The Geography of Happiness (Mackenzie Country)

Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Spencer

The clatter of trolley wheels in the hallway jolted me awake, but Terry didn’t budge from his position half-in, half-out of the La-Z-Boy, sound asleep with his head on my chest. I smiled and pulled the blanket over his shoulder before pressing a kiss to his head.

“He didn’t sleep at all in the hotel.” A familiar voice startled me and I looked up to find Hannah watching Terry and me with a smile on her face.

“You’re awake,” I observed wryly.

“You win the prize.” She chuckled, then winced, and I wondered when her next pain relief was due. “I’ve been watching you for a while.” She rolled gingerly onto her back and took a few deep breaths.

“Should I call the nurse?”

Hannah shook her head. “They were here just before. I’m not due anything more for another hour. It’s okay. I just have to remember to move slowly... and not laugh.”

Registering the grey light of morning washing the room, I reached for my phone only to find it was already after eight. I shook my head. “Man, I can’t believe we slept that long. I guess we were both tired.”

Hannah grinned and indicated Terry who was buzzing softly against my chest. “I’ve never seen him like that.”

I looked down. “Like what? Snoring?”

“No, silly.” She studied her father with a serious expression. “Like that. He doesn’t relax if there’s other people around except maybe with Judah. It’s... nice.” She smiled. “He hates me seeing him worried or stressed, even though I know he is. He thinks he should have everything sorted out. But right from the start with you, he was... different.” She caught my eye. “I’m glad you came back.”

“I’m glad too,” I told her.

“Are you gonna stay?” Her eyes told me she meant more than for just a visit. “I know about... well, you know, you two.”

I took a breath. I wasn’t gonna lie to her, but it wasn’t my place to talk about her father and me before Terry spoke to her. “We’re still getting to know each other and we have a lot to discuss first, but yes, I plan to hang around if he’ll let me. Would you be okay with that?”

She studied me intently. “You do know how stubborn he is, right?”

I snorted. “Tell me about it. But I have my ways.” I tapped the side of my nose.

“Then I’m okay with it,” she said sunnily. “You’re good for him, Spencer.”

Her words meant everything and my heart swelled. “Thank you. He’s good for me too.”

She seemed to gather herself before locking eyes with me. “Just don’t hurt him, please. He’s been hurt enough.”

Tears threatened behind my eyes. How the hell do I answer that? I settled for, “I’ll try my very best not to, all right?”

Hannah thought about that for a moment, then nodded. “Good enough.” Then she changed the subject, “So, who’s looking after Miller?”

I collected my wits and breathed out slowly. “He’s staying with Sonja. Where’s Gabby?”

Hannah sighed. “With Grandma and Grandad. They’re helping Jam with the store while we’re here. She’ll weigh a ton by the time I get back. They always spoil her.”

Terry stirred on my shoulder and I gently cupped his cheek. “Good morning, sunshine.”

He slid an arm around my waist and breathed, “Morning.” Then his eyelids fluttered open and he smiled sleepily at Hannah. “Hey you. How you doing, Princess Pineapple?”

I’d expected him to pull away the moment he saw Hannah watching and loved the fact that he didn’t. It said everything about his commitment to what we’d talked about.

Hannah rolled her eyes at the cutesy name and I made a note to ask Terry about it. “I’m a little sore,” she answered, grimacing as she slid the pillow under her knee a little lower. “But I’m due more meds in an hour. Spencer and I have been talking.”

“Oh, really?” Terry’s gaze lifted to mine. “Do I even want to know?”

I was about to reassure Terry that it wasn’t as bad as he thought when the door to Hannah’s room swung open and a slender, stunningly beautiful dark-haired man breezed in with a raft of bakery bags in his hands and a gorgeous German shepherd at his side. “Did somebody order sugar for breakfast?” he quipped, his bright smile fixed on Hannah. “Well, don’t you look a whole lot better?”

Another man followed the first. Taller, older, ruggedly handsome, with a tight beard and a kind smile. “I encouraged him to buy healthy, but you can guess how well that went.” The man’s eyes widened when he caught sight of Terry’s head on my shoulder and his arm still tight around my waist.

If I hadn’t already been pretty damn sure who was standing in front of me, Terry’s gobsmacked response sealed the deal. Judah and Morgan, no less.

Even Hannah looked shocked, her gaze darting nervously between Judah and her dad. Noticing that, Judah’s attention switched to Terry and he visibly jolted, the stunned look on his face pretty goddamn priceless. I might’ve laughed if I wasn’t worried out of my mind for Terry since I was pretty sure this particular scene didn’t feature in any of his coming-out scenarios.

“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve been introduced.” Judah’s hazel eyes drilled into mine, the German shepherd at his side snapping to attention with the sudden surge of tension in the room.

