Finding Forgiveness (Finding Series, Book 4) (20 page)

The revelation that his father had duped his grandmother into signing over complete control of his trust didn’t surprise Hunter in the least. And he had no doubt that his father would fight tooth and nail to keep control of the property, especially after Roman had told him that it was worth millions of dollars. He’d been staggered to hear that but hadn’t even once considered selling it if Roman could help him get it back. And the idea of sharing it with Roman, maybe someday living there like his Gran and Pops had planned to do, well, there was just no price that could be put on that.

Hunter gave his grandmother and Emma another wave as he stood next to Roman’s car to wait for him. He watched his grandmother disappear into the house and then glanced at his phone. He’d assumed Roman had gone back into the house to make a pit stop but at ten minutes and counting, Hunter had to wonder if the man had gotten some bad chicken or something when they stopped at the small deli on the outskirts of Missoula for lunch.

Hunter was about to head back up the stairs when the door opened and he saw Roman backing out of it. He wondered at the strange position but only for a moment because as soon as Roman turned around, Hunter gasped at the sight of the squirming puppy in his arms.

“What did you do?” Hunter asked as Roman handed him the puppy.

“Us runts gotta stick together,” Roman said as he gave the puppy a pat and then leaned down to kiss Hunter. “We need to bring him back for his shots in a week and Dane’s going to get his medications together for me to pick up tomorrow.”

Hunter knew he was grinning like an idiot as he carried the puppy to the car and got into the passenger seat. “Thank you, Roman,” he said as Roman got the car started.

“You’re welcome,” Roman returned as he brushed another kiss over Hunter’s mouth. “I love you,” he whispered just before the puppy’s wet tongue covered both their mouths in a trail of slime. “He needs a name,” Roman said as he backed the car up.

“Already got one,” Hunter said.

“What?”

“Champion. Champ for short.”

Roman smiled. “Champ it is.”

***

“Roman, it’s fine. Just put him down. She won’t hurt him,” Gray urged.

Roman wasn’t as confident as Gray as he watched the way Ripley was eyeing the puppy in his arms. He’d learned from Dane that Champ was some kind of Great Dane mix and that even as the runt of the litter, he’d likely be close to 150 pounds easily when full grown. Not that that would do the puppy any good right now with the huge German Shepherd who looked like she could kill him with one good bite.

“Roman, trust me,” Gray said.

Roman finally put the puppy down but remained squatted next to him as Ripley came up to sniff him. There were some tense moments as the two dogs worked out some dominance ritual that Roman didn’t have a clue about but then they were off and running through the huge backyard.

“Where’s Hunter?” Gray asked as they began walking toward the spot by the water where the dogs could play.

“He’s driving down a little later. Some of his classmates were meeting at the library to prep for an exam on Monday. He’s going to go meet his grandmother to pick up the trusteeship papers and then he’ll meet us here for dinner.”

“I’m glad they worked things out,” Gray said. “Sounds like things went well with Finn too.”

“They did. I don’t think Hunter was expecting it so he’s still struggling to accept that he can put this whole thing behind him.”

“Sometimes the things we think we left in the past are just waiting to catch up to his when we least expect it.”

Roman chuckled. “Don’t worry, Dr. Phil, I’ve decided to talk to someone about the stuff that happened with my mom…and Walt.”

Gray slapped him on the back. “Man, I rock this big brother shit.”

Roman laughed but sobered when he said, “How are you doing with things?”

“It’s hard to miss someone who wasn’t really there, even when he was.”

“And Victoria?”

Gray shook his head. “Don’t really want or need that in my life. I’ve got all the family I need right here.” Once they reached the log by the stream, Gray said, “A little birdie told me that you were thinking about setting up roots around these parts.”

“Did that little birdie happen to be wearing bedazzled Nikes?”

“It may have,” Gray acknowledged.

