I’m confused by how this makes me feel, but I guess I should accept it. I’ve accepted everything else about this situation.
We retreat to the shower, where he holds me again, tenderly washes me, and makes me more than a little envious of all the years his wife got to spend with him. We’ve dressed in shorts and T-shirts and have moved downstairs by the time Aussie returns.
I hear her car drive up. This time when she arrives, Sir meets her at the front door and lets her in. He walks with her to the kitchen, where I’m sitting at the kitchen table, probably red-faced and definitely feeling nervous as hell. I want to turn invisible where I’m sitting.
She pulls up short when she sees me, obvious confusion on her face. “Dad? What’s Declan doing here? I didn’t see another car.”
“It’s in the garage,” he says.
So much for staying invisible.
Then Sir walks over and stands behind me, his hands resting on my shoulders and gently kneading. “Aus, I need you to keep a secret for us, honey.”
“For…us? As in, for you andDeclan?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes widen. “You and Declan aresleepingtogether?”
He squeezes my shoulders to keep me quiet. “What Declan and I do isn’t your business, honey. But you cannot tell anyone about us.”
“I thought Declan’s dating Aunt Casey?” I didn’t know she thought that, so that must have been a conversation between her and Casey.
“Again, that’snotyour business,” Sir tells her. “If you tell anyone and it gets out, weallcan be in a lot of trouble. I need you topromiseme, honey. You can’t sayanything.”
She looks from him to me and back again, but I can’t look her in the eyes.
Her voice grows angry. “Declan, are youcheatingon Aunt Casey? Because I’ll tell her if you are. I’mnotkeeping this from her!”
Interesting that she’s more pissed off about the thought of me cheating versus the thought of her dad being bi or gay.
Sir answers for me. “There’s no cheating involved. There’s…an arrangement. Aunt Casey knows everything and sort of…helps out with logistics.”
Her anger apparently diminishes, replaced by confusion. “So…are you bi? Or…gay?”
Here we go.
“Doesn’t matter what we are, honey,” Sir says. “You have to promise me not to say anything. You cannot tell your friends—noone. Don’t even say anything to Ashleigh, or your brothers. I’ll tell them when I’m ready. Don’t evenhintto anyone that I’m dating. That’s no one’s business, anyway.”
“Why can’t anyone know?”
“Because Declan works for me, and so does Aunt Casey. All three of us can get into serious trouble. Not to mention the media would have a field day with this.”
“And…sheknows? Aunt Caseyknowsall this and is okay with it?”
“Of course. This is a complicated situation. I can’t ‘date,’ sweetheart. Not without it being a total clusterfuck. I’m the governor. I don’t get much privacy. Especially after what I…survived. Ineedthis bit of secrecy. For alotof reasons that I don’t owe you explanations for.”
She leans against the counter and crosses her arms. It’s a gesture that reminds me so much of Casey and Ellen that it takes my breath away. She’s grown into the spitting image of Ellen, and it makes me wonder how much of Aussie’s mannerisms are from the decades of friendship Ellen and Casey shared.
“Maybe it’s time Tennessee has an openly gay governor, Dad,” she says glancing from me back to him.
“I’m not…gay,” he says. “Besides, that’s notyourbusiness. You have no right to make that decision for me, or for Declan. I won’t get re-elected if this comes out. I’ll be turfed out in the primary. There’s still time for the state GOP to field another candidate. And with open primaries, GOP voters might defect and vote for one of the Democratic candidates. Or else the GOP might field an independent candidate, if it comes out before the general election.”
She pulls her phone out of her pocket and holds it up. “So if I call Aunt Caseyrightnow and ask her if she knows you two are here together and screwing around, she won’t be pissed off?”
“Oh, she’ll be angry at me—for getting caught by you. But she won’t be angry that we’re together. She’s the one who cleared my schedule so we could have a weekend together.” He squeezes my shoulders again. “Go ahead and call her, honey. I’m not going to pull some stupid trust exercise on you. You’re my daughter. She’s theonlyone you can talk to about this.”
So…she calls.
