while they’d been together that day.
“I will,” he said weakly. “Keep us posted. We’re almost at the restaurant. Be safe.”
They signed off, and Grace looked to where Artur was regarding him with interest.
“They’re following the thing to Seattle tonight,” Grace said, not wanting to plead or to impose. “They said Julia might want to reserve their rooms for another night.”
Artur smiled gently. “Then I shall too. Have you ever been to Grouse Mountain or Capilano Park, my boy? It would be a shame to come to Vancouver and not see at least some of its attractions.”
Grace knew what kind of smiles he had—secret smiles and pert smiles and snarky smiles. Very rarely did he let a smile take over his face to the point that his cheeks appled and his vision narrowed, but he couldn’t help it.
“I would love to, Dance Master.”
“Well, then,” Artur said softly. “I shall make the reservation tonight.”
“That’s very kind,” Grace said, his smile still wide.
“You and your friends came all the way out here to help me,” Artur told him. “It is honestly the least I could do.”
DINNER WAS like the way rich people looked in the movies. Julia and Molly kept the banter sparkling, and all Artur and Grace had to do was listen to them, pour them wine, and laugh. They carpooled to the ballet, and everything else faded away.
Grace was pulled into the movement, the story, the music, and even though it wasn’t his feet on the stage, his heart was there, flying without wings, and love and beauty were possible, and he was caught in the whirlwind of what could be.
Afterward, as they walked to their hotel room, Julia on his arm and Molly talking to Artur about Tabby and how much they’d loved meeting her, Julia said softly, “You are uncharacteristically quiet.”
Grace glanced at her. “Was it hard?” he asked. “Having me in the house during high school?”
She frowned. “Not at all! Heavens, Grace. We were so happy Josh had a friend like you, someone who got him, who didn’t judge. Even before we knew that you knew about Danny, you were a delight. Why would you even ask?”
Grace shook his head, his thoughts on Romeo from the ballet and how the dancer who’d portrayed him had gray eyes and his hair up in a short tail and looked like he could heft a caber with his dick alone.
How, for his whole life, Grace had been hoping for someone with that sort of strength to hold him.
“Just assessing my pain-in-the-ass factor,” he said, trying to make her smile. But she didn’t.
“You were never a pain in the ass,” she said gravely. “You’ve always been a blessing in our house. Why would you worry about that now?”
Grace shrugged. “Now you know I’m a thief.”
She chuckled. “And now you know we’re con men.”
“I always knew that,” he said, perhaps unwisely, because her eyes widened. “Josh told me everything.”
“And yet,” she said, tapping pointedly on his arm with a nail tipped with ice-blue polish to match her dress, “even if you’ve ‘borrowed’ my jewelry, I know for fact that you’ve brought back every piece. You’ve never stolen the silver. We have several objets d’art just lying around the old trash pile, and you haven’t touched them. If you’re such a fantastic thief, why would that be?”
Grace wrinkled his nose. “That would be rude,” he said, not having another word for it.
“That would be dishonorable,” she corrected. “And that is not the young man who has all but lived in my house since he was fourteen.”
Grace gave an embarrassed smile. “You’re very kind. You and Josh’s dad have been so kind to me. I… I don’t ever want to be unwelcome in your home.”
“Then continue to be the young man we’ve come to love,” she said, and they all paused as they boarded the elevator.
Grace heard the click of the coms in his ear. Hunter said, very quietly, “We’re boarding now. Think of me.”
And even though Stirling, Molly, and Josh all heard that, Grace still felt warmed down to his toes.
“Sure,” he said softly. “Fine. See you tomorrow.”
Hunter’s low laughter rumbled in his belly. When Grace climbed into bed that night, the strains of Romeo and Juliet singing in his ears, he closed his eyes and dreamed of a handsome prince who thought he, Grace, was everything he’d ever needed in another human.
When he awoke, Hunter was next to him, and his earbud lay on the nightstand next to Grace’s own.
Letters Home
HUNTER HAD drawn