“I found a couple of rental properties between here and Missoula that have a lot of land for Champ to run around on and the commute isn’t too bad. When Hunter’s done with school, we’ll see what happens next. But to answer your question, I think we’ve both found exactly where we want to be.”

Gray wrapped an arm around him and dragged him in for a long hug. “Welcome home, baby brother.”

Roman smiled as Ripley and Champ both began jumping against them with wet, muddy paws. “Better late than never,” he murmured as he reached down to pull Champ up on his lap.

***

Hunter parked his car in front of the hair salon and climbed out. He couldn’t help but scan the sidewalk outside his parents’ realty office at the end of the block. He had yet to make any kind of contact with them and had decided to hold off until after Roman had gotten the process of challenging the trusteeship underway. Hurrying into the salon, he easily found his grandmother sitting near the entrance. Her little brown dog, Teddy, was on her lap as the woman behind her did something to her hair that involved covering it in a strong smelling blue cream that reminded Hunter of the
Smurfs
cartoons he used to like to watch when he was little.

“Hey Gran,” he said as he came around the chair and leaned down to kiss her cheek.

“Oh, my boy, how are you?” she asked. Before he could answer, she looked at the woman behind her using the reflection in the mirror and said, “Felicia, this is my grandson.”

The young brunette smiled at him. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” she said as she held out her hand.

“No, no, don’t bother,” his grandmother said as she reached her hand up to push Felicia’s hand back. “My Hunter only likes boys who like boys,” she said crisply. “And he doesn’t need a beard,” she added.

Although Hunter wanted to disappear into the floor before he died of embarrassment, the brunette took it all in stride and let out a little laugh.

“Gran, do you have the papers?”

“I do,” she said as she pointed at her purse which was hanging from a hook underneath the counter in front of her. Hunter grabbed it and gave it to her and waited patiently until she pulled them out and handed them to him. “I went down to your father’s office to give him a piece of my mind.”

“No, Gran, we told you not to.”

His grandmother waved her hand as she gave him the purse back. “Don’t worry, he wasn’t there. But I made sure to tell that wife of his that they’re not getting what’s yours. I also told her that come election time next year, I’m going to find someone to run against him. And if I can’t, well then I’ll just do it myself.”

Hunter groaned. So much for the element of surprise. He leaned down to kiss her again and said, “Stay away from him, okay, Gran?”

His grandmother dismissed him with a wave but not before she planted a kiss on his cheek. Once he was back at his car, he tossed the papers on the passenger seat and began searching his pockets for his phone so he could let Roman know that the cat was out of the bag. The sound of a rumbling motor caught his attention and he looked up to see Finn’s truck on the other side of the square pulling into a spot in front of the police station. Finn and Rhys both waved to him and then Finn was motioning him over. He left his car where it was and trotted through the park. By the time he reached Finn, the young man and Rhys were sharing a heated embrace as they said their goodbyes.

“Hey, Hunter,” Rhys said as he slapped Hunter gently on the back before brushing one last kiss over Finn’s mouth. “See you later,” he murmured.

“Bye,” Finn said dreamily. It wasn’t until Rhys was out of sight that Finn finally focused on him. “Hey, I heard you saw your grandmother.”

Hunter nodded. It still felt so strange to be talking so openly with Finn but he wasn’t going to miss the chance to connect with the young man who could have become a good friend if circumstances had been any different. There was absolutely no residual attraction between them so that was one less obstacle to deal with.

“I did,” he said. “I almost forgot what a force of nature she can be.”

Finn laughed but his humor suddenly died down as his focus went to something behind Hunter. Hunter turned around and saw Clem Henry, the owner of the local hardware store, eyeing them as he swept the sidewalk in front of his shop. Even from a distance, Hunter could see the open disdain that was focused entirely on Finn. The man disappeared inside his store and when Hunter returned his attention to Finn, the young man tried to brush off what had happened.

