I remembered a miserable, downtrodden man who still had time to be the occasional ray of sunshine for a lost kid who missed his dad. Even when I’d been little, I knew Mr. K wasn’t okay.
He seemed a whole lot better now.
“I’d agree,” Mr. K said. “You know, I was going to bring my boyfriend up to the wedding, but I didn’t want to cause a fuss.”
My entire heart lit up with hope. “You have a boyfriend?” I asked.
Mr. K nodded. “Five years next month. Probably oughta think about marrying him one of these days.”
“Holy shit,” I said. “Mr. K! I didn’t realize you were such a dark horse.”
Why hadn’t Carter told me about his dad’s boyfriend? That washuge.
“It’s just a boyfriend,” Mr. K said, with the exact tone of an eye-rolling teenager explaining something obvious to their parents. “Completely normal thing to have.”
“But Mrs. K would’ve made a fuss?” I asked, putting two and two together.
“Yeah,a fussis one way to put it.” Mr. K chewed on his lip. “She was convinced it was a phase. That she’d, y’know, straightened me out. I learned not to talk about men I was attracted to in front of her.”
As high as my heart had soared to hear that Mr. K waslike me, it sank twice as low hearing that.
“I’m sorry,” I said, unsure what else Icouldsay.
“I’m… less sorry than maybe I should be,” Mr. K said. “I have two great kids to show for my marriage and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. But I don’t want Carter to feel like I did.”
Neither did I. If I accomplished nothing else, getting Carter to see that it was fine to be who he was seemed like the most important thing I’d ever do in my life.
“I don’t want him to either,” I said. “I’m… working on him.”
“He’d be lucky to have you if he could pull his head out of his ass,” Mr. K said. “You’re a lot more fun than anyone else he’s been with.”
“I try.” I grinned, then froze as something rustled in the bushes.
“Tell me that’s not an angry bear we’ve woken up from hibernation?” I swallowed as the rustling moved closer.
Mr. K was silent for a few moments, but then his face broke into a childlike smile.
“Get your phone out before you turn around,” he said. “Found our something unexpected.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, a tingle of warmth running through me at the heart Carter had sent, and turned slowly so I wouldn’t startle whatever Mr. K was smiling so warmly at.
“Oh wow,” I breathed as I saw what was making the noise. A doe stared back at me from maybe twenty paces away, dark eyes curious but not frightened, jaw working as she chewed on something edible she’d found.
“She’s beautiful,” I said, raising my phone with trembling hands so I could get a picture. She’d be tiny in the shot, but at least we’d have oursomething unexpected.
“She is,” Mr. K agreed. “Almost makes this bullshit scavenger hunt worth it.”
“I’ve had a good time,” I said, putting my phone away once I had a clear shot and tucking my hands in my pockets, taking the time to enjoy this tiny blessing.
I wished Carter was here to see this. Not that I minded sharing a magical moment with his dad, but it would’ve been nice to share it withhim.
He deserved moments like this. Happy moments where he could be himself, where he didn’t need to feel self-conscious.
Free.
That was what he wanted. To feel free.
I was starting to realize he’d never feel that way until he stood up to his mother. Told her the truth, at least, that he didn’t especially like the girls she picked out for him, that he was his own man, and that he was maybe starting to feel the faintest stirrings of something for the neighborhood bad boy.
