Eva murmured, “My goodness, the brother looks like a movie star.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself. He was escorting a pretty blonde girl with lots of curves filling out her gunmetal-gray bridesmaid’s gown. She beamed, clearly happy to be in such attractive company.
Once the bride and groom had done their turn and proceeded to the head table, the attendants took their places at their own tables—except for Rick. He escorted the bridesmaid to her seat and then walked up to the head table and sat in the one open chair between Alice and Rich. Interesting. Protocol would have put Rich beside Alice, so that took some planning.
Jimothy sighed. Might as well take a good look. The upcoming weeks were going to be challenging. Rick would likely be building shit in Jimothy’s yard and talking to him about cats, whatever the hell that was about. Jimothy had to decide how much he’d compromise in order to have Rick in his life.
No, not true. Rick would be in his life. How much would Jimothy compromise to have Rick in his bed?
Staring at that gorgeous man, huddled with his sister on the dais, the sad answer was likely one fuckload of a lot.
Rick swallowed another mouthful of salmon and didn’t taste it. The words Alice had said back in the ready-room still rang in his brain. Living real life. He didn’t know what she’d meant by those words, but he sure as fuck knew what they meant to him.
Alice leaned in. “After everyone’s finished eating their main course, we’ll have the champagne toasts, and then Hank and I will dance. After we’ve done a couple twirls, Hank’s dad will cut in on me, and Dad will dance with Hank’s mom. Then I dance with Dad.” She looked past Rick at their dad, and he nodded.
“I remember my training.” But he laughed when he said it.
“Then next, Rick, you come down and cut in and dance with me, okay? After that, choose another partner and get the general dancing started. A little later, we’ll break in to cut the cake and throw the bouquet.”
Rick nodded, but nothing quite penetrated the rushing in his ears, like wind in trees or water over rocks.
He sat back and gazed at the room full of people, but only one stood out. Jimothy, looking so stupidly special in his perfectly-tailored suit and that silly lavender scarf that suited him exactly, seemed to be conversing easily with the people at his table. That was Jimothy. Easy in his life. Easy in his skin.
Rick couldn’t bear the idea of interfering with that—making Jimothy hide and lie as Rick had been doing most of his adult life. But he also couldn’t stand to leave him. Vaguely, the sound of people making toasts and the guests laughing penetrated the fog in his mind, but all he could see was Jimothy.
“Don’t strain that brain, kid.”
“What?” He looked up at his father.
“You’re thinking so hard, I can smell the wood burning.”
Rick half smiled and nodded. It was something his dad used to say to him when he was little. “Making some decisions, I guess.”
“Yeah, me too. Me too. Like your sister said. Always was a smart girl.”
A rebellious piece of his heart started to yell, Then why didn’t you want her to go to the best school? But that was an old argument, and he was too tired.
His dad leaned his elbows on the table, stared into the crowd, and spoke softly. “You know, when your mom died, I wasn’t sure I was gonna make it. There were days I just wanted to walk into the ocean. I’d let my business go while she was so sick, and I didn’t know if I could retrieve it. Hell, I didn’t know if I wanted to.”
Rick stared at his dad’s profile and tried to stay so silent that he wouldn’t stop. The band began to play, and Rick wanted to yell at them to stop, be quiet. In twelve years, he’d never heard these words.
His dad sipped a little champagne and turned his head toward Rick. “But then you came in the business with me, and it was like it gave me something to work for. Something to care about.” He huffed a sigh. “I know it wasn’t fair, to make a kid my anchor, but you’re so strong, Rick.” He shook his head. “Sorry.”
Everything in Rick vibrated. He’d waited almost half his life to hear something like that from his dad. The great joker in the sky said it’d come right when Rick was going to wreck the relationship, probably forever.
His dad sat back. “I’ve been thinking, I could come back into the business. Do more of the work. That’d give you a chance to go to school and get your degree like you always wanted to.”
Half laugh. Half cry. He could go either way. “It’s good you want to come back into the business, Dad.” He took a breath. “But there are some things you should know, uh, about me, and—”
His dad said, “Oops, that’s my dance cue.” He stood and grinned down at Rick. “Something I should know, huh? Just don’t tell me you’ve embezzled all the funds and bought a house in Palm Springs, and we’ll be fine.” Laughing, he walked to the end of the dais, descended to the dance floor, and swung into a more than presentable waltz with Hank’s mom.
The rushing sound came back triple. Everyone knew that Palm Springs was one of the gayest towns in America. His dad had just warned him. His life had just warned him—the change he’d endured in the last week was barely a warm-up. Keep going and life as you know it is over.
He blinked. His father had finished his dance with Mrs. Martinsburg and had moved on to Alice.
My turn.
He stood. My turn. He walked off the dais and stood at the edge of the floor. My turn.
His father caught his eye and gave a little nod. Rick walked onto the dance floor and tapped his dad on the shoulder. “May I cut in?”
His father stepped back, and Alice’s smiling face looked up at him. She raised her arms, and they began to dance.
“I’m not as good as Dad, but I’ll try.”
She looked into his face with total seriousness. “Rick, you’re better than anyone I know. You’re strong and true and honorable.”
He must have made a face because she spoke fiercely. “Since it’s hard to get you to believe that, and I’m not going to be around all the time to tell you, I think we have to make sure you’ve got someone who understands how great you are to remind you every day.”
Rick sighed softly. “No matchmaking, kiddo. I’ll find somebody.”
She gazed at him softly. “Right, dear. You already have.”
For a long moment, their matching blue eyes clung together.
The music changed. Alice smiled. “That’s your cue to find a new partner.”
A new partner.
Alice stepped back, and Rick looked up. Most everyone in the ballroom was watching the bride dance, which meant most of the eyes were glued on him—including Jimothy’s.
For a second, their gazes met, and a shiver traveled up Rick’s spine, but Jimothy turned away and plastered on a smile as he said something to the lady next to him.
Rick took one step, and that seemed to break the barrier, and his pace got faster. Nobody was going to make him miss the music.
Like it happened on its own, his feet carried him to the empty chair beside Jimothy. He pulled it out and sat on the edge. “Hi.”
Jimothy turned, surprise all over his face. “Hi. Did you really get a cat?”