Page 16 of Reclaiming Quinn

Quinn was breathless waiting to find out what it was. “Can I ask?”

A tiny smile appeared on Master’s face. “I saw you eating with everyone, and I realized I’d found what I had been missing for years. A family. My parents died when I was a teen, and I bounced around from person to person, crashing on a couch when I could, but even though they were my relatives, I never thought of them as family. My wheelchair was something that made me seem weak in their eyes because I was only half a man, they said.”

This time Quinn jolted upright. “No! You’re good, decent, kind. You’re a better man than any I’ve ever met before. Please, don’t listen to what they said.”

It was vitally important that Master not accept what he was told. He was a light in Quinn’s world, and Quinn couldn’t imagine that being snuffed out.

“Don’t worry, I don’t. The day Gareth met me, his eyes widened when he saw my chair, but he never treated me like I wasn’t able to pull my weight. He saw the person, not the disability. It helped that he was familiar with my work, but that wasn’t the whole of it. He told me once that my life is measured not by my body, but by my heart. The afternoon I wheeled into that kitchen? I desperately wanted to belong in Lydon, because even though I’d only been there a day, it was already more of a home to me than anywhere else I’d been.”

The words were pretty, and they soothed Quinn, but he couldn’t help it when he blurted out, “Please tell me you won’t leave me behind if you go.”

The green of Master’s eyes darkened slightly, which sent a ripple through Quinn. “You have my word I will never leave you. We’re a package deal, you and I.” He reached out and ran the pad of his thumb over Quinn’s cheek. “Having you is what makes Lydon home.”

Quinn couldn’t explain the warm tingle in his stomach, but he didn’t mind it at all.