Page 41 of A Case of You
Brandon stroked his boy’s head. “I’m not going to leave you to face something like this alone. Never. I promise.”
Chapter Eleven
They called Jeff and talked to him and Emma—and Grace—to wish them goodnight before heading to the restaurant. Stuart nervously held Brandon’s hand during the walk across the restaurant parking lot. When Stuart had texted Eileen before they’d left the hotel five minutes earlier, she and John had just arrived at the restaurant.
Eileen and John stood waiting for them near the hostess station. Eileen smiled and grabbed Stuart, giving him a long, strong hug.
“Thank you, Stu. I really appreciate you coming.”
“I wish we’d talked more before. Neither of us would have felt so alone.”
“Yeah.” She offered him a smile as she stepped back. “This is my fiancé, John Martinez. John, my little brother, Stuart.” He had dark brown, nearly black hair buzzed military short, but he wore jeans, work boots, and a button-up shirt under his jacket.
Stuart went for a handshake, but John pulled him in for a hug. “No, we’re family.”
Already, this felt a lot different—in good ways—than his own family. When John released him, Stuart introduced Brandon. “This is my husband, Brandon.” Stuart still felt his tongue wanting to stumble over that word sometimes, despite the ring on his finger.
It didn’t feel…real. He got his happily ever after with not one prince, but two of them. That was still sinking in.
And he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. He couldn’t be this lucky…could he?
John hugged Brandon, too. “Sorry your other husband couldn’t make it. Eileen told me he’s sick?”
Stuart was too pleasantly surprised by John’s response to say anything, but at least Brandon was on his toes. “Lyme disease. It’s chronic, unfortunately. Jeff pushes himself too hard and crashes.” Brandon chuckled. “So we left him at home to fend for himself and wrangle two teenaged girls.”
John smiled. “Poor guy.”
They were seated in a cozy booth and after the waitress took their drink orders, Stuart decided to go right for the meat of the topic. “Eileen told me you’ll have a bunch of friends there Saturday?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ve already warned them to stay alert and to step in if Jake acts up. Most of them will be there tomorrow night at the rehearsal dinner, too.”
“Have you actually met him yet?” Brandon asked.
John smiled. “No, but I’ve met plenty of guys like him. I’m not concerned. My family’s ready.”
“One of your sisters is a doctor?” Stuart asked John.
“Yes. Lara is a cardiologist in San Antonio. She’s flying in tomorrow morning. Ariana is the engineer, and Miranda outranks me.” He smiled. “She’s taking great pride in rubbing that in. They’ll be there tomorrow night.”
“We might have to sic Gracie on Lara, then,” Brandon said. Then he clarified. “Our daughter’s girlfriend. She’s thinking about becoming a doctor.”
Stuart wasn’t sure he’d ever be as smooth as Brandon.
“That’s cool. Lara’s on Facebook. She can find her through me. Do you have one or two daughters?”
“Eh, yes.” Brandon laughed. “Grace is Emma’s girlfriend, but we call her our bonus daughter, because she might as well be. If they ever break up, it’ll be hard not to try to get visitation with Grace. She’s been a part of our family for years now. Well, I’ve known her for years. Jeff and Stuart haven’t known her that long.”
And from there…Stuart realized about twenty minutes in that John was not only a genuinely nice guy, but that Stuart had finally found himself actually relaxing.
By the time they returned to the hotel nearly two hours later, Stuart felt like the evening had gone…normal. Easy.
Like things felt with their friends athome.
In Florida.
Iowa was no longer his home, and the more Stuart thought about it, the more he realized it hadn’t felt like much of a home even before he’d moved.
From the get-go, he’d felt a sense of belonging in Florida.
