Let It Go (31 page)
Authors: Mercy Celeste
The truck sagged as the judge joined him on the tailgate, a beer in his tanned hand, golf visor on his head. He pointed to the same two men Creed watched. “They look great. Makes a man proud to have grandbabies and his boys not fighting.”
“Give them until dark. Randy will do something to set Eli off. Guaranteed. Serves him right having all girls.” Creed smirked as the two little redheaded toddlers darted between Randy’s legs while they played chase. “And the tempers, oh yeah. Just like Eli. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving man.”
“Just like their mama. Randy doesn’t seem to mind. Anyway, I hear you got into Auburn vet school.” Tom changed the subject while Creed was still laughing. He sobered immediately.
“I did. Without Becca and Eli hounding me I wouldn’t have. So this is more for her than for me. And Eli.” Those days had been terrible. It had taken him two years to get through night school to even get his GED. Becca pulled him through it with her patient tutoring. But he’d done it. And gotten into college. He’d been a thirty-year-old scared to death college freshman. He’d vomited three times on the drive over to Pensacola the first day. Becca had to drive those first weeks because he couldn’t make his hands and brain work in tandem. Eli pushed him hard. Drove him to excel. To take classes that would get him into vet school. Auburn was damned hard to get into. But Creed did it.
“Does he know that you turned it down yet?”
Creed raised an eyebrow in appraisal of the sheer mind-bending gall of the man. “I haven’t told him yet.”
“Then I won’t say anything.”
“How’d you figure it out? I mean, I just made the decision yesterday.”
Tom didn’t say anything for a long time; he sipped his beer and watched the crowd that had gathered to celebrate his and Becca’s graduation from the University of West Florida. His gaze lingered on Eli more often than anyone else.
“All those years ago when you and Eli first stood in front of me I thought it was you that needed saving. Stephen thought so too. We had a long chat before I arraigned the two of you. He was terrified that you were killing yourself. He wanted you out of rodeo before you became your … before you became Charlie or your grandfather. He watched the two of them dig themselves a hole in that world that killed them both. And I saw it. Starved, emotionally and physically. I didn’t know how badly. Neither did Stephen.”
Creed looked around the crowd to find Sly sitting next to Sawyer over by the pool watching the kids swim. They’d been thick as thieves since he moved to town six years ago. Sawyer loved having him out at his place to keep his ever-growing population of street kids in line. “He had a lot of practice worrying about kids. Fitting that he’s over there running herd on Sawyer’s pet project.” Creed nodded to the father he had come to know and love in the last few years.
“You didn’t need saving, did you, son? He was wrong about that.” Tom wouldn’t look at him. Creed followed his gaze back to Eli. “It was Eli that needed saving. All this time. You had it worse than him but you never let it destroy you. You took what you were handed and did what you had to while Eli was angry and bitter and driving himself to an early grave. It was Eli that we saved.”
Eli glanced over at the two of them sitting on the tailgate, a question in his eyes. Happiness shining like a beacon that called to Creed. It was Eli that had changed the most these past six years. Eli, whose scars were so deep his bones were etched with them. Eli who needed a home and love. And Creed gave that to him. He’d give it to him again.
“He still won’t take the bar, for the same reason I’m not going to Auburn.” Creed looked around the ranch, from the new stables to the expanded barns and the horses sunning themselves in the pasture oblivious to the noise. “We built this together. Neither one of us wants to leave it behind. I don’t need the degree to assist the local vet. I don’t need it to work with the kids or the broken animals. I don’t need it to make me whole. I need to be here with Eli. And that’s as close to a grand declaration you’re getting, Judge,” Creed said as Eli cocked his head toward the new stable, a glint of something wicked in his eyes. “If you’ll excuse me I need to run over to the office to check on … something.”
He didn’t wait for the judge to say anything else. He walked toward the new stable, knowing Eli would follow shortly. All these people were here for him but he just needed Eli; the rest was icing on the cake. He watched as the judge crossed the yard to the pool. Eli meandered his way to the stable, stopping to say hi to those who moved around him. He wasn’t obvious. Just determined.
