Page 44 of The Long Game

Colton nodded, agreeing with the obvious.

“But yes, you can tell Sam and anyone else about me,” Grady said far more calmly than he felt. “And you can tell them, or anyone else in the family, that I’m here if they need anything. Help, someone to talk to, a place to live.Anything.”

Colton’s eyebrows went up. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” he said, looking Colton in the eye. “I owe you an apology, Colton. I should have been able to guess there wouldbe kids like me, like Sam, and done something to make sure you had more support than I did.”

Colton frowned. “It’s not your job to clean up after our fucked-up family.”

“Maybe not,” Grady conceded. “And like Jack said, I can’t change the past. But I want to help you now. I want to—” He had to pause and swallow past the boulder lodged in his throat. “I want to know Sam and help him. I’d like to be his big brother. Yours, too.”

His voice cracked at the end, the last few words whispered and hoarse.

Colton’s eyes were suspiciously shiny as he stared up at the fucking ridiculous giant lobster in front of them and drank enough caffeine and sugar to power an entire middle school for a week.

Jack’s hand squeezed his, grounding him while he regathered his tattered control. He lifted it to his lips, steadying himself in Jack’s stalwart presence and pressing a grateful kiss to his warm skin.

The ride home was quiet.Jack drove, chatting with Grady in a low voice while Colton, despite all that caffeine, snoozed in the back seat.

The McDonnough boys were exhausted and all Jack wanted was to get them both home and safe.

They pulled up to Pathways and Colton sat up, gazing blearily at the front doors. He looked young and sweet, and Jack would do just about anything to be able to take him home with them. For now, this would have to do.

“Dinner tomorrow?” Grady asked hopefully.

“Oh, I can’t,” Colton said.

Jack’s heart fell but his smile didn’t budge an inch. “Doing something fun?”

“Going to Christian’s for dinner and a movie,” he said, looking both shy and excited. “Do you know who his dads are?”

Jack grinned. “I do. You may recall I work with and for them.” He didn’t add that they were some of his closest friends, because it felt too much like boasting—which was stupid since it was only the truth.

Grady chuckled and sent Jack a knowing look. “That sounds fun. How about Sunday? We can hang out for the day, if you want.”

Colton hesitated, then nodded. “Okay. That sounds good, I guess.”

Not the most enthusiastic agreement, but it was something. A couple of days for Grady and Jack to come up with a way to convince Colton to stay.

Colton ran into Pathways with barely a wave and Jack started for home. Well, Grady’s home. Probably, Jack should get his truck and drive to his own place. But Grady looked beat, and Jack wasn’t ready to say goodnight. He could always walk to his truck later.

When they got to Grady’s apartment, Grady grabbed a beer and offered Jack one. It felt normal, which was good, but even ensconced on the couch with their feet up on the coffee table and the Jays game on, Jack could feel the tension running through Grady.

“It’s good that Colton is making friends here in Moncton,” Jack offered.

“Yeah, that is good,” Grady agreed. “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather Colton hang around with than Rupert and Callum. Maybe they’ll convince him to move in with them, instead.”

Jack smiled. That wasn’t implausible, given their track record and ever-expanding family, particularly if they didn’t know about Grady asking Colton to live with him.

Jack dug his phone out of his pocket and fired off a series of texts. Now Callum knew.

He half-expected Callum to text him back at leastsomequestions—the man had an over-developed parental instinct that led to general nosiness and busybodying—but it was after ten and with three kids, one under the age of two, he was probably flat on his face asleep.

It was the bottom of the ninth when Jack brought up the subject that had been niggling at the back of his mind all evening. “You said earlier,” he began carefully, “you have an update? I assume it’s about Babs?”

Grady sighed and took Jack’s hand. This made Jack feel both better and more worried about what Grady was going to say.

“He’s living in Fredericton. He moved there six months ago after getting out of prison.”

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