A pained expression creased Zach’s face. “Don’t. I can’t think of my mother like that.” He shook his head.
Sam pulled him over and held him. “I’m not saying that. But after all these years she’s finally begun to take her life back. Don’t make her feel bad for it.”
Zach tipped his head back and smiled up at him. “So I guess you are more than a pretty face. You’re smart as well.” He kissed Sam’s cheek. “I’ll call her to see how her date went. She also needed some things looked at around the house; I said we’d be happy to help her. I’ll let her know we can come over tomorrow night if that’s good with you.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
He sat at the table and cracked open his beer while Zach placed the food on the table and made his phone call.
“Hey, Mom. How was your day?”
It was next to impossible for Sam to make out the words to her conversation, but from the excited tone of her voice, he guessed she had a very good day.
“Sounds like fun. Sam and I are going to come over tomorrow night to do some stuff around the house you said needed fixing.” He paused, and Sam continued eating but watched Zach’s face. “Oh? Yeah, that’s great. No problem.” Zach forced out a laugh. It didn’t take much to figure out Matt had already taken care of whatever needed fixing.
After Zach got off the phone, he ate his dinner in sharp, quick bites, barely answering Sam’s attempts at conversation, and Sam knew the rest of his evening would be spent coaxing Zach out of his bad mood. Recalling he’d planned to tell Zach about his doctor’s appointment, Sam shunted it off to another day.
No need to upset Zach any more than necessary.
Chapter Five
‡
Anyone who saidwaking up early was a beautiful experience must’ve been insane. Bleary-eyed yet unable to sleep, Zach slumped at the kitchen table, sipping his third cup of coffee, watching the sky lighten from the opalescence of dawn to the heavily laden gray of a bitingly cold winter morning. Frost edged the windowpanes and instinctively Zach shivered. He hated winter.
He’d left Sam sleeping in bed several hours ago, dead to the world. It had taken him half the night, tossing and turning, but Zach came to the decision that Sam, of course, was right. Hard as it might be for him to come to terms with, his mother had the right to live her life the way he wanted her to let him live his. Proud of his decision, Zach nevertheless didn’t think there was anything wrong with running a background check on Matt. After all, his mother was a wealthy woman and could easily become a victim.
Zach went online and contacted the monitoring company he used for security, trusting that he’d get a quick response. Sure enough, within minutes, he was live-chatting with a person who assured him they would be able to handle whatever he needed in the strictest confidence.
Just because he promised he’d let his mother live her life didn’t mean he wouldn’t still do everything he could to protect her. Matt had come from nowhere, ostensibly visiting an elderly constituent at the senior center his mother worked in. It all seemed a bit contrived to Zach.
He spilled his cold coffee down the drain and went over his work schedule for the day. With all his free time spent on wedding stuff lately, he’d neglected other things close to his heart.
Today was his volunteer day at the center for homeless LGBTQ youth. One of the first things he did after his first huge software sale was to set up a charitable trust to fund computer education in the center. The trust allowed him to purchase computers and other state-of-the-art technology. He also hired experts to come and teach coding to the people who wanted to learn, and major software companies had stepped up, agreeing to hire students from the center who showed promise.
One of the benefits of being a “whiz kid”—as Sam liked to call him—in the industry was that he could make demands on the companies he sold his products to. In his last sale, part of the contract he negotiated with the software company was if they wanted his product, they’d agree to hire and pay tuition every year for two students from the center who showed an aptitude for coding. Zach firmly believed this was the future and wanted these kids to have as much of a chance as anyone else.
Hearing a noise from the bedroom, he glanced at the clock and saw it was almost 7:30. Sam was getting ready for work, and Zach decided to bring him his cup of coffee while he got dressed. The shower was running, so Zach set the mug down on the dresser and took out his own clothes. When several minutes passed and Sam still hadn’t come out, Zach went into the bathroom, prepared to tease him about wasting all the hot water and how they should shower together.
Clouds of steam shrouded the small bathroom, and Zach coughed from the overheated air. “Hey, you wasteful…” He pulled aside the shower curtain, and the words died in his throat when he saw Sam in obvious distress, his hand pressed to his chest, leaning against the tiled wall. Water from the showerhead continued to flow, but Sam was no longer under the direct spill; he’d moved over to the opposite side of the tub. Zach took in the pallor of Sam’s skin and the pain lines etched across his face and immediately shut off the water and climbed into the tub.
“Sam. What happened?” He put his arms around Sam, who leaned his solid weight against him. Though flushed from the heated water, Sam’s skin felt cool to the touch. “Are you all right? I’m going to call an ambulance.”
At that, Sam jerked upright. “No, no, I’m fine. Give me a minute.”
Looking on worriedly, Zach watched as Sam straightened out and brushed the wet hair out of his eyes. He even managed a small yet still somewhat pained smile. “I’m okay; really.”
“That’s bullshit.”
At that, Sam’s eyes widened. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you curse.” He rubbed his chest, then dropped his hand and shot Zach a strangely uncomfortable look. “I’m sorry. I got a pain; it must be heartburn; I shouldn’t have had that second plate of brisket last night.”
“You had three, but who’s counting?” said Zach with relief. “Plus a cupcake and a lemon-raspberry tart. I’m not surprised, in fact.” Something still didn’t sit right. “You’re sure you’re okay?”
“I swear I’m fine.” He pointed to Zach’s soaked sweatpants. “Why don’t I get out and let you take a shower while I get dressed? He pulled the shower curtain aside and stepped out of the tub to drip on the bath mat.
“Yeah, sure.” Zach kept an eye on Sam while he stripped out of his wet clothes and tossed them on the floor. Sam, who stood drying himself off with a towel, looked perfectly normal, but the picture of him in obvious pain and distress remained etched in Zach’s brain. Sam had been acting strangely short-tempered and snappish lately, and Zach didn’t want to push him. It was probably simple heartburn, like he said.
“Um, I brought your coffee; it’s on the dresser.”
