Page 3 of Steal and Starlight

As I dried off and got dressed in clean clothes, I thought about what Westley had said. Miller’s Creek. Just us. It was probably nothing. We’d been going to Miller’s Creek since we were teenagers. It was our spot, where we could get away from the ranch and the noise and just exist for a while. Westley didn’t have to explain anything to his daddy there, and I didn’t have to put up with the looks from the other ranch hands who somehow already knew I was different.

But lately, being alone with West felt dangerous. Like I was standing on the edge of a cliff, and one wrong move would send me tumbling down.

I grabbed my keys and headed toward town, toward Aunt Dolly’s Diner, even though that didn’t feel safe either. She always liked to ask a lot of questions. And one of these days, she was going to stumble on the truth.

That was a can of worms I could never close again.

Chapter 2

Rhett

The diner was always packed on Friday nights, and tonight was no different.

I pushed through the glass door, the bell above it chiming to announce my arrival. The smell of grease, coffee, and Aunt Dolly’s famous apple pie hit me all at once. It was a smell I’d grown up with, one that I loved more than anything.

“Rhett! Finally!” Aunt Dolly’s voice cut through the noise of the diner like a knife. She was behind the counter, her blonde hair piled up on top of her head in that same way she’d worn for as long as I could remember. She was wiping her hands on her apron, her red acrylic nails catching the light. Her face broke into a wide smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle. She looked the same as I remembered as a kid. The woman just didn’t seem to age. “I was startin’ to think you’d forgotten about your poor old aunt, sugar.”

“Never, Aunt Dolly,” I said, weaving through the crowd of locals and tourists. I made my way to the counter and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She smelled like expensive perfume and baked goods, just like always. “Just been busy at the ranch.”

“Too busy to visit your family,” she said, but she wore a bright smile. She pulled me into a quick hug before turning back to the kitchen. “Sit down. I’m gonna make you something to eat first. You’re too damn skinny.”

“I’m not too skinny,” I protested, but I was already sliding onto one of the vinyl stools at the counter. The seat was still warm from the last customer. Dolly’s Diner never stayed empty for long, not when it was the only decent place to eat in Sagebrush.

“You are too,” she insisted, already moving toward the kitchen. “I can see your ribs through your shirt. Dale not feedin’ you boys enough out there?”

“Dale feeds me just fine,” I said. “And West won’t eat a vegetable, so I get all his at lunch.”

Aunt Dolly paused at the kitchen window, turning back to look at me with those sharp, knowing eyes that missed nothing. She’d always been able to read me like a book, ever since I was a kid. After my parents died, she’d tried her best to step in, to be the mother figure I’d lost. She’d done a good job of it too, considering she had her own life to live and a diner to run.

“How is that boy?” she asked, her voice softer now.

“He’s good. Same as always.” I picked up a laminated menu from the napkin holder, though I already knew what I wanted. I always got the same thing. “Why?”

“No reason,” she said, but she was watching me carefully. “Just askin’.”

I didn’t believe her for a second, but I let it go. Aunt Dolly had a way of getting information out of people without them even realizing they were spilling their guts. It was a dangerous skill to have around someone like me, someone with secrets that could blow everything apart.

“I’ll have the usual,” I said, setting the menu down.

“I know you will, honey,” she said, and there was something sad in her smile. “I always know.”

That, right there, was the reason I’d been avoiding Aunt Dolly for the past few weeks. Because she was right. She always knew when something was up, especially when it came to me. She’d started looking at me funny nearly the moment I decided I was going to leave Sagebrush, even though not a soul in the world knew I’d made the decision except myself. I had a feeling she knew my other secret as well, the one that had been eating at my guts for weeks.

But to her credit, she said nothing. She didn’t poke or prod or pry. She just gave me that worried look.

She disappeared back into the kitchen, and I let out the breath I’d been holding. The diner hummed around me with the usual Friday night energy, the clink of silverware, the low murmur of conversation, and the occasional burst of laughter from the corner booth where the old-timers always sat. I watched Aunt Dolly move through the kitchen window, her practiced movements smooth and efficient as she held her own among the men back there that were easily three times her size.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I knew without looking it was probably Westley, maybe wondering if I’d made it to town okay, or more likely just texting me some stupid meme he’d found. That was his way. We could be apart for an hour, and he’d still send me things, little pieces of his day that he wanted to share with me. It killed me every single time.

I didn’t pull the phone out. Not yet.

Instead, I sat there and let myself think about what I’d been avoiding all week. The job listings in Austin. The apartment I’d already started looking at online once I had the cash. The life that was waiting for me, a life where I could be myself without constantly hiding who I was. A life that didn’t revolve around cow shit and dust and asshole ranch hands.

A life away from Westley.

The thought made my stomach twist into knots.

“Here you go, sugar,” Aunt Dolly said, setting a plate down in front of me. My usual, a chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans on the side. She’d even thrown on an extra biscuit, knowing I’d eat it. “Eat up. You’re wastin’ away on me.”