Chapter 29
Danny
Colin once complained to me early in their relationship that James had a tendency to run roughshod over people.
I couldn’t see it. My brother was as mild-mannered as people came. Affable. Easy to get along with. Quick with a smile and an agreement. Gentle and considerate. No anger and no raised voice.
Still, I’d wanted to give Colin’s observations some consideration. So I sat back and watched. In fact, James did have a tendency to just take over—at least when it came to people he loved.
Intrigued, I’d decided further study was required.
So I spent the next few months watching those around me…and discovered that tendency was a Reynolds family trait. We assumed we knew what was best and, because we loved someone, we would just step in and take over.
Like tonight. Not that I was complaining about a night out with Rob, but James sure had steamrollered it into being.
As I sat across from my guy at Fiery Italian’s, I flashed to a moment when Colin had made a casual comment that Rob probably hadn’t been given much chance for agency in his life. And that possibly being assertive would be a challenge for him. He’d said the words at the end of a conversation we’d had about something completely different. I couldn’t even remember what the topic had been. But James had left the room, and Colin had given me his simple observations. Then had deftly moved on.
I hadn’t given the words the due consideration and weight they’d deserved.
To my shame.
I apologized mentally to Colin for not heeding his words. And I needed to find a way to apologize to Rob for being as bad as James—and just running roughshod over him. Or, at the very least, not protecting him from James’s meddling.
“Danny?”
As I glanced up, I swallowed my discomfort. “Yeah?”
Rob offered a shy smile. “We’re at this great restaurant.” He scanned the room. “It’s not fancy, but I’m glad I had this.” He indicated his shirt. The shirt Mama had bought him for the wedding.
“You look good.” I reached over to snag his hand. “I’m just thinking.”
He tilted his head. “What?”
“Are you happy to be here?”
“Of course.” His eyes widened. In the candlelight, the gray was barely visible. “Do you not want to be here? Because?—”
I squeezed his hand. “I’m thinking about the fact you’ve never left the kids alone. I feel like James pushed you out, and I dragged you here.”
He frowned. “I do realize I had a choice, Danny. If I didn’t want to be here, then I wouldn’t. And as much as James had suggested we do—” He glanced around furtively. “—you know…I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t okay with it.”
Relief flooded me. Along with a curl of desire at the memory of this morning.
Rob’s phone vibrated. He held up a finger as if to ask permission.
I nodded.
He checked it, then held it for me to see.
Colin sat on the couch. Trouble, damn dog, was on his lap. Hallie sat next to him, with her arms around Thomas, and the four of them were hamming it up for the camera. Even the dog seemed to get she was on display.
I smiled. “That’s pretty special.”
“Hallie’s too dependent on me.” He typed a quick response, forwarded the picture to me—my phone buzzed—and then he put it back on the table, screen down. “I knew it back in LA. We were never apart. And…I needed her as much as she needed me. My ex…” He winced. “Yeah. He wouldn’t let me go out and do things and he wouldn’t pay for a sitter, so I was always taking care of Hallie. I never got any time off. And I didn’t resent it—far from it—but I could see the relationship wasn’t healthy. She could barely play with other children if I wasn’t hovering five feet away. One of the mothers confronted me. What could I say? She was right—Hallie was too attached to me. I knew school was coming, and that just caused more dread. I’d have Thomas to keep me company, but she’d have to figure out how to cope.
“Then we’re here and I’m working and suddenly she’s alone with Nai. And…after a few meltdowns, she learned to cope. I panicked when Nai got sick, but you stepped up. And…she knew you. Was comfortable with you. Slowly, that comfort has extended to Colin and James because they’ve been so patient. I know it helps that Thomas is just rambunctious and fearless. Hallie sees people reacting positively to his energy, and she’s starting to want some of that attention for herself. And yeah, I hadn’t figured on adding Trouble to the family…” He snickered. “I tell myself that I did it for you and Arthur, while I know the truth is I did it for myself and the kids. She’s the piece we didn’t know we were missing. I wish all kids could have a dog growing up. My parents are shitty people—” He glanced around, but not one was paying any attention. “But we had dogs we loved. Sometimes I felt they were treated better than I was. My family knew I was different. They made sure to highlight that all the time. Kicking me out was an inevitability.”
My heart broke for the sixteen-year-old who suffered such rejection from the people tasked with loving him. What kind of a God allowed that to happen? Or a society? Why was his family celebrated in their community for their tossing him out, rather than reviled? I knew these things happened. Had even happened to a lesbian classmate of mine. Before I could bring her home with me, though, a cousin took her in, up in Burbank. She’d done okay after that.