“Good turnout,” he said the moment he stepped into the stable. “Have I told you yet how proud I am of you?”
“About ten times today.” Creed tugged him close and edged backward into the dark, cool depths of the stable they’d designed together. “How about you come show me.”
“We have guests.” Eli laughed but he didn’t break the kiss or complain when Creed locked the door to the office. “I guess they can wait. This is more important.”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Creed smiled as he pushed Eli onto the couch under the window. “Now, what exactly do I get for busting my ass these last six years?”
“Me.” Eli had his hands down the back of Creed’s shorts and was slowly stripping him regardless of guests. “And, Creed, I’m not letting you go.”
“That’s good. Because I’m not going anywhere.” Creed sighed as he found skin.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t. I’m proud as hell of you, I am.”
“I’m staying here, Eli. I’m not letting this go to chase something else. Something I don’t need to be happy.”
The smile on Eli’s face told him everything he needed to know. The fleeting look of loss left his eyes and Creed leaned over him, his face right above Eli’s daring him to tell him anything different.
“If you’re waiting for me to talk you out of it then you’re going to be waiting a long time.” Eli ran his hands through Creed’s hair, pulling the loose braid free so that the long strands fell around his face.
“Good, just so we’re clear. I’m not going anywhere. Staying right here. With you.” Creed felt as if the world had lifted off his shoulders. Eli kissed him, his fingers holding onto him as if he’d lose him if he ever let go. Creed sank into the kiss.
This was home. This land, this man. This, just this, was all he needed. Everything else would have to wait until they finished this.
* * * *
Tom pulled up a chair beside Sawyer over by the pool where the older boys were roughhousing with the younger kids. He watched Eli deposit one of his new granddaughters in Randy’s arms and pick his way through the crowd to the new stable. Tom laughed as Creed pulled him close the second he stepped through the arch.
“Aw hell, there they go again.” Sawyer belched, but Tom heard the laugh in his voice.
“I keep telling them they need to soundproof that office.” Stephen—or, as Creed called him, Sly—chimed in as they disappeared inside the cavernous building. “Eli is going to have a shit fit when he finds out Creed ain’t going to Auburn in the fall. I will tell you that right now.”
“Good.” Sawyer almost barked; he coughed and sputtered. “I mean I’m proud as hell of him for earning the right to but he needs to stay here. There is nothing that six years of vet school can teach him anyway. Nothing that he needs to know. Damn kid is a genius; I’ve never met anyone as smart as him about horses. I need him here.”
“Eli needs him here.” Tom leaned back in his chair. “The place looks better than when Ben was alive. He made this place into Ben’s dream. They did. Both of them. The rumors fly up every now and then but those that know don’t care. Those that care know what we almost lost.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Stephen reached out his beer and the three of them heaved a sigh. “To the boys. To Creed for having the sense to know where he belongs. And to Eli for having the sense to let him stay.”
Tom said a silent amen. He caught Randy’s eye and the smile as he cocked his head knowingly at the stable. “And to Randy for figuring out how to accept him.”
“How’s his plan going to run for sheriff this term? Do you think he has a chance?” Sawyer asked, and Tom tuned out the talk of politics. Ben and Evelyn’s ghosts lingered over by the house. Their hands clasped. Ben nodded to his old friend. It took him twenty-two years to fulfill his promise to look after their son. But by damned he’d done it. And he’d do it again if he had to. He raised his beer and the couple faded away. They were finally at peace. And Tom let them go. It was time. Past time. Long past time.
The End
About the Author
Born and raised in the wilds of northwest Florida, I currently make my home in Mobile, Alabama where I attended the University of South Alabama. My interests are as diverse as the topics about which I write. I love to quilt, cook, and troll resale stores for bargains. Being a good Southern girl, I love football and fried food. I write Southern-themed spicy romance of the het and gay variety. Because love doesn’t care who you are.
Mercy’s website: http://mercyceleste.blogspot.com/
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