Behind Iron Lace (21 page)

“What is it?” Darcy came up behind him laying his fingers on his shoulder as he leaned over him to look at the screen. “Wow, that heron was spectacular. How did she get these?”

“The camera I loaned her. That’s how she knew about us. Your eyes were so full of—I don’t know—amazement.”

“More like awe and if I have to admit it, I want you to kiss me.”

“My shoulder would argue the point, and my ass cheek, hitting the deck left a bruise.”

“Yeah, well, you scared the hell out of me. What was I supposed to do?”

“Kiss me back and let me seduce you like a good boy.”

“I’m not a good boy.” Darcy bit his neck to prove his point.

“Fuck no, you are a bad, bad boy. Shit, bite me again, I need more of that.” Caleb let him seduce him; the ottoman was becoming his favorite piece of furniture.

On their second Saturday together, they’d made plans to drive out to the coast to whale watch. After a long very hot shower Caleb, dressed only in a pair of jeans, was in the kitchen pouring two mugs of coffee when the doorbell rang. “You expecting anyone,
cher
?” he called out on his way to the door.

“No, it’s probably one of the neighbors coming to complain about something,” Darcy called back from the bedroom.

Two sets of startled eyes greeted Caleb when he opened the door. The tall, stocky man with dark brown hair and too blue eyes took him in, from his bare feet to his wet hair, and the tattoos in between. The woman just looked ill at ease. “Sorry to disturb you, we must have the wrong apartment.”

Momentarily frozen, Caleb found his voice just before they walked away. “No, I’m pretty sure you have to right apartment. I’m—you must be Darcy’s mom and dad.”

“Who is it, Caleb?” Darcy came into the room rubbing his head with a towel. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his jeans weren’t buttoned. He stopped dead in his tracks, terror in his eyes. “Oh.”

“I’m going to go, ah, give you three…” shit, he didn’t know what to say, he couldn’t look at Darcy as he passed him and went into the bedroom and closed the door. On second thought, he opened it and handed Darcy out a shirt then he closed it again. But he could still hear them.

He sat in the middle of their rumpled bed with his arms wrapped around his knees while Darcy explained why there was a nearly naked man in his bedroom. His heart did a flip when he said the words Caleb never thought to hear him say. “Mom, Dad, I guess this is probably the… shit.” He heard Darcy’s mother gasp but shrugged it off due to the language. “I’m… I’m… gay. And Caleb. I love him. We’re sort of living together.”

Caleb listened as his parents went through the stages. Shock, denial, mild anger. They wanted to know if he was the one who broke his heart and gave him the shiner. Yes to the first. No to the second. If this were the south, the ultimate question would be “do we know his people?” Instead, they asked if he had a job. How old he was. They seemed impressed when Darcy showed them the painting. Behind Iron Lace.

He remembered sitting against a concrete wall in New York City, his phone shattered in about a million pieces. Martha had just called to tell him his father had been killed falling off a stupid horse, his neck broken. How was he supposed to win his love now, he remembered wondering. He was so homesick he couldn’t think about anything else so he sat on the floor in his empty room and painted canvas after canvas. The wrought iron railing series the ghostly images swimming just out of focus behind the gates were haunting. The ghosts of his past, the architecture he loved, the pain in his chest all combined at that moment. One of the girls he was fucking at the time took one, he hadn’t even missed it until the gallery called telling him they had a buyer for it. He made his first million off those pieces.

“He has a Pulitzer for crying out loud, Dad. He’s no bum, he owns a club in New Orleans, he’s going to open one here. His people are frigging blue bloods. Yes, he has long hair and tattoos. Christ, who are you people?”

“What about Bailey?”

“What about her, mother? We talked about her. She is having another man’s baby, and really, we were never anything more than friends. And besides it’s not like you need me to give you grandchildren or anything, Damien already did that.”

“We just want you to be happy. You don’t look happy.” This from his father.

“You caught me with my boyfriend. What the hell do you think I feel right now? I’m terrified.”

“Of what? Were you afraid we would find out? Darcy, I just don’t understand, this isn’t like you. Hiding, keeping secrets—”

“No Dad, I planned to tell you. I was trying to figure a way to break it to you gently.”

“Then why are you terrified? I don’t understand.”

“Because I’m afraid you won’t love me anymore. Because I’m afraid you can’t or won’t accept me like this.” The pain in his voice clawed at Caleb’s heart, he wanted to go to him, tell him it would be fine, but he couldn’t find the courage. That day long ago when he lost his family because he was gay came back to choke him.
Please,
he dug his fingers into his legs,
please don’t hurt him, just don’t hurt him?

“Darcy? You are my baby, I could never not love you.” He heard pain in her voice. Still he clutched his legs, hoping.

“Mom, I love him. You have to understand I didn’t do this on purpose. I didn’t know until I met him. I didn’t know. Now it makes sense. My whole life makes sense. Don’t you see?”

“Well, are we at least going to get to meet him? We came to take you out to eat, do some other stuff, but we can leave if you want us to.” Darcy’s father masked his hurt well but Caleb could hear it.

Shrugging away the anxiety gripping his stomach Caleb climbed out of bed and found a nice white silk shirt and a cashmere cardigan he kept tucked in the back of the closet he shared with Darcy, he pulled a comb though his hair, and stuck his feet into a pair of Darcy’s Vans. He flipped the shirt cuff over the sweater and tugged it partway up his arm. His bracelets made a slight noise but Darcy caught him before he unclasped them.

“Don’t take those off. Wow, you look nice,” he smiled looking him up and down. “Are those my shoes?”

“Yeah, one of the perks of wearing the same size, don’t you think?” Caleb loved to see him blush. “I’ve never met anyone’s parents before. I want to make a good impression. I thought I’d leave the bad boy in the closet.”

Darcy walked into the room and before Caleb knew what he was up to, he kissed him. “I know, baby, I’m scared to death. Just be your charming self and you’ll have them eating out of your hand before lunch is over.”

“You think so?”

“God, I hope so. However this goes, just know two things, I love you and I am not going anywhere without you.”

“Okay, so let’s go do this,
cher
, introduce me to your parents.”

“Sure you’re ready?”

“Fuck no. I’m scared to death and I’m only doing this because I love you. Okay, Christ, let’s go.”

He let Darcy take him by the hand and together, they faced the first hurdle to the rest of their lives. His past didn’t matter, the future would sort itself out, now was all that mattered and Darcy’s warm hand in his was all he needed. It was all he ever needed and he knew he would never let go, no matter how bumpy the road to the future became.

The End