Chapter 24: The birthday party.

Standing next to the wooden table in the garage, Paxton sipped on a cold beer and half-heartedly watched Huck's band play their most popular song, In The Mountains. Paxton lifted the glass bottle to his lips as the country music switched to softer guitar solos. He watched Tennessee chat with his friends, eat cake, and laugh. By Paxton's estimation, half the town had shown up for his boyfriend's birthday, which reinforced that Paxton had done the right ...