The Returnee

Chapter 22

Joey leaned over and slapped his hand lightly. "Easy, don't hurt yourself."

"It's fine," Lee checked his thumb. There was hardly a cut. He must have hit a nerve for it to sting like that. He unclenched his hand. "How's Colin?"

"Upset, how about you?"

"Bouncing between ready to rage war, and then I flip to stopping tears."

"No one is safe, but the odds of it happening to someone we know are limited. We have a process for it."

"Damian sent me the guidelines. I've followed it as best I could." He made sure the room was paid for longer than the seven days. He had told everyone Andy was ill and would be bad for a couple of days. He'd informed John that Andy wouldn't be able to work for a week due to his condition. This would let Lee repay Andy for covering his work while he was incapacitated. The basic steps were to try to avoid people noticing too much and reporting people as missing.

"Good," Joey nodded. "Did you read through all your messages?"

"No. I haven't had the bandwidth."

"We need to pick up another person."

Lee blinked the blur of the city landscape coming into focus, and they were at the train station. "Someone's visiting?" Damian had been at an airport, maybe him?

"We were very concerned," Joey said sheepishly. "I needed help."

"Who are we meeting?" The numbness sank in his stomach. There was a sense of despair that could be. He spoke to Matt and Eldric, so it wasn't them. Was it someone that he didn't know? But Joey wouldn't be embarrassed by who had arrived. Lee hadn't met that many family members before he vanished into the night. 

Joey answered, but Lee spotted them. Grant was here.

Matthew would have shown up in jeans, potentially still smelling of animals, and Eldric wouldn't have got on the plane, but he also wouldn't have arrived as the image of a model stepping off a runway for men's looks. Grant was handsome and stunning.

Somehow, Lee was going to have to talk to him.

Grant stood tall and confident at 6'3 and was a head taller than most others around. He had slid into his late 40s with barely a whisper of concern as his bright blonde hair started to turn bright white instead, adding to his striking figure that turned Lee's mouth dry. The long overcoat he wore blended him in with the other businessmen and made him taller somehow.

He slid out of the car and headed over, careful of the cars in the space and quickly stole Grant's bag. Or tried to, Grant let him get close and trapped him in a tight embrace of pinecones and something spicy.

"Hello, my dear," Grant murmured in his ear. "I heard you've been having a rough go of it."

"The last few days haven't relented," Lee said, pulling back once the hug went a little too long. Grant didn't let go of him so easily, a hand slipping into the back of Lee's shirt and resting on his belt. "You look amazing."

"Thank you, I don't often get a chance to wear my non-farm outfits. So, I'm taking full advantage." Grant left his hand on Lee's lower back, fingers hooked into his belt, and let Lee lead him back to Joey's car. Lee carried Grant's luggage, but Grant was one slip of a hand from towing Lee around by his trousers.

"Welcome, Grant." Joey scooped the bag from Lee and placed it in the boot. "Did you have a good journey?" He equally got a half-hug and kiss on the cheek.

"Yes, thank you. It was smooth, and I enjoyed an overpriced coffee." Grant didn't let go of Lee as he let go of Lee's belt and ran his arm up Lee's back to hold him in place. Lee could pull away if he wanted to, but he didn't. Grant was more caretaker than enforcer, though he could wear the hat when needed. An early returnee, Grant made peace with what had happened, and when he learned about the farm, he was eager to help.