Page 40 of Homecoming for Beginners

“It’s not exactly a backup plan,” Ollie hedged. “It’s more like, uh, Plan A.”

His parents exchanged glances like they had no idea what that meant.

Ollie had been shot at, damn it. He could handle telling his parents he’d moved in with a hoodlum.

But he didn’t get the chance, because Theo piped up, “We live with Ty now!”

If he lived to be five hundred, Ollie would never be as brave as his kid.

To his parents’ credit, neither one of them said anything to dampen Theo’s enthusiasm, although that might have been because he didn’t give them a chance to get a word in edgewise.

“My room is really big, and it has a four-poster bed.” On his syrup-sticky fingers, Theo ticked off the merits of living with Ty. “There’s a big yard, and Dad let me sit on his lap when he cut the grass. It wasso cool, I even got to drive!Andthere’s a whole room for just games, like pinball andPac-Manand Monopoly and poker.”

Lord above, Ollie hoped his kid never took up poker. Ollie’s parents would never let him hear the end of it.

Then Theo added, “I guess it’s notjustfor games. Me and Ty did our homework there yesterday, ’cause of the nat’ral light.”

Under the weight of his parents’ combined gazes, Ollie felt his spine try to slither down the chair leg. Ollie willed it straight. He cleared his throat and offered, “It’s a sun room on the back of the house.”

This was obviously not the clarification they had been hoping for. Ollie’s mom said, “Theo, why don’t you come with me up front and we can pay the bill? You can help me do the math.”

Theo looked at Ollie for permission. Ollie could’ve told him no, but he didn’t think that would improve the situation. “It’s okay,” Ollie said. “I’ll be right here.”

Maybe he should’ve let Theo keep believing Ollie didn’t like his parents.

Once grandmother and son were out of earshot, Ollie’s father cleared his throat. “Son, is there something you want to tell me about you and Tyler Morris?”

“Didn’t I just tell you guys Friday that I wasn’t interested in dating right now? Did you think I was making that up?” He fought the urge to groan out loud. “I ran into Ty at the school, and we got to talking. The insurance company won’t cover the house if it’s empty, but he’s only in town until the end of the school year before he goes back to Chicago. And the place is huge, Dad. I think he wanted the company.”

His dad hummed neutrally. “You seem to have made fast friends with this man.”

“We have a lot in common.” The words came out before he really thought about them, and even though they surprised him, they rang true. They’d both experienced loss and disappointed parental expectations. They’d both fled this town to try to find their own way. And now they were both back here again. It made Ollie wonder if Ty’s temporary teaching job chafed as much as Ollie’s driving one.

Another noncommittal noise. “You say that Theo likes him?”

“Theo adores him. Probably because Ty’s like a big kid himself. Last night we had a movie night with popcorn and watchedMoneyball, which, uh, if you and Mom ever babysit, I’m sorry in advance for how many times you’re going to have to see it.”

Ollie was almost sure his father was going to withhold judgment. He was teetering on the edge. But then he shook his head and said, “You know your mother won’t like it. I’m not going to rock the boat by taking your side.”

Fuck. “I’m an adult and I can make decisions for myself and my son. Mom doesn’t have to live there. Ty—”

Ollie paused as the bell above the door jingled.

“Speak of the devil,” his father said.

Personally Ollie thoughtthe devilwas giving Ty a lot of credit. He was only waiting at the host station. He had his phone out but wasn’t looking at the screen—probably getting a pickup order. Somehow he and Theo hadn’t seen each other, probably because Theo had begged a handful of loose change off his grandmother to plonk down one of those old-fashioned donation funnels and Ty was staring intently at Mrs. Robinson as if he could will her to notice his existence.

Mrs. Robinson was pointedly ignoring him in favor of having a conversation with her coworker.

“Dad….”

“Isn’t it going to hurt Theo anyway, to let him get attached when he’s going back to Chicago?”

Ollie flinched. “Well, Dad, he knows damn well that anyone could leave him at any time, seeing as his mother died four months ago, so I think I can trust my kid to feel his own feelings. What’s he supposed to do, never get attached to anyone ever?”

With a frown, his father turned in the booth, like he was half shielding Ollie from being able to look at Ty. Mrs. Robinson was still blatantly ignoring him. “People are going to talk, Ollie. About why a thirty-year-old man wants to live with someone else’s child.”

Oh, absolutely not. “Enough. First of all, Ty has a literal police clearance to work at the school. He also has one for hisreal jobas a paramedic, saving people’s lives.” His hands clenched into fists under the table. “Second, if I hear anyone insinuating anything about queer men being pedophiles, they’re going to get a piece of my mind if not my fist.” Ollie tried to keep his temper in check, but his temper wasn’t having it. “If you and Mom care more about what the church ladies might say than respecting my judgment and authority as a father, that’s your problem. I’m not going to make it mine.” He stood up and put a couple of twenties on the table to cover their share of the bill. “I’ll tell Theo something came up today. You let me know if the two of you can be civil.”

---