for his son behind the scenes, and it wouldn’t be the last.
“Psst!”
Spencer looked up. His sister, Darla, opened the kitchen window and called to him.
“They’re gone. You can come back inside now.”
Spencer waited until the rental car pulled away from the curb before standing, then stretching his old legs until the cramping subsided. “This hide-and-seek stuff is for the young,” he muttered, smoothing the wrinkles out of his pants.
He walked into the house and joined his sister.
“You’re only as old as you feel and right now you’re feeling sorry for yourself. For no good reason, either,” Darla said.
Spencer scowled. “Would you rather I go home and do a tell-all interview? Embarrass my only son and disgust my clients?”
Darla shook her head. “I think you underestimate those who care about you.”
He burst out laughing. “You care. You, Rose and Amy.” He mentally added Yank, Lola and the girls to the list. “But if you think my clients care about anything more than their next paycheck and their status in the sports world, you’re wrong. To them, a gay agent would be an embarrassment and I damn well know it. I need time.”
Darla started for the door.
“Where are you going?” Spencer asked.
“To pick out my outfit for my birthday party tonight.”
He hated what he had to tell her next. “I can’t be there.”
“Because Sophie and Riley will be?” Darla delivered a challenging stare.
Spencer massaged the sore muscles in the back of his neck. “I hate like hell to miss it, but I’m not ready to deal with them.”
“Coward.”
“Maybe.”
“He looks like you,” Darla said. “He has your eyes.”
“He has my good looks, doesn’t he?” Spencer asked.
His sister rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
Spencer grinned. He couldn’t control his pride in the man his son had become and he couldn’t help but hope that one day Riley would feel the same pride in him.
And maybe the 49ers would win the Super Bowl.
“Just make sure you find a way to keep those two together,” Spencer said.
Because if his coming out accomplished nothing else, maybe it would help his son settle down.
CHAPTER FIVE
SOPHIE ADJUSTED her seat belt and glanced at Riley’s taut expression. His jaw had been locked tight ever since they’d left Darla’s house and started the short drive to the patio home as instructed by Spencer’s nutty sister.
“I don’t believe a word Darla said.” Sophie broke the silence first, figuring if it were up to Riley, he’d remain mute.
Riley nodded in agreement. “I don’t, either.”
Sophie wondered what Darla really knew about Spencer’s disappearance and how hard it would be to find out. The other woman liked to ramble but Sophie had seen hints that she wasn’t as flighty as she appeared.