Peach Tree Family: Gay Romance Read online

  "Nooo," Ace said as he dragged his feet then turned to Seth. "You coming too, Seth?"

  "I'm finished with school, thank you very much." Seth was just going to wait for them, but Theo thought he was going on without them.

  "Maybe we'll see you in town," Theo said, but Ace wouldn't leave it at that.

  "Noooooo. You can't go."

  "All right. I'll come with," Seth told him with a smile. He did it because Theo was too quick to think he was bailing on them.

  Now Ace sidled up to Seth and whispered, "Tell them I'm a bad kid so they won't take me."

  "No sabotage," Theo told him.

  In the end the whole thing wasn't too painful and Ace would be starting the next day. Hearing the news, his frown was intense and he kicked some rocks once they got outside. But the town was already in sight, and Ace got excited again.

  Seth wasn't. Another small town wasn't where he wanted to be, but as they walked on Main Street and had a look around, he was surprised. Peach Tree might have been a small town, but it was nothing like where he came from.

  This place wasn't dead, far from it. Practically every storefront was taken and open for business. The people walking around seemed lively and some of them were nicely dressed, like people ready to spend money.

  "Tourist season hasn't started yet. That's why it's so dead," Theo said. "Things pick up when the peach trees are in bloom."

  Seth just stared at him. If this was dead, what did this place look like when business picked up?

  "You must have visited here a lot," Seth said to Theo and Ace.

  "I didn't," Ace said and he looked sad.

  Theo gave his brother a small smile. "I did only a few times, and I don't remember the place well. That's why I did research."

  "Right," Seth said. He had set out from home blindly, trusting luck though he never had any. All that he knew was that he had to get away from Waterfield before he ended up in jail or worse.

  Not Theo. He knew what needed doing and he was ready and able to take care of it. But Seth did wonder how far that went. Theo was out here with only his brother, and he didn't call the sheriff on him when he should have. Seth was reminded of that as the sheriff's office came into view.

  Seth didn't like the sight of the place as gut-twisting memories came back to him, but Theo didn't either. He pointedly stared straight ahead as they passed it.

  But there were other things Seth noticed as he eyed him, like how his hair moved when he walked and how his eyes were hard like he was daring anyone to get in his way. If Seth had walked around with a look like that back in Waterfield, it would have invited so many beatings. That's why he schooled himself to walk with his head down, his expression neutral. The look in his eyes, his posture, everything about him saying only one thing – I'm not looking for any trouble.

  Chapter 3

  As they walked through Peach Tree, Seth was looking for Help Wanted signs but didn't see any yet. He knew Theo must be doing the same thing.

  Ace was sightseeing, calling out different things he saw. He nudged Theo and pointed toward a boy he spotted just ahead of them. He was a few years older than Ace with a book bag on one shoulder. He was with a girl who was maybe a little younger than Seth and Theo.

  "He's going to school," Ace said. He meant to whisper but his whispering was pretty loud.

  "Yes, he is," the girl confirmed turning to eye each of them. "He's off to school with a bunch of his friends. There they are. Hurry it up." She pushed the boy and he went to join a girl and a boy the same age.

  "You know if anyone around here is hiring?" Seth asked the girl.

  "Right here," she said. She pointed her thumb at the Peach Tree Café, which was right on the corner then she practically dragged Seth through the door yelling, "Hey, Rico. I found Magda's replacement." As she shouted, heads turned and Seth was so embarrassed.

  "Pipe down, Hannah," a good-looking young guy with dark hair and hazel eyes told her. He then looked at Seth. "It's only temporary, a few weeks maybe. You still want to apply?"

  "What apply?" Hannah scoffed. "Mrs. Del Rio will take one look and he'll be hired."

  "You're not wrong," the guy told her grudgingly. "But she's not here and I go by the book."

  Hannah scoffed again.

  The guy introduced himself as Enrico Del Rio and motioned Seth to an empty table in the back. "Go have a seat and we'll get you an application."

