Chapter 15
fifteen
. . .
When he’d first moved into the city, going home to his mum’s house now and then had been a real treat for Lee.
Then Dan had gotten sick, and while those journeys had grown more frequent, they had also turned more fraught.
Now that Dan was gone, going home always brought a bittersweet ache to Lee’s gut.
“My dear boy,” his mum greeted him with a tight hug that lasted too long. “My, you’re looking well. How have you been feeling, darling? Is everything alright with your digestion?”
Lee hugged his mum in return, knowing full well where her worries about his gut were coming from. “I’m fine, Mum. Doing great, actually. Really well.”
He couldn’t stop smiling as he spoke, even though it was his mum and explaining exactly why he felt like he was walking on air at the moment would be opening a can of worms that he wasn’t sure he wanted to deal with.
His mum eyed him as she turned to head into the kitchen, gesturing for him to come with her. “I’ve seen the pictures online,” she said, proving Lee wasn’t going to be able to get away with keeping his strange new romance a secret. “He seems very famous.”
Lee laughed as he took a seat at the kitchen table, the site of more family memories, arguments, and heartfelt conversations than he could count.
It was the table where they’d all sat when he and Dan were teenagers and his mum had announced that she was finally divorcing their abusive, deadbeat father.
It was where she’d told them all about the business plan for the garden center that was her dream job.
It was where he’d come out to his mum and brother, where Dan had told them both his diagnosis, and where they’d helped him get his affairs in order and figure out his final wishes.
Now it was the place where Lee was certain he would have to make a load of confessions he wasn’t sure he was ready for.
“His name is Drew Oberlin,” he offered the information before his mum could pester him for more. “He’s an actor who recently shot to fame, practically overnight, because he was in a very popular television show last year.”
“Yes, Margery told me all about it,” Mum said, clicking the kettle on and taking two mugs from the cupboard to get tea started.
There was already an array of Dan’s favorite foods spread out across the counter as well, as if Dan had just popped out and would return for his birthday feast at any moment.
“Margery also said the man shows quite a bit of himself in that program.”
The pink that splashed his mum’s cheeks made Lee lean back in his chair with a grin. “Mum, have you seen my boyfriend’s bum?”
The question was meant to be teasing, but it sparked half a dozen awkward emotions.
Calling Drew his boyfriend had spilled out far too easily.
They had a connection, yes, and they’d had a surprisingly amazing night together.
Lee had helped Drew discover things about himself, and the discoveries promised to keep on coming.
But to blurt out that they were boyfriends?
Lee’s mum seemed to feel the weight of that statement as well. “So they two of you are a real item, then?” she asked, adding a teabag and sugar to each of their mugs, then heading to the fridge to get the milk.
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Lee admitted, running a hand through his hair and knocking his glasses askew in the process.
“Complicated?” Mum asked, bringing the milk to the counter just as the kettle clicked off.
Lee hesitated, wondering how far into the whole thing he should go. He opted for, “Things are always complicated when you’re dating a celebrity.”
It was something of a cop-out, but it would have to do.
“Well, if you’re serious about this young man, then I hope I get to meet him at some point.”
Lee sat up a bit. “I could call him to see if he can come by after he’s done on set today.”
His mum frowned slightly. “It’s Sunday.”
“Television and film productions don’t care about things like weekends,” Lee explained, relieved to have something to say about Drew that didn’t put the focus on their relationship. “With so much money being spent, they need to work whenever and however long they can.”
“I see,” Mum said, fixing the tea and bringing it to the table. She wasn’t convinced.
“You’d like him, Mum, I swear,” Lee went on with a gentle laugh for his mum’s reticence. “He’s a lot of fun, and he’s so humble. A year ago, he was just a guy with ambitions who nobody knew. That’s how fast fame happened for him. He’s hardly a celebrity at all.”
“That’s not what Margery says.”
Lee loved his mum so much. She was protective, but in a way that made him feel warm and cared for. “If I invite him to come celebrate with us later, will you at least give him a chance?”
His mum took a long drink of tea, then set her mug down and said, “Yes. Invite him. But only because I want to get a good look at him and a feel for him before I make up my mind.”
