Page 65 of Peach Tree Family

"Why don't you get him to stay?" Theo would have been glad to have Seth stay even if she was the reason, but she threw it right back at him.

"You're the one driving him away."

"Sorry to spoil your fun," Theo told her, but he wondered if she was right. Was he the real reason Seth was leaving?

"You're telling me you're OK with him moving away?" Hannah challenged him.

"I need to get back to work," Theo said.

"I don't know why the hell Seth keeps defending you," she said and stomped out the door.

Watching her go, Theo couldn't deny that she must care a lot to hunt him down here. But what could he do? If she was so hot for Seth, why the hell didn't she do something about it?

But maybe it was up to Theo to get to the bottom of this.

For the rest of the day, Theo turned it over in his head. The way Seth talked about his plans sounded so vague, like he didn't want to get into the details. But why not? Was it because it was an excuse?

When Theo considered the timing, he had to wonder if something that happened at the barbeque pushed Seth into his decision to leave.

The only thing Theo could think of was all that teasing from Rico about them being together. When Rico was saying that stuff, Seth looked really uncomfortable. Maybe he realized that living with a gay guy meant people could guess what he had been up to.

Was that really it? Theo couldn't be sure, but Seth wasn't in such a hurry to leave until then.

One thing Theo knew – Seth leaving wouldn't be real to him until he told Ace about it. Theo didn't know how much longer Seth would wait. He had to talk to Ace.

Seth drove him and Ace home then started cooking dinner. Ace couldn't wait to let Butter out. He was playing outside with her, and Theo called him over to sit on the porch steps with him.

He started by saying, "I know you like having Seth with us."

Ace agreed. "It's good because sometimes you're grouchy."

"I'm not that grouchy," Theo said but he knew he had been in a bad mood ever since Seth told him he would be leaving. And now he had to tell Ace and make him unhappy too.

"It's still good to have another guy to talk to," Ace said very seriously.

"You can always talk to me," Theo told him with a smile and stroked his hair.

Ace frowned at him though. He could tell something was wrong. "Theo, you don't want me to be friends with Seth, is that it? Are you jealous? I'm not gonna like him better than you, you know."

"You... what? I'm not jealous of Seth," Theo told him.

"OK. I believe you." That's what Ace said, but it sounded like he didn't.

"You know Seth might have to leave and go somewhere else to find a job," Theo told him and watched his face crumple.

"No. He has to stay with us."

Theo pulled him into a hug. "Sorry, but Seth might go and look for his mom and dad too."

"But then he can come back." Ace sounded so miserable as he looked to Theo for reassurance.

"Maybe. We'll see." Theo wasn't counting on it. He was pretty sure that Seth wanted to get away from him.

***

All day Seth was working on the picnic table. If he built it right, the table would still be there even after he was gone and that gave him a good feeling. It didn't take away his sadness though.

Especially now that Ace knew he was leaving. The little guy wasn't happy with him. The only part that made sense to him was that Seth might go look for his mom and dad. Ace didn't understand that Seth's parents weren't like his and Theo's. They wouldn't welcome Seth with open arms.

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