Rusty looked down at the brightly-colored label on the bottle he’d just been handed. He didn’t recognize the name or the logo. “Is this… local?” he asked, figuring that was as good a guess as any.
“Sure is,” John said. “But we won’t run you out of town if you hate it.”
That was probably just as well, because Rusty had never been good at pretending he liked things he didn’t.Especiallybeer.
“So, what’s Australia like? We only ever see pristine strips of sandy beach and deserts that stretch as far as the eye can see. Oh! And kangaroos! I love kangaroos,” Susan enthused.
“We have got a lot of sandy beaches,” Rusty confirmed. “Deserts… I didn’t see one until I came out here, actually. We’ve got them, but they’re pretty far from the big cities.”
He decided not to mention that he’d been bitten by a kangaroo once, and that was really the only interaction he’d had with them. Susan would have been disappointed.
“Which city are you from?” she asked. “Or, I mean… if you’re from a city…”
“I was raised near Melbourne. Mum and dad moved to Sydney while I was at uni, so I guess I’m from both now.”
Blake’s family also didn’t need to know that Rusty wasn’t on the best of terms with his father. He was supposed to be the perfect husband, not the tragic, broken husband.
“Is it necessary to interrogate him? He just sat down,” Blake said.
Rusty looked up and smiled at him, finally opening his own beer. “You say that like you didn’t spend the entire first day we met asking questions about Australia.”
Blake smiled a tiny, sheepish smile. “Well, yeah. But you’re my husband. I’m allowed.”
Rusty chuckled at that. “You’re allowed to do a lot of things. I really don’t mind.”
“No, Blake’s right,” Susan said. “I’m just excited to meet you. How come we never heard about you before?”
“Yeah, Blake,” Rusty looked over at him again. “How come they never heard about me before?”
Rusty sipped his beer, unsure what to expect. He rolled it around his tongue while he waited for Blake to come up with a suitable excuse, slowly getting used to the taste. It wasn’t as bitter as he was used to, or as strong, but he didn’t immediately hate it.
He was in the habit of drinking beer to fit in, but he could have drunk this for the taste, maybe. It’d take him a while to get used to it, but by the second sip, it was growing on him.
“I guess it was all so sudden and then I really didn’t know how to break the news that I’d eloped in Vegas.” Blake shrugged.
So they were still going with the Vegas story. Good. Better to keep as much of the truth as possible.
“When was this?”
“Just a little after Megan announced her engagement,” Blake said. “Which I guess was the other reason. I didn’t want to make her feel like I was stealing the spotlight or something.”
Susan hummed, but not suspiciously. More as though she understood.
It was just as well he’d let Blake come up with the lie. He’d know what his parents wanted to hear better than Rusty.
Besides, Rusty had promised him the perfect husband, not the perfect partner in crime. He was going to have to dosomeof the heavy lifting.
Rusty set his beer down, stretching out a balloon before he attempted to blow it up. He wasn’t sure if it actually helped, but his mother had always done that.
“Well, I think you’re cute together,” Susan said. “And I’m glad Blake’s found someone. I was so worried about him.”
“Thanks, mom,” Blake said wryly between writing place cards. Rusty couldn’t remember ever seeing his handwriting, but the way he looped and flourished with his pen suggested itwasnice.
He was a painter, so it made sense that he’d be good with a pen, too.
“I’m just saying. It’s nice to see you happy, and you looksohappy.” She beamed.
Rusty was finally beginning to understand why he was there. Not just for Blake’s sake, but to please his mother.
