A Winter Wedding(84)

He had always thought he’d be married—and be a father—by the time he turned thirty, and here he was approaching forty.

After they discussed the fact that he wouldn’t really know how the fire got started until after they’d done an investigation, and Riley had assured him that he’d shuffle his schedule around to rebuild whenever Kyle needed him, they talked to Baxter about his move and how his father was doing. He’d given up a lucrative job as a stockbroker in San Francisco to do some day trading on the internet. He wanted to be able to spend some time with his father, who’d been diagnosed with prostate cancer last summer. Mr. North wasn’t responding well to treatment, which was a concern. But so was the fact that Baxter and his father didn’t get along. Mr. North had never accepted Baxter’s lifestyle. After Baxter came out of the closet, his father refused to speak to him for quite some time.

“But day trading is risky, isn’t it?” Ted asked him. “I have a writer friend who decided to try his hand at that, and he lost a fortune in a very short time.”

“There’s a high level of risk involved,” Baxter agreed. “But what else am I going to do in Whiskey Creek?”

“You seemed to be doing so well in San Francisco,” Riley lamented.

“And who the heck are you going to meet way out here?” Eve asked.

“This isn’t about me,” Baxter said. “I don’t think my dad’s going to make it.”

Noah slapped him on the back. “Don’t talk like that. Of course he’s going to make it.”

Kyle couldn’t help watching Baxter a little more carefully whenever he interacted with Noah. They’d been the closest of friends growing up. It wasn’t until a few years ago that Noah learned Baxter had been secretly in love with him for years. That piece of information only emerged when Baxter revealed his sexuality, and Noah’s reaction didn’t exactly make what he felt any easier.

“If the worst happens, I’d rather be prepared,” Baxter said.

“It’s wonderful of you.” Callie slipped her arm through his. “I remember how well you nursed me through my liver problems. But will you enjoy living with your folks? Has your father changed enough so you can feel good about yourself?”

Baxter shrugged. “I guess we’ll see. I should be able to tolerate a few months, anyway.”

Kyle was afraid Mr. North hadn’t changed. Baxter had made comments now and then suggesting that his father still had a problem with Baxter’s sexuality, but Kyle was happy to have his friend back. And at least Baxter wouldn’t be talking about children all the time, like his other friends—since he hadn’t yet found a partner.

“Kyle, have you figured out what you’re going to say at the wedding?” Phoenix asked.

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it.” He was trying to come up with something he could offer if she pressed him for details, but Lourdes interrupted before she could.

“Have you all had breakfast, or can Kyle and I make you some eggs, toast and fruit?”

“You don’t have to cook for us,” Sophia said. “We just came from the coffee shop.”

“You must’ve left almost as soon as you got there,” Kyle said. “Let us make you breakfast.”

They exchanged glances. “If you’re sure,” Addy said.

Lourdes handed Callie’s baby back to her. “I might’ve blown it with my last album, but I can cook eggs,” she joked, and by the time they had breakfast on the table, she was laughing and talking with his friends as if she’d grown up with them, too.

“She’s sweet,” Cheyenne whispered as she hugged Kyle goodbye. “Surprisingly down-to-earth.”

Ted clasped him next. “You did well.”

Kyle felt like a fraud. He’d never lied to his friends before. But he couldn’t claim that he and Lourdes weren’t really involved when they knew she’d come out of his room this morning.

“Good luck with the insurance company,” Noah said. “What happened to the plant sucks, but you’ll pull it back together.” He glanced pointedly at Lourdes. “At least things are looking up in other areas.”

“Yeah,” he said drily and was grateful when his phone rang, so he could justify simply waving to the others and stepping away from the crowded doorway to answer.

*

It was the chief of police who’d called Kyle. They’d spoken briefly, then Kyle had thrown on a coat and some boots and left just after his friends. He’d said he had to meet Chief Bennett and a fire investigator over at the plant.

Lourdes picked up her guitar and strummed a few chords as she imagined what the plant might look like without the cover of darkness. Would the damage be even worse than Kyle feared?

She hoped not. She also hoped that the investigation would determine how it had started. If Noelle was involved, she deserved to be punished. It’d been heartbreaking to watch Kyle see so much of his plant go up in smoke.

But that wasn’t the only thing on Lourdes’s mind. She couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened after they went to bed last night. She’d been engaged to Derrick for almost a year, had dated him for three. Shouldn’t she have wanted to be in his arms and not Kyle’s? Because at no point had she even thought of Derrick.