“So I was talking to Callan and Rhys and we were wondering if you and Roman wanted to come to dinner on Sunday. Gray and Luke will be there. Jax and Dane, too. Your grandmother said she’d come if she hadn’t managed to find a date between now and then so I think it’s a pretty safe bet that she’ll be there too-”

Hunter reached down to grab Finn’s hand and began dragging him to the hardware store.

“What are you doing?” Finn asked.

“Something I should have done a long time ago,” Hunter responded. He shoved open the door to the surprisingly busy store and led Finn to the checkout counter which Clem Henry was busily cleaning off with some paper towels. He stilled when he saw them and his lips twisted into an ugly frown. The man had to be in his late sixties with thinning hair and a serious pouch going on. He was wearing a striped, short sleeve button up shirt along with a pair of brown slacks.

“Mr. Henry, do you remember me?”

The man nodded and said, “You’re the mayor’s boy.”

“Hunter.”

“Right.”

“And you know Finn?” Hunter asked.

A sharp nod.

“You don’t like him much, do you Mr. Henry?”

Mr. Henry didn’t respond so Hunter continued. “What don’t you like about him? The fact that he works just as hard, if not harder, than any of you?” Hunter asked as he glanced at the few people who’d stopped to listen in on their conversation. He recognized one of the men as one of his father’s poker buddies but he didn’t dwell on that fact.

“Or that he’d give the shirt off his back to help any one of you out if you needed it?” Hunter said. “In fact, didn’t he do just that when you had that fire in the back of your store a few years ago, Mr. Henry? Wasn’t Finn one of the few people who showed up to help you clean up the water damage?”

Mr. Henry’s eyes shifted to Finn and a glimmer of guilt appeared and Hunter knew that the man hadn’t remembered Finn from that time.

“I’m going to take a leap here and guess what bothers you about Finn is who he loves.”

“It ain’t natural,” Mr. Henry snorted.

“You like my dad, right? You respect him? Admire him?”

“Your dad’s a fine, upstanding citizen. God-fearing. Respectable.”

“So your definition of a good, God-fearing, respectable man is one who beats the shit out of his kid because he got a B on his homework instead of an A or because he didn’t make the Varsity football team on his first try or because he spilled cereal on the living room rug while he was watching his favorite Saturday morning cartoon. Tell me, Mr. Henry, is that natural?”

“Well, no…”

“Was it the natural thing for Finn’s dad to beat him unconscious because of a lie
I
told just so I wouldn’t have to admit to people like you that I couldn’t make my body react to girls the same way it did to boys?”

Hunter looked at the people milling around the counter. “Finn never assaulted me. I lied to protect a secret that I was too ashamed to admit because I didn’t want to lose the only people who were supposed to love me. That’s what’s unnatural, Mr. Henry,” Hunter said as he turned his focus back on the clerk. “That God-fearing, fine upstanding citizen that you admire and respect so much would rather his son be rotting in a grave somewhere as a straight man instead of living in this world as a gay one. There’s nothing more fucking unnatural than that.”

Hunter shook his head and finally said, “If you can’t accept who Finn and I are, then just leave us alone to love whomever we want.”

The store was so silent that Hunter could swear he heard crickets. Finn shot him an “I told you so” look and Hunter gave him a little nod. They both moved for the door when Mr. Henry called out, “Wait.” He leaned down to pull something from beneath his counter and Hunter actually wondered if the man was about to pull a gun on them or something. But to Hunter’s surprise, Mr. Henry pulled out what looked like a small picture, the kind that people used to carry around in wallets before everything went digital. It was wrinkled and bent like it had been handled countless times. Mr. Henry reached across the counter and handed Hunter the picture. He took it and then lowered it enough so Finn could see it too.

“Her name was Billie…Wilhelmina actually but she liked it when I called her Billie.”

Hunter studied the picture of the young black woman. She appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties and from the dress she was wearing he guessed the picture to be from the sixties or seventies.