Page 76 of His Fresh Start Cowboy
“I’d be lying if I said I understood you liking men and women, any more than I understand Colt liking men. I don’t understand it, but I also don’t have to in order to love my kids.”
His heart swelled with relief. “I don’t really understand it, either, Dad, it’s just who I am. Who I’ve always been.”
“I accept that. You are my son, Brand, and I love you. It kills me to think I could have lost you without us ever having said certain things. That you could have died thinking I hated you, or was disappointed in you. I don’t and I’m not. I’m trying. And if you’re with Hugo, then I’ll try with that, too.”
“Thank you.” If they were being honest here, Brand might as well go all in. “You know, for a long time after Colt left, I worried I’d always be your second choice as foreman. I worked so hard to prove I was good enough, not only to you but to me, too.”
Dad’s eyes widened with surprise briefly, before gentling with something that looked a lot like understanding. And love. “You have always been good enough, son. You, Colt, Rem. I’d trust any one of you to run this place when I’m gone, and that’s the truth. Because you all love your family and this land.”
“I really do. I resented Colt leaving for a long time, and sometimes I wanted to go back to school and be a teacher. But that’s an old dream. My new dream is here. On this land. With Hugo. I love him, Dad. I don’t know when I fell in love with him, but I did. I probably should have said something sooner, but I was worried my choices might hurt the ranch.”
“Don’t you worry about that. The ranch will sort itself out. All I want for my kids is a safe, happy life with a partner who treasures them for the amazing human being they are. If you believe Hugo is that partner for you, then you have my blessing.”
“Yeah?” Brand reached out, and Dad squeezed his hand. “Thank you. I don’t know if me and Hugo are soul mates, but he makes me happy right now. Happier than I’ve ever been. I’d jump in front of any jagged bottle for him.”
“I feel that way about your mother. But maybe let’s cut back on the thrilling heroics and try to live a less eventful life.”
“Deal. So, uh, I guess I should tell Mom and the others, huh?”
“Your mother knows. I already told her.”
Brand’s lips parted. “You did?”
“We’ve been married nearly forty years, son. I can’t keep a secret from her. She’s fine about it all, and she’s already got a few birthday presents squirreled away in the attic for him. You can tell your brothers and sisters when you’re ready.”
“Okay.” Colt wouldn’t care. Rem might be weirded out at first but he’d accepted Colt being gay pretty fast, so that didn’t worry him. His sisters did a bit, because both their husbands were quietly homophobic. But he’d deal with it. He’d deal with whatever he had to so he could finally live an authentic life.
He did come out the next day, telling Rem in person and his sisters over the phone. Rem was less surprised than he expected, but he and Shelby were also dealing with a close encounter of the “not pregnant again” kind, so he might not have completely absorbed Brand’s news yet. “Dude, Hugo was my friend first,” Rem said. “You be good to him, or I’ll have to kick your ass. Besides, he’s family, right? Now even more officially.”
“Yeah, he is.”
His sisters were a bit more terse, which was fine. He loved them, and his nieces and nephews, but this was his life, damn it. Time to put himself first for once and really start living it.
As he got used to moving around the house more, he saw less and less of Rem and Dad, and more activity seemed to be happening outside. One of those removable storage pod things showed up near the bunkhouse. Stuff was moved around. No one in the family answered a direct question about it, and Brand could only hope that Dad had finally agreed to let go of some of the junk cluttering up the bunkhouse and barn.
Two weeks after the stabbing, Hugo came into the house with a bright smile on his face and asked if Brand wanted to join him in the bunkhouse for lunch. Eager to get out of the house for a while, Brand accepted the offer. His abdomen was tender but not painful, and they walked slowly. Brand let the warm sunshine bathe his face the entire way, Brutus loping around them like a puppy. Probably happy to see Brand outside the house.
Hugo had made them both simple ham and cheese sandwiches, plus store-bought coleslaw, and Brand loved everything about it. They ate at the small dinette set, and Brand couldn’t help glancing at the closed door of the second bedroom, which had once been all storage. Was it finally empty? He didn’t ask, though, and downed his lunch with big gulps of iced tea.
Once they were finished, Hugo placed both hands flat on the table. “So your dad and I have been talking. About us. You and me, not me and him.”
“I figured that. What about us?”
“Space and privacy. I mean, I’ve got this whole bunkhouse, and you still live with your parents, but there’s a good solution to that, so we’ve been working a bit.”
“I noticed.” Brand didn’t know what to make of the smile threatening the corners of Hugo’s mouth. “What’d you do?”
“Made space.” Hugo rose and held out his hand. Brand allowed himself to be pulled up and led to the second-bedroom door. “You don’t have to say yes or no right away, but this is an option for us. With your parents’ blessing.” He pushed open the door.
Three sets of bunked beds and three trunks were the only things left in the dust-free room. The ample space surprised Brand, because he remembered this room being full of random junk, collected over decades. It looked exactly the same as the other bedroom, which confused Brand. “I don’t understand.”
“Choices, Brand. If you wanna move out of your parents’ house and be more independent, then this room can be your office. The other room? Our bedroom. We can swap the bunks out for a regular bed. Make this place our home.”
Brand stared at Hugo, shocked to his core by the offer. While he hadn’t expected to live with his parents forever, he’d never had an opportunity to move out that made sense—until now. Sure, he’d still be living within a hundred feet of his childhood home, but he’d have four walls of his own. A house for himself and his boyfriend to make theirs.
A fresh start for them as a couple.
“You wanna live with me?” Brand asked.
