Page 51 of Leave

Riley

Apparently when Nolan said he was from Seattle, he meant it in the same general way people said they were from places like Los Angeles—kind of in that vicinity, but not actually from that city.

In his case, his hometown was Redmond, which was across Lake Washington and two or three towns over from Seattle. It reminded me of some of the upscale areas in the Silicon Valley, just with a lot more trees. There were a lot of very new and swanky apartments and condos sitting on top of bougie shops and restaurants. The comparison to the Silicon Valley probably wasn’t too far off, either; there were a lot of high tech companies out here, including two of the major ones, and there was definitely money, judging by the expensive-ass cars driving around everywhere.

Our hotel was in a slightly less swanky but still reasonably nice area. It looked like it had been there since way before the tech boom—1970s, maybe—and the prices were still reasonable despite the location. That was a good thing for two enlisted guys traveling on a budget.

Would be even less expensive if we only had one room,I thought as I keyed myself into mine. Nolan was next door. Iscowled at the two queen beds in my room, then rolled my eyes and started settling in. If he didn’t want to share a bed, fine. But did we really need to cough up the money for separate rooms?

Well, whatever. He wanted separate rooms, so we had separate rooms.

And, hell. Maybe I was just bitchy after a few hours in the car, but having a room of my own didn’t actually sound like a bad idea. I still had a lot on my mind, and every night, I’d have space and peace and quiet to decompress. Could be worse.

Since we’d been in the car for the past few hours, I grabbed a shower and changed clothes. Then I texted Nolan to see if he was ready to go over to his parents’ place. About ten minutes later, he said he was, and we headed downstairs to our rental car.

His parents, it turned out, lived a few miles east of Redmond on a highway that led out toward some place called Fall City. It was a lot of farm country out here, though he grumbled that the condos were creeping farther and farther out into it every time he came home.

He didn’t say much else after that. In fact, he was silent for the last fifteen minutes of the drive, which led us off the highway and along a winding road through a dense forest. Out here, there were some undeveloped areas, some farms that looked old and maybe a bit decrepit, and the odd place where rich people probably kept their horses. It was quite the mix, that was for sure.

He slowed down and turned up a steep gravel driveway beside a slightly mossy mailbox. It wound through the trees for maybe three hundred feet, then let us out in front of a dark brown split-level house with a pickup truck and a gray Subaru out front.

Nolan parked behind the Subaru, turned off the engine, and pushed out a breath. Like I had when we’d pulled up to my folks’place, he sat there for a long moment, just staring up at the house.

I watched him in the late afternoon light. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” He rolled his shoulders. “I’m good. You ready?”

“When you are.”

We got out of the car, and I followed him up a concrete path littered in pine needles. Everything in this area seemed to be covered in pine needles. They were like Pacific Northwest glitter—absolutelyeverywhere.

At the door, Nolan paused for another breath. Then he keyed himself inside. His mom, a stout woman with gray hair and glasses, greeted him much the same way mine had—with a hug and fussing over whether he’d eaten enough in between asking how his trip was.

“Dinner’s not quite ready yet,” she said, “but I can—”

“We’re good, Mom. We can wait until dinner. Thanks.” He put a hand on my back. “This is my boyfriend, Riley. Riley, my mom, Carol.”

And here was where everything veered sharply away from how they’d played out in San Diego. Carol took one look at me, and her eyes lit up. The next thing I knew, I was enveloped in one of those hugs, and she almost pulled me off-balance.

“It’s so nice to meet you!” She let me go and smiled broadly. “We’ve never met one of Nolan’s boyfriends before.” She was practically squealing with excitement; I had to wonder if she thought we were going to announce we were getting married or something.

She herded us into the living room, and I was introduced to Nolan’s dad, John. If I’d just run into him on the street, I’d have instantly known who he was. It was like looking at Nolan in thirty years— same blue eyes and broad-shouldered build but with more lines in his face and hair that was more salt than pepper.

He, too, seemed happy to meet me. No side-eying Nolan. No suspicious glances at me. He regarded me just like my dad had regarded my sister-in-law the first time he’d met her:this is my kid’s new partner. Cool.

As we settled into the living room, a surly-looking gray tabby hopped up on the back of the couch.

Of course, Nolan zeroed right in on it. “Is this Cleo?” he asked as he crossed the room. To me, he added, “I’ve seen her on social media, but never in person.”

“Yep.” Carol smiled. “We’ve had her… three years now, I think.”

Nolan acknowledged that with a nod as he started petting the cat. She looked up at him, and even from several feet away, I could hear her purring. Her claws clicked in and out of the worn leather upholstery as she kneaded happily.

To me, Carol said, “Be careful of that one. She’s not the friendliest in the world.”

I cocked a brow, gesturing at Nolan and Cleo. “She’s not?”

“Oh, don’t assume that a cat that’s friendly to him is friendly to everyone else,” she said wryly. “They all love him, even if they hate the rest of us.”

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