Page 60 of His Fresh Start Cowboy
“Okay.”
Brand didn’t understand why Hugo was giving in so easily, rather than defending himself. Unfortunately, Hugo was living here under a handshake agreement, so he didn’t have any real legal recourse that a proper lease might have offered him. “I’ll help you pack,” Brand said. “You can stay in our house tonight. My parents won’t mind.” He said that loud enough that Elmer could hear him; Brand knew Hugo wasn’t a thief.
He followed Hugo into the trailer, and Hugo produced two suitcases. They emptied the small dresser and closet. Used a few shopping bags under the sink to gather up Hugo’s meager supply of groceries and snacks. Once all that was stowed in the pickup’s bed, they hauled Rem’s scooter up and inside, too.
Hugo walked over to Elmer, who watched by his own truck, and handed over the key. “It’s been a pleasure getting to know you, sir, and to play chess with you. I’m real sorry our friendship had to end like this, and I do hope they find the real thief.”
“You take care, son,” Elmer replied.
They didn’t shake hands, and Brand did not miss the naked grief in Hugo’s eyes as he got back into Brand’s truck. Hugo had bonded with the elderly man, and this was hurting him. Badly. Brand wanted to fix it for him, but there was nothing he could do beyond support his friend. Boyfriend? They hadn’t really talked about labels yet, and tonight it didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting Hugo home safely and tucked into bed.
Hugo didn’t sleep on this drive, but he also didn’t talk. He stared blankly ahead, hands folded in his lap. When Brand made the right onto their ranch’s road, Hugo abruptly said, “It’s gonna get around town, you know. People will start thinking I’m a thief.”
“No one with half a brain will believe it.” Brand squeezed his shoulder. “Even if you’d known about the coins and been desperate enough to steal them, you aren’t stupid enough to hide them in a kitchen cupboard for anyone to find. I honestly wouldn’t put it past Buck to have done it just to fuck with you, and maybe also to fuck with us for not giving him a job.”
“Fuck with you?” Hugo’s entire body jolted. “Shit, will this hurt the reputation of the ranch? I don’t wanna fuck up your business.”
“Don’t worry about the ranch’s reputation, that’s my job.” He was a little nervous that this entire fiasco could somehow come back to bite them, but he wasn’t going to let Hugo agonize over that. He hadn’t done a single thing wrong. “I know you didn’t steal the coins, and even if my parents had a reason to doubt you, which they don’t, they’d take me at my word about it. Rem, too. We’ve got your back, pal.”
“Thank you. After such a nice couple of days, this was a shitty thing to come home to.”
“Yeah. Life knows how to kick you in the teeth sometimes. But we’ll weather this and do our best to shut down any gossip before it gets going.”
“I just feel sick thinking Buck could have done it. Broken into Elmer’s house and then into my trailer. I swear when I put the key in the lock earlier tonight, it felt loose. Like maybe I’d forgotten to lock it before I left for our trip, because I usually have to put a little effort into turning it.”
“Did you tell that to McBride?”
“I tried but he brushed it off. Said the lock didn’t look tampered with from the outside, and you really can’t get in through any of the windows.” Hugo sighed heavily. “I just want to sleep for a while. Maybe everything will be more clear in the morning.”
“Probably.”
The outdoor security lights of the barn came into view before the structures themselves. Brand parked in his usual spot. Hugo didn’t seem concerned with his luggage tonight, so Brand grabbed the perishable groceries and took those into the kitchen. A light had been left on but the house was quiet, so his parents had likely gone to bed. He fixed him and Hugo both half a roast beef sandwich so they had something in their stomachs, along with glasses of cold filtered water.
Hugo ate in a daze, already half asleep. When they were both done, Brand cleaned up, then led Hugo upstairs. Growing up, Brand and Colt had shared a bedroom, the girls had shared one, and Rem had lucked into the only single room (also the smallest). Brand still slept in his old room, and Rem’s was now Brand’s office, and the girls’ room was their only guest room. He steered Hugo there and deposited him on the bed.
“We can get your clothes and stuff in the morning,” Brand said. “And don’t feel bad if you have to stay here a few days until we get new arrangements settled for you.”
“No one will want to rent to a thief,” Hugo mumbled as he yanked off his boots.
“You ain’t a thief.”
“Might as well be. Should’ve stayed in California.”
Brand let that comment slide as part of Hugo’s fatigue, but it still kind of hurt. Helped Hugo shuck his jeans and climb under the covers. The room was a little stuffy, so he cracked the window for some air. When he turned around, Hugo had pretty much passed out with his arms cinched around a pillow. So innocent and young like that. He wanted to reach out and brush a lock of hair off his forehead but refrained. For all the times he’d fucked Hugo these last few days, such a simple gesture felt too...intimate.
“We’ll figure this out,” he whispered to his slumbering friend. Unable to help himself, Brand stroked a single fingertip down Hugo’s cheek. “Promise.”
Hugo woke to sunlight on his face, in a strange room, and with the urgent need to pee. He sat up, a bit tangled up in the top sheet and a quilt, and when he spotted the framed photo of the Woods clan on a side table, it flooded back to him: Elmer, being arrested, and Brand bringing him home.
Both his suitcases stood against the wall near the door. He didn’t remember bringing them upstairs last night, but so much of it was a blur, fuzzed out by his rioting emotions and shame over the entire incident. And also, oh so grateful Brand had his back the whole time. He tugged his toothbrush and paste, and a clean set of clothes out of one suitcase, then went across the hall to the upstairs bathroom.
Because of the age of the house, it only had one full bath upstairs, and Hugo kind of marveled that seven people had managed to use it and the half-bath downstairs for so many years. As much as he craved a hot shower—washing up in the creek had kept his body odor under control but he wanted to wash last night off him—he settled for washing his face in the sink, brushing his teeth, and putting on fresh clothes.
The man peering back at him in the mirror looked different this morning. Angry and exhausted and a lot older than his almost twenty-eight years. Like someone people would now look at and see as a criminal. And he hated it.
With no excuse to put this off any longer, Hugo grabbed his phone—it was only a few minutes after ten, so earlier than he expected—and went downstairs. The only person in the kitchen was Rose, and she greeted him with a warm hug and a mug of steaming coffee. “You look like you could use this, sweetheart,” she said.
“Thank you, ma’am, I appreciate it.” Hugo helped himself to sugar from the bowl on the nook’s table.
