Cut and Run 2 - Sticks and Stones

secrets. Everyone does,” he claimed as he turned and started walking again. “I don’t want to know that you keep your Maxim s under your mattress, and you don’t want to know that I cry when I watch Bambi . That’s what makes partnerships work,” he rambled with a wave of his hand.
    A soft laugh forced its way out of Zane, and he shook his head at his partner. He raised a hand to stifle a sudden yawn. He’d slept a few hours in the late afternoon yesterday, but not since then. Ty noticed it and sighed, stopping their walk and turning to veer back toward the house. He took Zane by the elbow first, though, and pulled him closer until their chests almost touched. “Try to relax, huh?” he said in a low voice. He just barely let his lips graze Zane’s. “You’re no fun when you’re tense,” he whispered mischievously.
    “Ah, but I am fun otherwise,” Zane said as he smirked.
    “Only when you’re naked,” Ty assured him as he stepped away. “Come on. You can nap on the couch while Ma makes me and Deuce peel apples,” he added, almost sounding as if he looked forward to the prospect.

    T Y HAD just left Zane on the couch and was heading for the door again to track down Deuce when Mara stuck her head out of the kitchen doorway.
    “Ty?” she called after him. “I need your help for just a minute,” she requested before moving back into the kitchen.
    “I’m gonna get you a stepstool for Christmas this year,” Ty told her with a smile as he came into the kitchen behind her, obviously anticipating needing to get something off a high shelf for her.
    Instead, Mara set out a plate and sat down in front of it, knowing Ty would sit opposite her. The plate was filled with rolled strips of leftover pie crust, baked and covered with cinnamon and sugar. She always made the little rolls out of her leftovers, and Ty had loved them since he had had to stand on a stool to see over the countertops.
    “Oh, yeah,” Ty said with relish, and he reached out to grab one, popping it into his mouth as he pulled out a chair and sat down. “What’s up, Ma?” he asked in amusement. The roll was stuck in the side of his cheek like he was storing it for later.
    Mara smiled fondly at him, but the smile fell quickly, and she frowned. “You brought your partner here to hide behind him,” she observed. “Why?”
    Ty sighed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. He was silent as he chewed, either contemplating how to answer or planning on remaining silent until they were interrupted.
    Mara knew how her son’s mind worked, mostly. She didn’t understand his deep love for that Bronco or his absolute hatred of the Yankees or his desire to go out on his days off and shoot paintballs at his buddies. But she did know her boy well enough to know that she wouldn’t get answers out of him if he didn’t want to give them.
    Even before he’d been trained by the Marines in case of capture, Ty had always been good at playing it close to the vest. If you found out something about him, he either wanted you to know it, someone else betrayed his confidence, or he was trying to get out of bigger trouble. The day he’d come to her when he was eight years old and admitted he’d broken a window with a baseball was also the same day she’d discovered he’d shot the oven with a BB gun.
    Her lips twitched as she remembered. She still had that BB gun in the top of her closet. He’d never get that thing back.
    Ty was looking at her speculatively, still trying to decide how or whether to answer. She took the opportunity to look him over with the critical eye of a mother. He looked worn and tense. His middle finger was slightly crooked, and she wondered how he’d broken it. His wrists also had light scars all the way around each of them. She knew the origins of those marks only because Richard Burns had called them while Ty was in the hospital recovering from being chained to a wall and bricked into a hole by a serial killer. She wondered how many other scars her son had accumulated that she couldn’t see.
    Ty leaned back and sighed heavily. Finally, he shook his head and said, “I’ve been sort of… lost.” He shook his head in frustration as he searched for the right words to explain. “And Zane, he’s not himself lately either,” he continued. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him or with me or how to help either of us. I guess I’m hoping coming up here will give us some… answers.”
    Mara nodded in