Page 67 of Devil's Hour
“Pardon?”
Royce cleared his throat. “There’s a lucky guy in my life, not a lucky girl.”
Sal made a little gasp of surprise, and his mouth fell open. He caught himself quickly and smiled at Royce. “Well, congratulations. Pick out a key for your fella, then.” Sawyer chose the Duke key, though it pained him, and handed it to Sal who looked more offended by Sawyer’s beloved team than the fact Royce was dating a man. It made Royce laugh. “Just give me a few minutes.”
“Sure thing.” Royce walked over and perused the pet toys while waiting for Sal to finish.
“I always knew you were a faggot.”
Royce stiffened, and his heart thundered in his chest. That voice had reverberated through their home, his heart, and his head, striking fear and wreaking havoc. Why Royce had ever tried to maintain a relationship with the man was beyond him, but he was done. He slowly turned around, looked his father in the eye and said, “You’re only half right, Eddie. I won’t bother explaining bisexuality to you though.”
“No son of mine is queer.”
Royce looked around the hardware store. “I don’t see a man who claims you as his father, so I think you’re free to go about your life, and I’m free to go about mine.”
“Your badge and gun make you brave, but there might come a time when you don’t have either.”
Royce pulled up his shirt and slowly turned around, showing he wasn’t armed, and he didn’t have his badge on him. “The time is now, Eddie. You want to step outside and give it your best shot?” Hitting things was the only conflict resolution Eddie Locke understood. Royce was done showing respect to a man who hadn’t earned it. The old bastard had fifty pounds on him, but Royce was faster, stronger, and he’d stopped being afraid of him a long time ago. Eddie might get in a few good hits, but Royce was confident he could whip his old man’s ass.
“You’re not worth the bloody knuckles.” He was a typical bully who didn’t know how to react when someone called his bluff. Eddie looked over at where Sal was cutting Sawyer’s key, his lip curling in disgust. “Sal, if you’re going to do business with the queers, then I’ll start shopping at the big home improvement stores,” Eddie yelled loud enough to be heard over the machine.
Sal turned off the machine and stared at Eddie without blinking. “The door is that way, Edward,” he said, tipping his head toward the exit.
Eddie dropped the red basket and stomped out. Sal just shook his head and went back to cutting the key. Royce picked up the basket and returned the items inside it to the shelves, then went back to the pet toys. He picked out a wand-type thing with a feather attached to it by a string. Bones would probably look at him indignantly when Royce presented him with the gift.
“You didn’t have to pick up after your old man,” Sal said, ringing up the cat toy and key. “His troubles and messes aren’t yours to clean up.”
Royce shrugged. It was a habit he’d need to break. There would be no more paying for damages when his dad went on a bender and busted up a bar during a fight. He’d start replying with “he’s no longer my problem” from this moment forward.
“Thanks, Sal,” Royce said, accepting the receipt and brown paper bag with the store’s logo on it. Maybe Sal knew he meant more than the key and toy, but he wanted to be sure. “For everything.”
Sal smiled and shrugged. “Just because I may not understand things doesn’t mean I approve of hateful bullying, especially not to one’s children. You’ve always been a good kid, Royce. You deserve to be happy. I hope your fella treats you well.”
Royce felt ridiculously moved by the man’s words. “He does. I’ll bring him by sometime.”
“Do that.”
On his way to the door, a thought occurred to him. He pivoted and returned to the counter. Removing his phone from his pocket, he pulled up photos of the arsonists who topped his persons of interest list. “Do you recognize any of these men?”
Sal studied them closely and then shook his head. “Can’t say that I do, but my memory isn’t what it used to be.”
“Have you seen an unexpected increase in the sale of paint thinner?”
“Nah. Paint contractors buy that in bulk from the big guys much cheaper than I can sell it.”
It was worth a shot. “Thanks, Sal.”
The next stop was the hardest and long overdue. “Just get in there and eat crow,” Royce said, looking at the picture window with the Bytes and Brew logo. It looked as if Levi had a lull in caffeine crazies, so he got out of the car and went inside before he lost his courage. There was nothing to eat at the house, and he’d rather surprise Sawyer with his favorite sandwich and coffee than shop for food.
Levi glanced at the door when the bell above it chimed. The adorkable man’s smile turned into a frown when he saw Royce.Oh fuck. He’s not going to make this easy.Royce plastered a smile on his face, which might’ve been too enthusiastic because Levi took a few steps backward.Oops.Levi had two other employees back there with him, both who seemed overly interested in Levi’s reaction to him.
“I come in peace,” Royce said, stepping up to the register with his hands held up in surrender.
“That’s what the soldiers said to the Native Americans before giving them rancid meat and blankets infected with smallpox,” Levi said suspiciously.
“I don’t have maggot meat or infectious cloth,” Royce said somberly. “I came here to apologize.”
Levi narrowed his eyes and jerked his head to the right, indicating Royce should move down the counter so his staff could serve the person who walked in after him. “What do you really want?”