He didn’t.
I stood there for several seconds after the car disappeared from view.
What the fuck just happened?
Too much. Too fast.
Way too much.
A hand pressed against the small of my back, and I jumped, spinning away from the driveway.
“Sorry.” Kayla’s face was etched in concern. “I wasn’t trying to startle you.”
I took a couple of breaths, trying to calm myself before I said something I’d regret. None of it was Kayla’s fault. Well, some of it, but not much.
“Are people talking?”
She shook her head, her blonde hair shining in the light of the moon. “No. A few noticed, I’m sure, but it was too fast. I thought he was going to start screaming.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
She hesitated, and I silently begged for her not to ask. No such luck.
“Um, Randall, what did he mean by saying you’re more of an escort than him?”
I stared at her, trying to figure out the best way to answer that question. Finally I let out my breath, my shoulders slumping in defeat. “Kayla, can we not do this right now? Please.”
She studied me for a moment, then offered a smile. Not her practiced I’m-the-trophy-wife-of-the-son-of-a-billionaire, but her real one. The smile of my best friend. “Of course, love.” Making herself the third person of the evening, and the first who wasn’t trying to gain something, she slipped her arm into mine. “Now come on. The fireworks are about to begin. Bailey will be devastated if you’re not there with her when they do. And then”—her smile turned wicked—“I think you need to find Noah and light some fireworks of your own.”
Chapter Five
COUNTLESS ROWSof white wooden folding chairs were spread out over the lawn for guests to enjoy the fireworks. I plopped down on the grass in the front row, Bailey snuggled in my arms. Maybe I’d get a lecture from Mom about appearances, or one from Dustin about spoiling my niece, but whatever. I was done worrying about the family tonight. Or for at least twenty minutes while fireworks burst overhead.
A red one exploded in the shape of a heart. Bailey tilted her face to mine, and I angled my ear to hear her over the ruckus. “I wish Harper was here with us.”
I gave her a squeeze as I whispered back, “So do I, but dogs don’t like fireworks. She’s safe at home in her kennel with her favorite blanket and stuffed flamingo.” I wished she was here as well. Amazing how fast you can get dependent on something you never even wanted.
For a while, I got lost in the reflections of the shimmering colors over the surface of the lake. In the distance, and when there was enough light overhead, I could make out the floating platform they were using to detonate the explosives. I tried to enjoy the moment—the beauty of it all, the comfort of my favorite human in my arms, the loud yet soothing boom and crackle filling the sky. But I couldn’t. My gut churned with new fear. I never dreamed Stewart would act the way he had. What if he came back tonight, or another day, and told my family? What if he showed them pictures?
The thought was stupid. We’d never taken pictures, but, still, the worry was there.
Moments like these made my heart hurt. The conflict of emotions seemed to eat at my soul. I had been nearly free of family expectations. Free from it all. Then Bailey. Some small part of me resented her at times. I acknowledged the feeling when it arose and then sent it packing. None of it was her fault. Not the family pressure, which she would face as much as me. While she hadn’t asked me to stay for her, she did, even if she didn’t know it. Every look. Every thrilled smile when she saw me. Every time she called with some exciting childhood news. She was constantly asking me to stay. To be the one person in her life who let her just be her. I knew Kayla tried, but she wasn’t any freer to do so than Bailey herself. The only way to give that beautiful girl some moments of freedom was to sacrifice much of my own.
I didn’t notice her speaking to me until she tugged on my ear. I looked down at her, forcing my brain to clear.
“Are you okay, Randall?”
“Yes, sweetie. Sorry. Just thinking.” Maybe I wasn’t the only one who served as caretaker in our relationship. I motioned back up to the sky with my chin. “Which one’s your favorite?”
She thought for a second and then began to tell me about the white-gold ones that shot through the night and then fell in sizzling flickers, like tails of falling stars. As she spoke, I listened more to the sound of her innocent voice than her actual words.
Free or not. Whatever the price. She was worth it.
AFTER THEfireworks display, the real business began. Dad and Dustin worked the crowd like the politicians they dreamed of being. Not for any cause as flighty as an animal shelter, but using their high-profile connections from Microsoft and the business world to lay the groundwork for Dustin’s political aspirations. Pushing eighty, Dad was too old, but the thought of his firstborn breaking into that world was just as powerful.
Mom, on the other hand, dragged me to meet three different high-profile guests who had connections to the LGBTQ community, no matter how thread-thin those connections might be. Maureen Morgan might not allow animals, homeless or otherwise, into her exclusive event, but that didn’t stop her from parading me around playing the part of a cute gay puppy in her extravagant dog and pony show.
I didn’t mind so much. It was better than the pressure I used to feel before I rejected my family’s money. And much less than the hoops Dustin constantly had to jump through in order to stay in my father’s good graces. So I had to schmooze and highlight my newly acceptable homosexuality. Small price to pay to keep the peace and my relationship with Bailey. And in this case, it even helped Harper’s brothers and sisters.
