Authors: E. M. Leya
"I like red better anyway." Evan took the bottle of water Travis held out to him, brushing his fingers over his.
Travis sucked in another deep breath. There was no doubt that Evan meant to do that. He busied himself pulling out sandwiches as he tried to deal with the sudden attraction he couldn't seem to shake. "I made a couple roast beef, and a couple tuna fish." He set the bag on the blanket. "What do you want, Jas?"
"Tuna." Jason crawled over and grabbed one and the bag of chips and crawled back. "This is fun. We should picnic more often."
"I think I'll go with beef." Evan reached for a sandwich. "Thanks for making this. I owe you a dinner one night."
Travis head shot up from the sandwich in his lap. Did Evan mean that or was he just making polite conversation. Evan smiled and took a bite as if he hadn't said anything at all. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer for God to help him with this. Was he reading too much into things or was there really something between him and Evan? And did he dare pursue it?
They ate in silence for several minutes before Jason set his food down and stood. "I'm going back to watch the deer." He ran off before Travis could swallow his food and answer.
"I wish I had his energy." Evan watched him run off before looking back at Travis and brushing crumbs from his pants. "Listen, about earlier…"
Travis shook his head. "Don't say sorry."
"I wasn't going to. I'm not sorry. But I also have to remember why I'm here and how something like that could affect my job. Hurt your case."
Travis played with the label of his water bottle and nodded. "I know, and right now the case has to take precedence over my own desires."
Evan reached out and placed his hand on Travis's knee. "And I have to think about my job. But that doesn't change the attraction." He glanced over at Jason. "In most cases I would suggest I remove myself from the case, but with yours… Well, I can't promise another agent would have an open mind about things. I don't want to risk sexuality becoming a bigger factor for you than it already is going to be."
Travis stared down at the hand on his knee and finally brought his hand up to cover it. "I know." He linked his fingers with Evan's. "I know you can't talk about the case, and one of my other fears is that you might think I'm using this…" He held up their joined hands before resting them on his knee once again. "To try and gain an advantage."
"I don't think that." Evan smiled. "It's not how you are. You could have already been asking me what the conversation was yesterday and you haven't."
"Not that I haven't wanted to," Travis admitted. "Especially when you mentioned the lawyer."
"I just get the feeling they are going to do everything they can to fight you on this. Nothing will be off limits, and unfortunately that will mean in time, Jason will be pulled into the middle."
Travis glanced over to where Jason stood on the large boulder. He looked so young and innocent. Travis hated that he would have to face this at such a young age. "You know if I really thought he would be okay with the Steeles I might give them custody just to save Jason from having to go through this. But I think they would smother him. He wouldn't grow up happy, especially as he got older. Is there anything you can do from the state's side to help keep him out of this?"
"I'm afraid not. They will have you take him in to meet with a counselor and ask him a lot of questions about both of you. He may not end up in the middle of the heated battle, but he will still feel some of the impact."
"What do I do, Evan? You've seen this before. What is best for him?" Travis turned his worried stare to him.
"From what I have seen, and this is off the record, I say fight. He is happy here. Look at him. You give him so much more than the Steeles ever could. And you're right, as he gets older he will need things that I'm not sure the Steeles can give." He bit his lip and shook his head. "Already I'm saying too much."
Travis brushed his thumb over the back of Evan's hand. "Don't. I don't want to put you in the middle of this anymore than I do him."
"But I already am." Evan shrugged. "I have my personal feelings, maybe more feelings than I should." He squeezed Travis's fingers where they linked between his own. "I have to try to keep them separate from the facts of the case. Not on whatever it is I'm feeling toward you or the way I feel seeing Jason with you. I have to go on facts, not emotions."
"And we can't explore what we feel without it causing problems, right?" Travis asked even though he knew the answer.
"If anyone found out, I would be off the case and possibly without a job."
Travis released his hand. "That is the last thing I want."
Evan frowned as he pulled his hand back from Travis's knee. "Maybe once this is over?"
