He nodded. “There’s a reason for that. We kept in touch, like I said, but it was a hard time. I’d just started high school, and I was a weedy little guy. I got bullied a lot.”
“I’m sorry.” I patted his thigh. “Didn’t Cole stick up for you?”
“Of course, but he was only a sophomore, and he got picked on a lot, too.”
“Why?”
“Basically, because kids can be cruel,” Brady said, and I nodded in agreement. “They targeted him, and then me a year later when I entered high school. The theme seemed to be ‘how the mighty have fallen.’ A hundred years ago, my family owned the mill the town is named for. We employed dozens of townsmen. But in the past few decades, we’ve barely been able to keep the land. Had to sell off nearly half our land when I was ten.”
“Kids will come up with any excuse to bully someone who’s even a little different,” I said, and Brady gave me a faint smile. “Or who’s not big enough to protect themselves… yet.”
“Exactly. Luckily, we knew someone who was big enough to protect himself and others.”
“Gideon?” That took me by surprise.
“Yep. When we talked, he’d hear how miserable we were. And I think Cole told him stuff, too. He was more worried about me getting beat up than himself. Anyway, Gideon contacted our grandparents and asked if he could stay here and go to school in Donovan’s Mill. He said that he often felt that his mom resented him for holding her back, and he wanted a fresh start. He said he’d be no trouble, he’d pay for his food and stay out back in the smokehouse.”
“The smokehouse?” That was a horrifying thought.
“Well, it was a cottage by then. We slept there many times during that first summer when Gran got tired of us staying up all night reading comic books and laughing and chatting. But anyway, my grandparents insisted that he stay in the main house. God knew we had enough room. And from that moment on, he became an honorary grandson.”
“And what happened at school?”
“With him by our side, no one ever picked on us again.”
“Really?” As much as I didn’t want to admit it, my heart was softening for the boy who moved to a new town just to protect his friends. “But he was older than you, right? What about when he graduated?”
Brady grinned. “Well, we weren’t as scrawny by then. Generally, you don’t earn football trophies if you are. But it was more than that. Somehow, Gideon helped us fit in. It was our town and they were our classmates, but they didn’t really accept us until the three of us became pals. I can’t fully explain it, but I’ll forever be grateful for it. And for him.”
“It sounds like you helped him, too.”
“Definitely. He really opened up when he moved here. He was used to being treated as a burden, and no one here thought of him like that.” Brady looked over at me, and I was surprised to see that his eyes were moist.
I stared up at him and couldn’t help the smile that spread over my face.
“What?” Brady asked as I continued to look into his clear, blue eyes.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of a hard person to hate?”
He chuckled. “I can’t say that they have. It seems like an odd thing to say to someone, but under the circumstances, I’ll take it.”
“Good.” I stood up, stretching my muscles as I did so. I bit back a grin as I caught Brady staring at my legs. Tender moment or not, he was still a man. I shook out the backpack and handed it to him. “Ready to head back?”
“Definitely.”
After that, we all had lunch together. Brady made BLTs, and they were delicious. Then Penny and I worked out a strategy for what videos we wanted to make this week. After her assertiveness this morning, she’d reverted back to her usual quiet self, but that might’ve been because she couldn’t get hold of Jeff. She was worried that he wouldn’t answer his phone, but I thought it was more likely that he was punishing her for leaving him for a week. Again, I felt a little guilt at that, but mostly, I wished she’d come to her senses and dump his sorry ass.
Brady went for his shift at the diner in the afternoon, and Cole headed out back to work on the cottage they were fixing up. I heard a lot of hammering and sawing. That only intensified when an SUV parked out front and Gideon joined him.
Gideon stayed for dinner, which was leftovers from the night before, but he and Cole mostly talked to each other in low voices about business with the inn. If Brady had been here, I bet we all would’ve conversed with each other. He was becoming the bridge between our two factions.
And then it was night. Penny headed to her room early, saying she was tired, but I suspected she was going to try to contact Jeff again. Gideon left, and Cole retired to the study that he apparently used as an office.
Which just left me.
I wandered restlessly around the inn, determined to stay up until I was so exhausted I’d be guaranteed a deep and dream-free sleep. But that was easier said than done, since there was so little to do around here. I threw some darts downstairs for a while. I tried to get into one of the ancient paperbacks in the lounge.
Hell, I even pulled out the game ofMouse Trapand tried to get the elaborate trap set up. But either it was easier with two people, or it was missing a piece or two and I couldn’t remember how to do it. Besides, it reminded me of my father, and he wasn’t who I should be thinking about this close to bed. Not unless I wanted another nightmare.