“And Nell would say we deserved it. Do you understand the chaos that would happen? I just think being mayor of Bliss is a bigger job than you’re giving it credit. And I think you would do a hell of a job. It’s up to you. Laura will come around. I can work on her. If you really want to give Miami a shot, I’ll make sure it happens. Nate has connections with the DEA, and I’m sure he can give me some serious recommendation. I can try Miami PD maybe.”
He didn’t like the thought of Cam on the streets. He didn’t like it at all. “But you love it here.”
Cam sat forward, a sad smile on his face. “And you’re my partner. You gave it a shot. I won’t have you miserable. We’ll find a way. We’ll compromise because we’re a family. I’m going to go talk to our wife. You think about it for a while. We’re supposed to be at Trio for some weird ceremonial thing that proves Wolf’s girl isn’t an alien queen. I have to go fire up the Detector 6000. Stef made it special for the wedding. You won’t want to miss it.”
He walked out the door, leaving Rafe alone in Hiram’s tiny cabin.
There would be no Detector 6000s for Cam in the Miami PD. There wouldn’t be Big Game Dinners or Winter Festivals where Sierra could ride ponies. There would be no crazy town hall meetings.
He looked around. Hiram had lived alone for the last fifty or so years, but Rafe couldn’t tell from the pictures on the wall. He stood up and stared at that wall. Forty or so pictures hung in cheap frames, but somehow they made a rich canvas of the man’s life. There were old black and whites, one of a very large family. The man who was obviously the father had a grim look on his face, and the others were crowding in, looking similarly stoic. Only one boy was grinning like a loon.
Hiram. Maybe he’d never fit into that large, serious family, but he’d kept the photo. There was a picture of Hiram and a woman who looked a whole lot like Max and Rye Harper. They were dressed in late seventies clothes. She was smiling at the camera and holding up a trout she’d caught, but Hiram’s face was toward her and he practically glowed.
There were pictures of Hiram with Stella and a young Stef, with Jamie and Noah’s dads and mom out on the Circle G. He recognized some of the locals who had been here long before him because Stella had taken him through her albums one night. There was a picture of Hiram handing out diplomas to Max and Rye and Stef and Callie.
The last one caused Rafe’s throat to tighten. It was a picture of Hiram holding up Sierra Rose.
Hiram had come to the small party that welcomed his daughter. Hiram had picked her up, pronounced her perfect, and welcomed her as the newest citizen of Bliss.
Tears filled Rafe’s eyes because he finally realized something.
Sierra had already lost a grandfather. And if Rafe took his family out of Bliss, she would lose a whole family.
Blood. All his life it had been pounded into his brain. Blood made a family, a long line of DNA that connected him to ancestors who the history books talked about.
But here was a whole life laid out in faded pictures and knickknacks, and suddenly it was so lovely to Rafe. Hiram’s history didn’t span Europe. It was all about a lifetime spent in Bliss. It was about a world of friends who became family. They didn’t need blood. Hell, half the time they didn’t really have anything in common with the singular exception of where they lived, but somehow it had worked for Hiram.
Because he’d been open. Because he’d made his decision and he hadn’t looked back. He’d moved forward. He’d forged his own life, his own path.
Wasn’t that all a father could ask for his child?
Rafe sat back and allowed a wealth of history to play in his brain.
Chapter Fourteen:
Leo, Shelley, and Wolf
Leo needed a drink. Or five. But he was pretty sure he should stay away from the tonic, because in about three minutes he was going to be brutally dehydrated. This afternoon seemed to never end. He would glance at his watch, but he’d left it behind with his clothes.
He pulled the flap on the sweat lodge and steam threatened to overtake him. He crawled through anyway, his eyes blinded momentarily by the intense heat.
Leo made it through the steam and found the sitting area. He sat back on the small bench Mel had thoughtfully provided. In the center of the lodge was a small fire and a bunch of rocks over the fire. Mel had a bucket next to him. He took the ladle from the bucket and doused the rocks with water, sending heat into the already humid air.
“Welcome, my spiritual sons.”
God, he wished his “spirit dad” had some clothes on.
Wolf leaned over and whispered. “You know for a skinny dude, he’s got an awfully big—”
Leo elbowed Wolf. He was so not going there. He did not want to know what his momma saw in Mel. “Thank you for hosting this get-together.”
He couldn’t call it a party. A party wasn’t a bunch of naked dudes drinking rotgut whiskey while only Julian and Jack maintained their dignity. It was more like hell.
Mel smiled. “It’s my pleasure. Your friends seem real nice. Except that Julian fella. He’s got the look of a hunter about him. There are natural alien hunters in the world, you know. Born to protect our Earth. I think I should talk to him about taking up the fight.”
“You should totally do that,” Wolf said encouragingly.
Wolf loved the surreal.
Leo loved reality. “I think Julian is really busy with his businesses. Mel, we wanted to talk to you about something else.”
Mel nodded. “I figured you would. That’s why I wanted us to spend some time in the sweat lodge. This is a place for men. Now, I know you don’t have a daddy around to talk to you, so your momma asked me to explain some things to you.”
“Actually, that’s what we wanted to ask you about.”
“Sex is nothing to be afraid of, boys,” Mel said with a grave seriousness.
“Oh, god,” Wolf whispered, his eyes going wide. “We’re going to get the sex talk.”
“You see, when you marry a woman, she’s going to expect certain things of you, including physical affection. I want to make sure you boys understand how to bring a human woman to pleasure. It’s different than what your alien instincts will tell you. Women have different parts than men. I brought some magazines to show you.”
Leo held out a hand. He was so not going to sit in a tent with Mel and look at seventies porn magazines. “We know about sex.”
“God, you’re no fun,” Wolf grumbled.
Mel nodded sagely. “I tried to tell Cassidy that you two probably understood, but she was real insistent that you were both pure.”
“Mel, I’ve been married before,” Leo pointed out.
“Oh, well, then you understand.”
“But I’m totally pure,” Wolf said quickly. “I could really use some pointers.”
“You’ve fucked your way through half of Southern Colorado. I don’t even want to know what you did overseas.” He wasn’t going to indulge his brother’s deep love of the surreal. “Mel, we do need your help, though it’s not with sex.”
Mel sat forward. “Alien issues?”
Leo managed to not scream. Maybe he should switch his efforts from Max to Mel. “No, family issues, though it turns my stomach to call that man family.”
Mel’s eyes narrowed. “Are you talking about Robert?”
Well, at least they were off the aliens. “Yes.”
“If you’re thinking about reuniting with your father, I’m going to ask you to reconsider. I know you missed having a daddy, but he’s no good.”
Well, Mel proved he could be sane from time to time. “I don’t want to have anything to do with the bastard. He found me, not the other way around.”