“Rob, Malcom, please breathe,” Leah said, settling on the other end of the sofa. “Breathe, and stop sniping at each other. It won’t solve anything.”
“I haven’t sniped,” Malcom protested.
“Not yet, but from the look on your face you were about to,” she replied. “You’re bothers, and adults, act like it.”
Darren had a sudden thought, although he kept it to himself. I guess, from what Rob’s said, it’s for damned sure Malcom isn’t gay, as much as Jesse hoped he might be so he could hook us up.
“I’ll try,” Rob said, reaching back to grip Darren’s hand. “Not sure what to say, though. I have a feeling whatever I do, he’ll ignore or deny.”
Malcom sighed. “I’m not going to deny we over-reacted when you admitted you were gay. You should have known Mom and Dad would. The rest of us? Yeah, how we treated you was wrong. I, at least, realized that not long after you left.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You may not believe me, but I tried to find you.”
“Not very hard, I’d say. It’s not like I changed my name when I joined the army.”
“I didn’t know you had until much later. That’s something that never even occurred to me.” Malcom smiled tentatively. “You were hardly what I’d call army material, all things considered.”
“Luckily, they didn’t agree with you. They might have, if they’d known, but I wasn’t stupid.” Rob winced. “Okay, not stupid that way. Enlisting probably wasn’t my brightest move, considering how things were when I got out.”
“You should have finished school,” Malcom replied.
“How? I didn’t have any money. A scholarship was out of the question, given my grades.” Rob glanced at Darren, who had pulled the other armchair close enough to sit next to him. “I was an average student in high school, and not any better my first year in college. Then the shit hit the fan—” he shot a hard look at Malcom, “—and that was that.”
“Have you considered trying to go back to school?” Leah asked.
“At my age?” Rob rolled his eyes.
“Why not? I don’t think there’s an age limit. At least not that I’ve heard of.”
“True, I guess, but it takes money. Something I don’t have a lot of.”
“Would you be eligible for the GI Bill?” Jesse asked as he sat on the arm of the sofa beside Leah.
“I have no clue,” Rob admitted.
Leah reached across to pat his knee. “It’s something to think about.”
“If you aren’t, I can help out,” Malcom said. “Not with everything. I’m not rolling in dough. I can certainly give you a place to live.”
“With you? I’m sure you’d love having your homeless, gay brother sharing quarters with you. Mom and Dad would have a fucking cow.”
“First off, it’s none of their business,” Malcom replied. “Secondly, I own this building, and a couple more, smaller ones. If I want to give you an apartment in one of them, it’s my decision.”
“You what?” Rob looked at him in surprise.
Malcom shrugged. “I’m a landlord. Have been since I got out of school.”
“That’s not what you went to college for.”
Malcom waggled his hand. “It sort of is, since I was studying business. I just took it in a different direction when a man I knew decided to sell his apartment building. I borrowed enough for the down payment from Dad, and things grew from there.”
Rob pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Maybe, when things settle down, I’ll think about it.”
“What things?” Malcom asked.
Rob gave him a short run down of his situation, saying in conclusion, “If they catch the guys, I’m going to testify against them. It’s why I’m in, well, sort of in protective custody now.”
Malcom cocked his head. “I thought that meant a witness was squirreled away in a safe house and couldn’t leave.”
“He’s staying with me,” Darren said. “That’s why he said sort of.”
Leaning back, Malcom looked at them. Then he chuckled, saying to Jesse, “It looks like you can stop trying to push me on him. And, yes, I was well aware of what you were doing. It earned me some damned good dinners in the process.”
“Well, hell.” Jesse laughed. “Given what we’ve been learning about you and Rob, I’m guessing I was way off base.”
“Told you,” Leah said, hugging him.
“I’m sorry I put you through that. Both of you,” Jesse said, gesturing to Darren and Malcom. “My heart was in the right place, though.”
