“Yes. Henry, my nephew, is twelve. Michelle and my brother-in-law, Evan, have done a great job raising him.”
“And your parents?”
“My mother died when I was in high school.”
“That’s very hard.” Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked, reaching for the napkin. “I still miss my husband, even though it’s been years. The children do too. He was a wonderful man.”
Lucky for them. Wonderful was not an adjective that could ever describe his father. Maybe it made him a bad person to know his father sat in a nursing home alone day after day with no visitors, but then he remembered his childhood and dismissed his thoughts.
“Yes, Jeremy told me about his father.”
“We all miss him. He was the best.” The gruffness of Jeremy’s voice barely concealed his pain.
Remembering Jeremy mentioning he didn’t have much in common with his father, Blake was surprised, but he guessed that didn’t matter much when Jeremy knew he’d been accepted and loved no matter what.
Elyse stood to hug Jeremy and remained behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders. “It’s funny, you know. I have friends who still question me as if I should be upset that Noah is gay and Jeremy is bisexual. I could never understand why they thought it was any of their business who my children choose to sleep with. Do I ask them who’s in their bed?”
“I love you, Ma. I wish every parent believed what you did. Unfortunately they don’t.”
Visibly upset, Elyse brushed at her eyes, smudging her makeup a bit. “Then they don’t deserve to have children. I wouldn’t trade you or Noah for the world, gay, straight, or whatever.”
Watching the exchange between Jeremy and his mother, Blake understood why despite Jeremy’s frustration with his mother, he put up with her pushiness. Sure she was a bit bossy and nagging, but her heart was good and her arms were open and accepting.
Crowding out the good thoughts was the memory of his father making fun of him for not being able to throw or hit a baseball, then turning cruel and taunting when he tried hard not to cry.
“I never thought a son of mine would be such a complete failure.”
With a father like that, who needed to worry about school yard bullies?
He forced himself back to the present, and Elyse’s conversation, and smiled when Jeremy took his hand under the table and gave it a squeeze.
“I’m thrilled Jeremy has finally decided to get serious about relationships. At his age, the time has come to stop running around and think about the future. And from what I see”—her pointed gaze swept over them, alerting Blake that she’d picked up on their body language—“you both care about each other, and that’s the most important thing. All I want is for my children to be happy.”
“We are, Ma.” Jeremy picked up the last bite of his bagel and popped it into his mouth. “Just let us live our lives as we want.”
When they’d finished their brunch, Elyse informed them she had a book-club meeting, but before she left she surprised Blake by giving him a big hug. She whispered in his ear, “I’m glad you’re with him. He needs someone with a good head on his shoulders to guide him, and you’re the right man to do it.”
Guide him? Jeremy was the most driven man he knew. Did she see him as someone who needed fixing?
Blake gave a faint smile and allowed himself to be hugged but said nothing. He didn’t know what to say. When Jeremy closed the door behind his mother, Blake put it out of his mind.
“I’ll wash the dishes if you put the rest of the food away.”
But Jeremy stood there with a confused look on his face. “I don’t understand something. At your sister’s you said your father was alive, yet you never talk about him. Michelle said you had it rough. What happened? Do you want to talk about it?”
It was ridiculous to think he could hide his father from Jeremy, but he wished he’d had the chance to think about what to say. Instead, as always happened when the subject of his father came up, Blake’s emotions overrode his carefully constructed story.
“He’s alive, but I wish he wasn’t. Imagine that?” He laughed without any humor and watched as Jeremy set the plate of bagels back on the table, then stared at him, brows pinched together in consternation. “Yeah, I said it. I wish my father wasn’t alive. But I learned from him. He always hated me for who I was and what I couldn’t be. A real man.”
He didn’t even realize he was crying until Jeremy held him close and after wiping the tears from his face, whispered in his ear.
“Well, to hell with him, then. You’re a real man. And you’re mine.”
All Blake ever wanted was to belong—somewhere or to someone. Jeremy’s possessive words sent a thrill through him and he gathered his wits, embarrassed to have lost control.
“I feel so stupid. Like I should’ve grown beyond what happened to me as a kid.”
“I don’t know if it’s as simple as wishing.”
