Rafe and Gage exchanged a smiling look, and I rolled my eyes.
“I thought you were against the whole soul mate thing, Rafael. Make up your mind.”
“See, ironically enough, that’s exactly what I had against the soul mate thing. I wanted you to stop waiting around and make up your mind, and now you have. I don’t care if he’s your soul mate or your Grindr hookup, as long as you’re happy. Because drifting isn’t the same as happy, Beale.”
I thought of Toby, floating in the pool yesterday, and how floating and swimming weren’t the same thing. I nodded once.
“Well, I’m fucking jealous,” Gage said, sipping at his own coffee. “Not only did you get yourself a hot soul mate, you found one who’s heading up the fundraising committee for the bridge and coordinating your party. I’m pissed Grandma never sent me to Adventure Camp.”
“You went to Nerdy Nerd Camp that one time.” Rafe waved a hand. “Not Grandma’s fault you never hooked a dude like Trey.”
“It was called the Center for Advanced Technologically Talented Youth,” Gage corrected, throwing a straw wrapper at him.
“Ah, yes. How could I forget your ‘CATTY Camp’ shirt?”
Gage held up a hand. “I’m not talking to you about this. Back to Trey, who is about to become my favorite brother.”
“Uh. Brother might be pushing it.” I hunched forward spinning my coffee cup on the table. “Let’s wait and see if he decides to stay, okay?”
Rafe snorted. “Beale. He’s singlehandedly spearheading your party—”
“Not singlehandedly,” I protested. “He’s got an army of volunteers.”
“I was born on this island, Beale, and nothing could make me attempt to coordinate a volunteer army of Whispering Keysters.” Rafe shuddered. “That’s love.”
I swallowed hard. It wasn’t love. Of course not. But how foolish did it make me that I almost wished it was? Toby wasn’t my soul mate, and I knew that, but…
“Remember, not all of us volunteered. Trey had no problem conscripting the two of us to go pick up Fenn and Mason at the airport at seven.” He motioned between himself and Rafe. “Then we have to text him when we’re twenty minutes out so he can get everyone ready to yell surprise.”
“Would be nice if Fenn acknowledged my fucking text and confirmed the time,” Rafe said sourly.
“Sure, but why would he when not answering pisses you off so nicely?” Gage gave him a sweet smile.
“Anyway, tell Trey to let us know if he needs anything before then,” Rafe said. “Everyone I invited is showing up around eight.”
“I’ll let him know, but I’d be shocked if he hasn’t thought of everything. He’s really good at taking care of people.” I found myself smiling again. He pretended Hagatha’s caring and deep emotions weren’t him, but they so were. No one who got all emotional when he orgasmed could be heartless. I refused to believe it. And if that was the case… maybe he cared for me a little.
Or more than a little.
“You know,” Rafe said, staring at my face thoughtfully, probably because I was grinning like a sap, “the whole time Aimee lived here, at least while we were married… she never tried to fit in the way Trey has. She had an idea of what this town was based on those summers when we were kids, but she didn’t like the reality. Trey does. I’m glad for you, man. Really.”
I swallowed.
“So, does this mean you forgive her for leaving?” Gage blinked innocently and sipped his coffee.
“Fuck no. It means I’m giving Trey my blessing. Things with Aimee were different. She should have talked to me. The running away is the part I can’t forgive.”
“Maybe she had her reasons, Rafe.” I shrugged. “You don’t know what was going on in her head. She took it hard when mom died, and you were angry a lot. Maybe she wasn’t strong enough to talk to you about what was going on. Maybe she felt guilty for feeling the way she did. Who knows?”
Rafe’s nostrils flared and his jaw worked, but finally he nodded. “You have a point.”
“And frankly, it’s the same with Jayd,” I pointed out, since I was on a roll. “If the situations were reversed, either of us would have kept a secret about where you’d gone.”
“Please. You’re shit at secret keeping, Beale, everyone knows this.” Rafe waved a hand dismissively. He sipped his coffee, wrinkled his nose, and reached for more sugar. “And Jayd’s not so great at keeping certain secrets anymore either.”
I took a deep breath and remembered Toby the other day on the boat, reminding me that I was smart, and that no one should make me feel less than. “Actually, I’m really not. I did shitty in school, and I have different beliefs about the Universe than you do, but I’m not an idiot. It’s annoying when people make ignorant comments like that. They’re not fair, and they’re not true.”
Gage and Rafe both blinked at me like I’d sprouted a third head, but after a minute, Rafe’s mouth curled up at one corner. “Well, damn. Alright, then. How long have you been holding on to that?”
Probably longer than I cared to admit.
I cleared my throat, uncomfortable. “Never mind. What were you saying before? Something about Jayd not keeping a secret?” If Jayd had changed his mind and told Rafe where Aimee was, I was pretty sure I’d have known about it.
Gage made a disapproving noise, and Rafe grinned.
“I meant the tabloid story,” he said. “About him being gay.”
“Wait.” I blinked and looked to Gage for more information. “The what?”
Gage sighed and opened his mouth to explain, but Rafe cut in. “How the hell can you not know this? It was in the local paper, and I even caught it on that CelebTV News thing a couple times. It’s all anyone on the island is talking about. It’s all anyone in the world is talking about. Do you know what year it is, Beale? How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Ohhh.” Come to think of it, I vaguely remembered something about Jayd being on the television at Blue Smoke a week ago. I also remembered Rafe flatly denying it then and again when Dale showed him the newspaper right here at the Bean the next day. “Yeah, no, I heard he was in the news. I missed the details.” I’d been kinda busy.
“He’s been busy, Rafael,” Gage said slyly, like he could read my mind.
Rafe laughed, but there was no bitterness in it, so I laughed along.
True story, I hadn’t thought of much this week that wasn’t Toby. Even now, my first thought hearing this was to wonder what Toby would think when he heard about Jayd.
“If you were getting action a little more regularly, Rafe, you’d have more important things to think about than Jay’s—” Gage broke off when his phone chimed, and he glanced down at it guiltily. “—sex life.”
“Uh-huh.” Rafe snorted. “Go on and check it. That’s the chime that means Jay’s done some shit somewhere in the world, isn’t it?”
Gage flushed. “What? Why would you—?”
“Because I’m not the only one who’s been obsessed with Jay’s sex life.” Rafe’s smile was cutting.