“I’ll go tomorrow.” He wasn’t sure who would go with him to drive his dad’s truck, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone. Maybe Mrs. Fitz needed to go into town.
They pulled to a stop, and his dad got out and went inside. Enrique came to a stop behind him, and Devon ushered him into the living room, then went to change his clothes.
They left a short while later, with Devon back in jeans and his dad sitting in the center of Enrique’s old truck’s bench seat. They made the left turn onto the highway and then went up a ways before taking the turnoff to the pass. Almost immediately they passed a forest of electrical transmission poles with a huge nest on top of one of them. “Is that still there?”
“Yes. The ospreys come back each year, and they had chicks this spring,” his dad explained as they continued past. Every twist and turn of this road came back to Devon. He had taken it so many times as a kid. “You remember?”
“Yeah, I do, Dad,” Devon said as he watched the changed and yet familiar scenery out the window.
Enrique didn’t say anything, but their gazes met when he turned, and Devon wondered what the stunning man was thinking. Devon had no idea. Enrique’s waters ran deep, and he didn’t generally give much of a clue about anything inside his mind. That both intrigued and unnerved Devon—it always had. Not that he had a right to ask, but there were times he wished he had.
The truck bumped around as they wound upward along the mountain road, the river passing close to the road at first but getting farther away, cutting a deeper channel, until they turned and left it behind. The trees near the town gave way to bushes and then just tundra grass and lichens once they got higher. “Are you sure you’re okay?” They weren’t very high, but he didn’t want his dad short of breath.
“I’ve been coming here since you were in diapers. I’m fine.” His dad grinned, and they continued on until the road snaked through a long valley with grass-covered mountains rising on either side of it, the discarded rock and dirt flowing down from the remnants of a few old mines.
“This is what I remember,” Devon said, and when Enrique pulled off the road, he opened the door and climbed out, pulling on his coat. The sun shone, but the wind was still chilly. Not that he really noticed it. All Devon did was look around, wondering about this place and why he hadn’t thought about it in years.
“I knew you would remember,” Enrique said as he lowered the tailgate, got out the basket and cooler, and set them at the edge of the truck bed.
Devon nodded and smiled at Enrique’s way of trying to help him. He sat on the tailgate, and his dad and Enrique joined him. Devon tried to remember how many hours he’d spent with his dad like this, going somewhere—not that it mattered what the destination was—and eating their picnics sitting just like this. He took a deep breath and let the tension seep from his body.
“I’m going to stay here with the truck,” his dad said once they had finished eating. Enrique pushed the cooler back into the truck and put the rest behind the seat in the cab. “You boys go on out and explore.”
He sighed but smiled and seemed content. Devon half expected them to return and find his dad asleep in the cab. But as long as he was happy….
“Let’s go,” Enrique said.
“Where?” Devon asked as he followed Enrique’s brisk pace.
“Up there,” he said, pointing. “There’s a path up there, and I love the view.” He started climbing toward one of the foothills. At first Devon thought he was crazy, but they climbed higher, the valley floor receding. The peaks weren’t that high or steep. The tundra grass covered them, but the climb was strenuous and exhilarating at the same time.
“Do you do this often?” Devon asked as he paused for breath.
“I haven’t climbed up here since I was sixteen. Remember? Craig dared me to do it, so I did it.” Enrique stopped, the wind blowing his hair. “That’s right, you had the flu then and weren’t with us.” He grinned. “I did it and he chickened out.” Enrique waited as Devon joined him. Together they continued their climb, making slow and steady progress. “Did something happen between you two?”
“What do you mean?” Devon asked, pausing.
Enrique continued climbing, and Devon caught up. “There’s something weird between you. I can feel it whenever you see each other.”
Devon rolled his eyes as he continued his climb. “Are you psychic now or something?”
“No.” Enrique stopped again. They were getting close to the top, and Devon refused to look down until he reached it or he’d chicken out. “You get all tense when he’s there. You smile and say the right things, but you still tense up.”
Devon groaned. “I fell in love with him when we were in high school.” He had never admitted that to anyone before. “I know I’m really stupid, but that’s what happened.”
“Is that part of why you left and never came back? Because of that?” Enrique asked.
“Yeah. In part. I mean, I kept hoping that Craig would see me and figure out that he loved me too. And I think he did, but not in the way I needed him to, and it messed with my head.” He looked upward.
“Does Craig know?” Enrique asked softly.
Devon nodded. “It was a real mess at the time. When he met Jeanie, I knew he was never going to be interested in me that way. Craig is straight.”
Enrique cocked his eyebrows in a way that was both curious and damned sexy, and brushed his windblown hair away from his face. The notion of what that hair would feel like against his skin raced through Devon’s mind, and the chill in the wind didn’t matter anymore because he was suddenly hot in more ways than one.
“What does that mean?” Devon asked, swallowing to wet his dry throat.
“Just that there are rumors that Craig might like both men and women.” He turned away, and Devon did the same thing.
“Well, good for him,” Devon said with a shrug, and once again, Enrique treated him to that same confused, sexy expression when he turned around. “Yeah, I was churned up about him for a long time—maybe everyone else should be.” He meant it as a joke, but the idea occurred to him that Enrique might like Craig. God, he hoped not. Craig might be bisexual, but that didn’t mean he was going to ever actually get into a relationship with another guy. Devon exhaled deeply, glad that ship had truly sailed for him.
“So you don’t love him anymore?” Enrique asked tentatively, his voice pushing against the wind.
“No.” God, that was a huge relief to be able to answer honestly. “He has his own life now, and it revolves around his boys. That’s as it should be. They deserve everything he can give them, and I won’t mess that up for him. What I felt back then is immaterial. It wasn’t like Craig tried to hurt me. I did it to myself. That was what I needed to realize and what AA helped me get through. That this whole thing was my own expectations.” He smiled.
“Is that when you started drinking in the first place?” Enrique asked.
Devon nodded. At least he thought that was the main reason. He had been trying to drown a broken heart and ended up taking his entire self along with it. He expected more questions, but Enrique just nodded, his eyes filled with understanding so deep it nearly took Devon’s breath away.