Page 47 of Disorderly

“I did.” She shrugged. “Actually, I’d heard about the hot kiss in the fall, but when you didn’t say anything and there was no new gossip, I’d assumed that it had either been a rumour or some type of dare.”

“Hot kiss, huh?”

“That’s what I’d heard. Someone said it was almost pornographic.”

I swallowed my chuckle. To some in this town, a pec on the cheek would be considered pornographic, but from how I’d felt after it, I could see why some people would consider it hot. But I wasn’t about to give Angela any more ammunition. I leaned back in my chair as if I didn’t have a care in the world. “I don’t know. I didn’t see it.”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “So funny… not.”

This time I let my chuckle escape. I needed the release of tension that it gave me. Not that it was much but with each sweep of the minute hand on the large, ornate clock in the waiting room, I could feel that tension wind tighter and I worried I’d be a basket case by the time he arrived.

“So this weekend?” Angela asked again, probably needing the distraction that came from talking about mundane things like weekend plans. But if she started to ask about supper or the weather, I was going to have to do something as her anxiety only ramped up mine.

A smile crossed my face as I thought about our weekend plans. It was Katy’s seventeenth birthday and we’d planned two birthday celebrations for her. One was going to be at her house for family and close friends that her mom was hosting with us, and the other was a celebration for us and a select group of our friends who knew and liked Katy. “It’s Katy’s birthday.”

“Seventeen?” I nodded. “Ahh, I remember those days. When life stretched out before me full of possibilities and new experiences.”

“What no new experiences for you any longer?” I clutched my chest as if I was having a heart attack.

She laughed. “Oh, I’ve got new experiences all right, but somehow, finding the new spot where my kids have managed to hide food or the dead animal that my dog gives me isn’t quite on the same level.”

I shuddered at her descriptions because it was clearly expected even if I almost longed for those types of experiences. Not the dead animals, but the feelings that came with being settled and starting a family.

“She’s a beautiful girl.” Her gaze narrowed a bit. “And you guys are close, aren’t you? I remember being seventeen and having a crush on older guys.”

“It’s not like that.” At my protest, her mouth tightened even if I thought I saw a gleam in her eye. “Katy is Peter’s neighbour. He’s known her since she was born, and they’ve always been close. Like siblings but more.”

She nodded as if she understood and for the moment, I was relieved. A minor reason why I’d jumped at the chance to take my relationship with Peter public was to protect Katy. I’d taken her out for the occasional meal prior to my moving here, but the age gap between had always worked in our favour. No one would have even thought that we might be seeing each other—not that we had been then or that I even consciously thought about it—but with her new clothes, confidence, and the fact that she looked older than her age, took away that protection. And I wanted to still spend time with her outside of the house. I wanted to be able to openly do date-like things with her even if we had to hide our relationship. So having people know that I was with Peter and letting them think I was gay, added that level of protection. No one would think twice about seeing us out for supper or at a movie or any of the other things we could do. That is once her schedule was less hectic.

“She’s a beautiful young woman and one day some man is going to be lucky to share his life with hers.” She gave me a look that made me think she meant more than the face value of her comment, but when she continued, I knew that she did. “One day when she isn’t so young and people aren’t so worried about age differences.”

I pretended like I didn’t know what she was talking about and responded to the first half while ignoring the second. “I agree. Some young man is going to be very lucky.”

“Like you…” She left her sentence hang for a second before continuing, “with your relationship with Peter.”

Thankfully the door chimed as it opened, giving me the opportunity to leave the conversation without responding. But it worried me. What exactly did Angela think she knew? And how did she feel about it? Was she telling me that she approved of the two of us? Or was she warning me off? My brain started to spiral until I heard Michelle greet Mr. Greyson. I shook off the unsettled feeling, stuffing all the questions Angela’s comments raised in me, down deep into one of the chests I used to control my feelings as I followed Angela out of my office into the front reception area to greet the owner. Having him here under mysterious circumstances was enough upheaval, I didn’t need any more chaos in my life.

“Angela. Jarrod.” Mr. Greyson shook our hands. “It’s always a pleasure coming to this second office. The town is so quaint with surprising great food. Some of the cooks you have here would do amazing in a big city. And the accommodations at Soaring Eagle Lodge—even though they are a little out of town—are first rate. I’ve even been told that I need to take in a hockey game while I’m here.”

“Ahh, the Pikes. My saviours.” Angela chuckled. “My husband never wanted to move out of the city because he didn’t want to give up hockey and football. But mainly hockey. So having the Pikes here helped sway my argument about moving. And having a great high school football team that the town rallies behind was the icing.”

“So you like living and working here?” On the surface, Mr. Greyson’s question sounded like something a boss would ask an employee, but I knew Mr. Greyson was shrewd. He never did things without an ulterior motive like allowing us to purchase the conference table even though it had been under budget. If I hadn’t been able to get Gunnar to agree to more ornate table for the Winnipeg office, I doubted the table would have been approved. Even letting me run the office fell under that. He knew I had connections here and did the books for Proud Bi on the side. Having me here and happy would mean that I wouldn’t leave, and I’d bring in new clients, deepening his bottom line.

“I do. The people are friendly. The pace is more relaxed. There’s more family time. And we’re seeing so many new clients in varied businesses.”

He nodded. “Yes, the two of you have been busy. Your numbers are better than we expected, and we’d thought that we’d been optimistic on them.” Angela beamed at me and mouthed “see” as we followed him to the conference room.

The moment we’d been informed that he was coming, Michelle went to Buns By The Bay, to pick some of their cinnamon buns and some cookies. They were displayed nicely on serving plates on the side cabinets that doubled as a place to put food and drinks during long meetings. The coffee machine was there as well, loaded with his favourite one.

“Coffee, sir?”

“Please,” he told me. “And one of those cinnamon buns. They’re the ones we had for the opening, correct?”

I nodded as I pressed the button to start his coffee while he took a seat at the head of the table. He continued to make small talk until Angela, and I were seated at the table with our own drinks and snacks in front of us. At that point, the tenor of the room changed. He’d switched from what passed as charming to the cunning businessman.

“Let’s go over the books and then after that, I need to speak to Jarrod alone.”

Angela and I nodded even if my guts clenched so tight, I almost thought I’d need to excuse myself to head to the bathroom. Maybe I should have taken some stomach medicine along with the headache medicine I’d taken earlier. But before things could get too bad, I fell into the soothing rhythm of talking numbers. They filled my mind, pushing everything else out.

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