“You were coming in here long before I started working. I’ll save you one.” With that, she took off.
“That long?” I sipped my water.
“My mom brought me here when I was a kid. I mean, it’s been around since the fifties. Her favorite place to come.”
“How is she doing?”
He cleared his throat. “She died two years ago.”
“Oh shit.” I winced. “I always was good at stepping in it.”
He waved me off. “You didn’t have any way of knowing. Cancer. She was gone way too soon. Still had some living to do.” He sipped his water. “I’m sorry Adele had to watch her grandmother suffer, but that matured her. I would’ve tried to shield her, but she didn’t want any part of that. She was there—at the end. My mom chose MAID, Medical Assistance in Dying, so she could die quietly at home at the time of her choosing. Adele and I took comfort in that. I miss her every day. She helped me raise Adele when I wasn’t sure I could do it. I mean, twenty-two’s not a teenager, but I was still completely unprepared. Hell, I didn’t even know how to change a diaper. Mom taught me. Then she watched Adele while I found a job and tried to support all of us.”
“Sounds rough.”
He shook his head. “I’m glad…well, I shouldn’t say I’m glad my sister died—because that would make me a horrible brother. Just… I thought when she had Adele that she’d straighten up. She didn’t. So I’m glad Adele didn’t have to grow up with a mother who chose drugs over and over again. I would’ve kept trying to get her clean, but she really wasn’t interested.”
“Jesus.” I couldn’t fathom.
“Yep. I miss my sister, but she was so sunk into her addiction that I’d spent little time with her in the years before she died. Mom?” His voice broke a little. “She’s always been here.”
Yet she’d never come to any of his performances. And when I’d hinted I wanted to meet her, he’d always had an excuse. I’d wondered if that was because I was Black, he was in the closet, or some combination.
That said, I never told him about the family farm. Had never brought him to Chilliwack.
He blinked, then shook his head. “Enough glumness. Tell me about yourself. How did you wind up selling goat’s milk soap that smells divine?”
Yeah. Okay.
Chapter Five
Anderson
“One cherry and one Blue Moon shake.” Sarabeth put them down with a flourish. Along with the straws. Paper—which really annoyed me. Then I’d remember I wanted to leave a better planet for Adele and I’d suck it up.
Jarrod gave her a dazzling smile. “This is awesome.”
“Great. I’ll be back with your food in a few minutes.” Then she was gone.
The cherry shakes here were amazing, and the look of pure satisfaction on Jarrod’s face assured me that he felt the same way. He sighed.
I sipped mine, enjoying the tang. “These are always the best.”
“I’m glad you invited me.” He rested his hand on the table.
I placed mine in his.
He squeezed. Then sighed. “Nothing much to say. I graduated and was working a great IT job with a major supermarket chain when my mom died. Suddenly, like. And I came home to help Dad with the funeral arrangements and never went back to my job. I’ve been working the farm for about twelve years now. Dadpassed about five years back. He was all about selling the goat’s milk. Never wanting to look beyond that.” He rubbed his eyes with the hand I wasn’t clutching. “When he died something…snapped. I hated farming. I really did. From time to time, I would take computer courses—refreshing my programming skills. I figured after Daddy died, I’d sell the farm and move back to the city.”
“And yet you didn’t.”
“And yet I didn’t.” He offered a small smile. “The truth is, I love the goats. Most have passed, but I still have a couple of stubborn ones who’ve been around since I came home. Others have been born. I just—” He sighed. “I can’t see myself just walking away and leaving them to someone else’s keeping. I might hate farming, but I love my babies.”
His eyes took on a glimmer. Whether he remembered goats who’d died—and wasn’t that a weird thought—or remembrances of another kind, I couldn’t be certain.
I took a deep breath, clinging to his hand. “Did you ever marry? Did you ever have kids?” Of the two of us, he’d been the one talking about adopting or surrogacy. I’d seen my name on a marquee somewhere.
Between the two of us, he’d had a much better shot at achieving his dream. Same-sex marriage had been legal in Canada for just over a year when we met. In the intervening years, a lot of barriers had dropped.
