Roe nodded. “And for what it’s worth, I know the Sharpes. They’re a good family. They’ll be okay. If anyone is having trouble, it’s truly out of worry for Deacon. They’re not a hateful bunch. I also think it’s okay not to go. Family doesn’t change because someone misses a holiday. Sometimes it’s even good for you.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate you both.” They’d accepted Grady from the start, had given him a job, befriended him, and hadn’t even jumped to conclusions when Deacon had come into the store that first day.
“We’re just doing it for the free ice cream,” Holden said, and the three of them shared a laugh.
Evie brought their food right after that. They ate, talked, laughed some more, but Grady’s thoughts were back in Everett with Deacon.
Chapter 24
Deacon
“I hear you have a new…gentleman friend. I can’t say I’m not surprised, but I want you to know I support you. It must have been hard for you all these years, holding in that part of who you are. I say let the gays be gay! Though you don’t act gay…”
Deacon closed his eyes, trying to bite back all the angry words clogging his throat before looking at Emily Wilson. “I’m not gay,” he told the woman, who was close to Granny’s age. “And I don’t even know what you mean by acting gay. They’re not a monolith. They’re people like everyone else, and they’re all different.”
His eyes darted to Luann, who tried to pretend she wasn’t paying attention. He appreciated the effort she’d been putting in all day. Half the customers at Sundae’s Best had made some kind of comment or other.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to hide anymore. I think Patricia would have understood. She was good people. She wouldn’t want you to deny who you are.” She smiled, and the hard part was, Deacon knew she was actually trying to be helpful. There wasn’t a mean bone in Ms. Wilson’s body, but that didn’t mean her words didn’t make his blood pressure spike.
“I haven’t been denying who I am.” At least, he didn’t think he had. No, he knew he hadn’t. “I loved Patricia. I never lied to her,” he said, feeling the need to get that in. People had him unsure about himself, of what to say, and of what he felt. The need to defend himself wouldn’t ease up. Would this have been the same for Nathan? Was it like this for Roe when he came out?
“I’m just glad to see you happy again. I could see it in you, ya know? Even when you were a boy—always holding yourself back. There’s a light in your eyes now that you don’t have to hold part of yourself back. While I might not understand your lifestyle, I know you have the right to live it.”
Deacon’s chest tightened. Understand his lifestyle? What the fuck was there to understand? He’d loved Patricia. He’d been married to her. She was dead, and now he cared about Grady. “Luann, can you take over, please?” He turned for the back room without another word.
He paced, unable to sit still. This was different for him, and he couldn’t stop himself from wondering if it would always be like this. If people would say ridiculous things like Ms. Wilson had. If they’d make assumptions and try to be nice when they were being offensive as hell.
And he also wondered why his parents hadn’t come to talk to him, or at least his siblings.
Maybe the better question was why he hadn’t gone to them.
The door opened, and Luann stuck her head through. “You okay, Deke?”
He nodded. “Yeah, just…” He didn’t know how to act when things like this happened. These were people he’d known all his life.
Luann said, “You know…since Grady started coming along, I’ve seen a change in you… Olivia, Juan, and the others have too. All that matters is you’re happy, and you clearly are. The rest is just static.” She gave him a small smile, then retreated into the main part of the ice cream parlor.
She was right, of course she was. Deacon knew that, but it was a whole lot easier to deal with it from the outside. Still, he exhaled a deep breath, then followed her.
He wasn’t surprised when Tasha and Leroy came in. He didn’t think Luann was either when he said, “Olivia will be here in a few minutes. Will you be okay if I cut out early?”
His siblings waited by the door as Deacon took his apron off, pulled on his jacket, then went over to meet them.
“Let’s go to Mama and Pop’s and talk,” he said.
A rush of cool air washed over them the second they stepped outside. There had been colder and warmer December days in North Carolina. The weather was fickle, but the sun was out, and it was a crisp fifties day.