"Yes. Definitely when this is over." He glanced back at Jason. "He likes you. I like you." He smiled. "When this is all over, we will do this again, and then I will get Jake to watch him, and you and I can go out alone."
Evan reached out his hand toward Travis. "I don't think we need to worry about anyone seeing us out here."
Travis grinned and stretched his arm out to grasp Evan's hand again. "Then maybe we should do this more often."
Travis stood as the service ended and the crowd slowly started to trickle out of the church. Most headed down the long corridor toward the large meeting hall where they were having their summer luncheon. Travis followed the crowd for a moment then turned and headed to one of the smaller classrooms to pick Jason up from Sunday school.
He stood in the doorway watching as Jason put away the crayons he had been coloring with. When he looked up and saw Travis he smiled and held up a picture for him to see.
"What is it?" Travis asked, unable to make out the scribbled drawings.
"Me on my horse." Jason ran toward him.
"Whoa, slow down. Walk, don't run." Travis reached for the paper from Jason's hand. "Now I see it. That looks just like you. Wait until we take this home and show everyone. If you want to hang it in the barn by the horses you can."
"That's great. Maybe I will draw one for each horse." Jason took his hand as they left the room.
"I think that's a great idea. Let's go put this stuff in the truck and then we can come back in for lunch. I saw a few of your friends already headed that way." Travis led him outside and to the truck.
They dropped the picture off and turned to head back inside. They were almost at the stairs leading up into the church when he stopped, seeing Gloria Steele standing in front of him.
"How dare you show your face in church?" she spat.
Travis wrapped his arms around Jason and pulled him to his legs as if he could protect him from his grandmother's hate.
Footsteps sounded behind them and Travis turned to see the pastor approaching. He held his breath, expecting the worst.
"I'm sorry. I'm going to have to ask you to leave…" The pastor stared at Travis and then turned to Gloria. "Mrs. Steele. Travis and Jason are more than welcome here. We welcome all who embrace Jesus's message of love and acceptance. If you can't do the same I ask you to either keep it to yourself or leave and find another church to attend. We won't tolerate hate of any kind at this parish."
Travis looked up in shock, admiration for the pastor growing with each word. For so long he felt he was fighting this battle alone. To have someone support him, even in a small way was a huge relief. Teasing his fingers through Jason's hair, he smiled down at him.
"Thank you Pastor Reed. Jason would hate to leave the friends he has made here over the years."
"We would never ask you to leave. I'm sure the transition has been hard for both of you. If either of you need anything, I hope you won't hesitate to ask."
Gloria huffed, her face red, probably more from anger than embarrassment as it should have been. Shoving her phone into her purse she turned and stomped off.
Travis watched her leave before turning to the pastor. "Thank you for that. I fear she hasn't made this easy for Jason and me. She is determined to take custody."
The pastor leaned down, face to face with Jason. "Where do you want to live, Jason?"
"With my Uncle Travis. He's a lot more fun than my grandparents. Besides, Grandpa smells funny and Grandma is never happy."
Travis gave Jason's shoulder a squeeze. Surely if a six year old could see that, everyone else could too. Still, he didn't dare get his hopes up that this case would come out in his favor.
"Well then I think that's where you should be." Pastor Reed stood. "I need to get back inside. You two are staying for the luncheon?"
"Yes. Uncle Travis made his Mexican layer dip. It's so good." Jason smiled up at Travis.
"Well then, I will have to try some. I will see you both inside." He gave a slight nod and headed inside.
Travis turned to take Jason back inside the church and stilled when he saw Evan standing at the foot of the stairs. He smiled as he wondered how long he had been there, and how much he might have seen. He could only hope he saw Gloria's outrage and it might help his case in keeping Jason.
"Evan." Jason tore his hand from Travis and ran toward him.
Travis had no choice but to follow him.
"Hey, Jas. You having fun today?" Evan bent down to greet the small boy.
Jason nodded. "We learned about Jonah and the big fish. Have you ever seen a big fish like that, Evan?"
