16
The drive to the sanctuary had quickly become the best part of Nolan’s week. Despite yet another argument with Gavin on his way out the door, he could feel himself relaxing as he passed familiar landmarks that told him he was only a few minutes away now.
It was hard to tell whether Gavin was getting worse, or whether his tolerance for it had just weakened because of the time he’d spent here. People at the sanctuary were nice. They didn’t yell even if he actually screwed something up, and they’d been nothing but kind, warm, and happy to see him.
Finn had been sending him updates on Ollie all week, and he’d managed to troubleshoot a network problem for Ryan over the phone. All of that made him feel like he was part of something here.
He’d never felt that before.
The big, bright sign for the sanctuary made his heart swell as he drove under it, and the sight of Finn’s car—still dinged and scratched, but freshly washed and polished—filled him with relief. He’d been worried that it’d been dead. Knowing what the car meant to Finn, Nolan was glad he hadn’t lost it suddenly.
Finn was already standing a few yards behind his car by the time Nolan got out, grinning broadly.
“Hey,” Finn rocked on the balls of his feet, hands shoved in his pockets as Nolan stuffed his keys in his pocket. “Long time no see,” he teased.
“I’m twenty minutes late, I know,” Nolan sighed. “Gavin held me back to argue about… something. You know, I don’t even remember what his problem was.”
A dark look flitted over Finn’s features, but it was gone in the next heartbeat. “You don’t have to show up right on time. You can show up whenever you want, honestly.”
Nolan smiled a small, tired smile at Finn. “You’re too kind to me, you know that?”
Finn shook his head. “I’m exactly the amount of kind you deserve,” he said. “Anyway, you’re just in time for cupcakes.”
“Cupcakes?” Nolan raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, and there’s someone I want you to meet. Well, you already kind of met her, but… properly.”
Curious, Nolan followed Finn into the house and the kitchen, where Oscar, Ryan, Ezra, and an older woman Nolan recognized from the charity auction. May. The woman who’d plucked Finn out of his miserable living situation and given him somewhere to call home when he needed it most.
“You must be Nolan,” she said the moment he looked at her, face lighting up. Nolan could barely look away from her bright green eyes, sparkling in the light coming through the kitchen window. At her age—and she must have been in her early sixties—she was striking, but she must have been stunning when she was younger.
She had the air of a Southern Belle about her, but in the best possible warm, friendly way. Nolan liked her instantly.
“I am,” Nolan confirmed, unsure what else to say.
“I’m May,” she said, which Nolan knew, but they hadn’t been formally introduced before now. “I’ve heard so much about you, but I haven’t had the chance to come down and meet you before now.”
“I, uh…” Nolan rubbed the back of his neck. A hand landing on his shoulder made him jump at first, but he relaxed when he realized it belonged to Finn.
Finn squeezed gently, stroking with his thumb, and Nolan managed a smile. A woman who ran an animal sanctuary really couldn’t be all that scary. Not when she so obviously had the loyalty of a man like Finn.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Nolan said, his brain finally coming back online. “Finn’s told me a lot about you, too.”
“All lies,” May said, waving her hand dismissively. “If I were a swamp witch, I’d never have to go to another fundraising event again.”
“He didn’t actually say that,” Nolan said, though he got the impression May was teasing.
“Didn’t he?” she looked at Finn with mock-confusion. “He’s losing his touch.”
“I wanted Nolan to stay,” Finn said softly.
May looked at him, and then at Nolan, and something like understanding washed over her features. She nodded, just once, but the gesture radiated satisfaction.
Not everyone stayed, Nolan realized. He was unusual.
“Well, you’d better eat a cupcake before Oscar finished them off,” May said, glancing over at Oscar, who was currently eating the one in his hand as though he’d never seen a cupcake before.
“She’s serious about that,” Ryan said, “this is his third one.”
“They’re good,” Oscar mumbled through a mouthful of cake.
Ezra chuckled, delicately peeling the wrapper off his own. “And May worked hard to bring them to us.”
Nolan took a cupcake, looked at the perfect, professional finish, looked at May, and decided she hadn’t made these. She wasn’t the cupcake-making type. She was more the whiskey and iced tea and long, incredibly useful talks on the porch type.
Nolan’s grandma had been like that. He still missed those long, useful talks.
“So where did they come from?” he asked, taking a bite. Finn reached over his shoulder to grab one, too, humming happily as he bit into his own.
The sound of Finn enjoying himself sent a little wave of heat rolling through Nolan’s stomach, the memory of last weekend flashing through his mind for a moment.
Had Finn thought of him, too?
“Greta Carmichael,” May sighed. “Bless her heart.”
Nolan snorted. His grandma had said that a lot, too, and he knew exactly what it meant.
“What did she do to you?” he asked, starting to get comfortable as he licked the frosting off his cake.
May chuckled. “She’s actually very sweet,” May said. “A little… much for my taste, but we seem to attract the type.”
“Because they’d all like to think they have your grace and understated elegance,” Ezra said.
“I just like animals.” May shrugged. “They all want to be Florida’s next top philanthropist. Which is good for us. We could sure as hell use it.”
“The sanctuary’s struggling?” Nolan asked, his stomach clenching. He didn’t like to think of these good, kind people who’d been wonderful to him worrying about money. He knew none of them were getting rich doing this, but he’d assumed everything was okay. As okay as a charity ever could be.
“Not as much as it was a year ago,” Oscar said. “Thanks to Ryan, mostly.”
Ryan blushed and looked down at his feet. Nolan felt like they were similar in a lot of ways, and he would have liked to get to know him better.
“I just do numbers,” he murmured. “But this isn’t the worst shape we’ve ever been in, no. That auction made a huge difference.”
“Gavin’s good for something,” Finn said softly, right beside Nolan’s ear.
Nolan wasn’t sure whether to be embarrassed or thrilled that he was so comfortable with being close to him in front of all his friends. His family. The people who mattered most to him in the world.
It was exciting, though. And Nolan could tell it meant something, too. He got the feeling Finn didn’t warm up to just anyone.
“And now it’s up to me to do the society rounds and talk about what an exciting project this is and show people pictures of these boys holding rescued animals. They like that,” May said. “Greta sent these cupcakes back with me, for my boys.”
Nolan snorted, though he doubted anyone present really minded being counted as one of May’s boys. She seemed wonderful so far.
“And now I have to go home and dress for an intimate twenty-person dinner party.” May stood from her place at the table, rolling her eyes. “So I’ll leave the rest of you to finish them.”
“I’ll finish them if no one else does,” Oscar said.
“You’re not getting any sympathy from me when you’ve got a sugar headache later,” Ryan responded.
“Yeah I am.” Oscar beamed at him, his brown eyes suddenly angelic. “You love me.”
Ryan snorted, but Nolan could see how true that was in the way they were with each other. In every interaction between them, every glance, the way Oscar leaned against Ryan’s chest without even looking behind him to check he was still there.
They were comfortable together. Nolan would have loved that for himself.
Maybe he could have it with Finn. Maybe he’d been waiting all this time for a reason, and the right person had finally come along.
“Be good,” May said as she headed for the door. “And if you can’t be good, be careful.”
Nolan grinned as she left, glad he’d gotten to meet her. He could see why she was surrounded with all these wonderful people.
“Come on,” Finn said, nudging Nolan’s side. “Let’s go check on Ollie.”
Shoving the last bite of his cupcake in his mouth, Nolan followed Finn’s lead out of the kitchen. Coming here was good for his soul, and he planned on making the most of it.