“Yes, it was,” Darren replied, winking at him. “However, please don’t try it again. I’m quite capable of finding a man of my own.” He shook his head when he overheard Jesse whisper to Leah, “It looks like he has.” One look at Rob and he knew he’d heard that, too, and was not certain how to react.
“I suggest we eat dinner,” Jesse said, hopping to his feet. “You will stay, won’t you, Malcom.”
“Of course, if Rob doesn’t mind. As I said, it’s Leah’s cooking that kept me coming back even after I figured out what you were doing, Jesse.”
“I’m okay with it,” Rob said. “I promise not to pick a fight with you.”
“You could try, but I won’t respond,” Malcom said. “I’ll admit, I might be the only one in the family who’s glad to know where you are, and that you’re all right, but I am. Glad, I mean.”
“Promise not to let the rest of them know,” Rob replied darkly. “I lived with Mom and Dad’s hate for too long before I walked away. Yeah, they didn’t kick me out, you know that, but for damned sure they wanted to. Remember what happened a few days after I told them? Or the night I came home late and they laid into me…”
“Because they were sure you’d been out picking up some guy.” Malcom’s scowl matched Rob’s. “They were hateful and I’m sorry.”
“Now, maybe, but then…”
“I was wrong. I told you that. I did try to make them see they were wrong, after you left.”
Rob snorted. “That’ll never happen. Didn’t then. It won’t now, which is why I don’t want them to know.”
“I understand,” Malcom said, reaching over to pat Rob’s knee. “This is between you and me. The rest of the family—”
“Can go to hell,” Rob spat out. Then he took a deep breath. “I don’t mean that, I guess. It’s time I let it go, or try to.”
“It is,” Darren said quietly, getting a nod of agreement from Malcom.
Rob looked at him, his gaze serious as he replied, “I’ll do my best.”
At that point, Leah and Jesse disappeared into the kitchen, obviously to get everything ready that had been put on hold. When they were gone, Darren said, to Malcom, “Despite how…stupid he was being, I’m happy that Jesse tried putting us together. If he hadn’t, you and Rob might never have reconnected. I think the fact you have is a good thing.”
“Me, too,” Rob said, barely loud enough to be heard. “I’m not promising we’ll be close, but it’s nice to know there’s at least one person in the family who seems willing to accept me as I am.”
“I do,” Malcom replied. He grinned. “You could use a shave and a decent haircut, though.”
“Someday, when I’m rich and famous,” Rob retorted, and for the first time that evening, he smiled.
Dinner, while tense at first, finally evolved into everyone else listening while Rob and Malcom shared tidbits about their lives since Rob had left home. Some stories, especially on Rob’s part, were sad. Others brought laugher, or at least chuckles from the assembled group. When the meal was over, Leah asked if everyone wanted to move to the living room for coffee. Malcom declined, saying he had things to do early in the morning.
As he headed to the door, Rob followed. “I’m glad we found each other again,” he said. “I hope you don’t regret it.”
“Never,” Malcom replied. He hesitated, and then gave Rob a swift but tight hug. “I’ve missed you, whether you believe it or not.”
“A co
uple of hours ago, I’d have called you a liar,” Rob said. “Now…Yeah, I believe you. Maybe, when I get back on my feet, I’ll take you out to dinner, if you want.”
“Neutral territory?” Malcom asked, looking amused.
“Something like that.”
“I hope I see you before then.”
Rob glanced at Darren, who was watching them, and nodded. “I have the feeling he’s going to make sure you will. Even if he doesn’t…Yeah, I’ll be around since I know where you live.”
“Ground floor, behind the door that says Manager.”
“That works. Now, go do whatever before this gets maudlin.”
Laughing, Malcom said, “Good night, and thanks for dinner, Jesse and Leah,” then left.
Rob immediately returned to his chair, sitting with a sigh.
“Are you all right?” Darren asked.
“I am. Who knew…?” He turned to Jesse and Leah. “When you said it was okay for me to come to dinner with Darren, who knew this was how it would end?”
“For sure not us,” Jesse replied. “See, Dad, sometimes I do things that work out, even if it’s not how I planned them.”
