George smiled but he wasn’t sure about a vacation with Slater and a bunch of strangers. Besides, Slater probably wouldn’t want to do it. Dez might. Then the solution hit him solidly in the heart, and he knew exactly who would make him comfortable all week at the ranch. “You come with me.”
Levi blinked several times in a row. “I’m sorry?”
“With the ghost town shut down, it’s not like you’ll miss work. You take the other voucher. Then I know I’ll always have a friend around, even if I do something like have a panic attack. I know there will be people on staff I’ll recognize but they aren’t people I consider friends.”
They aren’t you, Levi.
“I mean...” Levi’s gaze went distant. “I could probably ask Wes or Mack to check on the cats every day and make sure they have food. Or maybe get permission to borrow an ATV. That way I can check myself once or twice. We’ve hardly been apart since I rescued them.”
“Oh.” George’s heart dropped to his feet. “If being away is too hard, you can say no. I get it. They’re, like, your kids.”
“No, I can manage it. I just rarely have to. Which probably says a lot about my lack of a social or dating life.”
“Join the club.” George winked, and Levi chuckled. “So what do you think? Come on vacation with me?”
“Sure. Is next week too soon?”
George swallowed back an embarrassing squeak of surprise. “Next week?”
“It’s the last week they’re open to guests until January. Closing for Christmas and New Year’s, and I know they have openings. But if that’s too soon, we can wait. Only the weather next week is supposed to be unseasonably warm. Midsixties most days, low fifties at night. We might even be able to do a camping trip.”
“Um.” George had never been impulsive. He liked to plan, to know, to schedule his life. But if he worked longer hours for the rest of the week and got ahead on his work, he could take a solid week off. Unplug for a while and enjoy the ranch. Spend time with Levi.
Except Orry...because of his fluid work schedule, they hadn’t spent more than one day apart in the last seven years. How was George going to manage an entire week without his twin?
“This is a big step for you, isn’t it?” Levi asked. “Leaving your safe space and your brother for a week.”
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Get into my head and pull out exactly what I’m thinking. Orry has been my rock since we were sixteen. Not having him around...” It would be painful and weird and borderline crazy-making but George was an adult. If he ever wanted to have a real, adult life, he had to start putting space between himself and Orry. “It’ll be weird but good. Healthy, I think. And it helps knowing you’ll be around. My friend.”
Levi’s tender smile sent strange, warm feelings through George’s chest. “I am definitely your friend, George. So next week? All I need to do is call Reyes and we’re on the guest list.”
“Okay, yes.” George jumped off the plank and into the cold, dark water with both feet, confident he’d surface before he drowned. “Yes, next week. Um, I can’t exactly take Orry’s car, though.”
“If you can work a deal with him to meet halfway, I’ll pick you up. We have to be in the visitor parking area by ten a.m. Sunday morning for transport to the ranch. Pack comfortable, warm clothes. Boots if you have them.”
“I have sneakers.”
“They’ll be fine. I didn’t see any rain in the forecast but you know that can change on a dime.”
“True.” George couldn’t believe he was doing this. An impromptu vacation at a dude ranch with his new friend with only a few days’ notice. “I’ll work it out with Orry. And then I’ll text you with a meet spot.”
“Great. I was not expecting to go on this vacation with you, George, but now I’m looking forward to the experience.”
“Me too. I think it’s the first real vacation I’ve had since... I don’t know, maybe since I was eight? Our parents took us to Disneyland. But after that, skating took up all my free time, and we didn’t really do much as a family. It was always practice, school and tutors.”
“I’m sorry.” Levi squeezed George’s knee in a warm, comforting touch that lit George up from the inside out. “Having grown up with my family always around, I can’t imagine how lonely you might have been.”
George took a chance and covered Levi’s hand with his own, and the touch cemented his impromptu decision to go on the trip. “You lost your little brother. I cannot fathom that kind of pain. I don’t think I’d survive losing Orry.”
Levi turned his hand and clasped their palms together. “I sincerely hope you never have to find out.”
The moment seemed to stretch out for ages—their joined hands, the long and meaningful look they shared. The new intimacy that had begun to grow. George didn’t know what to say or do, only that he liked it a lot. But he didn’t know what to do with it. If he should push or pull back. He latched on to the first thing that buzzed through his whirling brain.
“How’s Ginger today?” George asked.
“Grumpy. I think she resents being close to her siblings but not being able to play with them. She’s got another checkup Saturday morning, though, and I really hope her doc says the leg is strong enough for me to let her out. I haven’t had to clean a litter box regularly since they were kittens.” Levi’s cheerful wink made George laugh.
“So you’re telling me they hold it for eight hours on your road trips?”
“Nah, I let them out at rest stops for bathroom breaks. I’ve even got a clicker they’re trained to respond to and return to the house.”
George stared at Levi, more impressed with the man with each conversation they had. “How did you learn to do that?”
“The internet. And I, uh, spent a lot of time with a veterinarian after I first found the kittens. He had some good ideas.”
Levi rarely hesitated or self-censored himself when he was around George, and the hesitation over the vet didn’t pass his notice. It heightened his curiosity about that period in Levi’s life. He was also polite enough not to pry.
“I will admit, though,” Levi added, “I do keep a small emergency litter box stored away in case of terrible weather. They don’t mind a little rain but refuse to go out during torrential downpours or too much snow.”
“Makes sense. Most cats hate water, right?”
“In my experience they do, but I’ve seen videos on social media that suggest some love it. I saw one once of a cat swimming in a full bathtub.”