Chapter 10 #2
“Right, but…” Sky frowned as he considered how much they were both hiding, especially Mason. “You’re in the closet and living a lie. Is a weird lavender marriage worth it, just so you can be mayor?”
“Seriously?” Sarina’s voice rose again. “This is Roseview, not New York City or Chicago. He isn’t hiding it because he’s afraid of losing the whopping eighteen grand a year they pay him to carry this town on his back. He’s doing it for me and Sam.”
“That’s not the only reason!” Mason shook his head quickly.
“This is the life I want. Being here for you and Sam and taking care of my parents and Roseview is all I need. I bet that most of the people around here wouldn’t mind a gay mayor.
But I don’t know if they’d trust me if I came out and admitted I’d been lying about damn near everything for most of my life. ”
“Really, Mason?” Sky asked, both dubious and saddened. “You don’t get tired of living a lie? What about you?” he asked his sister. “What happened to Sam’s father and why settle for a fake marriage when you could be happy?”
She let out a loud cackle, then covered her mouth when Mason hushed her. “Like Mom? Look at how happy her and Dad were. She barely shed a tear when he died.”
“No one said you had to be like them,” Sky replied but they all knew that wasn’t true. Their parents and the entire town expected Sarina to follow in their father’s footsteps and take over the family medical practice. “You could have left if you wanted.”
“I know, but I worked my ass off and I knew I could be happy if I found a way to turn some fucked-up lemons into lemonade.” Sarina smiled tenderly at Mason again. “We built a beautiful life together and it works for us.”
Mason laughed softly as he took her hand, nodding. “I still can’t believe we’re adults and parents half the time, but I wouldn’t change a thing.”
“Wow.” Sky didn’t know what else to say. “If you’re both happy—” he started but remembered the way Mason had kissed him and how demanding his hands had been as they tore at Sky’s clothes and gripped his ass. “What about…?” He coughed awkwardly, making Sarina roll her eyes.
“Lexie and I have been a thing for years.”
“Lexie Walston from the hardware store?” Sky verified and she nodded. “But she’s…like fifty and she’s married to Bill.”
“And Bill’s sixty-two and impotent. He knows that Lexie has something on the side but he’s more interested in fly fishing than fucking his wife,” Sarina explained, only adding to Sky’s confusion.
“How did you get pregnant with Sam, then?” Sky braced himself because it was a question he had to ask, not one he wanted to ask.
“Oh, this is so bad!” Sarina whimpered, then shook out her hands and took several deep breaths, scaring Sky more.
Mason whispered that she’d be fine as he gave her shoulder a supportive knead.
“It’s not that bad and it’s going to be okay.
” He flashed Sky a wide smile. “I download Grindr whenever I’m out of town and need to scratch the itch.
No one knows me in Newark or Boston and it’s easy to get away once or twice a month. ”
“That…is so sadly typical,” Sky added with a grimace, but Mason shrugged it off.
“Sex isn’t everything. At least I’m not hiding it from my wife and I’m satisfied with the rest of my life.
No one’s perfect and Sina has beaten herself up for this enough.
” He pinned her with a scolding look. “He isn’t going to tell anyone and you’re right, we can’t fix this until he knows the truth. ”
“I know.” Her voice dropped to a watery whisper and there was a sniffle as she looked towards Sam’s bedroom. “It was Uncle Lance.”
“What?” Sky shouted and reached for the counter as the kitchen dimmed and spun around him, causing his stomach to heave. “I’m going to be sick.”
“Shhh! Breathe!” Sarina folded a tea towel and used it to fan his face.
“Did he force himself on yo—”
“No!” she interrupted, shaking her head.
“It was just something that happened once. We were both going through a lot of things after Dad’s stroke.
Cora was dying and Mom was being awful, as usual…
We were spending a lot of time together because Lance was helping me manage the practice and Dad’s estate and things just…
” She held up her hands, shaking her head.
“It was just a hug at first. I had a tiny breakdown one night in Dad’s study and we got carried away.
We agreed to act like it had never happened and I didn’t even tell him when I found out I was pregnant. ”
“Did he ever find out?” Sky asked, then gasped. “Did Mom? Cora was the closest thing she had to a real friend.”
“I don’t think so!” Sarina answered in a loud whisper.
“Mason is the only one I’ve ever told. I didn’t see the point in turning everyone’s lives upside down when Cora was doing so poorly.
Then, she died and it didn’t seem right to tell Lance while he was in mourning.
There were times when I thought he had guessed that Sam was his.
I started to tell him once, but Lance stopped me and told me he was glad Cora had passed first. He said he hated the idea of leaving behind someone who needed him. ”
“What the fuck, Lance? How do you sweep something like that under the rug?” Sky wondered if he knew anything about the people who had raised him and the town he’d grown up in. “I had no idea.”
“Trust me,” Mason said with a hard snort. “I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about our neighbors’ sex lives since I became mayor. And from all I’ve heard about Lance, there wasn’t a skirt in this county that he didn’t try to lift.”
“Yup,” Sarina said. “I definitely knew that Uncle Lance was a slut and completely forgot about it the very next morning. I didn’t think it would get complicated but my IUD failed and I got pregnant with Sam.”
Sky stared back at her. “I am a man who is not a doctor and I am gay so you’re going to have to explain that.
” He held up a hand. “Actually, Sam is amazing and I don’t need to know how you made him and I don’t want to put any more thought into who you made him with.
” He did give her a hard dose of side-eye.
“I am judging you because he was the same age as our father, Sarina.”
She hummed in agreement. “I have daddy and mommy issues so any attention and affection from an older person does it for me, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Lance has a few more kids out there that we don’t know about.”
“Nana certainly thought so,” Mason told them with a loaded look.
“That’s horrifying,” Sky said.
Sarina snorted and waved it off. “That’s life and this was the hand I was dealt. Everything worked out in the end.”
Sky rubbed his temple, uncertain as he considered the many revelations Sarina and Mason had shared. “Did it? You’re both in the closet and there is so much trauma stuffed in there, I don’t even know how to begin unpacking it.”
“Why unpack it when we can all move on and put the past behind us?” Sarina suggested, making Sky groan.
“I think I can do that, as long as no one asks me about you two or who Sam’s real dad is,” he warned, his gaze swinging between his sister and Mason.
“Why in the world would they?” Sarina laughed dismissively.
“Everyone thinks that Sam is Mason’s son because he is.
Mason chose to be a father long before he met Sam and he’s been there from the moment that baby took his first breath.
He’s changed more diapers than I have and Mason’s the one who charges in to rescue Sam when he’s had a bad dream or gets sick in the middle of the night. ”
“It’s what I signed up for.” Mason took a nonchalant sip of his beer.
“I think I will take one of those.” Sky pointed to the bottle, setting Mason into action.
“Shit! I forgot I was supposed to get you a drink!”