Page 48 of Disorderly

“That’s it for the books. Well done both of you. And hiring a bookkeeper was a smart move. It seems to have paid off handsomely. You’ve exceeded our expectations.” The praise coming from him felt good, but it also lifted the lid of the pot of unease I’d been holding at bay. “Angela.” He held out his hand. “It’s been a pleasure.”

She shook his hand, gave me a stricken look while holding up crossed fingers for me to see, and then left, leaving an uncomfortable tension in her wake.

“Jarrod, you’ve done amazing things here, but I’m worried that all your hard work is going to unravel.”

“Sir?” I couldn’t understand where his statement was coming from. We’d gone over all the income statements, showing an increase every month. We showed him our appointment calendar, highlighting all the potential new clients that were booked in throughout January, February, and even into March. There was no sign or indication of things slowing down.

“I heard a rumour about you back in early October, but when nothing seemed to come of it and new clients continued to come, I ignored it. But now I can’t.” I shifted in my seat, having an inkling of what was coming. “I told you from the very beginning that you had to watch your reputation. Small towns like this are very conservative. They don’t adhere to the lax ways of the big city. Family values are extremely important.” He stopped and stared at me, waiting for my response.

“I’m not sure what you’ve heard, but I can assure you, I’ve done nothing that would affect how the people of this town looked at me.”

His eyebrows raised. “Really? Are you telling me that all the reports I’ve had about you kissing and holding hands with another man are false? That you’re not in a relationship with a man?”

I slumped back in my chair dumfounded. Yet underneath, I wasn’t as surprised as I should have been. The conversation I’d had with John and Jason from WestWind Ranch popped into my mind. They’d asked about this very thing except they’d asked it about clients and not how the company would view staff members who belonged to the 2SLGBTQ+ community. I knew I wasn’t the only one in the company who was, but the others all worked in Winnipeg, and they kept pretty quiet about their home lives. I’d never questioned their actions before, but now I wondered if they’d done that on purpose, knowing that they might not have been welcomed.

“I can’t say that. I am in a relationship with a man.” I kept quiet about Jason and Katy because if he was having an issue with Peter, knowing about the other two would only make matters worse.

“Listen, if you were still in the city, this wouldn’t be a problem. You could easily hide your relationship, make it not such a focal point. But in a small town, there’s nowhere to hide. Everyone knows everyone else’s business. And clients won’t like it. Once they find out, they’ll look for someplace new to do their business and we can’t have that.”

My mouth opened and closed a couple of times as I tried to think of what to say. But my thoughts flew in too many directions to form a coherent argument. I mean, how could he say things like that? He knew nothing about this town, about how accepting they were for the most part. No one had called to cancel an appointment with us, and we’d gone extremely public about a month ago. So I wasn’t worried, but obviously he was. And I wasn’t sure how to reassure him that it wasn’t an issue.

But more than that, I didn’t like the implications of what he said. He made it sound like I needed to hide who I was, who I loved. I’d done that before. I’d been living my life like that, and I didn’t want to do that anymore. Not that I thought I could. It would have been like trying to put the freshly laundered bed sheets back into the small case they came in. And trust me, I’d tried that so many times in the name of trying to keep the linen closet organized, but it never worked. I ended up purchasing fabric baskets that I used to store them in while keeping the closet tidy.

All I knew was that I had to tell him something. “I’m sorry that you feel that way. I’m not about to hide who I am or who I love. I don’t think that our clients will mind.” He rolled his eyes and made a pfft sound as if he disagreed. “As of now, we haven’t had a single cancellation in our upcoming appointments and none of our new clients have left. I think that should be proof enough.”

“Maybe,” he conceded. “But we’ll be keeping a close eye on you. This doesn’t look good for our company. And even if it doesn’t hinder you here, if it affects the Winnipeg office, then we’ll need to make some decisions.”

I nodded as if I understood and blindly stood up after he did. He held out his hand. “I’m really sorry about this. You’ve done an amazing job here. And I hope that this doesn’t come back to haunt you.”

And with that parting shot, I followed him out to the reception area, watching as he said goodbye to Michelle and Angela. Our bookkeeper wasn’t at work today as she worked parttime from home. Something I’m sure she would be grateful for once she found out what she missed.

Once he left, we all breathed a sigh of relief. But when Angela motioned that she wanted to know what he’d said to me, I shook my head. I’d tell her later, once I had time to digest the things, he’d just said to me. But right then, I wanted to go home and lick my wounds. And for the first time, I was thankful that I hadn’t booked any appointments for today, giving me the opportunity to leave early because I had a lot of thinking to do.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Katy

“I can’t believemy little baby is seventeen.” Mom dabbed her eyes after kissing my cheek. “Your father would be so proud of you because I am.”

“Mooom.” I sniffed, trying to keep the tears from falling. My eyes were still red and puffy from the crying I did last night. Dad may have died seven years ago, but each birthday brought up the loss all over again. When I was younger, he’d spend time with me, telling me all the plans he had for each one of my birthdays until I left home. He had all these special daddy-daughter dates planned to celebrate the day. Ones that I never got to experience because he wasn’t here to do them with me. And while I loved those memories, it made birthdays extra hard. Not even Christmas was as bad.

Mom didn’t acknowledge my whine, but she handed me a small plate with a couple of fresh cucumber slices on it as she picked up her notebook. “Okay, I think I have everything covered.” She tapped the open page with her pen as she chewed on the corner of her lip. I’d told mom not to go overboard with my party and for once she quasi listened to me. Although, from the way she checked things off her list and then changed the page to continue, I begun to have doubts.

“This is still a small gathering, right?”

“Of course.” Mom waved her hand at me, brushing off my question. “Now, the cake is ready to be picked up this afternoon. I need to confirm with Peter that one of them is going to grab it. They’re also in charge of the drinks.”

As she continued to talk, I zoned out. Anxiety ate at my stomach. Christmas break had been the much-needed relaxation time after all the Christmas hampers had been given to those who needed them. Other than spending Christmas afternoon with Mason and his family—thankfully Peter, Jarrod, and Jason were also there—I’d spent most of it in pyjamas with the guys. It had been wonderful, but too short, meaning I wasn’t ready for a massive gathering, not when final semester exams would start in two weeks, increasing my workload at school. And from past years, I knew that my friends would use any excuse to party to let of steam before they were forced to study. I didn’t want my birthday to become that excuse because mom, who always worried I wasn’t involved enough with my peers, doing “normal” teenage things, would push me to attend a party if they asked in her hearing.

“Katy?” I felt the sting of fingers flicking against my forehead. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Sorry, mom.” I slipped into the chair at the kitchen table. “I’m listening now.”

She glared at me over her new reading glasses until I squirmed in my seat. “Mason invited a group of your friends including your fellow cheerleaders.” I groaned, but when her gaze narrowed further, I pasted a bright smile on my face. “Now I understand that having us adults here might cramp your style, so we’ll make ourselves scarce after cake. The Helton’s have invited us adults over to give you space. Just remember, no alcohol and since I doubt Peter and his friends will want to hang out with us old people, they’ll be next door, monitoring the party.”

And with those parting words, my fears were realized. Somehow, I was hosting a high school party with my mom’s blessing. Was it too soon to contemplate running away?

True to form, the event I dreaded arrived faster than I wanted. At least Peter, Jason, and Jarrod were the first to arrive. Their hugs, cheek kisses, and birthday wishes calmed the panic that rose steadily throughout the day to a manageable level even if they were a little perfunctory. A consequence of mom running around, preparing everything, showing more than a standard level of affection between myself and Jason and myself and Jarrod would raise questions that I didn’t want to answer.

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