by Jay Quinn
“He built those frames too,” Matt added proudly.
“No way,” Bill said with true admiration. “I’ll have to commission you to do something for my place. Have you ever considered doing portraits?”
Kai shrugged and said, “I’ve never really thought about it. But it is something I can do. We’ll talk about it later if you like. Now, how would everyone like to go sit out back? Robin and I cleaned up out there and there’s plenty of shade. It’s too pretty a day to sit in the house.”
“That’s a great idea,” Matt said and looked at Maura. “Wouldn’t you enjoy being outside?”
“Absolutely,” she said and stood.
Everyone else stood along with her and the group moved across the room and out the open French doors onto the patio. When he had everyone settled outside, Kai said, “Dinner’s going to be ready about three. I’ve made some appetizers. Would anyone care for some bruschetta, pears, and gorgonzola? A little more Champagne?”
“Oh hell yes,” Matt said eagerly. “We skipped breakfast knowing how good dinner will be. I could use something to nibble on, Kai.”
“Let me give you a hand,” Maura said and started to stand.
“Nope,” Kai said as he put a hand on his mother’s shoulder and pressed her gently back into her chair. “After all the years you waited on me, this year all you have to do is sit back and be treated like a queen.”
“They told me this day would come,” Maura said happily.
“Robin, give me a hand, will you?” Kai asked.
Robin stood immediately and said, “Is Champagne okay or can I get anyone anything else?”
“More Champagne is good for me,” Bill said.
“What the hell, it’s a holiday,” Matt told him. “Why don’t you just bring out another bottle?”
“I need to switch to something else if I’m going to have a glass with dinner,” Maura said disappointedly. “I can’t get little Matt in here drunk,” she joked as she patted her stomach.
“Papaya iced tea?” Robin suggested. “It’s fresh.”
“Thanks, Robin. That sounds perfect,” Maura said with a genuine smile.
“C’mon, Robin,” Kai said as he stepped back inside the French doors.
Robin followed him into the kitchen where Kai quickly kissed him and whispered, “Well, what do you think?”
“You didn’t tell me your mom was so pretty,” Robin said back in a low voice. “You also didn’t tell me she’s pregnant.”
“Oh yeah, duh,” Kai said as he took the plastic cling film off a platter holding toasted slices of baguette arranged around a bowl of freshly chopped tomato, basil, garlic, and olive oil. “She and Matt, they’re like a couple of twenty-year-olds having their first kid. What do you think of them?”
“They’re re ally nice,” Robin said as he opened another bottle of Champagne. “I mean, you told me they were cool about us, but they’re really great. I feel totally comfortable around them.”
Kai picked up a clean pear and began slicing it into neat wedges. “Bill Kellogg is gay.”
“No way,” Robin said incredulously. “How do you know?”
“Jeez, Robin. I’ve known the guy since I was six. He had a partner for almost thirty years, but he died not too long ago. Of a stroke. It was really sad,” Kai told him.
“Thirty years? My God. Things must have been a lot tougher for them than they are for us. We’re pretty lucky, don’t you think?” Robin asked.
“You’re lucky you’re here and not up on the Banks. Why do you think I want to be down here? You and me together here is no big deal. Up on the beach, it would be total bullshit all the time,” Kai said firmly.
“Oh it wouldn’t have been all that bad,” Robin said evenly. “We did live together up there for a year, Kai.”
“Yeah? And you didn’t catch any shit for it. I did,” Kai said as he arranged pear slices around a wedge of gorgonzola. “I hate it up there. I can’t live like that anymore.”
“Well, you don’t have to now,” Robin said as he came to stand close beside him. “I understand how you feel. If being with you means I have to leave a place I love, I will. You gotta do what you gotta do, I guess.”
Kai distractedly turned his head to peck Robin on the cheek before finishing the plate. “Don’t think I don’t know what it’s costing you to be with me, baby. I appreciate it.”
Robin patted Kai’s back possessively and said, “That goes both ways, Kai. I know you never wanted to admit you were gay. I understand what a big step you’re taking with me. I can’t get over how relaxed you are around your folks. God knows—”
“Let’s don’t talk about that now,” Kai said gently. “Let’s just enjoy all the goodwill coming our way and get started off on the right foot this time, okay?”
“Okay,” Robin agreed. “You want me to take out the bruschetta?”
“No. I’ll bring it,” Kai said with a smile. “You go refresh their drinks. I’ll be out in a second. I have to check on the turkey.”
Robin nodded as he took the bottle of Champagne and Maura’s iced tea and went back outside. Kai stepped to the sink under the kitchen window. As he washed his hands, he watched Robin as he neatly served everyone and sat down. Kai smiled contentedly and picked up a clean dish cloth to wipe his hands. Everyone looked so happy sitting out in the breeze. The gnawing fear and dread he’d had at three A.M. was gone. He’d managed to out run it with the help of the painkillers. Briefly he considered taking another one now. It was ten hours since he’d had the last one, but he decided against it. Another glass or two of Champagne would put him where he needed to be for the moment. Without another thought, he picked up his turkey baster and opened the oven door.
