His heart was slamming against his ribs as he took thehangers off the rod and hurried out of his closet with an armful of shirts and coats. The next few weeks were going to be tense enough with Sky back in town for the funeral and the dedication ceremony but lying about the guest room wasn’t going to make things better. That was probably part of Adele’s plan too. She loved to stir up drama and Sky’s return to Roseview was already the talk of the town.
Expect fireworks.
Both Sarina and Mason were expecting Adele to be in top form. She couldn’t let her mother-in-law’s death steal her thunder. Not even at Nana’s funeral.
But this was particularly devious and Mason wondered if Adele had somehow found out aboutthem.
Which didn’t seem likely because the only people who knew about it were Mason, Sky and Sarina—because Mason ran to her straight after their encounter in the Reflection Room to beg for forgiveness. She had actually laughed and teased him for being a shameless hussy, which hadn’t helped.
That last time, though...
It still haunted him. He’d spent years imagining what it would be like to kiss Sky again but had forbid himself from letting it happen. But it only took two cups of Jell-O and a few of Sky’s wry grins for Mason to crumble. Sarina forgave Mason and swore she understood but he could never forgive himself or forget the look on Sky’s face when he came to his senses.
All the heavy emotions and confusion of Lance’s funeral and the Reflection Room rushed back to Mason while he emptied drawers and hastily changed the bedding, then cleared out the bathroom. He didn’t know how Adele had out-maneuvered Sky and got him to agree to stay but he was both impressed and terrified.
Sky would not be happy about it and Mason was expecting more drama. Of all the times to meddle and manipulate analready tense situation, Adele had chosen Nana’s passing to force a reunion and had picked their house for the venue. He doubted that she’d done it out of some misguided attempt to heal their rift and was expecting more stunts and shenanigans.
Having Sky under their roof would be a brilliant opportunity for Sam to spend a ton of quality time with his uncle, but Mason and Sarina would have to be vigilant. There were so many ways Sam could inadvertently disclose that his parents weren’t intimately involved and didn’t even share a bedroom. A few innocent comments could easily go unnoticed by Sky, but he’d start to put together the clues as they spent more time together.
Neither Mason nor Sarina wanted to fool Sam about the nature of their relationship. Thanks to Mason’s therapist’s advice, they were slowly letting Sam in on their secret in subtle, natural ways. Mason often referred to Sarina as his “best friend” and they didn’t use confusing language when speaking to each other in front of him. Alone, they might tease each other about being horny or sexy. But when Sam was around, they were extremely platonic in their support and affection.
Eventually, they assumed Sam would notice that his parents weren’t like his friends’ parents. They planned to explain that they loved each other just like his friends’ parents did, but they didn’t want to kiss each other or do other things adults did with their bodies when they were in love. As Sam matured and his understanding of sexuality improved, they agreed to tell him that both of his parents had wanted a family and a child to love and that a small lapse of judgment had created a miracle.
Hewas the magical spark that had created a beautiful family and a happy home.
Slowly planting those seeds and allowing them to grow with time also gave Sarina and Mason the space to graduallyintroduce Sam to the idea of queerness and that all marriages weren’t necessarily the same. They could also carefully and gently explain the realities of homophobia and the true natures of their neighbors so that he appreciated why his parents didn’t discuss the personal details of their lives outside of their home.
This is normal, too, and parents aren’t always intimate with each other.
That was the reality they were gradually exposing Sam to but one that Sky might reject and openly rail against. He already knew that Mason and Sarina were lying and a big reason he had stayed away was so that he wouldn’t have to play along. Hecouldn’tplay along.
What if the pressure got to be too much for Sky and he accidentally revealed the truth to Sam? The last thing Mason and Sarina wanted was to force Sky into reconciling when he wasn’t ready, but Adele had backed the three of them into a very tight corner. It was suddenly imperative that they made peace with Sky and explained how delicate the situation was with Sam.
Mason had faith that Sky would ultimately do what was best for his nephew, once he was made aware of where the boundaries were. How to get him to listen long enough to understand was a challenge they were going to have to tackle immediately.
Chapter Eight
“There aresixbedrooms in this house. What the fuck do you mean, Nadine’s not here and there’s no room?” Sky shouted at his mother but she held up a martini glass, shrugging at him and Sarina. His sister had her phone out and was texting feverishly, looking and sounding equally appalled.
“Didn’t she tell you?” Adele murmured and studied her nails. “Nadine’s taking care of her sister after her angioplasty. It’s just me and Irene and she’s not as spry as she used to be. And you know she doesn’t cook.” She clicked her teeth at Sky. “We didn’t think you’d be back any time soon so we used your room to hold my things while my new closets are being installed.”
“Mom,”Sarina said through clenched teeth. “This isn’t helping.”
Apparently, Sarina had been under the impression that Sky had been warned that she was picking him up and had agreed to a truce.
Afucking truce?
Sky blinked at Adele, trying to understandwhyshe would insist that he come and stay for three godforsaken weeks if she didn’t want him there. “What about the other rooms?”
“Your sister’s room is Sam’s room now and the bunk bed is rather small…” She paused to take a sip of her martini and gasped in relief. “All this talking,” she complained wearily. “We took out the east wall in my closet and we’re expanding into the bedroom on the other side. The blue guest room is my yoga studio and the small room at the end of the hall is where I do my makeup now. The lighting really is the best so I had my vanity moved there and I got rid of the bed so I could put my new massage chair in there. I use it when I’m wearing my masks and listening to audiobooks,” she informed them.
“No.” Sky shook his head and pulled out his phone. “I’m going home. I didn’t want to be here in the first place but I don’t like whatever this is.”
“Stop being such a baby, Skylar. You’ll stay with your sister and Mason. They have a guest room.”
“What?” Sarina rasped, gulping hard. “I mean, if he wants to but Sky probably doesn’t?—”
“No, I fucking don’t,” he confirmed. “What about Sutton House?”