  Seth looked behind him to see where Theo and Ace had got to. Ace was holding the café door open, but Theo was not coming in.

  "It smells good in there," Ace said.

  "We can't afford to eat out, remember," Theo told him.

  "I'm Hannah, by the way. You two with him?" the girl asked and Ace nodded, but Theo didn't. "You better come in. Your friend is going to need moral support while Rico here grills him."

  "Hey," Rico said then followed it up with a sigh. "But once again you're not wrong." He then turned to Ace. "This guy might need you to vouch for him. Can you give him a good reference? Is he a good guy?"

  Ace was ready to vouch for him. "Seth is a good guy."

  "All I needed to hear," Rico said. Seth introduced them and Rico led them all to the table. "Have a seat. I'll get the application for you to fill out."

  "You should apply too, Theo," Seth said and Rico heard him.

  "Two applications coming up."

  He left them alone and then Hannah brought over the applications before she went to man the counter. Seth looked around and noticed that the walls had pictures of showgirls all over them.

  "It smells too good in here, Theo," Ace said and Theo frowned. He must have felt bad that they couldn't afford to eat there.

  The smell of food was waking up Seth's hunger too and not gently, it was giving it a good smacking around. If Theo hadn't given him food, he wouldn't have the presence of mind to read the application much less fill it out.

  They were both looking over the papers when Rico brought over a stack of dollar pancakes for Ace and a glass of milk. "I already poured the maple syrup," Rico said. "In my experience kids cannot be trusted with a pitcher of syrup."

  Ace looked at Theo helplessly.

  "It's OK. We can manage it," Theo said with a smile though he didn't order it.

  "It's on the house. We don't make people pay for food they didn't even order," Rico said then he walked away.

  "Theo, is it charity?" Ace asked. He looked like he wouldn't be able to eat the pancakes if Theo told him it was.

  "No. Rico is just being nice and we'll leave a good tip. A really good tip," Theo assured him.

  Now Ace smiled and split the stack into three sections.

  "What are you doing?" Theo asked him.

  "Sharing," Ace said and pushed the plate toward them.

  "Thanks, Ace, But I can't eat. I'm too nervous about filling this out," Seth told him.

  Theo gave his own reason. "And I need to make sure not to get this application all sticky."

  "But it's selfish," Ace complained.

  "It's not. You'll owe me," Seth told him. "Next time you have some really good candy, you can give me some. I'm partial to the sour gummy worms."

  Ace agreed and they got serious about filling out the forms.

  "They don't really need to have a phone number, do they?" Seth asked. He was seeing way too many things he didn't have.

  "You don't have a cell phone?" Theo said, surprised. "Put down mine."

  "And your address too?" Seth asked as Theo had him copy off his form.

  "I guess so," Theo said.

  "And I'll put Ace down as my reference." Seth then lowered his voice. "I got no other references. That's gonna hurt me."

  "They don't have to be local. What about from back in your home town?" Theo asked.

  Seth shook his head. He could feel his chances of getting this job slipping away.

  "A teacher, a pastor, a neighbor," Theo listed.

  "Old Moira next door, but she's kind of senile." That was the only person Seth could th
ink of who might say a decent thing about him.

  "Put her down. It's better than nothing," Theo told him.

  "My previous experience is crap all," Seth said under his breath.

  "You must have done something to make money," Theo said while he finished up his own application with no pause or hesitation.

  "Washed cars by the rest stop," Seth said.

  "Was that a job?"

  "Nah, I wasn't supposed to even do it. The sheriff was always chasing me off, and last time he took me in for it. Didn't bother charging me though."

  "Damn. Put it down anyway. Car maintenance services, self employed," Theo instructed him. He told him to put down landscaping for pulling some weeds in Moira's garden for which he got paid half a lemon pound cake.

  In the end, Seth knew who he'd give the job to and he probably had no shot at that inn. It wasn't his decision though. Rico sat across from them and asked them questions. Theo had better answers every time.

