I noticed they hadn’t stopped holding hands, but I thought it was best if I didn’t point that out.
“Something like that,” Charlie mumbled, staring hard at the tabletop.
Robert smiled softly at him. “You old codger.”
“I might have made a mistake,” Jeremy said, staring at the two across from us.
“My entire life is a mistake,” I muttered.
“I’ll leave you to it!” Sally chirped. “Charlie, Corey, if it’s all right with you, I’ll hold your food until the others have a chance to order too. That way you can all eat together.” She paused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. “Almost like a double date, isn’t it?”
She spun on her heels and wove through the crowd as if she hadn’t just detonated a weapon of mass destruction directly in my lap.
It was Jeremy’s turn to cough roughly. I chose to keep my hands to myself. If he died, I would have to live with it.
He didn’t.
I was relieved. Mostly.
“I wonder where she would get that idea,” Robert said airily. “Such a funny woman. I like her.” He glanced at Charlie. “And she seems to know you very well. Come here often?”
“Dad,” Jeremy groaned, face in his hands. “Could you not?”
“It was just a question, Jeremy,” he said. “I wasn’t getting fresh with him. I have no need. I secured this one with my wily charms before either of us had to bend over a
nd cough at the doctor’s office.”
“Robert!” Charlie said, sounding scandalized.
Robert ignored him. He looked at me, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. “Corey! How delightful it is to see you face-to-face. Jeremy here tells me that you’re making Phoenix House just a wonderful place to work.”
“Dad,” Jeremy said. “Would you stop?”
“Well, you did,” Robert said, glancing at him before looking back at me. “Don’t listen to him. I’m of the mind that if we don’t hear such things, it makes the job all that much harder. And Jeremy tends to be a little reticent with praise. It’s the teacher in him.”
“Dad!”
My hands were clamped down firmly on my thighs. “That’s… super? And you don’t need to worry about that. Jeremy tells me that enough.”
“Does he?” Robert asked sweetly. “That’s good. I’m glad we’re all on the same page. It’s important, the work you’re doing. I can only imagine how beneficial it is for queer kids to have access to ones such as yourselves. I can’t even begin to think how it would have been if we’d had the same thing in our youth.” He squeezed Charlie’s hand. “Who knows what might have happened?”
“I think we did all right with what we had,” Charlie muttered. “And we still got to this point, didn’t we?”
“We did,” Robert told him. “And I don’t know if there’s anywhere I’d rather be.”
I was dead. The cause of death listed by the coroner would be swooning over elderly men who were too precious for this world.
Charlie blushed harder and mumbled something I didn’t catch.
Robert chuckled. “It’s providence, I think. I believe people are placed in our lives at exactly the time they’re meant to. We may not realize the why of it right away, but eventually we get there. Do you know what I mean, Corey?”
No. I had no idea what he was talking about. “Of course,” I said.
“Good. Now, if you please, tell me everything there is to know about Corey Ellis.”
“Dad,” Jeremy chided. “Maybe let up a little.” He looked at me apologetically. “He can be pushy. You can tell him to knock it off.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s… okay, I guess. It’s not like there’s much to say.”