Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 81150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Yep. By my estimate, that’s right.
Grady rolled his eyes at Deacon’s silly reply. My place?
Well, I supplied the spot when it was my turn.
He chuckled. Grady liked this silly, playful side of Deacon. He felt honored that he got to see it, wondered how often he let loose that way. He had a feeling it used to happen a lot more before he’d lost Patricia.
Someone is a smart-ass this evening, Grady replied, then sent him his address.
Deacon showed up about an hour later, and they made steak and potatoes. The next night they were back at Deacon’s for fried catfish, okra, and cornbread. The following it was Grady’s turn again.
It wasn’t something they discussed, really, having dinner together each night. Grady would jokingly ask Deacon what he was feeding him, and then the next day Deacon would ask the same. They’d quickly fallen into a pattern together, in a similar way to how Grady had with Nathan, where it’d just been natural, the path to friendship clear in front of them, with no detours or other roads to choose from. He didn’t know if that was all on his part, but he didn’t think so.
Or maybe that was just wishful thinking.
Chapter 10
Deacon
Deacon was nervous, which didn’t make a damn bit of sense.
So he’d have Grady in his kitchen, making ice cream with him. It wasn’t as if that never happened, just not very often, or not with someone he’d known for such a short period of time. It was always with someone he trusted, which meant he trusted Grady.
Huh. He really did, didn’t he? This man he’d only known for a couple of weeks.
They’d agreed to meet at one that afternoon. Deacon had gone to his granny’s for breakfast because…well, because being around her always made him feel grounded. She understood life in ways he wasn’t sure anyone else did. She read him without him having to speak, and being around her always calmed him. Maybe he shouldn’t need that, but he did.
“What’s going on with you, Deke? You didn’t eat nearly enough of my biscuits and gravy,” she said a little after breakfast. That was exactly what he’d meant. She knew him. She understood him. She didn’t let him get away with shit either.
“I, um…” He rubbed a hand over his face. “There’s a new guy in town.” He hadn’t gone there expecting to tell his granny about Grady, but she had this power to pull stuff out of him.
“I’m listening.”
“He met Nathan in the army. They were—”
“Lovers?” she supplied.
“You knew about him?”
“There’s not much that goes on in Briar County that I don’t know, child. Damn shame he felt he had to hide it. His mama and daddy…it would have been a struggle for them.”
Yeah, he thought so too. “I think that’s why he never told us. Patricia had her suspicions too, though she never broached it with him. But no, he says they weren’t lovers, just the best of friends, like brothers, and Grady was the first person Nathan told about himself. Anyway, they were close for years, lived together, moved around together. We never knew about him, and Grady…he, um…he hadn’t heard we’d lost Patricia. Nathan’s stories had made him fall in love with the idea of the place.”
Granny smiled. “It’s where he belongs, then. Nathan and Patricia would like that.”
“Yeah. They would. We hit it off right away, and somehow we’ve become friends.” He didn’t know why exactly he was telling his granny this, but he felt like he had to.
“And you’re surprised by this?” She waved her hand at him as if he was being silly. “I’m not. The person Patricia loved the most in the world, outside of you, was her brother. Nathan thought the sun rose and set on his sister, and sounds like he loved this fella too. Makes sense that you’d connect—Patricia saw something in you, and Nathan saw something in him. It’d be a damn tragedy if you weren’t friends. Might even need each other.”
He wasn’t sure he agreed with the whole need thing, but he liked everything else Granny had said. It grounded him on the path he was on, made him more certain that he was right in following his instincts and letting himself get close to Grady—though he wasn’t sure he could stop it even if he’d wanted to.
“I’m meeting him this afternoon. Teachin’ him how to make ice cream. He helped me come up with a new flavor.”
“He must be good people if you’re doing that.”
Deacon chuckled. “He is.” He leaned forward, unsure if he could say the words that wouldn’t leave his head. But then, this was Granny. There was nothing he couldn’t say to her. “He somehow makes me feel a little less lonely.” He had people around him all the time, friends and family, yet he still felt alone. He didn’t so much when Grady was around.