“Sometimes? Most of the time,” Darren told him. “However…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. No more matchmaking. I promise.”
“Thank you.”
Chapter 6
Darren didn’t have to leave for work until seven Tuesday night, so he’d gotten to sleep in like, as he put it ‘normal people’, after he and Rob got home from the definitely interesting dinner the previous evening. Thus, he was awake and moving by eight and actually saw the sun as more than a red orb on the horizon.
While he got dressed, he could hear sounds from downstairs and imagined Rob going through the fridge to see what there was to eat. Much to his dismay, the image involved his friend wearing nothing but a low-slung pair of jeans, looking sexy as hell.
Am I projecting after all the talk last night about Jesse playing matchmaker? He certainly didn’t try to hook me up with Rob, but then he didn’t get to know him until yesterday. On the other hand, once he got used to the idea Rob’s living here, he didn’t seem to have a problem with it.
There’s no way Rob would want to be more than my friend, though. We’re too different. Hell, we have nothing in common when it comes down to it. Would I want something more? That thought intrigued Darren. He could honestly say, until that minute he’d never seen Rob as more than a friend. True, the one time he’d seen him half-dressed he had admired his physique, surprised to find out he wasn’t as scrawny as he’d figured he would be. But that was an observation, nothing more. I didn’t see him as someone sexual. Not consciously anyway. Has my subconscious been at work? It has been too damned long since I’ve met a man I even wanted as a close friend—until him. He shook his head. I’ve been sex deprived and it’s suddenly rearing its head, letting me know there’s someone out there who might help relieve the stress.
“The problem is,” he told himself in the mirror, while combing his hair, “if I even hinted at it, he’d be gone without looking back, figuring that was the real reason I asked him to stay here.”
Deciding that was the truth, he put on his shoes and went downstairs.
“Dinner or breakfast?” Rob asked when Darren came into the kitchen.
“Definitely breakfast. I’m still recovering from all I ate last night.” Darren replied. “Something light, like scrambled eggs and toast.” He put his words into action, getting four eggs from the carton, mixing them up, and putting bread in the toaster.
“Juice, too, since we’ve got some,” Rob said.
“Oh, you want us to be healthy, huh?”
“Hell, why not?”
While Darren cooked, Rob made coffee and set the table,
It wasn’t until they were almost finished eating that Darren asked, “Do you feel as good about things this morning as you did last night when we left Jesse’s place?”
“Yeah, I think so. Like I told Malcom, it’s nice to know someone in the family can accept me now the way I am. I’m not holding out any hope for the rest of them, but luckily, other than the folks, they’re all far enough away I don’t, and won’t, have to deal with them.”
“Maybe, someday, you can,” Darren replied, squeezing Rob’s arm. He pulled back quickly when he realized what he’d done.
“You can touch me,” Rob told him with a small smile. “When you did last night, it helped keep me centered and in control. Well, mostly.”
“You did a fine job of it, once you got over the shock and eased back on the anger. You do realize, despite all the stress, you didn’t fly off the handle.”
Rob frowned in thought. “You’re right. I didn’t. Something else to thank you for.”
“Nope. That was all you.” Darren grinned. “You were adulting.”
Rob snorted. “That’s a word?”
“Yep. I read somewhere it means you’re acting like an adult even if you want to revert to being a spoiled brat teen. It’s a millennial thing, apparently.”
“Not sure I’m one of those. Aren’t they people who were born in the eighties? I’m a child of the seventies, like you.”
“Yep. We’re Gen-Xers, or so they say.”
“Lucky us. I think, if I had a choice, I’d rather be a hippy or a flower child. No one seemed to care that they lived the kind of life I’ve been living.”
“I’m not sure about that,” Darren replied, “but it’s too late to change unless you know how to time travel.”
“Don’t I wish,” Rob grumbled. “Oh well, I can’t change the past at this point.”
“Nope. So…” Darren took another bite of toast. “How about we change some poor mutt’s future, instead?”
