Page 33 of The Fault Next Door

“Yeah. I’m from the side of the family that didn’t cut him off. I know we weren’t close with him, but I sent a wedding gift once I found out you two were married.”

“I’m sorry. That was so long ago, I don’t know?—”

Moore's laughter filled the space. "It's okay. It was a while ago. I should have been a better cousin and come to the wedding. I was busy working, and I'm sure you two were busy with life."

Nolan shrugged. “We didn’t really tell anyone when we got married. He didn’t think anyone from his side of the family would come. I don’t think he knew…” Nolan raised his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side.

Moore snorted. "No one knew I was gay. I married Wade a year ago. Before then, I was a confirmed bachelor. Andrew's mother won't acknowledge me, though she used to call me her favorite nephew."

Nolan cringed. “Damn, that sucks.”

Moore shrugged. "Yeah, well, what can you do with your family?"

“True.”

“I know Wade will want to have you over.”

Fear wove through him. He should be braver. It wasn’t like someone was going to attack him for going to dinner with the doctor who worked at the clinic. Though worry filled him because he hadn’t figured out who had tried to break into his house. No more attempts had been made after Ryder had comeout with his gun, but something was up, and he wasn’t sure what.

"Sure. That would be great." He just hoped he was able to stay in the closet. Now, though, he had the alarm installed and a camera on the front and back of the house. Maybe having gay friends here in this small southern town would be a good thing. He enjoyed socializing in Virginia. Well, he had until Andrew died. Then everyone treated him differently.

"Good. It will probably take him a month or more to get the house how he likes it. He's very particular, but he's a good man."

“That’s good to hear.” Nolan was about to make an excuse and say goodbye when a thought hit. “So when you were in Boston at your cousin’s place, did you tell anyone you recognized me?”

“I did. Was there a problem with that?”

Nolan's heart sank, but he shook his head. "No, it's just Andrew's mother wanted me to send her the ashes, and I said no. She thought I still lived in Virginia. Then, last week, someone broke into my place."

Dr. Moore’s eyes went wide. “Oh God, that’s awful.”

“They didn’t take anything. I have an alarm and cameras now, but it was disturbing. I thought she might have tried to hire someone to steal the ashes.”

Moore’s nose wrinkled as he frowned. “That’s so weird. I hope my going home and telling people I saw you didn’t cause problems.”

Nolan shook his head. "There's no way you could have known. It's not like I was telling anyone that his mother was causing problems. Besides, the only thing they took was a photo of Andrew, which I can reprint."

“I’m sorry that happened. I feel responsible. I was just surprised when I saw the photo of you with Andrew. I guesssomeone might have talked about it and spread the news to his mother.”

“It’s okay. I don’t think they’ll try to break in again, or at least they haven’t since I got the camera up.” He didn’t tell the part about Ryder shooting the gun into the air to chase the person away.

Moore squeezed his shoulder. “It was good talking to you, and I’ll tell you when Wade is ready to have people over.”

“Thank you. Have a good evening.”

“You, too. Bye.”

Nolan headed out. He was actually excited to do the chores for Ryder. And it wasn’t just the fact that he and Ryder would end up naked in the shower. He really was looking forward to doing something with the animals. He’d never really had much contact with farm animals before this. He found Ryder’s cow and goats to be cute and smart. Mavis recognized him and knew he would give her a treat. He had looked up what he could give a cow as a treat. Yesterday, he'd given her a carrot, and today, he had an apple for her. It was nice having the animals around.

Living next door to Ryder was different from he'd first thought it would be. The achingly rude man he'd first met wasn't who Ryder really was. He'd put on an act to hide his true self. They were both hurting, and they both had things in life they had to overcome. Really, they were much more alike than either of them probably suspected. He hoped their relationship would continue to grow because he was becoming attached to the man.

Chapter 24

Anger had been brewingin Ryder all day. The conversation he'd had with his father hadn't sat well with him. Instead of brushing it off and letting it go like usual, he'd allowed his inactivity and boredom to transform it into a ball of pissed-off energy.

When he heard Nolan's car pull up outside, he was ready to rumble. It took about thirty minutes for Nolan to knock on his door, and in that time, he'd built up a good head of steam on his anger.

“What the fuck took you so long?”

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