Page 77 of Daily Grind
“You’d think you’d remember taking them.” Brian rested his chin on his hand and grinned at Rob.
A huff that might have been a laugh or a groan. “I do. But…” He shuffled through the proofs and set them down on Brian’s kitchen table. “These are pieces of art.”
“Yes.” Brian lowered his hand. “They’reyourart.”
A little furrow grew between Rob’s brow. Like his hands, his whole body shook ever so slightly. A few blinks. “I don’t know how to thank you.” Rob met Brian’s gaze. “You have no idea what that means to me.”
He had some idea. Wanted more, but Rob was coy with his past, especially when it came to his family. “I’m sorry your parents weren’t supportive.”
Rob sat back. “Oh, they were in their way. Not for this.” He waved at the photographs. “They pushed me into the sciences. Maths. Engineering. Neither of them batted an eye when I took shit apart. They only had disdain for”—he waved at the table again—“frivolous things.”
“Art isn’t frivolous.” That came out stronger than he’d intended.
A small smile from Rob. “I know. Believe me. I don’t share the opinions they held.”
Curiosity overrode common sense. “What happened?”
Rob tapped a finger on one of the photos and for a moment, Brian thought he’d punt the question again. “They were never happy I left home. In their minds, I should have stayed and gotten a job there. Lived with them, especially since I wasn’t going to be marrying and having kids. They had the whole ‘Fine you’re gay, but please don’t fuck men’ thing down pat.”
Brian flinched.
Rob waved the reaction away. “There are reasons I came to the States, as conservative as this country sometimes is—there are places here where it’snot.”
“And now, there are more places.”
Rob nodded. “Anyway, we had a falling-out partly because I refusednotto be gay, but I was here and they were there, so I didn’t think much of it.” He paused. “Then my father had a massive heart attack and died.”
“Shit.” He couldn’t imagine losing his dad, even now. “How old were you?”
Rob looked down at his hands. “Twenty-nine. I was living in California.”
Brian stared at him. Rob looked up and his eyes were dry.
“I flew back and everything was in shambles. The house. My mother. The town. Everything.” He sighed. “I felt like such an arse for leaving them. Everyone looked at me as if I was the biggest tosser. I’d abandoned my parents, after all.”
Brian and his siblings had all stayed in Pittsburgh, though Len flew all kinds of routes. Their parents had made it clear, though, that they were fine with any of them moving. “You have to live your own life at some point,” Brian said, echoing his father’s words.
Rob nodded. “But at the time, I agreed with everyone. It was grief and shock. I quit my job in the States, shoved everything in storage, and moved in with my mom. I had enough saved up that I could afford it for a time. By then, I had a green card, so coming and going was easier.”
“You obviously came back to the States.”
“Eventually.” Rob rubbed at his wrist. “First, I managed to find a job in the area, despite the economy. But whenever I was out of the house, Mum was despondent, so I quit that pretty quickly. I tried to get her help…”
He pushed back and stood in one rapid motion, turning away from Brian. “And I was becoming pretty depressed myself. No job, no friends, money dwindling. Not a single one of my father’s mates cared enough to stop in for a chat with my mother—we were all alone.”
“Rob…”
He turned and his expression was grim. “I couldn’t take it. I told Mum I was going to Leeds for the weekend. I needed to get away. Figured I’d find some clubs, maybe a fuck, who knows. I… had the best weekend I’d had in a long time. Hooked up. Danced. Slept.” He tugged at his hair. “When I returned… I knew something wasn’t right, because my key didn’t fit into the lock.”
Brian couldn’t quite wrap his head around that. “She had the locks changed while you were gone?”
A single nod. “I went ’round to the kitchen door—she usually spent her days in there, drinking tea and reading. And she was there, except she was slumped over the table.”
Oh Jesus. Brian’s blood ran cold.
Rob rubbed his wrist. “I punched out the windowpane. Sliced myself up bad getting the door open. Then I dragged Mum out of her chair and called nine-nine-nine—but she was cold, Bri.” Rob’s voice broke.
Brian climbed to his feet, closed the distance between them, and pulled him into an embrace.