“You want to get a dog? Okay, you said you were sort of thinking about it.”
“Yep. Feel like a trip to the animal shelter?”
“Sure. Why not?”
* * * *
Why is he including me in this? It’s not like I’m going to be around for the long haul. He’s going to get tired of my living with him and ask me to leave as soon as they catch the punks who attacked me—if not before. That idea did not sit well with Rob. It’s the way it is, though. Friends, maybe, but nothing more, even if I wanted it—which I don’t.
Those thoughts, and more, ran through Rob’s head as he and Darren drove to the shelter.
“Officer Cameron,” an older woman said even before Rob and Darren got to the front desk.
From the puzzled look on Darren’s face, Rob had the feeling he had no idea why she knew him.
Apparently she realized that, too, because she said, “You caught the kid who snatched my purse, about a year ago. Remember?”
“Oh. Yeah, I do, now that you reminded me of it. Mrs. Smythe. Right?”
“Yes! Please tell me you’re here to get a pet. We have so many…” She shook her head in dismay. “Too many, and since we’re a ‘no-kill’ shelter.” She heaved a sigh, then said, “But enough of my moaning. Are you looking for a dog or a cat? Please say a cat.”
Darren hesitated. “I take it you’ve more of them than dogs?”
“You have no idea.”
“What do you think?” Darren asked Rob.
“Me? Umm. You did say you wanted a dog.”
“Yeah, I know.” Darren rapped a knuckle on his lip. “Dogs are great, but when I think about it, with my hours, and sometimes I don’t get off right on schedule.”
“One advantage of cats,” Mrs. Smythe said, obviously listening in. “They don’t have to be walked. You wouldn’t come home to find a puddle on the kitchen floor because the poor pup couldn’t hold it any longer, if you had a cat.”
“You can’t play with cats,” Darren protested.
“Sure you can,” Rob said. “I had one as a kid who loved to chase things. Big old guy. Maine Coon. I swear he thought he was a dog.”
“Really?”
“He’s right, Officer Cameron,” Mrs. Smythe said. “And they’re
easy to take care of. But…” She held up a finger, “keep them indoors for their own safety.”
“I…Okay.” Darren cocked an eyebrow. “Why do I have the feeling you even have one here and available?”
She laughed. “Because we do? Come meet him.”
Darren looked at Rob. “A cat?”
“Hey, at least take a look. Then you can tell her no and we’ll check out the dogs.”
Rob followed them into a large room lined with cages that held cats of every size, age, and breed. One of two such rooms according to Mrs. Smythe.
“This,” she said, stopping in front of one of the cages, “is Smokey. His owner got rid of him when she moved out of town.”
“You’re kidding.” Darren seemed appalled at the idea.
“I’m afraid not. People have too many excuses for leaving their pets with us. That’s just one of many.”
Darren poked a finger through the wires. When he did, Smokey came over, rubbing his cheek against it. “Can I hold him?” Darren asked.
“Of course.” She opened the cage and Darren picked him up. The cat immediately snuggled against his chest, his head on Darren’s shoulder.
“Damn, he weighs a ton. What have you been feeding him?”
Mrs. Smythe laughed. “Normal dry and wet food, which is all he needs.” She waggled a finger at him. “No table scraps. Understand?”
Darren nodded as he set Smokey down, kneeling to keep a firm grip on his collar. “He’s big enough I could take him out for walks,” he commented with a grin.
“He might like that, but it’s the only way to let him outside. Even if your yard has a fence, he could, and would get over it.”
Rob joined Darren, saying, “I think you’ve found you ‘dog’, and it’s a cat.”
“I think you’re right.”
Twenty minutes later, they left the shelter. Darren was carrying Smokey in a large cardboard pet carrier. Rob had a bag filled with cat toys the shelter sold. On the way home, they stopped at a national pet supply store where Darren bought a litter box and enough food, in Rob’s opinion, to keep Smokey fed for the next year—as well as bowls.
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