Page 83 of All of Us

At the house, there were go bags for us with a couple of Circle W shirts and a bunch of toiletries. Mrs Wilson handed us each an envelope containing five hundred dollars. “Anything we didn’t pack like undies, buy when you get there.” Something about Ma Wilson talking about my undies made me squirm.

“Okay, guys, you are heading to San Diego. Apparently, your man is having a little vacation in a five-star resort. You two have a room booked for the length of his stay. If Mont asks, you are looking at some livestock out there, and Dusty is going for fun.”

It was a lame excuse, but it got us the jet and let us talk to Joe. I was curious, “How did you find out where he was staying?”

He snorted. “Told my son I needed some pictures from him of my mini-highlands for the website.”

“All those calves are sold.”

“Mont doesn’t know that.” I laughed. Martin was something else. “Now get going. And text me updates. Ma, and I are rooting for all of you.”

They both hugged us, and an Uber pulled up in front of their house. Dusty and I got in and waved goodbye.

Dusty took my hand. “I can’t lose him, Jacob. He said he loves us, but he never asked how we felt about him. He has to hear us.”

Lacing our fingers together, I kissed him. “He’ll listen. But I think the thing we need to worry about more is getting him to agree. This is a lot for a guy who was closeted and repressed by his parents until a few years ago.”

“Shit.” He said to himself.

Nine hours later, we were pulling up in front of the Marina Diego Resort. The private jet certainly helped speed things along, but we were still anxious to check in because we had to make a plan on how to win our man, then take him home.

As we rode up the elevator, I held Dusty’s hand.

“I really hope this works,” I said out loud.

“It has to.” That was all he said.

Chapter twenty-nine

DUSTY

I held Jacob’s hand tightly, terrified I would lose him too. My life had opened up so much over the last few months, and now the threat of Joe being gone sent me into panic. I was shaking uncontrollably.

Jacob pulled me against him and mumbled into my hair. “We can be like the eagles. They figured it out.”

As we headed to our room, the luxury of this hotel was everywhere, and it meant nothing. The only thing that mattered was that in one of the rooms was Joe—my Joe. No, our Joe. We entered our room and left our bags at the door.

“Do we know what room he is in?” Jacob startled me out of my thoughts even though he spoke in a normal tone of voice.

I looked at the text Martin Wilson had sent while we were in flight. I had no idea why he was so invested in our relationship, but he had included room numbers. And I knew I owed him many times over for his help.

MARTIN W

Make sure you ride him hard.

Convince him he should come with you both.

I wasn’t even sure what to think about his text messages. Now wasn’t the time to address it, but he had to know what he’d said. I hoped he meant convince him.

“He sent the room number. It’s twenty-five-zero-five.” I allowed myself a moment to smile, “We are in twenty-five-zero-seven.” The universe is being kind.

The suite was huge with a full kitchen, dining room, and living room. Floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the Pacific, beckoning guests to visit.

“He’s going to be mad,” Jacob said as he stood by the windows. I could hear—feel—the pain in his voice. “Dusty, we should talk.”

“Come here.” I sat on the couch and pulled Jacob into my arms. “We’ll figure this out,” I whispered against his head. We curled into each other and let the tears fall.

“Dusty, I love you, but I love him too.” He said while we held each other. I knew his words should spark jealousy. They didn’t, though the fact that he loved Joe made me feel happy, content, and hopeful.