Cut and Run 6 - Stars and Stripes

He was barefoot, had no shirt on, and his sweatpants were barely staying on his hips. How could he be so damn sexy and in such a good mood after almost getting eaten by a tiger and being in a tranquilizer-induced coma for a day? Zane couldn’t help himself; he called out, “Hey, Ty?”
    “Yes, my darling?” Ty responded sarcastically from halfway up the staircase.
    “I love you.”
    Ty grinned and started up the steps again. “I like what Texas does to you, Zane.”

    “I don’t care what you say, Harrison, or what he says, that man is taking advantage of our son and I will not stand for it!”
    Harrison sat in his recliner with yesterday’s newspaper in his lap, unread. He was massaging the bridge of his nose and seriously considering taking a few of the painkillers the doctor had given him for his shoulder, just so he could have an excuse to go hide on his porch. Anything to get away from his wife. Their marriage had never been about love. It had all but been arranged for them, to solidify the wealth of the two families. When it had turned from convenient to intolerable, he couldn’t quite identify.
    Harrison just wanted to do good by his horses and his family, and he was a happy man. But Beverly had always been driven by power, money, and status. At one time he’d seen vestiges of that same drive in his son, and he’d resigned himself to never being able to understand either of them. But something had reached inside Zane, something had changed him, and Harrison was damn sure that something had involved Ty.
    “Beverly, Zane is his own man, and he’s a smart one at that. And if you’d take a minute to get to know Ty, you’d find that he’s a good man too.”
    “How can you approve of them? Does it not bother you that your son, your only son, the very last male to carry the Garrett name, goes home from work every night to another man? That doesn’t offend your sensibilities?”
    “Not one bit,” Harrison said. He picked up his newspaper again. “At least he looks forward to going home.”
    She grabbed the top of his newspaper and yanked it down. Her eyes were flashing and her nostrils flared.
    “Mind your blood pressure, Beverly.”
    “What if they go off and get married? You know they allow that in some states? That . . . that hooligan could be entitled to half the estate!”
    “You can’t take it with you. What do you care? As I see it, they’re happy. Zane has every right to be happy, and I for one would rather see him more than once a year. If welcoming Ty into the family with open arms is what it takes, then I find that quite agreeable.”
    “He will never be part of my family, Harrison. I won’t allow it. He can stay here and fight the good fight all he wants, but I won’t allow my only son to be brainwashed like this.”
    Harrison scratched at his chin, pursing his lips thoughtfully. “If that’s the way you want it.”
    “It most certainly is,” Beverly snarled. She spun on her heel and stomped off.
    Harrison pursed his lips and finally nodded. “What do you think, Bullet?” he grumbled to the Australian Shepherd at his feet. “Think you can dig us a hole deep enough nobody’d find her?”
    The dog answered with a wiggle of its docked tail. Harrison grinned and rubbed the dog’s head.
    There was a knock on the doorframe, and Zane stepped into the room, smirking. Harrison put his paper aside.
    “Don’t get up,” Zane said quickly. “We’re not staying long.”
    Ty leaned against the doorframe and didn’t come farther. He was wearing a pair of aviator sunglasses, and the way he held himself made it look like he was being careful with how he moved.
    “Morning, Ty.”
    “Good morning, sir.”
    “How you feeling?” Harrison asked as he eased back down.
    “Still a little hungover, to be honest.”
    Harrison laughed and nodded. “And sore?”
    “That too.”
    “What are you two up to today?”
    “Oh, I just figured I’d show Ty some more of Texas. Head down to San Antonio and visit the Bureau office there,” Zane said. He shot a sideways look at Ty. “Maybe spend a night in Beaumont.”
    Ty smacked his forehead and turned his head away.
    “Not much in Beaumont to see,” Harrison said with a frown.
    Zane grinned. “Even so, we’re going to try to get it in.”
    Ty had his hand over his mouth, his head down. He was either going to throw up or he was laughing. Harrison felt he’d missed a joke, but he thought maybe he didn’t want to know.
    “You planning