Page 6 of Like the Season
They’d both been set up by Kent—him and Caleb.
Boyd couldn’t be happier.
He’d never looked back once the fear had knocked sense into him, even though the two of them couldn’t openly be together right now.
Another reason he wanted Caleb to fly out and join him. No one would know them in Oregon, except for Ella.
They could have that whole weekend together, with Ella, being a family.
Maybe I can talk her into moving to Florida.
He wasn’t rich, but he could max out a couple of credit cards to help pay her moving expenses, if he had to. Or even dip into savings. Hell, she could take over Caleb’s apartment and he could move in with Boyd while still keeping that address for now.
Ella was single, didn’t have family in Oregon. She could get her nursing certification in Florida, and there were a lot of open nursing jobs in the area, due to the large snowbird population. A damned nursingshortage.
The more he thought about that idea, the more he liked it and knew he’d have to talk to her. Try to win her over.
Maybe she wouldn’t be ready to make that move yet. But it could be a long-term goal, couldn’t it?
Then there was the other item on his to-do list—tracking down Ella’s maternal grandparents. Unfortunately, his parents had died, which was another reason this whole situation saddened him. Had he known Helen was pregnant, he could have been there for her, for Ella. His parents would have loved being grandparents.
When Helen had been killed, Ella wouldn’t have been alone and struggling. Or maybe Helen would still be alive.
But hewouldtrack down Helen’s parents and have it out with them, if they were still alive. He wanted to give them a piece of his mind for throwing Helen out—who’d only been sixteen then—and not bothering to track down Boyd’s parents to tell them their son had gotten her pregnant.
What kind of monsterdoesthat?
Unfortunately, he couldn’t remember much about Helen’s parents. If he hadn’t slept with Helen the one time, he’d barely remember her, either. She’d been his beard, even though back then, at seventeen, he hadn’t known that was what it was called. She’d been his attempt to keep his true, secret self exactly that—secret. He’d managed to hide his dad’s transfer to Germany from Helen and other kids in school, just wanting to get away from there so he could maybe have a chance to be…him.
Once he boarded and had taken his seat, he tried not to focus on his nerves. He’d never expected to be a father—especially at this stage of his life. But the regret he’d always carry over not having been there for Ella, or for Helen, would always haunt him. No, it wasn’t his fault he hadn’t known, but logic didn’t matter.
He’d spent a chunk of his adult life in pain over his first heartbreak when he’d still been a damned kid, and all the while Helen had been struggling to have theirbabyand raise her on her own.
His own issues paled in comparison.
Again, his logic-brain knew he couldn’t change the past and shouldn’t feel guilty for events beyond his control.
Didn’t matter. From this point forward, however, he wanted to be part of Ella’s life, as much as she’d let him. He wanted to get to know her, wanted to be her family.
Be herfather.
He’d been blessed with loving parents, even if they hadn’t known everything about him. If they’d suspected he was gay, they’d never said anything to him about it.
When the plane finally lifted off the runway, Boyd closed his eyes and tried not to let his nerves take over. He was no stranger to flying, but it wasn’t his favorite thing. If Ella hadn’t been all the way out in Oregon, he would have considered driving to see her. Unfortunately, with his work schedule, that wasn’t feasible. He’d rather spend those days off with her, not driving.
There was a little irony that Ella was involved in the BDSM lifestyle, too. In that instance, the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree. She’d admitted to him in their phone conversations since she’d reconnected with him that her going to Venture and the rope groups hadn’t only been because of trying to get closer to him. Once she’d realized what he was into and had done more research on her own, she’d realized it was an interest she’d also had, even though she was a submissive, not a Dominant.
Maybe the only benefit about meeting her as an adult was the ability to have those kinds of conversations with her without having to fight crippling, ball-shriveling discomfort over also being her father. He had always enjoyed mentoring newbies, and it was one of the reasons he enjoyed participating in Venture’s Knotty Fun rope group.
When the flight attendants made the rounds for drinks, he ordered a white wine, a little something to help soothe his nerves. So many drastic shifts in his life in such a short time, and he hadn’t lost his sanity.
Yet.
A little reward was due.
As he sat back and sipped it, he thought about Caleb, about their future ahead, and the extreme caution that they’d have to live with until Caleb could transfer.
From that point on, he’d be able to proudly and publicly claim that man washis. He’d already picked out the wedding band he wanted to give him. It’d be not only a wedding band but also Caleb’s day collar, in addition to the chainmaille bracelet he’d given him.