The question, or maybe the tone of voice, shook Terry from his daze and he pushed himself up from the La-Z-Boy and flustered, “Oh, hey... I overslept. Hi, Morgan... well, ah, this is?—”

“Spencer.” I shot to my feet, extending my hand to the dark-haired man. “And you must be Judah. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Judah stared at my hand for a long awkward moment before gripping it tightly. “Well, that makes one of us, since I know almost nothing about you.” He shot a pointed look to Terry who gave a soft groan.

The second man stepped around Judah and offered his hand in a much more friendly manner. “Hello Spencer, I’m Morgan. Pleasure to meet you. I’m this guy’s much better and far more polite other half.” His gaze flicked to the shepherd. “Mickey, stand down.”

The shepherd relaxed and Judah fired his husband a pissy look, which Morgan took in stride. “Be nice to the man, sweet cheeks.”

Judah narrowed his eyes at his husband. “I’m always nice.” He turned back to me. “So, you’re Spencer, huh?” He eyed me up and down like a piece of dubiously aged meat and I resisted the urge to squirm. “The country vet.”

I bit back a smile at the word country , figuring it wasn’t meant as a compliment. “Large animal vet, yes.”

Judah’s eyes tightened at the corners and he tapped his lip thoughtfully. “You adopted Miller, right?”

I nodded. “See, there you go. You do know something about me.” Which earned a snort from Morgan because yeah, I was poking the bear, but I wasn’t about to be cowed by the man Terry had once crushed over. A precedent was being set and I wasn’t about to give ground without a fight.

A sentiment not lost on the other man. Judah’s lips twitched in amusement but he didn’t laugh. “So, let me guess.” He folded his arms. “I’ve heard you guys talk all the time because Miller and Gabby are... friends —” Judah made air quotes. “So, you must be here to let them... what? Have a play date?”

I almost laughed. The man was a snarky little fucker just as Terry described, but not totally unlikeable. “Not quite. But I like the way you think. Maybe next time.”

Judah’s brows peaked. “Next time, huh?” His gaze flicked to Terry who rolled his eyes.

“Just ignore him.” Terry glared at his best friend. “Judah, back off.”

Judah opened his mouth to argue but Morgan put a hand on his husband’s arm. “Why don’t we sit down and see how Hannah is doing? That’s why we’re here, right, cupcake?”

Judah flushed a bright red and immediately looked to Hannah. “I’m sorry, munchkin. Morgan’s right... as usual. How’re you doing?” He spread the bakery bags across the bed. “The nurses said you could eat whatever you want so I brought all your favourites—cinnamon rolls, donuts, chocolate éclairs, and some of those pizza scrolls you love so much so you can pretend you ate something healthy. If you’re not feeling like anything right now, you can save them for later. Oh, and Morgan got you a hot chocolate.” He waved a hand and Morgan pulled a takeout cup from the carry tray and put it on Hannah’s side table.

“You’re the best.” Hannah grabbed Judah’s hands and kissed them. “Thank you, thank you.” She patted the bed for Mickey to put his front legs up and the shepherd immediately did as she asked, planting his wet nose on her cheek.

“You’re welcome, gorgeous.” Judah’s breath hitched and his eyes misted, and just like that I knew I’d forgive the annoying man every scrap of his pissy attitude and possessiveness.

Judah Madden had protective mamma bear written all over him, and I wouldn’t have wanted anything less for my two favourite people. I also had an inkling the two of us would get on just fine once we got the measure of each other.

Stand your ground and show no fear, right?

Hannah appeared to be enjoying the faceoff. She leaned back on her pillows and nibbled at a donut like she was settling in to watch a show. I shot her a wink and an answering smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, the little minx.

“You want some popcorn with that,” I whispered, and she almost choked on her donut.

As for Mickey, satisfied there was no imminent danger, he found a spot in the corner of the room with a good view of his master and also settled down.

“Earl Grey for you.” Morgan handed another of the takeout cups to Terry who took a sip whilst eyeing Judah nervously over the rim.

“I would’ve brought you something if I’d known.” Morgan shot me an apologetic look. “Any friend of Terry’s is a friend of ours, isn’t that right, Judah?” A clear metaphorical elbow directed at his husband’s ribs.

In response, Judah rolled his eyes. “Of course. I just wasn’t aware that our Spencer here had shifted status from the vet I met to a friend who rushes to cuddle me at my daughter’s bedside, which points to another glaring omission in the list of things I thought I knew about my best friend.” He eyeballed Terry and I didn’t miss the sting of hurt in his eyes.

Oh boy. “To be fair, no one knew I was coming.” I stepped in, unwilling to let Terry take the heat for my decisions.

“He’s right,” Hannah piped up, pointing her donut at me and making Morgan chuckle. “Nobody knew. It was a big surprise.”

I shot Hannah a grateful smile. “Yesterday, I was still in Adelaide.”

Judah’s eyebrows popped. “Adelaide?”

