“Hey, Nance!”I called as I entered the house, heading through the hall into thekitchen.
“Hi, Jace!” Nance called back as she rounded the corner, all smiles, but I knew her well enough to sense hertension.
I hadn’t mentioned anything to her about the article Dax had shown me…or the many more I’d discovered after he’d left my place and I’d started googling myself. Based on how many of my friends had messaged me their support on my drive over, I had no doubt Nance and Keegan had already heard the news. After all, gossip spread through Fever Falls like a flame acrossgasoline.
But my fixation wasn’t with my own involvement in the news, but Dax’s. It was hard seeing him so worked up, and once I’d learned how it connected to his past, it was so much easier for me to understand why. His notoriety clearly reminded him of his shitty childhood, of being left by his mother who was off pursuing her self-destructive impulses. In different ways, we’d both been on our own when we were kids. I had been abandoned by parents I’d never known and lived at the shelter, and Dax had a mother who had been more consumed with nurturing her needs than caring forhim.
I continued toward Nance, knowing we needed to have this conversation. I would have called, but this was something I preferred to handle face-to-face with the people who were most important tome.
I entered the kitchen, and Keegan eyed me as he sat on the table, iPhone in hand, about as incapable of hiding his surprise asNance.
“Dude,” Keegan said, “Areyou—”
“—wanting us to make some lunch?” Nance interjected. “I can make sandwiches, or we could go out. Unless you don’t want to go out,then—”
“You guys, we can go ahead and get this conversation out of the way,” I said, trying to set them at ease. “I figured someone had probably mentioned it to you. That’s why I headedover.”
Nance breathed a sigh ofrelief.
“Apparently, I’mbisexual.”
“That’s fine,” Keegan said. “You could be just about anything other than a Dodgers fan and I’d be cool withyou.”
“Keegan!” Nance said severely. “You would need to learn to see past your brother’s love of theDodgers.”
“Call me ignorant, but no. God didn’t make anyone a Dodgers fan.” His lips curled into a smirk, and we all shared alaugh.
“But seriously,” Nance added. “You know we love you, no matter who you want to be with. Are you okay? I hear there are some pretty scandalous pictures online. I haven’t seen them,but—”
“I saw them,” Keegansaid.
Nance turned to him. “I told you not to look atthem.”
“Oh, is it a crime for me to see what everyone in this town is looking at?” He turned his attention to me, adding with a thumbs-up, “Lookin’ good, bro,” and making melaugh.
“Thanks,Keeg.”
“You guys,” Nance said, rolling her eyes. “So you’re not feeling horribly exploited or disgusting…or like you hate the world rightnow?”
“No more thanusual.”
“Whew. Now I guess I can take off my mothering hat. I was so nervous. Barb Kenmore called me after she read thearticle…”
Keegan made like he was about tovomit.
“…you remember her from when we were co-presidents of the PTA. Well, she must’ve figured it was something I should have been worried about. And she was asking me what our friends would think about my parenting and allowing you to be corrupted byHollywood.”
“In your defense,” Keegan said, “in those pics it was hard to tell who was corruptingwho.”
“Be serious, Keegan,” Nance followed up. “But Barb kept on like that, and I finally had to tell her to goFherself.”
“You used theF-word?”
“I said, ‘GoFyourself.’”
I was in stitches. “You didn’t have to do that on my behalf, but the support means a lot, and I guess that means we don’t have to put up with Barb at anybarbecues.”
“Absolutelynot!”
