Page 15 of The Map Home
A chorus of congratulatory whoops exploded from everyone except Dakota. Yippee, Boone was getting married.Yee-Haw. Unsurprisingly, Penny hopped up from her chair again to give her eldest a big hug. That was Penny, a hugger.
Tad nudged him with his elbow, giving Dakota a reason to avert his eyes from the Boone lovefest.
“How long before Mom asks when I’m going to get hitched?” Tad asked out of the side of his mouth.
“Any minute now,” Dakota replied as he watched Penny with her oldest son.
As predicted, Penny turned from her oldest to face Tad. “Now we just need to get you settled, Tad.” She clapped her hands together in anticipation and gave a fake little shiver.
Dakota managed to not snort, but it took an incredible amount of self-control. What was it with parents wanting their children “settled”? Couldn’t kids just live their lives, grow up and do the thing? Probably he was a bit jaded. Ana leaving him behind at G-Bar to fend for himself was not every kid’s life experience. Who knew, maybe she’d hoped that Penny and Waylon would step in? Maybe Ana had recognized good people even if she couldn’t stop her own need to run away. Had she been doing the Ana Green version of trying to get him settled?
Fuck, this whole adult thing was tiring and complicated.
Tad threw his head back and groaned, bringing Dakota back to the matter at hand. “Ugh. Why me? I’m not a bank account, why do I need to be settled? Why can’t you just enjoy Boone’s news for two minutes? If Amanda says yes anyway,” he said with a laugh. “At least Amanda has a degree in accounting, so one of them knows how to do the books.”
“She’ll say yes. Well, I’m pretty sure,” Boone countered, already recovered from his rare bout of nerves and humanness. “We’ve talked about it, but I want to do it right.”
“Remember that you have Grandma Gillespie’s ring if you haven’t picked one out yet. She left it to you, after all.”
Boone protested, “Mom, I’m not an idiot.”
Tad snorted again, leaning into Dakota, his chair tipping precariously again. “Did he just say that? Do we have a recording?”
Tad’s feelings had not been hurt about the ring going to Boone, he’d told Dakota. Tad’s Grandma Gillespie had bequeathed him her pristine antique Singer sewing machineand ten thousand dollars that he’d smartly stashed away in an investment account so he “wouldn’t spend it.” The ring didn’t matter—he’d been thrilled to get the sewing machine. He’d spent many long winter hours learning to sew from his grandma on that very machine. He knew how to repair clothing, fasten buttons and zippers, and once he’d made custom canvas bags for when he was out riding.
“Tad? Are you seeing anyone we don’t know about?” Trust Penny not to get sidetracked.
Tad shook his head and shot Dakota an undecipherable glance. “No, but Dakota and I made a pact a while back. If we aren’t married to someone else by the time we’re thirty, we’ll marry each other. It’s not like I don’t already know he snores and leaves his dirty socks around his apartment.”
Everyone started to laugh. Chuckling, Boone collapsed into the chair on the other side of his brother, as if the stress of announcing he was going to ask his girlfriend to marry him was too much and he deserved a rest. Burl and Kit eyed Dakota from across the flames, amusement in their gazes, and Larry slapped his thigh as if this was the funniest thing he’d ever heard.
Dakota, who’d been about to sip his hot buttered rum, inhaled the drink instead. The warm liquid burned down his esophagus, bringing tears to his eyes.
“Mother—holy,” he coughed. “Jesus, Tad, warn a guy, why don’t you?” he finally managed.
SIX
Tad
Dakota continued to cough violently. Tad figured his face was probably bright red too, but with the flickering firelight, it was impossible to tell. He whacked Dakota on the back while leaning close again and whispering, “Sorry.”
But he wasn’t. He’d meant every word; he’d marry Dakota in a flash if he’d have him. But marrying Dakota would remain Tad’s fantasy as long as Dakota continued to deny his feelings, the feelings Tadknewhe had. Well, was pretty sure. Then a thought struck him. Maybe Dakota didn’t want to get married for reasons that had nothing to with secret feelings? Dammit.
Tad frowned, irritated by his train wreck of thoughts. He’d even grown a mustache so he’d look older.Baby facewas not a compliment when one guy was trying to get another guy’s attention. So far, all Dakota had said was, “Nice ’stache.”
“It’s just that Mom’s going to be on my case about the state of my life forever.”
Still coughing, but less dramatically now, Dakota waved him off. Tad glanced around to see that no one was paying attention to them. His mom was standing next to Boone, one hand onhis shoulder, probably talking about wedding stuff already. Kit, Burl, Larry, and his dad were shoulder to shoulder a few feet away, and Tad guessed they were talking stock, horses, and which meadows they needed to check.
He forced himself to keep talking to Dakota and decided it was time to change the subject. He definitely wasn’t taking back what he’d said. “Guess what else happened Wednesday night? Curtis Lewis slipped on ice on his way home from Jake’s. Broke his leg.”
“Oh, crap.” Dakota frowned, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “That’s terrible. That must be what Geraldine was talking about. She heard the sirens.”
Tad nodded. “Yeah,” Tad nodded. “Yeah, it’s bad. I stopped by the hospital to check on him. He was supposed to have surgery today, I think, and he’s asked me to cover for him at The Chronicle while he rehabs.”
“Whoa.” Dakota’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s good, right? Not good that Lewis is hurt, but you get a chance to really prove yourself.”
“Yeah.” Tad laughed quietly. “He and Honey Sweeting hate each other. He’s afraid if he’s gone too long, she’ll get her claws into everything.”