The rest of the afternoon passed contentedly. Everyone enjoyed the food, and unlike other holidays in the past, there was not an excessive amount of food left over. Kai had planned well, and with the exception of the leftover braised Brussels sprouts and a respectable turkey carcass, there wasn’t much to package up when everyone began to say their goodbyes as darkness fell. Bill Kellogg was the first to depart. He thanked Kai sincerely and brought up the question of a possible portrait once more. There was a photograph of him and his partner together, twenty years ago on the beach in St. Barts, which he longed to have turned into a painting. Kai could hardly say no. They agreed to talk again after Bill found the picture in the shoebox where it was stored. He departed, not drunk, but in considerably good spirits. Matt and Maura lingered for a second cup of coffee and another piece of pecan pie before, they too, decided to head home to settle in for the night.
Maura hugged Robin once more and wished him a safe trip back up to the Outer Banks. Matt complimented Kai on how well he’d already fixed up the place by power cleaning the sidewalk, patio, and roof. Maura interrupted him to hug her son goodbye and whisper that she’d call him the following afternoon.
Once they were in the car, and had waved farewell to Kai and Robin once more, Maura said, “Matt, if you don’t mind, can we drive home by way of A1A? I feel like being close to the beach tonight.”
“It’s kind of out of the way,” Matt groused gently, “but if you really want to…”
“Please,” said Maura and then fell silent. Matt turned the car out of Lighthouse Point and made his way to the coast. Sensing Maura wanted to ride in silence; he turned on an old Steely Dan CD and listened to it as they made their way down the motel-strewn remains of Fort Lauderdale’s beach. Maura stayed quiet until Matt turned off A1A at Oakland Park Boulevard to head straight west toward home.
“What are you thinking about, sweetheart?” he asked Maura with concern. “Didn’t you have a good time today?”
“Oh, I had an excellent time,” Maura said easily. “I think Bill really had a nice time, don’t you?”
“Oh yeah,” Matt said and chuckled. “He really seemed fascinated by Kai and Robin, you know, as a couple. I guess the world has come a long way since he was their age.”
“Yes, it sure has,” Ma
ura said quietly. “When I think of how I was taught to respond to gay people, never mind a gay couple, when I was a kid… I don’t know. I think it’s a good thing overall.”
“I agree,” Matt said. “My attitudes have sure changed. When I was Robin’s age I wouldn’t have been caught dead in the same room as a gay couple. Now I have one as an in-law, or something. Still, seeing them together was no big deal. It was kind of normal in a way.”
“Kai seems so happy,” Maura observed. “And I think I’m going to really love Robin. He was a bit reserved, but I would have been, too, if I was in the same situation.”
“He seems like a good, steady kind of guy. If you ask me, that’s exactly what Kai needs,” Matt reasoned.
“You know, with Kai, I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop,” Maura said sadly. “I wish I could trust the happy picture he showed us today. I’ve just known him too long. I can’t shake the feeling there are new, fresh disasters just waiting for him now that he seems to have gotten his shit together.”
“The other shoe doesn’t have to drop, Maura,” Matt said firmly.
“What do you mean?” Maura asked defensively.
“I’m just saying sooner or later, everybody gets their shit together. Why shouldn’t Kai? He boomeranged back down here a month ago and you put him up, but look at what he’s gotten accomplished. He’s back on his meds. He’s working. He’s got a place to live, and now he’s gotten things settled with his love life. Maybe from here on out, there won’t be any drama,” Matt concluded optimistically.
“God, I hope you’re right,” Maura sighed. “Maybe there are happy endings.”
“Maybe happy endings are ongoing,” Matt suggested easily. “Look at you and I. Neither one of us had a clue we’d find a soulmate at this late date. Now, we’ve had that happy ending and we’re starting out a whole new book with our baby. Happy endings are what you have to hope for, Maura.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Maura said and smiled. “Maybe my boomerang kid has finally found a place out in the big wide world.”
“Yes, let’s hope so,” Matt said evenly. “You’ve seen enough drama out of Kai to last you a lifetime. But life isn’t about drama. Life is just a combination of little, small moments, like this afternoon, where things settle into place and you can breathe a sigh of relief. That’s what you ought to be thankful for.”
Maura reached across the seat and took Matt’s free hand. Squeezing it, she thought about what he said. She’d had her share of knocks, but she was happy she thought. Happiness could surprise anyone, even a bipolar kid who struggled with himself and the world he lived in. Kai had found someone worthy of his best intentions, Maura was sure of that. She settled a little deeper into the comfortable leather seat of Matt’s car and enjoyed the feeling of speed as they headed west into what was left of the sunset. And, somewhere in suburban Oakland Park Boulevard’s flash of neon and streetlights, she finally let go of her first born son.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2008 by Jay Quinn
Cover design by Open Road Integrated Media
ISBN 978-1-4804-9792-4
This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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