Chapter 20
CHAPTER
TWENTY
The soup mug didn’t hold enough coffee for him to get through breakfast with his parents. They were being too polite and too nice.
His parents were already up when Shannon padded into the kitchen, sitting out on the deck and drinking coffee.
Fortunately, they knew him better than to start talking to him before he’d started drinking his coffee.
He’d slept like shit, and he wanted to blame Dante for that because he was so used to having the solid heat of his body wrapped around him.
Shannon reheated a couple of slices of pizza to go with his coffee and then quit stalling. He took his plate and mug outside to join his parents on the deck.
“This would be lovely if there was a view of something,” his father said as a greeting.
“The view is the trees. And if you sit quietly, you can hear the birds.” When had he gotten used to enjoying breakfast listening to the birds and the rustling of leaves?
“Still not a morning person?” Mom asked.
“I like mornings…I just like to take my time and not be rushed.” Which is why he gave himself plenty of time before he had to go to work.
He had his morning routine down so that he could stay in bed for as long as possible while still moving at what his mother had once referred to as snail pace when trying to get him out the door to school.
Dante stuck his head outside. “I’m going to make some blueberry pancakes if anyone wants some?”
Shannon glanced at his pizza. Fuck it, he’d eat pancakes too. “I’ll have some, thanks.”
His mother gave Dante a small smile. “I guess I could have one.”
“Not for me,” his father said. “I can’t do the sweet stuff.”
Dante didn’t close the glass door, only the flyscreen. If his parents were going to ask, they had to do it where someone might hear.
His father looked at the door, then back at him. “Your landlord makes you pancakes?”
“Only if he’s making them. We also take it in turns to cook. It’s a little bit like being roommates, except he owns the house.” He shrugged as if it meant nothing. “It works for both of us as there’s no point in cooking two separate dinners for one.”
Shannon sipped his coffee and enjoyed a few seconds of silence even though they were weighed down with expectation.
“I didn’t want to upset you last night, but Spark needed surgery,” his mother said softly. “She has kidney complications and will need medication for the rest of her life.”
Shannon took a bite of pizza to avoid answering. He hadn’t lived at home for years, but when he was there Spark was always glad to see him. She must be pushing fifteen now, which wasn’t too bad for a dog her size.
“Things are a bit tight, and given that she is yours, it would be nice if you could contribute to her medication,” his father said.
Spark wasn’t his; he’d simply been the one to walk her. He couldn’t even remember how they’d ended up with her. Had a friend’s dog had puppies? Or had she been abandoned at one of the houses his father had been trying to sell?
“She’s as much mine as she is Riley’s.” He was sure their older siblings had pretty much moved out by the time Spark had come along.
“Riley is saving up for her wedding.”
“How much are the meds?”
“Five hundred a month.”
“Fuck me.” Shannon shook his head.
Dante brought out a pancake for his mother. “Here you go. I know the vet down here very well, given that my parents were heavily into horses. Why don’t you give Shannon the details, then we can go and see the vet, see if we can get the meds cheaper.”
Shannon glanced at him. Did Dante really know the vet, or was he trying to catch them off guard?
“She needs monitoring, so it’s best if all her care stays with the one vet,” his father said.
Shannon paused before agreeing with his father. He took a sip of coffee. If Spar needed medication, he wasn’t going to be an asshole about it, but he could do it on his terms.
“You know what?” Shannon leaned forward so he could look at his father, who was sitting on the other side of his mother.
“I’d like a second opinion from a different vet, and since she’s my dog, it might be better if I come and get her.
That way she can retire to a nice rural block with a vet just down the road. ”
Dante nodded. “I can’t imagine an old dog getting into much trouble around here.”
Was Spark really sick, or had his parents just been trying to get five hundred a month out of him now that he wasn’t paying LA prices for everything?
His father didn’t even flinch. “We’ll need to check if the others are okay with you taking her.”
“Let me get the second opinion, and then we’ll make a plan after all if it’s no cheaper here than it is there…” Yet at the same time, if Spark was here, he could be certain that she was getting the medication she needed.
“Yes, of course,” his mother said. She glanced at his father and gave him a single nod. “When we get home, I’ll send you all the details.”
“Thanks.” He stood and picked up his now empty plate, and as he walked past Dante in the doorway, he said, “I am so ready for pancakes.”
Dante followed him inside. He poured the batter into the pan and didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say.
He flipped the pancake and murmured. “I wanted you to be wrong.”
“So did I.”
His parents came inside.
“It’s a long drive back so we’re going to head off,” his father said.
They made all the right noises thanking Dante for letting them stay and saying how glad they were that it settled into Foggy Basin. Then they were rushing out the door like their jeans were on fire.
Dante put two blueberry pancakes on the table. “Sit down and enjoy them.”
“It’s a bit hard when I don’t know if the dog is sick or if my parents just need an extra five hundred a month.”
“Is worrying about it going to change it?”
“No.” he knew that, but that didn’t stop him from chasing the thoughts around.
“Have you texted Riley?”
“No…because I’m scared that if I do, she will tell me Spark is fine.”
“So what is worse, not knowing or knowing?”
Shannon finished his now cold coffee. “I think they are equally bad.”
“But only one moves you forward.” Dante drew in a breath, knowing that he needed to say it. “I want to move forward.”
Shannon stared at him. “What does that mean?”
“Exactly that.” Dante stabbed his pancake. “I know you came here to be on your own, but I can’t imagine going back to being on my own.” He glanced up. “I’m asking you to stay.”
Shannon swallowed. He didn’t want to leave, but he wasn’t ready for what that meant. How had he fallen into a relationship without even dating? “You can’t ask me to move in when you haven’t taken me on a date.”
