Sundae's Best (Briar County 2)

Deacon looked up at the woman standing on the other side of his ice cream counter. Mable Davis, longtime member of Granny’s church—which also happened to be Eugene and Frances’s church—and one of the biggest gossips in all of Briar County.

“Which friend is that?” Deacon asked, as if he didn’t know.

This was how things had gone over the past month and a half since Christmas. People found ways to mention Grady to him, some more subtle than others. Grady had been called his friend, his special friend, his boyfriend, and that man. Deacon had been told he’d be prayed for and had people apologize he’d felt like he’d had to live his life in the closet. Some told him Patricia would understand and accept him, as if they knew Patty better than he had, while others whispered about how they’d heard he’d cheated on her with a man when she was alive or about what it would have done to her if she’d been alive when he’d eventually left her because he was gay.

But others…others just told him it was good to see him smile again. That Grady was a handsome man and that they were happy for him.

While the latter felt good, he wished no one mentioned it at all. Not that he was ashamed. He just didn’t want people to make a big deal out of it. He wanted to enjoy his relationship without it feeling like some kind of show. He’d never been part of the Briar County rumor mill before.

“Your young man, ya know? That guy who showed up out of the blue. I heard you’d been having a secret relationship with him for a year now. That you met through the computer.”

He tried not to roll his eyes. “It’s not nice to spread rumors, Ms. Mable.”

“I’m not spreading nothin’. I can’t help what someone tells me,” Mable replied. “I come straight to the source.”

He cocked a brow. “You know I respect you, but why is it any of your business how I met Grady or who he is to me?” He didn’t deny their relationship but didn’t confirm it either—not to anyone outside of his family, Clint, and Roe and Holden knowing, and they wouldn’t have said anything. He just wanted to live his damn life without all this extra shit.

“Well…” Mable said, “I don’t know if you think I was born yesterday or something, but I have eyes in my head. I saw you together, grocery shopping at Bunny’s in Harmony. Now, I don’t usually do my shopping there because there are stores I like just fine right here in Everett. But I was visiting Chrissy Henderson—don’t know if you know her.”

Deacon crossed his arms. “Yeah, her family sells eggs off the old Highway 62.”

“Yep. I was visiting, and I decided to stop by Bunny’s on the way home. You were with your gentleman friend—at Bunny’s, not Chrissy’s. I’m sure you know that. Anyway, you were talking and laughing, and hand to God, it looked like something from a movie. It don’t take a genius to see you’re smitten with that man, which was a surprise, and not just because he’s male, but because you haven’t known him all that long. But then, it makes sense if you really met over the internet. That’s what all the kids do nowadays anyway. I wanted you to know I approve and that I’m sorry some people don’t.”

Deacon fought not to let his emotion show on his face. By some people, she meant Eugene and Frances. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind about that. That truth still hurt. They had been like parents to him. He’d been there with them when they found out Nathan had died, consoled them along with Patty, and then he’d been the one to help them hold it together when Patty went. And now they wanted nothing to do with him, all because Deacon was with a man.

The world was a sad place sometimes. There was so much put into who someone else was, what they did, how they looked, who they loved, when none of it should matter. The only thing that should was how you treated people.

He cleared his throat. “I appreciate the support. Now, what can I do for you today? We brought back the blueberry-lemon swirl. I know how much you like that.”

Mable took the hint and ordered a pint of ice cream. Deacon rang her up, and she left, but she wasn’t the only person to mention Grady to him that day. With some, it was as simple as, I saw your young man working at Covington Supply Co, while others side-eyed him and whispered.

Deacon had always loved living in Briar County. He still did. But now he was starting to resent the place he’d always loved.