The Pride Trilogy: Kyle Callahan 1-3 Read Online Free Page A

should call.”
    “It can wait. Let’s just enjoy one quiet night away from everything and everyone.”
    Kyle smiled at Danny, trying to hide his unease about the text message. He’d befriended Teddy on their first visit to the Lodge and had kept in touch with him through the occasional email and a phone call now and then. Teddy had called him two days earlier to make sure they were still coming.
    “It’s Halloween,” Kyle told him. “We never miss Halloween.”
    “Good,” Teddy had said. He sounded nervous on the call, edgy. “I won’t be staying at the Lodge much longer, Kyle. Something’s going on here, something bad, we need to talk.”
    “What, Teddy? Just tell me.”
    “Not on the phone. I’m not even sure if I’m imagining some of this, it’s confusing, but somebody needs to know. You’re good at helping me sort things out, Kyle, it can wait two days.”
    Kyle had become Teddy’s reluctant confidant, especially the last year. Teddy was close to Kyle’s age but had never done much more than handyman work and odd jobs. Clearly once handsome, with chocolate brown eyes that were as seductive as they were sad, a mouth that had a habit of biting its upper lip, and still thin when most men his age were packing on weight, Teddy seemed as if he were from the coulda-been-a-contender school. Had he gotten more education, had he applied himself more intently, and especially had he not been an alcoholic. That was where Kyle had helped him most, connecting him with a local man Kyle knew was in Alcoholics Anonymous. Kyle wasn’t in AA and had never had a drinking problem, but he was very good at finding sources and researching—it’s part of what he does for a living—and after a few failed starts, Teddy had finally gotten sober six months ago. Maybe, Kyle thought, that’s what this was about. Maybe Teddy had concluded he could no longer work at the Lodge and needed to move on for the sake of his sobriety. He had already stopped helping Cowboy Dave and Happy Corcoran in the bar. That’s when it occurred to him this might be about love.
    “Is there something wrong with you and Happy?” Kyle asked. He knew Teddy and the much younger Happy, who had started as a bar back the summer before, had been dating. Young man breaks old man’s heart , Kyle thought to himself, old man folds up his tent and runs away .
    There was a moment of silence on the other end. Then Teddy said, his voice lowered as if someone might hear him, “Happy’s gone. Since yesterday, without a word. I’m afraid it’s my fault.”
    “He’s a kid,” Kyle said, immediately regretting it. Happy was twenty-five or thereabouts and capable of making adult decisions. “A broken heart at that age . . . “
    “That’s not what I mean,” Teddy said. “I told him things I shouldn’t have told him, things that put him in danger. I should have known better, he’s a talker. He can keep anything but a secret, and now he’s gone.”
    “What secret, Teddy?” Kyle said, his exasperation showing. “What did you tell him?”
    “Not on the phone.” And then, with a sadness Kyle could feel from 70 miles away, “He wouldn’t just leave me.”
    The call ended then, with Teddy not wanting to say anymore until they spoke in person. Whatever the problem was, it had Teddy itchy, sounding paranoid, and the sudden disappearance of Happy could only make it worse.
    “You’re sure it’s too late?” Kyle asked, looking at the clock again.
    “Let them man sleep,” Danny said. “You’ll see him at breakfast.”
    Kyle decided Danny was right. Teddy worked very long hours. He didn’t need Kyle waking him up over a text message.
    Kyle turned his phone off, waiting to make sure it actually shut down (it had a strange habit of coming back to life, as if it didn’t appreciate being told what to do). He set it on the nightstand, then stood up and started to unbutton his shirt.
    “I can do that,” Danny said, motioning Kyle onto the bed. “I haven’t