“Yes,” Terry answered with a steely look and a fed-up tone that surprised everyone. “Spencer was offered a secondment to the university vet programme and?—”

“A secondment, which I am turning down.” I put a hand on Terry’s arm to let him know I had this.

Terry glanced between Judah and me, sighed, and leaned back against the wall. “Fine. Have at it. But no dead bodies. I’m too tired.”

I shot him a quick smile and turned my attention back to Judah. “I’m turning it down because I came to my senses and realised it wasn’t what I really wanted.”

Judah’s gaze narrowed. “So, what do you really want?”

I shook my head. That was as far as I was willing to go. The rest was Terry’s decision to share or not. “That’s really none of your?—”

“He wants me,” Terry surprised me along with everyone else in the room. “Spencer wants me .”

Hannah squealed with delight, which put a smile on both our faces.

Judah blinked. “He . . . what?”

Terry ploughed on, “And I know that sounds crazy and I know I should’ve told you about me a long time ago, but there are... reasons... for that.”

“Reasons?” Judah repeated the word. He sounded stung, and Mickey gave a soft whine of concern at his master’s tone.

Morgan slid an arm around his husband’s waist and spoke quietly in his ear. Judah nodded but his eyes never left Terry who circled the bed and laid a soft hand on Judah’s chest.

“Take a walk with me, please?” There was no mistaking the fear in Terry’s voice. “I was scared I might lose you. I’m sorry I wasn’t brave enough at the time.”

Judah frowned and wrapped his hand over Terry’s. “There’s nothing you could say that would make me walk away.” And for the first time, he smiled. “Come on then. I need to know when my best friend suddenly decided to turn frickin’ gay.”

“Bi,” Hannah corrected, then frowned. “Or something, right Dad?”

Terry smiled at his daughter. “Or something.”

Judah spun to Hannah. “You knew?”

She shrugged. “I guessed way before he told me. You’re losing your touch, Mister Madden.”

Judah scowled, but there was laughter in his eyes. “You and I are going to have words, young lady.”

Hannah laughed. “I can’t wait.”

Judah put an arm around Terry, a sly smile stealing over his face. “You do realise that the others are going to have freaking conniptions over this—” His eyes widened. “Oh. My. God. Leroy.” He laughed. “Please, please, please, can I be the one to tell him? You have to promise.”

Terry snorted. “Let’s just see how well you behave over the next twenty minutes.”

Judah looked affronted. “That’s bribery.” Then he grinned. “I like it. Come on, Mickey. I might need you to stop me from killing this guy.”

Mickey leaped to his master’s side, and when Judah and Terry left the room laughing and the door closed behind them, a sigh of relief swept the room.

“Right, everyone,” Morgan clapped his hands. “Now that’s sorted, who’s for breakfast?” He offered me a selection of pastries and I chose a cinnamon scroll.

I was about to take a bite when the door slammed open and Judah strode back into the room. He headed straight to where I was standing and stabbed a finger in my face. “Since I won’t get the chance again once Terry threatens me with bodily injury if I say anything, which he will, I want to be clear about something now. I’m gonna go with you being a nice guy and all, mostly because Terry has good taste in friends and an excellent radar for arseholes, well, apart from Amber. But know this. If you hurt him, I will find you and fuck you up. Do you understand?” He glanced over his shoulder to Hannah. “Sorry for the language, sweetie.”

Hannah shot him a sunny grin. “Don’t worry, I already gave him the speech.”

Judah chuckled and held up his hand for a high five. “That’s my girl.” Then he spun back to me. “Well?”

Since I quite liked my balls where they were, I swallowed the laugh bubbling up my throat and calmly held his gaze. “Damn, you are too cute for words.” I patted his cheek and his eyes flew wide in horror. “Terry said under all that piss and vinegar you were a pussycat, and I think he’s right.”

“Wh-what?” Judah’s hazel eyes stormed. “I’ll have you know I am neither cute nor a... pussycat.” He could barely get the words out. “Morgan—” He whipped his head around to face his husband. “—tell him.”

Morgan was struggling not to piss himself laughing and Judah eyed his husband menacingly. “Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be, is it?”

I put a hand on Judah’s shoulder. “Go talk to your best friend, Judah. He loves you and I can see why. Hear him out.”

Judah’s gaze softened on mine. “Are you really in love with him?”

“I never said?—”

“Are you?”

I hesitated, then shook my head in defeat. “Absolutely. As bad as it gets.”

He relaxed and put his hand over mine. “Then we’re good.” He shot me the most beautiful smile that changed his face entirely and then he left. On his way out the door, he paused alongside Morgan and kissed him soundly. “I’ll deal with you later.”

Morgan waggled his brows. “Bring it on, dance boy.”

Judah laughed and left with an added sass to his gait that Morgan watched until the door closed in his face.

With the room quiet once again, Morgan looked my way and grinned. “I think you’re gonna fit into our little group very nicely.”