“Well, yes. I mean, his”—she dropped her voice— "time in prison.”
“He did it forme,” Gavin hissed, leaning forward. “He is theonlyreason we’re all here tonight, in fact. You know that, right?”
Thad felt a flash of emotion go through him at how quickly Gavin leaped to his defense. They had come a long way in the past year, hadn’t they?
“Oh, Isuppose,” she said, dabbing at her mouth with a napkin. “Still. Oh, did you know the group also writes to prison inmates?”
“Something you couldn’t bother to do while I was there,” Thad pointed out, though he kept his voice low and even, a smile pasted on his face.
“You have to understand, sweetheart,” she said. “It was such a trying time for us then. Your father and I had been through so much dealing with Gavin’sattitudethen and?—”
“Yeah, about that,” Thad said before he could stop himself. “Do you think maybe it was a mistake to force him to hide his sexuality? Do you think maybe that had an impact on hisattitudethen?”
Gavin shot him a warning look, and he clamped his mouth shut.
Shit. He was letting her goad him into an argument when he’d promised Gavin he’d behave tonight.
“But we didn’t force him to doanything,” she said. “Just encouraged him to make smart choices.”
Gavin let out a strangled noise. Thad wasn’t sure if it meant “yeah right” or “look how well that turned out” but either way, Thad agreed.
“Let’s discuss something more pleasant now, Saundra,” their father said.
But she looked Thad in the eye and kept talking. “You know what things were like then. It wasn’t athingpeople were accepting of. We were merely looking out for him, making sure he didn’t ruin his chances at the NHL.”
“You understand right, son?” their father asked.
Thad wasn’t sure which of them he was talking to, but Gavin nodded and spoke. “I do. I don’t agree with it, but I understand you felt that way at the time.”
Thad shoved a forkful of lettuce into his mouth to keep from saying something much stronger. Something he’d regret.
Awkward silence descended on the table and after a few moments, Gavin cleared his throat.
“Did you know Thad’s dating someone now too?” He asked. “Graham Pennington. He’s agreatguy. One of our top-line wingers.”
“Yes, I saw that online. It really is about time you settled down, isn’t it, Thad?” his mom said. “Shame it isn’t with a woman though. Your brother is a lost cause there but at leastyoucould have carried on the Racine name. It would have been so lovely to have another set of twins in the family.”
She sighed wistfully. “You could have named them Thaddeus and Gavin too. Like you two were named after my father and his twin.”
Thad wasn’t sure he wantedanykids, much less twins, but he bristled at her implication that he’d thrown away his chance by being with a man.
“Youdoknow it’s still possible for either of us to have kids, right?” he pointed out. “Dakota and Gavin could do it and so could Graham and I, if we wanted. There are ways.”
“It isn’t the same,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I know it’spossiblebut it seems so … so cold and artificial. I could weep when I think of all those wasted years you spent …”
“Wasted years?” Thad asked, looking up from his salad.
“Well, yes.” She glanced over the rim of her gin and tonic. “That time you spent in prison. And honestly, nowonderyou ended up with a man after that terrible experience.”
“Are youfuckingkiddingme?” Thad hissed because he didn’t know what to say about any of that bullshit.
He felt Gavin’s hand land on his arm, gripping tight, and he took a deep breath. “Sorry. Look, uh, Dad’s right. Let’s talk about something else.”
It was either that or he’d blow his top, flip the table, and storm out in a rage.
The waiter arrived to take their salads, and their entrees appeared a moment later.
Thad’s stomach tightened at the artfully arranged medium rare lamb chops with mint gremolata, au gratin potatoes, and lightly sauteed chard on his plate, suddenly remembering the gluey mashed potatoes and gray slabs of meatloaf with corn slopped on a tray he’d often eaten in prison.
