Page 93 of Awakening the Sheriff

Cas playfully rolled his eyes as he set down the second dish. “Tiago now wants to watch every cooking competition there is. Before we know it, he’ll sign up for Masterchef.”

Keaton chuckled. “I prefer the Great British Bake Off. Before I started watching that show, I’d never heard of lamination. Now I know how to temper chocolate and make caramel. In theory, at least.”

We all laughed as we took our seats at the table, ready to dig into the delicious-looking meal before us. As we ate, the conversation flowed effortlessly.

Cas asked Keaton about Byron. “I heard he ran away. How’s he doing now?”

“Much better, thankfully,” Keaton replied. “We’ve already seen a big change in his attitude. Mandy, my ex-wife, has decided to move back to Atlanta, and I’m not sure how I feel about that, to be honest. Not for myself but for the boys. They won’t have a mother now, even though she did them wrong.”

“It’s better for them, I think,” York said softly. “It’s preferable to have no mother at all than one who only makes your life worse.”

His comment hit me hard. York’s parents were still grieving Essex, even though it had been twenty years ago. Grief had no timeline. I understood that, but they seemed to ignore the son who was still alive and focused instead on making a saint out of the one who’d been taken from them.

“I’ve been meaning to apologize to you,” I said to York. The room fell quiet. “Tiago told us about his conversations with you at the reunion last year, how horribly Essex treated you when you were a kid. I didn’t do anything to stop it.”

York looked down at his plate, his expression unreadable. “Auden, it was a long time ago—”

“But that doesn’t make it right. I saw him bully you, tease you to the point of tears, but I never stepped in. I chalked it up to brotherly ribbing when I damn well knew it was far more than that. I should’ve stood up for you, York. You deserved better.”

A tense silence hung in the air, and then York looked up at me. His eyes glistened with unshed tears, but he smiled softly. “Thank you, Auden. I really appreciate you saying that.”

Thank god I’d gotten that off my chest, even if I should’ve done that a long time ago.

“I’m happy for you and Keaton,” York said. “You look much more relaxed.”

“I agree,” Tiago chimed in. “It’s great to see you taking more time off work and spending it with him and your family.”

I nodded. “I hadn’t realized how much I’d been working until Keaton came into my life. He helped me see what truly matters—him and the kids.”

Marnin raised his glass. “You’ve always been a family man, Auden. It’s one of the things I respect most about you. You never wavered, even back in high school.”

The others murmured their agreement, and warmth spread through my chest.

Marnin smirked. “I just hope this falling-in-love bug isn’t contagious because if it is, I’d better hide!”

Laughter filled the room.

When it died down, I said, “You know, change can be good. The changes Keaton has brought into my life have been the best ever.”

Christ, was I going to be this sappy the whole evening?

“Speaking of change,” Marnin said with a teasing glint in his eye, “I heard you went to a poetry reading.”

“Hey, it was more interesting than I expected.” I shrugged, trying to play it off as no big deal but secretly enjoying the new experiences Keaton had introduced me to.

Tomás, who had been quiet during dinner, spoke up. “I never understood poetry, you know? It never did much for me.”

Keaton nodded. “I understand that sentiment. Sadly, that’s often the case because teachers tend to focus on older poems that are harder for kids to relate to.”

“Can you mention an example of a poet who would speak to someone like me?”

Keaton hesitated. “Well, I’m not sure, but I can try. One poet that comes to mind is Walt Whitman. He wrote explicitly about gay love, for example, which I’m sure would appeal to you. In fact, he’s one of the few poets Auden remembered from high school.”

He smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Listen to this passage.” Keaton closed his eyes.

“And that night while all was still I heard the waters roll slowly

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