Page 37 of The Finding Series: Vol. 1

Since arguing with Dolly rarely worked out well for him, he fished a dollar from his wallet and handed it to her. “Congratulations, you just bought yourself a ranch,” she said. “I’ve got some cookies cooling up at the house. Finn’s favorite,” she called over her shoulder as she waved to Rhys as she walked past their house and began the trek back up the driveway.

He looked back at the burned out barn, then headed for the house. His family had some decisions to make.

* * *

“Careful with that.”

Rhys cast a dark look at Finn as he sat comfortably in the porch swing while Rhys carried Finn’s hulking TV into the house. He dropped the thing on the kitchen table, then grabbed a couple bottles of water from the fridge and went back outside to sit next to Finn.

“Why do you need the damn thing?” he muttered as he handed one of the bottles to Finn and took a long drink from his own. “Callan’s already got a TV that was actually built in this decade.”

“Thought it might be nice to have a TV in the bedroom,” Finn said with a shrug, wincing slightly as he jolted the arm that was still in a sling.

Rhys reached down and let his lips hover over Finn’s. “Baby, I can guarantee you that you are never going to have time to watch that TV while you’re in bed.” He covered Finn’s mouth with his and groaned when Finn instantly opened for him. It had been too fucking long. Less than twenty-fours ago he’d nearly lost all of this.

Finn moaned and Rhys felt an arm lock around his neck. But then Finn grunted in pain and Rhys pulled back. He dropped his forehead against Finn’s. “I suppose maybe you will be able to watch TV in bed for a while. At least till that comes off,” he said as he glanced at the sling.

“Or I could watch you and Cal instead,” Finn suggested.

Rhys’ body responded instantly to the other man’s comment and a whole slideshow of images flashed through his mind. The sound of boots on the porch stairs was a blessed distraction. He leaned back against the swing and put his arm around Finn’s shoulders, careful not to touch his injury.

“You okay?” he asked Callan as the other man leaned across from them against the porch railing. Rhys handed him his water. It had been a long twenty-four hours since the fire and shooting. Rhys had spent much of it at the hospital with Finn who’d been admitted for observation, along with Wendy who’d ended up with a concussion while Callan had stayed at the ranch to wrangle up the horses that had scattered all over the property.

Sheriff Granger had arrived within a matter of hours to question Rhys about Rollins and Hargrove, who it turned out had been fired after the incident with his drug screening at the station. Rhys had felt sorry for the sheriff who was clearly wracked with guilt that the men had come after them as a result. Hargrove had admitted that he and Rollins had been the ones cutting fences and even poisoning the water supply that had killed so many of Callan’s herd. Although it had been Rollins who’d shot Finn, it was Hargrove alone who would be spending the foreseeable future behind bars. Jaxon’s bullet to Rollins’ brain had seen to that.

“Dolly’s taking my father to Florida. She found a place that can take care of him and she’s going to move in with her sister-in-law. The ranch is ours,” he said.

Finn stood and put his arms around Callan. “I’m sorry, Cal. I know how much she means to you.” Callan held Finn close and dropped his chin on the other man’s head.

“We need to make a decision about what to do with the place,” Callan said. “We’re not going to hide, but I don’t want us to keep having to look over our shoulders either.”

Rhys remained silent as did Finn.

“We could leave,” Callan said. “Go someplace where people don’t give a shit about what we are to each other.”

“Is there such a place?” Rhys asked.

Callan stroked his hand up and down Finn’s back as he fell quiet. Rhys wanted to laugh at how things had changed since his first day when he’d arrived at the ranch. He’d hated everything about the place the second he’d set foot on it, but now he couldn’t imagine a life anywhere else. He looked up to make sure he had Callan’s attention. “Callan, we’ll follow you anywhere, but this is your home.”

Callan shook his head. “This is just a place. My home is with you.”

* * *

Finn closed his eyes as Cal’s fingers kept moving up and down his back. The pain pills the doctor had prescribed for him had taken the edge off, but they had nothing on what Rhys and Cal were making him feel. Had it really only been three days since Cal stalked onto Dane’s property, kissed the shit out of him and then told him he loved him and Rhys too? Part of him had wanted to run after the truck as it sped away that day, but the effect of Cal’s betrayal had lingered and he’d spent three days torturing himself both for wondering if he should take the men back and waiting so damn long to do it.

Dane had stood quietly in the wings as Finn waffled back and forth, but the instant he said he was ready to go home, Dane had packed up Emma within minutes and they’d been on their way. It had been Dane who noticed the cloud of smoke first and by the time they reached the barn, a wall of orange flame had been shooting high into the sky. The fear that had overcome him at not knowing the fate of his men had been amplified by the undeniable regret that he’d waited too long. The sight of Rhys and Cal alive and well had stolen the breath from him and he’d actually struggled with Dane’s request to get Emma out of the car, his need to touch his men that strong. After that there had been an explosion of sound and searing pain as he was hurtled backwards into the dirt. Then everything had gone dark.

“You okay?” Cal asked him and Finn knew the other man must have felt the shudder that had run through him. He nodded. “What do you think we should do?” Cal asked him.

Finn reveled at the way Cal said “we.” He sighed and pulled back from Cal, then kissed him. “I love you,” he said. Cal smiled and a look of peace came over him that Finn hadn’t seen since the night the three of them had made love. “Rhys?” he said as he dropped his head back against Cal’s chest, his body suddenly feeling weary as the pain medication began to draw him further under.

“Yeah, baby?” Rhys said, his big body settling at Finn’s back, enveloping him in warmth.

“I love you.”

“I know. I love you too.” Lips caressed his temple as a set of hands closed around his waist. “Why don’t you go lay down for a bit?” Rhys murmured in his ear.

Finn was about to say yes when his eyes caught on something on the horizon. Vehicle after vehicle was headed up the driveway. Finn smiled as he realized what he was seeing. “I can’t. We have guests,” he said softly.

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