Archer threw back his head and laughed. “I was lucky I didn’t get expelled.”
“You really didn’t hate me because I was gay?”
“I knew you were gay, Tobes.”
“But you didn’t know I was gayfor you,” I said.
“I was surprised at first… but I never hated it.”
“Really?”
He hummed. “It took me a long time to realize that maybe I’d always felt more too.”
Shock widened my eyes as I stared at him in disbelief.
“But by then, you were already in Boston, my dad passed, and I was in charge of the farm.”
“I should have come home for the funeral. I regret that so much. The day of, I drove halfway here and then turned around,” I explained.
“Really?”
I nodded. “I had my mom call me and put it on speaker so I could listen to the eulogy given at his grave.”
Archer dropped my face and stepped back, eyes glistening as his expression wrinkled up with emotion. “You did?”
I nodded. “I wanted to be here, but I was afraid I’d only make it harder for you.”
“I came to Boston,” he said abruptly
Rocking back on my heels, I said, “What?”
He nodded. “Six years ago. After Dad died, I spent a few years getting a handle on the farm, and I just couldn’t stop thinking of you. I missed you.”
“You were in Boston,” I echoed, heart hammering persistently against my ribs.
“I came to that clinic you worked at. The one across from that terrible coffee shop.”
I laughed. “Their coffee was the worst.”
Archer nodded. “I sat there and waited for you to come out.”
“I didn’t?” I wondered because I knew I never saw him. That was something I wouldn’t ever forget.
“You did.” He confirmed, face falling.
I stepped forward. “But I?—”
“You were with someone.”
I frowned. “With someone?”
Archer nodded. “You hugged him, held his hand.”
My heart sank. Caved in on itself right there. “You didn’t say anything,” I said, the words sticking in my throat.
“You looked happy. You’d moved on…”
“No!” I exclaimed. “No! I tried to date. I did briefly a few times. But no one—” I stopped talking, shocked that we’d misunderstood each other so much.
