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“The thing is, if I am going to do it, that’s exactly the kind of nursing I want to do. Hospice and end-of-life care. If I did make the switch, that’d mean a lot more school, a lot more time, and a lot more money. Not to mention the end of my mom’s stipend. I don’t know. It’s a hard choice to make. The board of my father’s company is eager for me to take over—or so they claim. Who knows what they really think? I’m sure some of them aren’t too cool with the idea of a fag running the show.”
I remembered what he’d said about his father’s opinion of male nurses. “Did your dad know you’re gay?”
Daniel looked down at his plate, his shoulders drawing toward his ears. “He knew. He didn’t take it well.”
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel smiled at me, his teeth glinting in a sudden shaft of sun through the window. His eyes crinkled kindly, and my heart ached in my chest at how sweet he looked. “For what, Peter? That he didn’t like that I’m a fag or that he died?”
“Both.”
“Yeah. Well, sometimes life sucks.”
“I know. I’m kind of aware of that.”
Daniel turned back to his burger. “What about your parents? You said you just came out to them. Did you tell them, or did they figure it out?”
“A little of both. My dad saw some stuff between me and Adam, but I told them both eventually. My dad was the one who handled it well. Maybe because he had some warning. My mom freaked out because of old family stuff.” I didn’t want to get into the horror of what had happened to my uncle. “But she’s better. They’re both okay with me now. I think.”
“That’s good. My mom was pretty accepting. She really loved Kevin, my first boyfriend. I think she thought we’d be together forever, but we were a little young for that.”
“How old were you?”
“I dated him my senior year of high school and broke up with him a few months after my dad died.”
“Were you in love with him?”
Daniel chewed thoughtfully. “I loved him, but my dad’s death made me realize I wasn’t in love with him.”
“How did you know you weren’t in love with him anymore?” Adam’s face flashed in my mind.
“Being with him made me feel worse when I really needed to feel better.” Daniel’s eyes slid away from mine guiltily. “Kevin was great. He tried to be supportive after Dad died, but I didn’t let him. I knew it was over when I started dodging his calls to hang out with Minty instead.”
“Did he take it okay?”
“Not really. He was upset and angry. He tried to convince me it was just the grief talking and I really cared about him still. But he was wrong. I loved him, but I wasn’t in love with him. So it was over. I don’t regret our relationship ending. In the end, he went to Georgia Tech, and his folks moved to Atlanta to be close to him. We didn’t keep in touch.”
I remembered Adam last fall after I’d left him, begging to be taken back, making promises that everything would be better in time. The same kind of promises he liked to make now.
“Enough morbid stuff,” Daniel said, smiling. “Let’s talk about you.”
“Okay.” I tried to think of something to say to lighten the mood. “I suffer from a terrible affliction, actually.” I let my lips curl up so he’d know I was teasing. “My mom writes romance novels.”
He burst out laughing. “The horror!”
“It’s really embarrassing. People ask her what she’s working on and she says something like, ‘Seducing the Colonel’s Tart.’”
He laughed. “At least she’s got a job. My mom’s main occupation is scrapbooking. She’s got a whole room dedicated to it.”
“I’d take a scrapbooking mom over a bodice-ripper-penning mom any day.”
Daniel shrugged. “Grass, greener, yadda yadda.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re an only child?”
“Yeah. My mom had books to give birth to, and my dad has carried on a very passionate and open affair with Mary Magdalene and the Knights Templar for years now.”
