Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
He was at work today, while I was sitting around my house, trying to figure out something to do with myself. It had been a while since I talked to my parents, so I grabbed my cell, and gave them a call.
“You’re on speakerphone. Dad’s here too!” Mom said in place of hello. “We just got home from yoga.”
My parents did almost everything together. They always had. They were a perfect example of a happy couple who loved and respected each other.
“I miss yoga.”
“They don’t have classes?”
“Not in Ryland. I assume they do somewhere close. They have to have yoga here, right?”
My parents laughed. “You should look into it,” Dad said, and Mom added, “It’s not like you don’t know it well enough that you could teach your own class if you wanted to. Just do it at home.” She was right. I didn’t know why I hadn’t done much of it since moving to Ryland, and I really did miss it.
“True. I wonder if Brian would do yoga…”
“Oh. This must be serious,” Mom said.
“Wait, who’s Brian? No one told me about Brian,” Dad complained.
“It’s not serious,” I replied on reflex, but the words didn’t feel right. They tasted like bile in my throat.
“Brian is a man your son has been spending time with,” Mom answered.
“We’re actually dating.” There was no reason to keep it from them. I didn’t like secrets. Not after Paul.
“Wow, this is a step up from last time we spoke.” There was a smile in Mom’s voice.
“I can’t believe no one told me there’s a Brian.” And a pout in Dad’s. God, I loved them. Why hadn’t Paul felt he could come to us with his struggles? I would never understand it.
I chuckled. “Sorry, Dad. I’ll be sure to keep you better informed.”
“I would appreciate it. Thanks,” he teased.
I sighed, getting serious, needing to get this out. “I like him a lot.”
“Oh, sweetie. Why do you say that like it’s a bad thing?” Mom asked softly.
“I don’t know. I just… I’m scared of screwing up, for one. He’s different. He’s sad…lonely. He’s spent his whole life alone—in love with someone who didn’t love him back and died years ago. Brian’s opening himself up to someone for the first time, and what if I hurt him?”
“I don’t mean to throw a wrench into your hero complex here, but it sounds like you should be the one worrying about getting hurt,” Dad said. “You clearly care about this man, and if he’s in love with the memory of someone else, can he fully give himself to you?”
Leave it to Dad to cut to the chase and bring up something I’d been trying to ignore.
“I agree with your father,” Mom added.
“It’s a concern, one more thing that tells me this is doomed. He’s in love with the memory of someone else. I don’t know what I want. I don’t live in North Carolina.”
“Well, as much as I love you,” Mom said, “that last one is an easy fix. If you fall in love with him, you move there, or Brian moves to New York. I’m more a fan of the second option.”
I laughed because that would never happen. “I can’t imagine Brian living in the city. It would eat him alive—not because he’s weak or anything like that. He’s just…he belongs here. He lives and breathes the quiet and open air here. It would smother all the things I like about him.”
“We can always get a house in North Carolina too. I’ve always wanted to get in touch with my inner cowboy,” Dad joked, making us laugh.
“You don’t have an inner cowboy,” Mom told him.
“Eh, maybe I do and we don’t know it.”
“I love you guys.” I didn’t know what I would do without my family, and I hated that Brian didn’t have this. There was Sutton, of course, and they were close, but he had pulled away from his own brother before he’d passed away because he’d been in love with the man’s wife.
“Oh, Charles, we love you too. And whatever this thing with Brian is, you’ll figure it out. Just…enjoy it. You’ve never talked to us like this about a man before.”
No, no I hadn’t. This small-town man had shaken up my world.
“You should bring him with you next month when you come for your mom’s birthday.”
Shit. I’d forgotten about that. No way I wouldn’t go back to the city for her birthday. We always spent them together.
“Yes! Please do that. I would love to meet him,” Mom added, an excitement to her voice that told me I had to do my best to make this happen. She was a mom; who wanted to let them down?
“I’ll ask him, but I can’t make any promises.”
“I can’t believe you’re moving to North Carolina to live with the man you love,” Mom said, which again made me chuckle.