  Then Rico explained the deal. "One of our best waitresses had to go out of town. Her sister had twins and an unexpected C section. Magda went to help her out, but we don't know for how long. She will definitely be back. Now I don't mean to rush you... Or maybe I do. One of our other servers called in that she's coming in late today. Which one of you can start right now?"

  Seth and Theo looked at each other. Rico stepped away when a customer waved him over, and the two of them got a chance to talk it out.

  "You should take it," Seth said. "You need a job right here. I can find work anywhere."

  Theo thought for a minute. "No. I want to go and apply at the inn, and I can't do that if I'm stuck here. This one is temporary anyway."

  "I have no shot at that other one if they want computer skills," Seth said and made the decision. "Alright, I'll take this and good luck at the inn."

  "I need the luck. We have no running water or electricity, and right now I can't afford to have them turned on," Theo said and Hannah overheard him from over at the next table.

  "Where are you living?" she wanted to know.

  "You know where the Atkins house is?" Theo asked her.

  "I do, but it's all boarded up," she said.

  "It won't be for long," Theo told her and he put money down on the table.

  "Don't leave that. The owners grandson treated you," Hannah told him.

  "I'm setting a good example for my little brother," Theo told her.

  "All right then," she said. "It's appreciated."

  Theo turned to Seth now. "We'll be buying school supplies and some other things then I'll go to the inn."

  "Good luck with that. I hope you get it," Theo told him and put out his hand for a handshake.

  Theo didn't do the same right away, but when he did, Seth found that he was holding his breath. Theo's grip was firm, his fingers long, and Seth felt heat rising in him. Why? He didn't know. It was like the warmth of another hand in his had given him a sudden fever.

  Then Ace wanted to shake hands with him too, and Seth was feeling alright again as he returned his smile. "Thanks for the reference."

  Once they left, Seth gave Rico their decision. "Good to have you with us. The hiring is provisional. The owner, also known as my grandma, still has to approve it, but don't worry about that."

  Seth did worry though, and he was sorry to see Theo and Ace go. He reminded himself that they still had his duffel bag at their house so it wasn't like he would never see them again.

  There was no time for moping. He had to jump right in, learning the ropes. He bussed tables and helped with some supplies that arrived. If he had a free minute, he was given the menu to memorize plus what was and wasn't in all the dishes.

  At lunchtime, he got to wait tables with Hannah looking over his shoulder. She got assigned to train him, and she let him have all the easy customers.

  Then just as the lunch rush was winding down, an older woman came in and half the cafe waved and greeted her. She waved at them and threw kisses like she was a celebrity.

  "That's the owner, Mrs. Del Rio. She'll give you the final thumbs up or thumbs down. If she doesn't like you..." Hannah made a cutting motion across her throat.

  Seth knew his hiring was provisional, but he hoped to have a little more time to prove himself.

  The tall, older lady with big, blond hair went around the place chatting up the customers then talked to Rico while eyeing Seth. She did smile, but Seth was still sweating bullets as he got called over to talk to her.

  "There he is. Seth Brewer," Rico said then he left them to it.

  "It's nice to meet you. I'm Dahlia Del Rio. So you're living out at the Atkins place," Mrs. Del Rio said and Seth hated that he had to start off with a lie.

  "I... I'm staying there. These two brothers, Theo and Ace, they were kind enough to put me up," Seth stammered though there was some truth in that.

  "I remember that Mike Atkins had a grandson," she said and Seth figured that must have been Theo.

  "Ace, the younger brother, is just a little kid. He's never been here before," Seth told her. "The brothers are here to stay. Theo already has his little brother enrolled in school."

  "That's real nice. That's a fine old house. I had my eye on it," Mrs. Del Rio said.

  "What for?" Hannah asked, eavesdropping again.

  "As a short term rental," Mrs. Del Rio said.

  "Ah, for the tourists," Hannah said.

  "That's right," Mrs. Del Rio confirmed. "The Atkins house has got some sweet rustic charm, but it's better that it stays in the family. I'm sure Mike's grandsons will take good care of it."

