Reardon,” Zane offered and earned a round of
shut the
fuck up
s from the rest of them.

“That’s
not what happened,” Gage clarified, his eyes darting over to the sheriff.

“No,
it’s not. Jimmy showed up at Moonshiners with his brass balls last night,”
Sawyer growled. “The bastard thought he could start running off at the mouth,
and Pa intervened. Unfortunately for Jimmy, Pa doesn’t do well with threats.”

Ethan
watched the sheriff, wondering why his father had ended up in jail if that was
the case.

“So
why did Trav have to bail him out of jail?” Zane asked, sounding just as
confused as Ethan felt.

“He
didn’t,” Sheriff Endsley stated.

“We
never said he bailed him out, you dipshit,” Sawyer groaned. “We said he had to
go pick him up.”

“Same
difference.”

“I
wasn’t arrested, boys.” Curtis leaned forward in his chair and glanced around
the room. “Regardless, I’d appreciate if you wouldn’t use my behavior last
night as a guide to how to handle a situation like that.”

“You
hit him?” Jared asked, a smug smile on his face. If Ethan had to guess, his
cousin was impressed.

“Jimmy
threw the first punch,” Travis intervened quickly. “Who knew Dad could move
that fast?”

Ethan
felt his father’s eyes on him, and he couldn’t look away.

Curtis
sighed before explaining further. “Your mother and I have taught you not to
judge people. You don’t look down on someone else, and by God, you don’t have
the right to decide what is right or wrong for anyone else. That’s where Jimmy
went wrong. His actions have hurt a lot of people. He should’ve been punished
long ago and maybe he’d have had some time to sit and think about how his
actions affected others.”

What
was his father talking about? There was no way he knew what had happened. Could
he? Ethan glanced over at Sawyer, anger and betrayal boiling deep in his gut.
How could he tell their parents? No one was supposed to know.

“You
sound as though you’re talking about something specific,” Brendon stated.

Ethan
didn’t look at Brendon. He didn’t look at anyone but his father.
Please
don’t say it has anything to do with me.

“Bren,
it’s not my story to tell,” Curtis said. “If and when the time comes then I
promise you’ll understand.”

Ethan
felt the heat of Beau’s body behind him, and he was the only reason Ethan
didn’t make a run for it. That and he’d have to walk to his house because
they’d arrived in Beau’s truck. It wasn’t because he was comforted by Beau’s
presence, although there was that. But because he knew he wouldn’t get far.
Beau would come after him and then he’d be forced to face the fact that he’d
put his family in this situation.

It
didn’t seem to matter that he had tried to protect them all these years. He had
still failed.

♂♂

Beau
was confident that his confusion was written plainly across his face. Based on
what he’d learned from Ethan, Curtis shouldn’t know what went down with Jimmy
Reardon. Of the men standing in the living room, only Sawyer would’ve been
privy to that information.

For
clarification, he wanted to ask Curtis for the whole story, but he knew this
wasn’t the time or place. And he didn’t really think it would make much of a difference
anyway, but he could sense Ethan’s emotions. He could see the way his shoulders
deflated and knew he was taking on the responsibility for everything that had
happened although he couldn’t have possibly been to blame.

Then
again, humans were often strange like that. Taking on blame even when things
were out of their control.

As
the group disbanded, Beau stayed behind, waiting for Ethan. When he realized
Curtis was trying to get Ethan’s attention, Beau snagged Ethan’s arm and then
motioned toward the eldest Walker before attempting to sneak out the back door
to wait outside.

“Beau,
wait.” Curtis’ booming voice thundered through the house, and Beau came up
short, much as he had when he’d been a kid and he and Zane had been caught
doing something they shouldn’t have been doing.

“Yes,
sir?”

“I
want to talk to you and Ethan. When everyone leaves.” Curtis’ voice was low, as
though he didn’t want the others to hear.

Shit.
This couldn’t be good.

“I
really need to get home,” Ethan said sullenly, his eyes never making direct
contact with his father’s.

“Tough
shit, boy,” Curtis replied in his usual growling baritone and then followed
Jared and Sheriff Endsley to the back door.

“Fuck.
Fuck. Fuck,” Ethan groaned, his hand balling into a fist at his side. “I’m not
fucking ten years old. I don’t need my father talking to me. It’s not his
fucking place.”

Beau
placed a hand on Ethan’s arm and wrapped his fingers tightly around his strong
bicep, not letting lose when Ethan tried to pull away.

“You
don’t know what he is going to say. Give him a chance.”

Ethan
glared at him and Beau knew he was overstepping, but he didn’t know what else
to do. It wasn’t like they could just walk out. Curtis would just demand they
come back and then they’d feel more like children than they did already.

“Sit,
boy,” Curtis said to Ethan, motioning to the couch in the living room as he
moved around to his recliner.

Beau
was uncomfortable, desperately wanting out of this but the look Curtis shot his
way said he needed to be there, so Beau followed Ethan around the couch and
dropped to one end while Ethan occupied the opposite.

Curtis
addressed Ethan directly, and Beau wished like hell the couch would just
swallow him whole. He knew Ethan would hold it against him if he witnessed any
sort of reprimand from his father – especially if the past was involved.

Then
again, if Curtis was about to lay into Ethan, then he wasn’t sure he could sit
by and not say something.

“I’m
not gonna get in your business,” Curtis began. “I’m not here to ask questions
or even suggest that you talk to me, but I am going to inform you that should
you need me, I’m here.”

Beau
noticed when Ethan’s body tensed, his hands fisting in his lap. Did he want to
talk to his father? It wasn’t a bad idea. He wasn’t sure whether Ethan felt any
relief whatsoever after sharing his story about what happened because they
hadn’t spoken another word about it. The last couple of days had been strangely
comfortable, almost soothing. They’d spent alone time together, much of it
being naked and Beau was under the impression Ethan had wanted to bury his
pain, and Beau would offer himself to Ethan for that purpose as long as Ethan
wasn’t hiding from him.

Would
this change everything? Would all of their progress be reduced to a couple of
days of mere memories? Beau couldn’t handle that any more than he could handle
hiding what he felt for Ethan.

“Why’d
you do it?” Ethan asked, shocking Beau with his question.