Page 72 of Painted

Bax shrugged. “I’m just another Hawthorne paradox,” he said.

“I happen to love Hawthorne paradoxes,” Nick said.

He immediately wondered what had possessed him to say something so…flirty. Unlike nearly everyone else in the Hawthorne family, he wasn’t queer. At least, he didn’t think he was. He’d never really questioned his straightness. Granted, he hadn’t dated many women either, but that was because he’d been a shy kid, due to being bigger than everyone else in his year. But no, he definitely liked women.

“I need to get this one up to bed,” he said, using Jordan as an excuse to get away from the uncomfortable feelings trying to poke their way into his consciousness. “And I need to pay the babysitter watching Macy and send her on her way.”

“You probably want to get to bed yourself after a night like this,” Bax said.

Something about the suggestion of going to bed coming from Bax made Nick uneasy. “Yeah,” he said, glancing at Raina’s photograph once more. “It was easier tonight than it was at the funeral, that’s for sure, but I think some things just stay with you.”

“They do,” Bax said, walking with him as they headed across the dining hall, through the few, lingering guests and the staff that had been hired to clean up. “I feel a little guilty for saying this, but lately I’ve been feeling like it might be time to move on.”

“Oh?” Bax asked.

Was he happy about that? Enthusiastic? Nick wanted to shake his head and ask himself why it mattered to him one way or another.

“Yeah,” Nick sighed. “I think…I suppose….” He pinched his face, then blew out a breath and just said it. “I don’t think I’m the kind of person who does very well raising two kids on his own. It’s been a real struggle already.”

“I’m sure it has,” Bax said, patting his back quickly. “But don’t worry, you’ve got this entire family here to help you.”

“For which I’m incredibly grateful,” Nick sighed. He was too chicken to say his thoughts about moving on meant leaving Hawthorne House and his memories behind as well.

“And this winter, you’ll have me, too,” Bax said, his smile widening.

“I will?”

“Yeah. Uncle Robert has asked me to do some accounting work for the arts center, now that they’ve doubled the number of class offerings and have donations pouring in, especially from The Brotherhood. He wants me to do a full audit so that the family doesn’t run into any problems come tax season.”

“Oh. That’s great,” Nick said, more excited than he thought he should be.

“So you’ll be seeing me around,” Bax went on.

“Great,” Nick said, hoping he wasn’t coming down with something. He felt flushed and out of sorts. “I’ll be seeing you, then.”

He continued on down the hall outside the dining hall to the family wing of the building while Bax headed in the other direction, presumably to wherever he’d parked his car.

“Uncle Bax seems nice,” Nick murmured to Jordan, wondering if you even called a cousin “Uncle”.

The problem was, having Bax around that winter might be a little too nice. The last thing Nick needed was to start questioning fundamental things about himself when he had two small children to raise.

He glanced over his shoulder at Bax’s retreating back one last time, then shook his head and continued on. This could be a problem.

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