  "They still don't have water or power turned on," Hannah said.

  "We got some water from a well this morning," Seth said.

  "I see. I'm sure that will get sorted," Mrs. Del Rio said. Then she gave her approval for Seth being hired and went into the back.

  "I knew she'd approve," Hannah said. "She would have scooped up Theo too if she had seen him."

  "Scooped him up?"

  "Because he's a hottie. Don't tell me you haven't noticed," Hannah said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

  "I... Uhh..." Seth didn't know what to say to that so he just went to refill some water glasses.

  All in all, the cafe wasn't a bad place to work. Everyone was nice and Seth already had some tips. At the end of the day, he got to load up on some free food from the stuff that was left over from lunch service. They gave him as much as he could carry. That made his walk back to the Atkins house more of a chore, but he was glad not to be going back empty handed.

  He was thinking if he showed up with food, he might get another night's sleeping there. It wasn't too late in the afternoon, but it was overcast and chilly, so he hoped Theo wouldn't kick him out into the cold. If he did, Seth had no plan for where he would stay.

  Even if he got to stay at their house, it wouldn't last. Once this job was over, he would be moving on anyway. It was better if he didn't get used to the warm feeling he got being around the Atkins brothers.

  Chapter 4

  Seth followed the overgrown path to the house and arrived at the side door. It stood open and he heard Ace chattering somewhere in the living room. Going in, Seth saw that Theo had put in a second padlock on the inside of the kitchen door.

  Seth called out to announce himself, and Theo came to meet him in the kitchen.

  "That smells good," Theo said, eyeing the takeout bags Seth carried.

  But now that he was in, Seth noticed something else. "I smell bleach."

  Theo explained. "While we were out shopping we got some bleach tablets. They're easier to carry. I bleached the hell out of that bathroom, and did some cleaning in the kitchen too."

  "We have water!" Ace announced then turned on the tap in the kitchen. "And we can flush, we can flush, we can flush!" Ace was singing, but Seth was surprised to hear the news.

  "There's water?"

  "There was a big car and the water was on," Ace said excitedly.

  "That was a handyman that Mrs. Del Rio, yo
ur new employer, sent over here to make sure the house didn't get flooded when the water came on," Theo told him.

  "She did that?" Seth said as he pulled out containers of food from the bags.

  "She also arranged for the water to get turned on. You know something about that?" Theo asked.

  "Might be my fault, I talked to Mrs. Del Rio about you and Ace a little bit." Seth could tell that Theo wasn't happy about that. "I don't think I said anything out of line."

  "It's fine. It's a relief to have the water on, but I'm going to owe her so much for getting that taken care of," Theo said.

  "Mrs. Del Rio seemed like a nice lady and she mentioned your grandfather," Seth told him.

  "Ahhhhh," Ace said, at the end of his patience. "What smells so good?"

  "Some food from the café," Seth told him with a laugh. "Did you guys eat?"

  "We had lunch," Theo said.

  "But that was before," Ace said.

  It was a little early for dinner, but Seth still said, "There's some chicken here we should eat." He pointed at the dark fridge they were keeping open. It wouldn't keep anything from spoiling.

  "I guess if we eat early, I can do some work and not worry about dinner," Theo said.

  Seth opened up the different containers to see what they should have, but first Ace checked with his brother. "The food isn't charity, is it Theo?

  "I owe you for letting me sleep here and for feeding me," Seth told him.

  "We're helping each other out," Theo said but he was still on his guard around Seth.

  Ace was satisfied with that answer so they put together some food and ate right out of the containers while sitting on the floor in the living room.

  "Thanks for sharing with us, and yes, you can stay here again tonight if you need to," Theo told him.

  "Thank you," Seth said, happy to hear that and without having to ask.

  He was so relieved to have a roof over his head for at least one more night, and he was glad for the company too though Theo wasn't cheerful. He just wasn't comfortable with Seth there, but he did talk about his plan for after dinner.