Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 187(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37426 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 187(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
“Dinner?”
“Yeah, I mean, with Mike living in Nevada, I don’t have any other friends here and I was hoping… Not that we’re friends exactly, but we’ve known each other forever and—”
“We’re friends,” he assured his shy boss. “And I’d love to come over for dinner. Just give me a little notice so I don’t schedule a night shift that day, okay?”
Tanner beamed. “I’ll talk to Steve about his schedule and then I’ll give you dates.”
“See you in the morning.”
He smiled as he left the office. His older sister had moved back to Massachusetts the second she graduated from high school, but DJ liked Hope. The people were kind and friendly, and in a lot of ways, it was like the small town where he was born. Except in Hope, there were other gay people and he could be himself.
When his parents were killed in a car accident, his grandfather had insisted that they come live with him. He was their only living relative so there wasn’t much their family friends could do to stop him. Kaira had been miserable in Hope, never having forgiven their grandfather for taking them away from their life. When she went back to Claddagh, DJ had been left alone with his grandfather and Kaira’s expectation that he’d join her as soon as he turned eighteen and could make his own choices. But as much as he loved his sister and the friends that were more like family in their small hometown, he couldn’t be himself there. As far as he knew, there wasn’t a single openly gay person in Claddagh. Moving back meant being expected to marry a woman and have children. That wasn’t happening, so he stayed in Hope.
Thinking of his sister made him think of his niece and nephew so he took out his phone and sent a text. “I haven’t gotten a picture of my babies in days. Send me my fix before I go through withdrawals.”
She responded right away, as usual. “They learned how to walk so I’m constantly chasing them around the house. 80% of my day is spent figuring out what I can postpone until tomorrow. Hold on a sec and I’ll send you a cute one I took yesterday. They’re even mostly clean.”
By the time he crossed Main Street to get to the coffee shop, his phone vibrated with another text. He looked down and smiled at the photo. His eyes were the same blue as his sister’s, but where he had nearly black hair, hers was a stunning red; his niece and nephew were her spitting image. “They’re beautiful just like their mother. Tell them Uncle Dylan loves them.”
“You can tell them yourself if you come visit.”
Aside from the cost of the plane ticket, there was no way he could afford to take the days off work. But he couldn’t tell his sister that their grandfather’s loan sharks were harassing him because she already felt guilty that he was alone on the other side of the country.
“I have to get back to work. I’ll come see you as soon as I can.”
He wished it could be sooner.
“Dyl Dyl, I have the most amazing news!” his sister said as soon as he answered her call.
DJ pushed the bag of frozen peas against his cheek and hoped it would take the swelling down before he had to go into work that night. “Dyl Dyl? You haven’t called me that since we were kids.”
“Sorry, I’m just so excited!”
“It’s okay.” His sister’s joy was contagious so he chuckled despite the pain from the punches he had received in exchange for his apparently not sufficient loan payment. “What’s going on? Are you pregnant again?”
“Bite your tongue! The twins are only fourteen months old.”
“You like being a mom,” he reminded her as he wiggled around, trying to get comfortable on his scratchy, lumpy couch.
“Yes, I do, and I am already a mom, a very tired mom with two active toddlers. Quit wishing for me to get even busier! I’d like to go on a date with my husband sometime this decade.”
“This decade? What are you talking about? Plan a date night this week. I’m sure someone in the community can watch your kids.”
“You don’t think I’ve tried that? Well, I have. Multiple times. Something always comes up. I’ve learned that you can have plans or you can have kids, but you can’t have both. Now stay on topic!”
“Okay, okay.” He laughed harder, but that aggravated the ache in his chest so he whimpered.
“Dyl? You okay?”
“I’m fine.” He took in one shallow breath and then another. “Tell me the good news.”
“I found someone for you,” she said excitedly. “He’s one of us, Dyl, and he’s gay.”
“Seriously?” He sat up and dropped the peas.
“Yes, can you believe it?”
He couldn’t, but he hadn’t managed to say that before his sister kept chattering.