Dante nodded. “The quiz night is next weekend.”
“You’re just going to rip the bandage off in front of the whole town?”
“The whole town won’t fit in the Foggy Basin Brewing Co, but yeah, do it once and let the gossip do the rest.”
Shannon didn’t want Dante to do the equivalent of blowing up his life. “There’ll be no back-tracking.”
“Good, since I’m moving forward. And you are going to rip off your bandage and text your sister.” He pointed at Shannon’s phone.
Shannon groaned. “I’m putting it off until I’ve finished the pancakes. They’re too good to waste.”
“Ah, so you do like my cooking.”
“I never said I didn’t.”
“I saw the suppressed eye roll at yet another roast several times,” Dante said between bites.
He considered denying, but if they were going to do this, he needed to be honest. “That was before I appreciated that the leftovers could be dinner, or sandwiches, or turned into something else.”
Sure, it wasn’t exciting, but dinner didn’t need to be exciting every night. Excitement was instability’s dressed up cousin.
He picked up his phone. “Okay, I’m going in.”
Dante gave him a nod. “I’ve got your back.”
Shannon smiled. “You already did by suggesting the local vet.”
“It was obvious.”
“Not to me. I was trying to figure out how to say no without being an asshole.”
“You paused before agreeing, and that is a good first step.”
Dante was right. He had paused before agreeing, which was something he wouldn’t have done in the past. He’d have panicked, worried about the dog, or his younger sister, or whatever drama was unfolding and diving right in like he could fix everything, even if it wasn’t his responsibility.
“Let me do step two while I’m on a roll. ”
He pulled up Riley’s number.
Hey Mom said Spark needed surgery and ongoing meds, what’s going on?
He tried not to stare at his phone as he waited for the dots to appear as Riley responded.
He didn’t know what kind of answer he was hoping for.
He didn’t want Spark to be sick, and he didn’t want his parents to be liars because if they were, how many other things had they lied about that he’d never questioned, simply reacted to?
In that moment he decided that he didn’t want to know. He’d done the best he could with the information he had at the time.
She had some kind of benign lump, all good now but she needs meds for her kidneys.
“Shit. She does need meds…”
“What does she need?”
“Don’t know yet.” He was going to have to ask outright about the cost because his sister probably didn’t know what meds Spark needed.
Are they expensive? Mom asked for 500 a month.
WTF…it’s like 50. I paid this month already because I paid for the surgery. I told them to leave you to get settled.
They paid a surprise visit.
Shit, I should have told you about the surgery but since she was fine, I didn’t see the point. It’s not like you’ve been living at home. If she was sick, I’d have called so you could come back and say goodbye
He stared at his phone, not sure what to say to his sister or Dante.
Don’t worry about Spark, okay. I have it covered and I’ll have a go at Mom and Dad.
Don’t bother.
But she would because Riley was scrappy; she’d always been fighting for her share. Sometimes it had been the two of them against their older siblings, and sometimes it had felt like the two of them against the world.
Spark can come and live with me if that’s going to be easier. Or if you want me to pay for a couple of months let me know.
Want to buy some specialty kidney dog food?
I can do that.
Riley sent him the link.
He’d send her a couple of bags.
Maybe I’ll come and see you and bring her with me.
Just don’t arrive unannounced
Haha…I would never as I want you take time off to spend with meeeee.
Shannon laughed and glanced up at Dante. “Riley says she might bring Spark to visit, and that meds are not that expensive.”
“It seemed like a lot, and I saw plenty of horse vet bills growing up, and horses are expensive. Like car repair expensive.”
“Is that why you don’t have any?”
“They were a reminder, and I didn’t have the capacity to look after myself and them. There have been times that I regret selling them, but also, six horses is a lot of work, and while I can ride, it’s not really my thing.”
“So you were the odd one out?”
Dante paused. “I guess I was, but I never felt that way. They just accepted that I had other interests.”
“You’re lucky.”
“Mom would have loved you. You’d have been able to compare who saw the most terrible thing over dinner while the rest of us made gagging noises.”
Shannon laughed. He’d had too many of those conversations with medical friends while everyone else was horrified. “Why don’t we go to Hartsville today?”
“It’s not that exciting.”
“Maybe not, but I’m sure they’ve got a museum or an escape room, and we can just do something together.” Not a date exactly but spending time together outside of the house.
“You want to find out if I’ll hold your hand in public?”
Yes…but they had never done anything together beyond the property. “I want to see if we exist outside of this house.”
“If we can exist in this house despite the baggage we both brought, I don’t think it will be a problem.” Dante stood. “Get your going out pants on…unless you intend to go in your track pants?”
“No, and I need to do my hair.” He gathered up his plate and mug.
Dante pulled him in for a quick kiss. “I missed you last night. Knowing that you were only at the other end of the house but out of reach was painful.”
“I half expected you to sneak down.”
“You realize you’re going to have to move your things into my room now.”
“Is that right? And what happens when I’m on nights?”
“You can have the room closer to mine. I want to keep the guest suite for guests.”
“Fair enough. I guess that means I should also unpack the trailer. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. Know anyone who wants a fish trailer?”
“List it for sale. I’m sure somebody will want an oversized goldfish.”
“Sure, there’s obviously a thriving market for fish trailers.”
Dante pressed another kiss to his lips. “We don’t have to do everything today. Let’s just go out and do something because all the unpacking and the business will all be waiting when we get back.”
“That sounds to me like you want to ignore a whole bunch of stuff.”
“Yep…I want to focus on my boyfriend today. Rumor has it he’s not very good at doing that.”
“Yeah, well I heard that my boyfriend hates leaving the house so getting him to go out is a rather big deal.” Was Dante going to back out?
“I think dragging him out is exactly what he needs.”