William snorted. “I’m still getting used to you cursing.”
“What can I say, I have fewer fucks to give these days. Well—technically, more fucks. Oh, whatever. I’m sorry.” I winced at my own awkwardness. I had changed. “I listened to Eminem earlier, and then I almost said yo to a client.”
He laughed, way too amused.
A moment later, I passed the sign welcoming me home to Camassia Cove.
“With that settled,” I drawled, “why were you going to call me?”
“Thought I’d give you an update on Mason.”
“Oh, yeah. Shoot.” I returned to the right lane. While I was in the area, I might as well swing by Target. Aurora needed tampons, and I was almost out of trash bags and the cereal Brady preferred.
“Turns out he’s moving back home,” William said, and I was surprised, to say the least. “He’s currently house hunting, so I sent him the local listings. There’s one for sale on your street.”
“Hit rewind, William,” I said, shaking my head. “All I ever heard about Mason when we started dating was how he’d escaped Camassia as soon as possible—that he couldn’t wait to leave. Now he’s moving back? Just like that?”
He chuckled. “Trust me, I was surprised too. At first. But it makes sense when you learn that he wasn’t escaping the town so much as he was escaping our parents.”
Oh. Oh. Wow, another thing I hadn’t seen coming.
I’d had the blinders on for the longest time where their parents were concerned. I’d always found them sweet. Now I knew better. They were nice as long as they were satisfied with your accomplishments and, well, sexual orientation. When I found out they had told William they wouldn’t accept that he was now with a man, I’d been fucking livid. I hadn’t spoken to them since.
“I had no idea.” I shook my head and turned into the Target parking lot. “Man, the irony. He must’ve been horrified when they moved down to Phoenix after they retired.” To be closer to Mason, no less.
“That’s what I said,” William sighed. “But by then, Mason was with his second wife—and he had Tristan in high school.”
I hummed. “Doesn’t Tristan live in Vancouver now?”
Mason’s boy was twenty-three, if I weren’t mistaken. I remembered when I’d had dinner with Mason in the beginning of September; he mentioned that Tristan had met a Canadian girl and moved to the West Coast. Vancouver or Victoria, one of them. Either way, Camassia was closer to Vancouver than Seattle, so it would make sense.
“Yes,” William confirmed. “That’s why he’s going with Camassia. He wants to be closer to Tristan. Oh, and a bit of good news, I suppose. Tristan’s going to be a father in a couple of months.”
“What the fuck!” I exclaimed. As I pulled into an empty spot near the entrance, I smacked the wheel and couldn’t help but feel incredibly frustrated. “What is it with you men? Is it so damn hard to share what’s going on with you? I sat down with Mason for almost four fucking hours, and he didn’t mention shit. Okay if the divorce thing might’ve been too sensitive a topic…? I don’t know. But that he’s becoming a grandfather? I can’t fucking believe you.”
I released a heavy breath and slumped back in my seat.
The rain was pouring down, and I didn’t have an umbrella in the car.
Just great.
“Is this where I apologize for my gender?” William asked, amusement lacing his tone.
I scoffed. “I’ll just call him myself.”
“Hey, I’ve gotten better at sharing,” he defended carefully. “Mason and I are still getting to know each other again. Much of this is new to me too.”
I knew that. I wasn’t fair to either of them. It was their business, and they told me whatever they wanted when they were ready. And William was right. He’d worked hard to be open—with everyone in his family—so he wouldn’t slide back to where he’d once been. Suffocating on his own lies and fears.
“I’m sorry.” I scrubbed my hands over my face. “I’m so used to being the one who pulls all the strings and makes sure everyone has what they need.”
“I know, sweetheart.” He paused. “I’m home. Are you okay?”
I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Yes. Please tell Kelly I found the recipe for scallops that Matt wondered about. I can email it to you.”
Matt was Kelly’s son. He had played a significant role in killing the awkwardness between Kelly and me when we tried to get to know each other better. We’d never be best friends or anything, but we both wanted to get along. And seeing as Brady and Matt viewed each other as brothers, I’d made an effort to include Matt more, especially when my son asked his whipped mother to send him back to college with home-cooked meals and cookies.
Aurora didn’t view Matt as a brother…