Chapter Nine #2
“You had no way of knowing, all right?” he said gently.
Joshua’s skin prickled on the back of his neck, but he remained silent.
Manda gave Alex a warm glance, before returning her attention to Joshua.
“I ended up in hospital in my late twenties, being treated for benign uterine tumors that were invasive and bleeding. Their treatment? A hysterectomy. So… no family. Not that anyone ever came close to Darrell.” She bit her lip.
“Well, maybe a couple of guys did, but… they didn’t work out. ”
“And the career in journalism?”
“Oh, she got that,” Alex said proudly. “She’s an amazing writer. I keep telling her she needs to write a book someday, but so far she’s resisting the idea.”
Manda pushed away her plate. “I’m done. Not that it isn’t as delicious as always, it’s just that my stomach has been in knots for most of the last twenty-four hours, and eating is difficult.” She drank some water and leaned back. “But thank you for that.”
Joshua was done too. “That was awesome.”
“Now how about you tell me what’s gotten you so upset,” Alex suggested quietly. “I’m assuming it’s to do with Asha.”
She nodded. “When I got to the medical center late Wednesday, I found out Mary hadn’t told me everything.
Apart from not eating, Asha had diarrhea.
Like, really bad diarrhea. So when they got her in the center, they deduced she had something like gastritis, and that was what they focused on first.” Manda swallowed.
“Do you know how dangerous dehydration is in someone of Asha’s age?
We’re talking fatal. We’re talking tachycardia, and after three days of vomiting, diarrhea and not eating…
. God, her blood pressure was so low, Alex. ”
“How is she?” Alex grasped Manda’s hand.
Manda shuddered out a breath. “They spent all day yesterday hydrating her, watching her heart rate and blood pressure, and treating her with intravenous fluids and meds. Bottom line? She’s okay.” Her shoulders sagged. “The only reason I’m here is because her nurses bullied me.”
Alex bit back a smirk. “As if anyone could bully you.”
She widened her eyes. “I’m being serious. They told me Asha was stable, there was nothing I could do for her, and that I needed to take a break.” She huffed. “I haven’t slept more than a couple of hours since Tuesday night.”
“So what you need is my comfortable guest bed and at least eight hours straight of uninterrupted sleep.” Alex smiled. “That can be arranged.”
“I’m not gonna stay here all weekend. I’ll go see her tomorrow, just to check she’s still okay.” She glanced across at Joshua. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to dump all that on you too.”
“It’s fine,” Joshua assured her. “In fact, it’s getting late, so I might go now. If it’s safe to move that damn cheesecake,” he added.
“Are you sure? You don’t have to leave just yet.” Alex appeared surprised.
“I’m sure. You need to take care of Manda.” Joshua smiled. “Who else is gonna put her to bed when she drinks too much tequila?”
Manda laughed. “Oh yeah, I really like him.”
An impulse struck Joshua, and before he could rein in his mouth, he blurted out, “Why don’t you come over tomorrow and share the cheesecake with me and the boys?”
Alex blinked. “I couldn’t impose.”
Joshua snorted. “Like you turning up to share my birthday celebrations would be an imposition. All we’re gonna do is sit around the table and eat it.
” He grinned. “It’s not like it’ll last until dinner time anyway.
If we make it to the afternoon without Micah or Greg trying to sneak a taste, it’ll be a miracle.
” He gave Alex a triumphant look. “That’s why you have to come.
I’d got to have someone there who’s not in their mid-twenties. ”
“I’ll be with Asha,” Manda added. “And if it’s Joshua’s birthday…. You can’t say no to that, Alex.”
Alex fired her a quick glance that Joshua couldn’t quite read, before giving Joshua a slow smile. “Okay then. What time?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. You’ve got the address, right?”
“In the files in my office, yes, but not on me.”
Joshua got out his phone and carefully typed the address into a text message.
He clicked Send. “There. Now you do.” He got to his feet.
“Thank you for a wonderful dinner, and if you decide to stay for dinner tomorrow, I’ll try to ensure that whatever’s available to eat? Had nothing to do with me.” He grinned.
Alex laughed and went over to the refrigerator. He placed the tin into Joshua’s outstretched hands. “You might want to grate some dark chocolate over it before you serve it tomorrow.”
“I’ll remember that. I’ll get Greg to do the grating.” When Alex gave him a quizzical glance, Joshua flushed. “I tried grating a nutmeg once. Nearly took off my fingertips too.”
Alex smothered a chuckle, unsuccessfully.
Joshua gave a nod in Manda’s direction. “It was a pleasure meeting you.”
Her face glowed. “Likewise. I hope to see you again.”
Alex retrieved his jacket from the back of the chair.
“You’ll need this. It’s getting cold out there.
” Joshua put down the tin, and Alex helped him into the jacket.
Carrying his precious cargo, Joshua headed for the door.
With the tin balanced precariously on one hand, he opened the passenger door and placed the tin onto the floor of the cab, figuring it wouldn’t move around too much down there.
As he closed the door, Alex was there, his hand extended.
“I really enjoyed our cooking lesson.”
Joshua laughed. “Me too. Can we do this again sometime?”
Alex nodded enthusiastically. “I’d like that. And I’ll see you tomorrow, Birthday Boy.”
Joshua narrowed his gaze. “Just you tomorrow, you got that? No card, nothing. You’ve done enough already.”
Alex opened his eyes wide. “Oh, sure. Gotcha.”
Like Joshua was fooled by that expression. “Mm-hmm.” He got into the cab, switched on the engine, and pulled away from Alex’s house. He watched Alex wave in the rear-view mirror, until he’d turned out of Brom Street.
Well, that was unexpected.
Joshua wasn’t sure which had been the biggest surprise of the evening—finally realizing he was attracted to Alex, or Alex turning out to gay.
Either way, the last thing he wanted was for his attraction to change the way he felt about his new friend. God, he hoped not. Alex was the best thing to come into his life in a long while, and Joshua was not about to spoil a good friendship.