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mother as he did so.
Angela Carver put her hand over her heart. Good heavens, Dillon. You scared me to
death. She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, then went back over to the table and
resumed unpacking the groceries she d brought in with her. Did you have a good time while we
were gone? I understood you to say you were taking that Nash girl to that dance at the school.
Dillon gritted his teeth. He hated the way his folks referred to Megan as that Nash girl.
He supposed it was their revenge on Megan for having the nerve to be the sister of gay brothers.
Forcing himself to calm down, he said, Yeah. Uh, about that. I have something I need to tell
you and Dad.
His mother raised her frosted blond head, her hazel eyes boring into him. I take it this is
something we aren t going to like.
Probably not.
Angela sighed. I ll go get your father. I think he s out in the garage unloading the car.
Wait for us in the dining room.
The dining room. Nothing good ever came out of those dining room meetings. The
formal dinning room of the Carver house was strictly for company, as evidenced by the pristine
carpets and the scratch-less wood of the furniture. Family always ate in the kitchen. In addition
to company dinners, though, the dining room had one other use: so-called family meetings. A
family meeting consisted of either or both of the Carver boys sitting on one side of the table, and
their parents on the other, staring them down. Strangely, Dillon wasn t so worried about this one.
What were they gonna do, throw him out? That was gonna happen soon enough anyway. The
thought was liberating.
Dillon sat down at the mahogany table and waited. His father came in a few minutes
later, stooping his shoulders to keep from hitting the door frame. His graying hair was mussed,
something that always happened when he was irritated because he ran his fingers through it,
tugging until Dillon was sure he was gonna pull it out. The green eyes behind the round glasses,
so like Dillon and Heath s, found his son in an instant.
Your mother tells me you have something you want to talk to us about.
Yes, sir. He waited until his mother came into the room and both his parents were
seated before beginning. Friday night at the dance, there was a fight, and I got hauled into the
sheriff s station.
The horror in Angela s voice was plain. You were arrested?
No, ma am. I was brought in for questioning, but no charges were filed. The sheriff was
already there because of a possible danger to some of the gay students.
Angela twitched her finger in the air. I blame Dan Morgan for that. What did he think
would happen when he trotted out all those homosexuals and rubbed them in the face of God-
fearing children? She put down her hand and turned to her son. Was anyone hurt?
No, ma am. The gay bashing turned out to be a false alarm. I don t think the guys they
suspected even showed up for the dance. The sheriff and his men ended up being called out for
nothing.
Douglas peered at his son over the top of his wire frames. So since the sheriff ended up
with nothing to do that night, you thought you d give him something to occupy his time by
getting into a brawl?
No, sir. I know it was wrong, but Ben Lewis insulted Megan, and I ended up punching
him. Sheriff Nash and his husband broke up the fight and took us down to his office.
The expression on Doug Carver s face was chilling. First of all, Nathan Morris and
Brandon Nash are not married. Marriage is intended for men and women, and men and women
only.
Nathan Nash.
I beg your pardon?
Nate changed his name when he and Brandon got married. Dillon emphasized the word
married.
Doug waved that away. I couldn t care less what he calls himself. Those two are not
now, nor will they ever be, married. I was against you going to that sham of a wedding in the
first place, and if you hadn t insisted on taking that girl, I d have been much happier. That aside,
Ben Lewis is a hoodlum. Nash has some nerve taking you in for questioning when everyone
knows it was probably Lewis s fault. You d think Nash would be glad to have someone taking
up for that sister of his.
What s that supposed to mean? Dillon s voice held a rising anger that caused his father
to move back a bit in his chair.
Don t take that tone with me, young man. All I meant was, with all the gays in Megan s
family, she s bound to be the subject of ridicule. Nash should be glad to have someone sticking
up for her.
The only people who would give Megan a hard time are small minded bigots whose
opinions don t matter, anyway.
Now, see here
Angela Carver cut her husband off with practiced ease. Dillon, how did you get out of
jail? Did the sheriff release you?
James Walker talked Lewis into dropping charges against me.
Charges against you? Dillon s father was an expert at righteous indignation. Weren t
you the one who should have been pressing charges against him? You didn t put that bruise on
your own jaw, now did you?
Dillon wasn t about to tell them about that one. Instead he said, Not when I threw the
first punch. Anyway, James talked him into dropping the charges, and I was free to go. But since
I still live under your roof, I needed a parent to sign me out. I think they call it a custody
release. He shrugged. You guys were out of town, so he let me call Heath to come and fill out
the paperwork.
Douglas folded his arms over his chest. I might have known Heath was involved in this,
somehow. He doesn t have time to come and see his parents, but he s conveniently on call to
pick his brother up from jail.
Angela put her hand on her husband s shoulder. Well, I for one am glad he was home. I
hate the thought of him having to spend all weekend down at the sheriff s station. She looked
towards her son. Dillon, I want you to go upstairs while your father and I discuss a suitable
punishment.
Dillon started to stand, but Douglas stopped him. That won t be necessary. There ll be
no punishment this time.
His mother looked as shocked as Dillon was. Douglas, we have to do something. This
type of behavior is intolerable.
Boys fight, Angela. And given the nature of the fight itself, I think it s safe to say it
won t happen again. I m just thankful that Dillon no longer associates with that Walker boy. I
have no doubt that he was a large part of this whole fracas.
James didn t do one thing wrong, Dad. Not a single thing. And as far as breaking off my
friendship with him goes, that s the worst mistake I ever made.
Doug laughed, the mockery so thick in his voice Dillon felt ill. Why? What did he ever
do for you?
Dillon was so tempted to tell him, but he forced himself to wait. For his plan to work, his
timing had to be just right. Ignoring his father, he said, If that s all, I d like to be excused.
His father said, No, that s not all. I believe I asked you a question.
Angela cut in. Let him go, Doug. I think we ve done enough talking for one night, and,
Dillon, I m sure you have homework.
He didn t, but that didn t stop Dillon from nodding his head and leaving the room. He
had to get out of there before his father said another word.
* * * * *
Jamie cursed under his breath and pulled his coat tighter around his neck. The gap
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