Heatseeker (Atrati) by Lucy Monroe Page A

following through on the marriage only would have added to his sins, not mitigated them. “What I did wasn’t fair to her, but marrying her would have been worse.”
    Understanding and agreement burned in Neil’s gaze. “You didn’t love her.”
    “Oh, I loved her . . . like a little sister. I wasn’t in love with her.” A major disaster had been avoided on what would have been their wedding night—and all the nights thereafter.
    “Do your parents know?”
    Wyatt stepped back, needing distance if they were going to have this discussion. “Why I called off the wedding?”
    “Yes.”
    “They do.”
    “And?”
    “Daddy said he didn’t raise any of his sons to use a woman like I used Candace.” Wyatt turned away and grabbed his duffel, dropping it onto one of the smaller beds. “He’s disappointed in me.”
    Not because he was gay, as Wyatt had expected, but because his daddy had raised him to man up, and, well, he hadn’t. He had now, but he’d never be able to erase the look of disappointment in his daddy’s eyes from his memory. He wished he could.
    “He still loves you,” Neil said with certainty, a lot closer than he had been a moment before. Wyatt turned, and Neil was there, his hand reaching out to squeeze Wyatt’s arm. “You’re still his son.”
    Wyatt nodded. His daddy would never deny him, but things weren’t the same as they had been, either. “I’m not one of his heirs, though. Not anymore.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “He’s leaving the ranch to Jericho and Travis.” Exactly what he’d expected his daddy to do when he heard the news his middle son was gay.
    “I’m sorry. Maybe he’ll change his mind after he’s had time to think.”
    “He’s had six months, and I don’t see him changing even if I gave him six years.” Wyatt shrugged. It didn’t much matter, anyhow. “I knew I couldn’t go back there and live like I’d always planned, not and have a male partner.”
    “It’s a pretty conservative place.”
    “It ain’t Houston, that’s for sure. Or even Austin, for that matter.”
    Neil sighed. “I never wanted you to give up your heritage.”
    Wyatt knew that. Just like he knew that, as a man, he had to make choices about how he was going to live his life. He could spend a lifetime lying and pretending to be something that he wasn’t, or he could be honest about himself and live with the consequences.
    It had hurt like hell to do the latter, but he didn’t regret it. Couldn’t. “Mama says she’ll pray for my soul, but I’m not welcome for Christmas this year.”
    Neil paled, hurt covering his handsome face. “That’s not right. What did your dad say?”
    “Daddy rules the ranch, but Mama rules the house. He won’t go against her.”
    “I’m sorry.” Suddenly, shockingly, Neil pulled Wyatt into a hard hug. “I know how much that hurts.”
    Wyatt wasn’t about to turn down the contact. “True. Your mother is an idiot.” He’d always thought so. How any woman could write off a son as honorable and loving as Neil was beyond Wyatt’s ability to understand. “At least my mama still sends me my care packages.”
    She’d told him she loved him but couldn’t agree with his choices. Since he hadn’t chosen to be gay, he figured she meant his decision to stop hiding it.
    “There is that,” Neil said with a suspicious-sounding laugh.
    “Yeah, sugar, there is that. I saved you some pecan cookies from the last one. They were always your favorite. I put them up in the freezer.”
    Neil laughed again, and this time the sound was even more strangled. “I’m not sure your mama would approve.”
    “She’ll love you once she meets you, and maybe she’ll learn to accept me this way, too.”
    “You really want to try again?” Neil stepped back, and Wyatt made himself let the other man go.
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t know if I can.”
    “Think on it.” To Wyatt’s way of thinking, neither of them had much of a choice.
    They were each other’s one true