"Only on TV. Maybe someday you'll get to go see one in person. Wouldn't that be really cool?" He grinned up at Travis.
"You would have to come with us. You got to see one, too if you haven't."
Travis froze, the thought of traveling anywhere with Evan and Jason together caused a strange twisting in his gut.
"That would be fun, wouldn't it? But right now I have to work, and you start school soon, so we can't make any plans right now. But you can always read and learn about the whales so you know all about them when you get to see one in person."
Travis stepped closer, touching Jason on the shoulder. "We can look them up on the computer when we get home if you want."
Jason glanced up at him and smiled. "That would be great Uncle Trav. You want to come out and look too, Evan?"
Evan glanced at Travis before turning his attention back to Jason. "I'm sure you and your uncle have plans together this afternoon. I will be out soon and visit okay?"
"Do we have plans, Uncle Travis?" Jason stared up at him hopeful.
Travis shook his head, laughing. "We were just going to eat dinner later, and swim. If Evan doesn't already have plans, he is more than welcome to join us."
Travis hoped it wasn't obvious how much he wanted Evan to join them. He glanced up at him, trying to gage his reaction.
"Come on, Evan. You can bring your suit and swim with me." Jason tugged on his hand.
"Let me think about it, okay? Are you going to have lunch here first?" Evan turned for the stairs.
"Yep. You can eat with us if you want." Jason started up the steps still holding Evan's hand.
"I would like that." He glanced over his shoulder at Travis and shrugged with a smile. "So what else did you learn in Sunday school?"
Travis let them talk as he followed along behind. He loved how easily Evan and Jason took to each other. Once again if it wasn't for the case pending over them everything would be perfect, but with the case, everything was up in the air.
As they entered the meeting room, Jason led them toward an empty table. "Here, Evan. You sit by Uncle Travis." Jason moved aside and then took the seat on the other side of Evan.
Travis rubbed his hand over the plastic tablecloth and looked around. He didn't really know anyone as he had always been so sporadic about coming to church, and he now wished he had attended more and had gotten to know people. He watched Jason wave at other kids and wondered if he should meet some of their parents so they could plan to let the kids play sometimes. He wondered how many of the kids here might be in school with Jason when he started.
All the thoughts made him realize how little he knew about Jason's life with his sister and sent another wave of questioning fear through him.
"You okay?" Evan gave his shoulder a squeeze.
The simple touch of Evan's hand calmed him. "Yeah. Was just thinking I need to get to know the parents of his friends. There's so much I don't know yet."
"It's only been a couple of weeks. I'm sure once school starts it will all come easier as far as friends go. Once Jason tells them about the ranch, you will have kids begging to come over." Evan winked as Travis grimaced.
Pastor Reed called for everyone's attention and they all bowed their heads for prayer.
Once the prayer finished, there was a mad rush for the banquet table. Travis watched, happy to let the crowd clear before getting up to get their food. While he waited he glanced over at Evan. He looked good in a suit, but he preferred the casual look even more on him. His light brown hair, hung just a bit too long against his collar, and he fisted his hand to keep from reaching over and running his fingers through it. It was just his luck when he finally met someone he was interested in he couldn't do a thing about it.
"Uncle Travis, can I have a piece of cake first?" Jason pulled him from his thoughts.
"No, Jas. You have to eat something healthy first. You don't have to eat a lot, but at least something that is good for you."
"Is watermelon good for me?"
"Yep."
"Good. Then I'll have watermelon and then cake." Jason smiled smugly.
Travis sighed, but let it go. This was supposed to be fun. He wasn't going to argue over this. He would just make sure he ate a good dinner later. "That cake does look good." Travis whispered to Evan.
Evan grinned back. "I was thinking watermelon and cake sound great. Come on you two, let's go get in line."
Once the three of them had finished and Travis had wiped most the mess from Jason's face, they all headed outside to where the kids were playing as the adults stood around visiting. Travis let Jason run off to play with the others, making sure he was able to see him from where he stood.