Mama had never spoken to the young woman’s parents again. Her opinion carried weight in our community. People respected how she felt—and seeing how accepting she was of her queer kids, I believed, changed some people’s minds. Or so I told myself to comfort me in those dark moments when I thought of the kids who weren’t so lucky.
“Sorry.” Rob flipped his knife over several times. “We should be celebrating, right?”
I reached out to grip his right hand. “Yes, celebrating.” I tried to shake off my melancholy. “You were telling me how happy you are that Trouble’s part of the family.”
He grinned. “Jordan’s coming for our first obedience lesson tomorrow. He said the first one was free.” He pursed his lips. “I’m not certain that’s true.”
Jordan had trained Widget. Might James have made a call? Well, I wouldn’t put it past my interfering shit of a brother.
I also couldn’t be resentful. “We’ll find a way to pay for the lessons ourselves without telling Colin and James.”
“He said he leads group lessons, and they’re less expensive. I think it would be good to socialize her as well.”
The server, a lovely woman in her forties with jet-black hair appeared with our food. Lasagna for Rob and shrimp linguini for me. I was going all out and encouraged Rob to do the same. A splurge, but there was nothing I’d rather spend my money on than Rob, and I wanted this to be a special memory. I would’ve gone for the wine sauce, but wasn’t going to take the risk with any alcohol.
After the server left, Rob held up his water glass. “To us.”
“Yeah.” I grinned. “To us.”
We clinked glasses, sipped, then both started sorting out our very hot pasta dishes.
Suddenly, Rob put down his fork.
“What…?”
“I want to ask you to marry me, but I’m currently married, and my divorce won’t be final for months, so I can’t ask you because, you know, you might meet someone else and decide I’m not worth the hassle, and?—”
Abruptly, I stood. I rounded the table and dropped to one knee.
Silence enveloped the room as all eyes turned to us.
“Rob.”
“Yes?” That might’ve come out as a squeak.
“I love you.”
He blinked. “And I love you.”
“You’ve asked me to move in.”
“Uh…yes?”
A few people tittered.
“I want to move in. And not just because it’ll make our lives easier. But because I love you. And the kids. And even Trouble.”
“Did he just say trouble?” A beautiful woman at the next table leaned over. “You need to speak up,” she hissed.
“Trouble’s the dog.” I grinned.
“Of course he is,” the woman agreed.
I didn’t correct the misgendering. Then I blinked and looked a little more closely at our neighbor. Okay, so a drag queen. In a shimmering green hi-cut dress, skyscraper heels, and fabulous makeup.
“So I think we’re comfortably headed toward marriage.” I refocused on Rob.
“Uh…” He frowned.
“Did you not just say you wanted to marry me?”
“Well…yeah…”
“I’m going to pull a Reynolds and get there first.”
Slowly, he smiled. “Bossy?”
“You bet. So…will you marry me?”
He blinked several times.
“Answer him, sonny.” The queen next to us gently nudged Rob. “Unless you’re not sure. If so, I can let him down easy for you.”
Rob let out a watery laugh and turned to our neighbor. “Thank you for that kind offer. I think I’ll accept his proposal.”
“About time.” The woman grinned. “You’ve been making shmoopy faces at each other all night.”
I had no idea what shmoopy was, but I’d take the encouragement. “Oh crap.”
Rob dropped his gaze to me. “Change your mind?” He laughed, but the worry was clear.
“No. No changing of minds. Just…I would’ve preferred to do it with the kids.”
He closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them. “We can sit down and you can propose to Hallie. She’d…” He sniffed. “I think she’d like that.”
“Who’s Hallie?” Our neighbor leaned over. “Are you in one of those triad things?” She tried to whisper triad, but the entire restaurant heard her.
“Envie Allotta.” Her companion hissed. “Leave the boys alone.” He offered us a sympathetic smile. “Apologies.”
“Hallie is Rob’s daughter. And Thomas is his son.” I turned back to Rob. “I hope one day to call them my kids as well.”
About ten people in our immediate vicinity sighed and said aw.
I shot a quick glance at the couple next to us.
Envie pressed a hand to her chest. “You boys…what a lovely couple.” She started waving frantically. “They need champagne.”
“Oh my God.” Rob whispered the words under his breath. “Danny…”
“Got it.” I let go of his hand and quickly pivoted to the couple. “I donated part of my liver and can’t drink.”
“Good man.” Envie grinned, then winked. “But you can have chocolate cake, right?”
“Yes.”
“Lovely.”
As I rose, she started waving frantically again.
I leaned over and pressed a kiss to Rob’s cheek. “Just roll with it.”
He tilted his head so he could catch my gaze. “Best proposal ever.”
“Even with Envie?”
“Especially with Envie.”
His grin didn’t dissipate for the rest of the night.