“Alright, then,” Lee laughed. “As soon as I get a chance, I’ll give him a call.”
He took a sip of his own tea, then did the wisest thing he thought he could in the situation, he changed the subject.
“I have big news of my own,” he said, brimming with excitement. “I have an agent now.”
“An agent?” His mum looked pleased but surprised. “I thought you liked publishing your books on your own.”
“I do, but Jerry Turnbridge is one of the biggest and most influential agents in publishing, and he approached me.”
“My boy.” Mum smiled and reached across the corner of the table and patted his cheek. “I always knew you were the real deal. Dan knew it, too. He was so proud of you and wanted you to achieve so much.”
“I know, Mum.” Lee gave her a suddenly emotional smile. “Dan always believed in me more than even I believed in me.”
“He did,” Mum agreed, sniffing and wiping the corner of her eye. “I wish he could be here to see how successful you’ve become.”
Whatever questions his mum might have had about Drew were forgotten as memories of Dan took over. Lee didn’t mind at all. He loved his brother and missed him as much as Mum did.
They spent the next several minutes, as they finished their tea, reminiscing about Dan.
Lee told stories of how Dan had helped him by reading his books and making what he’d called editorial suggestions, which really meant being as blunt as possible about the things he didn’t like and how he thought there should be more sex.
He didn’t tell his mum any of that. Not specifically, at least.
After the tea was gone and cleaned up, the two of them adjourned outside, where Mum had been working on a special memorial garden for Dan with all his favorite flowers and a sculpture of a cherub that Lee found hideous but that Mum loved, so he would keep his lips zipped.
It felt good to get his hands dirty and to talk about Dan for a while.
Tears and laughter were a wonderfully healing combination.
He took a moment to call Drew when they broke for a snack.
He was surprised that Drew actually answered, but in the end, he was glad he did.
Lee cringed when Drew told him about Jessica’s reaction to the long-overdue break-up and about her returning to L.A.
He could hear the upset in Drew’s voice, even if the man didn’t want to place too much blame on Jessica for her actions.
Lee definitely wanted to blame her. After the other night, he was inclined to think Jessica was shallow and selfish. She was the kind of ambitious wannabe starlet that gave Hollywood a bad name.
But Lee was also willing to admit that he didn’t really know Jessica all that well. Drew knew her better and had known her longer. She might actually be a lovely person under a lot of stress from a challenging career and a relationship that was falling apart.
Either way, Lee was glad Drew would be joining them later for Dan’s birthday.
Waiting for him to get there was a lesson in patience, though.
“I am happy that things are going so well for you,” Mum said, nearly out of the blue, several hours later, as they were decorating a cake for Dan together. “With this agent and your famous boyfriend.”
Her mouth was a little too tight and she avoided looking at him, which was a dead giveaway that she had much more to say.
“Things are going well,” Lee agreed with a smile, trusting that would prompt her to say what she was really thinking.
It only took a few seconds for his mum to put down the flowers from the garden she’d been using to decorate the cake and to stare straight at him. “Your goal has always been to be a writer.”
“Yes, it has been,” he agreed, following her lead and putting down the piping bag he’d been using.
“I don’t want you to lose sight of that,” she went on. “Dan wouldn’t have wanted you to lose sight of that. He always saw your potential, knew how much you love storytelling. You know he wouldn’t approve of you veering off course or doing anything that might take you away from your true calling.”
Lee sighed as the pieces came together and he figured out what his mum was talking about. “I’m not going to become one of those celebrity entourage people who give up everything in their life just to follow a man around, living the high life.”
“No, I don’t expect you would do that,” Mum said, looking just a touch guilty. “But what if that’s what he wants from you? What will you do if he asks you to give up your life for his?”
“Mum, he’s not going to do that,” Lee laughed.
“What if he wants you to move to America with him?” she went on. “I doubt he’s going to be here in the UK forever.”
She had a point. A good point. One he hadn’t thought about yet and didn’t really want to think about now.
Nothing about their relationship was intended to be real, but now that it was heading that way, the whole thing brought some real questions with it.
Like how to have a relationship with someone who lived eight time-zones away.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he told his mum. “The whole thing is still very new.”