I’d been thinkingabout Vail all day. Today was her lunch with her brother, and I was dying to know how it had gone. I’d kept myself from contacting her, waiting for her to reach out to me, and then I got a message in the afternoon.
I’m standing outside your house. Can I come in?
Oh. She was here and she wanted to see me. My heart did that chaotic bouncy thing again, and I had to stop myself from doing a little excited dance around my apartment.
I buzzed her in, and I had the door open before she knocked.
“Well?” I asked. “How was it?”
She had circles under her eyes and looked pale and worn out. As if she’d been through something.
But she gave me a tired smile. “Can I at least sit down first?”
I let her in, and she folded onto the couch as I took my spot next to her.
Vail sighed and looked up at the ceiling before closing her eyes. “Today’s been a day.”
“Can I get you something?” The suspense was ruining me, but she looked so wrecked that I had to shut my curiosity away for a little while.
“Just some water.” Her voice was rough. As if she’d been using it too much.
I got her a glass and brought it back. She downed it in a few gulps and then turned to me, gripping the cold glass in both hands.
“So, my brother is gay, he’s getting ready to propose to his college friend that he’s been dating for a year and a half, he apologized, and he wants to actually be my brother.”
My jaw hit the floor. Metaphorically.
“I’m sorry, what?”
Vail laughed softly. “Exactly.”
“Hold on. Let’s take this one thing at a time.”
Vail looked into the empty glass and started telling me everything.
If she’d said her brother had joined the space program and was going to Mars, I would have been less shocked.
Not that it was a shock that people could realize they were gay later in life, but holyshit. I had very vague memories of him, but I did have a fuzzy one with him and the guy he was with now. Laird. I recalled him being sweet and friendly when he’d been over.
“He brought me pizza once. Laird. They were out by the pool and I’d been hiding in my room and finally went downstairs, and he put a piece on a plate and gave it to me.”
Vail nodded. “I mean, of all the guys my brother could hook up with, Laird was the best choice. He never once made a nasty comment about me or tried to grope me or anything.”
Gross. That was par for the course for guys in our parents’ circle, though. They took what they wanted and didn’t think twice about it. They’d never had to.
She set the glass down on my coffee table. “Oh, and he’s a respiratory therapist. I hope he tells our mother at the wedding because I want to see her face.”
I wanted to see that as well. The only acceptable medical career for Allegra’s son would have been a plastic surgeon. Mostly so she could get free or discount treatments for herself and her friends. Her children’s jobs should benefit her, obviously.
“Your brother has been living a whole new life.”
She nodded. “He has.”
“Do you wish he’d reached out earlier?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know if I would have met with him if he’d asked me even a few months ago. I didn’t want to go. But I’m glad I did.” Her head turned and she rested her eyes on me.
“Talking with him made me think about a lot of things. I’ll probably be processing for a while. A long while.”
