Chapter 44
“You poor thing,” Sarah Anne replied, further ramping up the flirtation. “Is there anything I can do?”
“I’ll think about it and let you know,” Avery said with a wink.
“Be sure you do,” Sarah Anne said in a breathy would-be siren voice.
Having had enough, Ward broke in and asked, “Do you know where they went?”
“Who?” Sarah Anne asked, still leaning on the counter and smiling at Avery.
“Tyler and Mr. Hughes,” Ward said tersely, having no patience with her useless attempts at ensnaring Avery.
“Oh, oh, no,” she said, tearing her eyes away from Avery. “They just said they’d be back in about an hour.”
Ward and Avery left the mill store. Ward decided to try The Pub , hoping he would find Tyler and Tyler’s dad. Maybe he’d be able to have lunch with Tyler after all. Being there with his father and Avery, how could Tyler feel uncomfortable? However, when they got to The Pub, the Hugheses weren’t there. Disappointed, Ward led Avery to a booth.
After the server had flirted with Avery and had taken their orders, Avery said, “Summerville’s pretty small. Not much of a scene here I guess. Am I right?”
“You are. No scene at all, really, and none for miles around. Nothing but small farm towns.”
“Yeah, I know all about those. Was raised on a farm myself. Then I moved to the city. Being gay in Podunkville sucks.”
“So, why’d you come to Summerville if you feel that way?” Ward asked. “Summerville is as Podunkville as they come.”
“Needed a break. After my third failed relationship I got tired of the pity parties all my friends thought they needed to throw for me, and the fix-ups with guys my buddies thought were just perfect. Not that I’m against a good romp in the hay—I suspect that cliché fits in a farm town like this.” Avery chuckled.
“It does,” Ward said, chuckling himself.
“But I’m just not looking for anything serious right now. How about you? You tight with your guy?”
“Yes, we’re pretty serious…”
“Oh-oh, do I hear a ‘but’ coming on?”
Ward hesitated, then said, “We’re going through a rough patch right now.”
Avery made a clicking sound with his tongue. “Yeah, those rough patches. Hate ‘em.”
Just then the waitress returned with their meals. After setting them down she turned to Ward. “Where’s Tyler? You usually have lunch with him.”
“Um, him and his dad are eating lunch together today.”
Curiosity apparently satisfied, the server walked away but not before subtly letting Avery know she wouldn’t be opposed to some attention.
“Ah, so the boss is your squeeze,” Avery said. “I thought I got a gaydar tingle when I met him yesterday. So, what’s the trouble in paradise?”
Ward wasn’t sure what to say. However, he liked Avery—liked the easy way he carried himself, and the way he handled his sexuality. The man was comfortable with himself and who he was. Avery came from a small farm town, so he’d understand. Besides, Ward didn’t have anyone he could talk to about the situation with Tyler and he was really feeling the need to talk to someone about it.
“We’re kind of stuck here for family reasons. We’ve been trying to just live our lives and let things happen as they will. But, Tyler has kids, and he’s afraid they’ll be hurt. The kids had an incident at school. A student told one of Tyler’s boys his dad said we were fags. Ty kind of panicked, so he’s pulling back.”
“Bummer,” Avery said. “What are you gonna do?”
“I’m not sure—just be patient and hope it passes, I guess. What else can I do?”
“You could let whoever the fucker is that’s shooting off his mouth to his son know that he needs to keep his big trap shut, or you’ll stick something in it that will shut him up,” Avery said.
“I don’t think that would help,” Ward said.
“Never can tell, sometimes those homophobes are just reacting to their own latent needs. Can’t admit they’re gay themselves. Maybe he’s just jealous and wants to get laid.”
Ward raised his eyebrows.
“Hey, I was only joking. But really, you have to let guys like him know that kind of thing is bogus. Do you know who it was?”
Ward hesitated. After what Avery had just said, did Ward want him to know it was one of their co-workers? Could he trust that Avery wouldn’t say or do something rash?
“Yeah, I’ve got a good idea who it was,” Ward said, deciding on keeping to a safer path by not divulging it was Hank.
“If you guys are solid, there’s no reason to think that this won’t work itself out.”
Ward felt a small wave of relief pass through him. He was glad he’d unburdened himself to Avery. It felt good to be able to talk to someone about this, even though it offered no solution.