Page 16 of Persuaded

But Joshua had known a different kind of man: loving, tender, loyal to a fault but wary about bringing anyone new into that lucky circle of people he called family. Perhaps it was fanciful to imagine he could still see that man—thatonlyhe could see him—but Joshua couldn’t help thinking that Finn was playing a role.His guard was up; he wasn’t the carefree young man Joshua had known eight years ago.

Perhaps Joshua wasn’t the only one who’d changed beyond recognition.

As he watched, Finn gave Tejana an affectionate hug and said something to Sean. Joshua lost track of him then, because Sean started waving. “Joshua!” He headed through the crowd toward him. “You made it.”

If Joshua had wanted his presence announced to the whole town, then this would have been the way to go about it. He could feel eyes on him as he walked forward—no doubt all waiting to see how he reacted to being “home” under these circumstances.

Sean offered a hand and when Joshua shook it Sean pulled him into a brief hug. Patting his back, he said, “Good to see you, man.”

Once again helpless against Sean’s smile, Joshua held out his gift. “This is for you and Tejana.”

Sean’s eyes widened. “What? No, you didn’t need to.”

“I know. I wanted to.” He watched as Sean opened the gift bag. Inside was a framed photo of the house as it had been right after its construction in the back end of the nineteenth century. “That’s Reiner Bauer, the original owner, out front,” he said. “He was something of a recluse. Made his fortune in publishing and built this place when he retired.”

“That’s...” Sean grinned at him. “That’s so awesome. I love stuff like this. Tejana does too.”

Joshua smiled. “I’m glad.”

“Now come and have a drink, and let me introduce you to my wife.”

Tejana was as sweet and open as Sean, and she looked genuinely delighted with Joshua’s gift. Thank goodness. He didn’t want anyone to think there were hard feelings, even if thenature of the house’s sale had been embarrassing—for his father, mostly, but Joshua knew that the whole family had been tainted.

For most of the party he managed to avoid Finn and tried not to watch too intently as he flirted with the young women flocking around him. Ali and Lexa were in there, front and center. So was Kylee Adams, and even Liz Howard.

Liz, he thought, had the best chance. Closer to Finn’s age, she was serious in a way Joshua knew he appreciated deep down. He watched them talking, saw Liz showing Finn pictures of Matt, and tried to quash the hollow yearning in his chest.

Toward the end of the evening he found himself sitting with Dee and Kylee Adams, around one of the patio heaters. The air was chilled, but the heater made the night bearable—the couple of beers he’d downed helped too. Sean and Tejana were sharing the love seat opposite and when Finn returned from walking Liz to her car Sean waved him over. “Dude, come and sit. I got a beer with your name on it.”

“Sure—” Finn stopped when he noticed Joshua, clocking the fact that the only spare seat was next to him.

Joshua stilled, torn between getting up to leave and refusing to pander to Finn’s sulk. After eight years they should at least be able to act like adults.

“Great,” Finn said and without looking at Joshua he took the beer from Sean and the only spare seat. “We having fun?” he asked everyone.

Kylee launched herself at him right away and Finn looked pretty happy about that, turning his back on Joshua. They hadn’t been this physically close since Finn came to town and Joshua couldfeelit, his whole body yearned toward Finn’s. He breathed lightly; he didn’t want to catch the scent of Finn’s shampoo or cologne or anything that might make him remember.

Kylee came on pretty strong, but Finn took it in his stride. He was charming and warm and, although he was sittingonly inches away, Joshua felt like they’d never been more distant. Everyone else in New Milton was getting to know Finn Callaghan; Joshua was the only one who couldn’t. They would always be strangers now.

Something huge and empty swelled in his chest and he had to suppress a scream of frustration. He downed the rest of the beer instead, but it did nothing to ease his distress.

He made himself wait an agonizing few minutes, long enough that it didn’t look like he was running away. When Finn and Kylee were deep in a heated discussion of the relative merits of variousStar Warsmovies, Joshua got to his feet.

“I’m gonna get going,” he said, setting down his empty beer. “Early start tomorrow.” Not strictly true, but an easy excuse and Joshua felt tender enough to warrant a little white lie. Besides, he’d probably go out for an early run.

“Hey, man.” Sean got to his feet and drew Joshua into another hug. “Thanks for coming.”

“I’m glad I did. It’s good to see the place like this—so full of happiness.”

Sean smiled, broad and genuine. “Dude,” he said, tipsy and emotional. “That’s—Yeah.Thank you.”

Joshua felt churned up too, a little choked—the beers weren’t helping.

Tejana came to their rescue. “You’re a sweetheart, Joshua,” she said, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. “And if you ever want to come up here, hang out... You know, feel free. It’s a lot of house for two people.”

“Yeah,” Sean said earnestly. “Yes. Anytime. We mean it.”

“Thank you.” Joshua didn’t bother telling them that this was only the second time he’d set foot in the house since his father cut him off a year after Finn left; that was too much to explain. “I’ll see you soon, Sean. Tejana.”

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