Page 4 of Sins of the Fathers
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Dawson and Gradysaid goodbye to Lily in the parking lot. They were quiet for a while on the way home.
“Thoughts?” Dawson broke the silence.
Grady sighed. “Thinking about a lot of things. Glad that for once a ghost hunt had a happy ending. Happy that Jason and Everett are able to be together—their whole ‘til death do they part’ is schmoopy and wonderful. Hoping we can be like that.” He reached out to take Dawson’s right hand, leaving him the left to steer.
“Yeah. Pretty much what I was thinking too. They had to lie about their relationship for decades, but they didn’t let that come between them.” Dawson gave Grady’s hand a squeeze. “Like you said—goals.”
“Look at the bright side—at least neither of us has to change his name!” Grady teased.
Grady’s father, Aaron, had been adopted by Michael King—Dawson’s grandfather—after Aaron’s parents were killed on a hunt gone wrong. Michael raised Aaron along with his own two sons, Ethan, Dawson’s father, and Denny.
Grady and Dawson had grown up together like cousins, but knowing they weren’t related by blood. Both of them felt the attraction between them in their late teens. Dawson, fearing that Grady’s feelings were just infatuation, enlisted and left for four years to give them both breathing room. Despite a series of hurt feelings and misunderstandings, they found their way back to each other, reforging their relationship long-distance in the final stretch of Dawson’s overseas tour.
It had taken several months after Dawson’s return for them to get back in sync, but after a few harrowing near misses, they no longer doubted the strength of their feelings—or the reality of their love.
“I keep thinking about Jason staying on as a ghost with Everett,” Dawson said. “All the jokes about being an old married couple aside, that’s so sweet.”
“And Everett clearly knew Jason was there,” Grady replied. “I don’t know if Everett could see other ghosts, but he definitely saw Jason.” He shook his head admiringly. “Maybe we should re-write our vows to take out the ‘parting at death’ section and just plan to haunt each other for eternity.”
“Sounds like a totally King thing to do,” Dawson agreed. He kept his voice light, but his heart sped up at Grady’s casual joking about getting married. They had known each other all their lives, and now that they were back together, their love seemed stronger than ever.
How long do we wait? Haven’t we already waited long enough? I’m ready—is he? I know I don’t want anyone but Gray—I’ve never wanted anyone else. How do I know when the time is right to ask?he thought, using his nickname for his partner.
Then again, we’re still settling into the new house. We’re practically married except for the paperwork. Waiting a few more months won’t hurt anything.
Grady’s phone went off, and he pulled it out of his pocket, thumbing it to be on speaker. “Uncle Denny? What’s up?”
“Come home as fast as you can. It’s Knox. He’s in the hospital. We’re not sure what happened, but it looks like an overdose.” Denny sounded worn. “Meet us there—Colt’s with him now.”
“We’re on our way,” Dawson replied as Grady ended the call.
“I don’t understand,” Grady said, ashen. “Knox seemed to be doing better. He’s been sober for a while. Colt’s been good for him.”
“We don’t know what happened,” Dawson soothed, knowing how Grady worried about his errant older brother. “Let’s get the details and go from there. Things aren’t always what they seem.”
Grady’s mother abandoned her husband and two young sons because she didn’t like life in rural North Carolina and disdained monster hunting. That left Aaron to raise the boys with the help of Ethan and Denny, who rallied to help.
They reached Cunanoon General Hospital, and Dawson pulled up to the main entrance. “Go find Knox. I’ll park and meet you in there.”
Grady shook his head. “No. Stay with me. You know how things get with Knox. I love my brother…but he’s not always easy to deal with, and he’s worse when he’s like this.”
Knox was two years older than Grady, and he channeled loss and trauma into rebellion. A permanent injury while on a hunt sidelined Knox from the King legacy, so he took over the hardware store that had belonged to his grandfather, barely keeping it afloat. He struggled with addiction, despite help from counselors and the family.
“I’ve got your back,” Dawson assured him. They parked and headed into the hospital together. Grady called Colt, and Denny came down to meet them in the lobby.
“Ghost problem go okay?” Denny asked.
Dawson nodded. “Turned out to be pretty straightforward, for a change. What happened to Knox?”
Denny motioned for them to follow into an elevator. “We’re not sure. I believe Colt that Knox was doing better lately. He finished that stint in rehab—which only Colt could have gotten him to do; Lord knows I tried—and stopped drinking. The store was doing better because he paid attention to running it. I credit Colt with helping there, too. Boy’s been good for Knox.”
Colt Summers, one of Dawson’s close friends, did his best to be Knox’s guardian angel. Dawson suspected that Colt had fallen for Knox at some point while Dawson was off being a soldier. Dawson cared about Knox and respected Colt’s intentions, but he privately wondered if Knox’s demons might be more than Colt could handle.
“Then why?” Grady’s tone was a mixture of hurt and anger.
“Like I said, we don’t know.” Denny ran a hand over his neck. “I’m afraid we’re going to need to wait for Knox to wake up—and he’s been slow about doing that.”
