Page 80 of The Burnt
* * * *
Declan and Charlie pulled up to the house. It had been over six months since Charlie had moved out, but he swore that the pine tree on the front yard looked taller.
Charlie led Declan to the side entrance. “Mom hates a snowy mess on the front hall carpet,” he explained. He opened the door and called out, “Hey, Gran, it’s me!”
His grandmother appeared at the top of the stairs. She seemed much older than when he’d last seen her in the hospital. The cast on her wrist didn’t help. Charlie bounded up the steps and gave her a gentle hug. “I thought I was going to lose you.”
She grinned. “It’d take more than a fall to do me in, Charlie-boy. Now, are you just going to leave that handsome man down on the landing, or are you going to introduce us?”
“Gran,” Charlie started, then beckoned Declan to come upstairs. “Gran, this is Declan. He’s…” Charlie stumbled on the words. “He’s my boyfriend.” He just managed to squeak out the last word.
“Come on up here and give me a hug.”
Declan walked up the stairs and gently hugged her. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“Come to the kitchen,” she said. “You can make me a cup of tea.”
Charlie looked at Declan and beamed. This was the first time he’d ever introduced a member of his family to a boyfriend. Not really surprising given that Declan was the only person he’d ever called ‘boyfriend’. He’d taken the first step, and it felt right.
Time flew as Gran peppered Declan with questions about his work and how it compared to the detective shows on TV. They had been talking for about an hour when Charlie heard car doors slamming. He glanced out of the kitchen window.
“No. It can’t be. They’re home early. We have to go. Now!”
“Charlie,” Gran said, “you don’t have to run.”
The side door opened.
“We’re home, Mom,” his dad called out. “The ring road is closed. Some idiot—”
He turned the corner, looked into the kitchen and saw Charlie and Declan. He stood at the door and stared.
“Mom, would you like a cup of tea?” Charlie’s mother called out as she tried to get past his father. “Ted, you’re in the…”
Charlie gave up hope that either he and Declan, or his parents would disappear.
“Mom. Dad. We just dropped by to see how Gran was doing.”
Declan stood, extending his hand. “Mr and Mrs Watts, so nice to finally meet you. I’m Declan Hunt.”
Ted Watts looked at Declan’s hand for a moment, then shook it. Charlie took a deep breath.
“Charlie, it’s so nice to see you!” his mother chirped out, running around the table to hug him. Charlie grabbed onto her.
“So…you’re the one my son works for?” his dad asked Declan.
“Yes. He’s changed the way the company works. His computer knowledge has dragged us into the modern age. I just don’t know what I’d do without him, and now that he’s just about ready to get his private investigator’s licence, I can see him making full partner in the near future.”
Ted folded his arms. “That sounds like a serious commitment. That’s not what he went to university for.”
“Maybe not, but Charlie’s good at his job. I’ll have you know,” Declan continued, “that in the past week, your son has solved a cold case that’s baffled the police for the past ten years, and then rescued a young man who had been in hiding for half his life. You should be very proud of him.”
Ted Watts looked back and forth from Declan to Charlie.
“Declan is exaggerating my role in those cases just a little,” Charlie said.
“Actually, I’m not. I don’t even think your son knows how important he is in the running of the company. It’s hard toadmit, but until he came into my life, I was just stumbling along. You must know what that’s like, Mr Watts—to not feel complete until you find that one person to make up everything that’s missing in your life.”
Charlie’s mother tilted her head and her face flushed.
