He smiled and gave my thigh another squeeze.
Dinner was delicious. Wild Ginger’s always was, but I didn’t taste a damn thing. I kept my eyes on my plate, determinedly staring at each forkful of tuna that disappeared from my plate.
I actually ate. Just like a good little boy, I ate everything on my plate. Even the fucking vegetables.
I didn’t look up at Mom, afraid I’d cry if I did. Out of anger. Out of hurt. Who knew why. Who really cared. I had to watch my plate to keep from crying.
Wow. I’d come so damned far.
Kayla’s elbow to my ribs alerted me my father was speaking.
I glanced across the table toward him, making sure to avoid looking at Mom. “Sorry, Dad. What did you say?”
A wrinkle between his eyebrows deepened. “I asked if you’ve heard any more from your agent and the publishing company.”
“Oh, yes. I have.” I’d made Kayla promise not to bring it up. I couldn’t believe Dad remembered on his own. “Yeah. I should get the contract fairly soon. The book is a go.”
“Really?” No denying the surprise in his voice. “That is quite impressive, son.”
And I nearly cried again. For an entirely different reason, though it still made me feel thirty years younger than I was. “Thank you.”
“Congratulations, little brother.” Dustin glanced back and forth between Dad and me. There was surprise in his tone too, though I was willing to bet it had more to do with our father’s reaction than anything about the book. “Looks like you’re finally making your own way after all.” The “it took fucking long enough” was clear, even if he didn’t speak it.
“Any idea when the publication is scheduled?” Two questions. Dad had asked two questions about my life. I couldn’t remember the last time that happened.
“Somewhere between twelve and eighteen months. So not for a while yet.”
“Oh.” He nodded, then turned back to his lamb chops.
“But they said they might also have interest—” I cut off my words, in shock I nearly said what I was about to say. No way in hell was I about to tell my family my agent approached the publishing house about the erotic photography book after we signed the first contract, and that they were interested. “Um, they said they might have interest in doing a series, as well.”
THERE WASno other drama at the dinner. No more harping between Dustin and Mom. No more micromanaging attempts over Kayla, or Noah, for that matter. Nothing more than good food, inane conversation, and watching Noah entertain my niece. And if I hadn’t fallen for him over twenty years before, that would have been reason enough to fall now.
We made it back to my apartment and instantly leashed up Ron, Andy, and Harper and began our nightly walk around Cap Hill. The mist was cool but of the type Seattle seemed to create better than anywhere else, somehow managing to not get us wet.
Both Ron and Harper followed along beside Noah and me, never wandering too far from our sides. Andy, however, was the wild child and constantly needed his leash untangled. After unsnagging him from an iron gatepost, Noah broke the silence that had been between us since dinner. “You ready to talk about it yet?”
Nope. Not even a little bit. “Talk about what?”
“Really?” He gave an eye roll and reached out to take Ron’s leash from me before we started walking once more. “I know there were some tense moments at dinner, but you’d told me that would happen. It was better than I’d expected.”
I gaped at him. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. It wasn’t like there was a knock-down-drag-out or anything. And everyone included me. More than my parents would have you, if the roles had been reversed.”
Despite my effort, I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my voice. “Yeah, because we’re suddenly politically beneficial. That wasn’t the case not long ago. I was expected to keep it a secret.”
Noah put both of his dogs’ leashes in his left hand, then reached out with his right to interlock his fingers with mine, never breaking our stride. “That’s true with a lot of families. Well, maybe not the whole political thing, but lots of families have changed. It takes time. You’re lucky. Dad would never have accepted me like this. Not for any reason.”
“My folks can be pretty controlling.”
“Yeah, well, at least they don’t put the whole religion thing against you. There’s not much room to argue or expect change when your folks follow every expectation with ‘because God says so.’”
“I can see that.” We paused for a second while Noah untangled Andy’s leash from between our legs. “But my mom told you to shave and cut your hair if you want to be part of our family.”
There was that laugh again. Hearty and carefree. It would have been beautiful if it didn’t irritate me in the current situation.
“How can you laugh at that? It’s so insulting to you.”
