“Thanks for the heads up, Mark. I’ll keep my eyes open.”
Mark headed back to his office, and Bernard sat at his desk. His vanilla candles soothed his mind as their scent filled the space again.
Was this why Sean was eager to invite him to the game? Did he want a serious relationship with Bernard? He wanted to hang out and had wanted to for a while. He’d mentioned having tried to get hold of him for months before he gave up.
Was he waiting for me to reach out to him?
*
BERNARD AND SARAHsat across from each other in Carrie’s.
“So, what did you do this weekend?” Sarah asked.
“Oh, it was great. I went to my dad’s barbecue, met up with Rory,” he said, “then we spent Sunday afternoon at the park.”
“Wait, slow down. You ran into Rory?”
“Yes, I told you I got him back in my life.”
“I was more concerned with Sean. How did you meet back up?”
“Yes, my dad invited him to his barbecue, and we started talking,” Bernard said.
“You haven’t talked to Rory in like six years,” she said.
“I know it’s been a long time.”
The last time he’d hung out with Rory, they were at the Round-Up Saloon. Rory had just turned twenty-nine and was off to grad school. Rory’s cologne lingered in his memory. A Hint of Pine. The night lived on in his dreams. Rory was excited when he received his acceptance letter to San Jose State for electrical engineering. That was six years ago.
“So, how’s he doing?”
“He’s doing great.”
Bernard went into detail about their talk at the barbecue, their walk in the park, and even the man who confronted him.
“Wow, you really get the worst of the worst out there, don’t you?”
“He wasn’t that bad,” Bernard said. “I’ve run into much worse. At least this guy backed down quickly when I confronted him.”
“So, why would he assume you and Rory were gay?”
“Probably because I gave him a hug, and in his macho mind that is only something gay men do.”
“I will never understand people,” she said.
“So, he finishes his degree this semester and then he’ll probably look for work.”
“That’s great. Does he have a girlfriend?”
“No. He said he hasn’t found anyone. Come to think of it, I don’t think he’s ever had a girlfriend.”
“Well,” Sarah said. “If I remember correctly, his mother is pretty overbearing. She might not want her special man to be with the wrong woman.”
“It was something he said at the barbecue that gave me pause. Don’t repeat what I’m about to tell you.”
“Of course not.”
“He said he’d trust me to be there for him if he was anything other than straight and then whispered to himself that his parents wouldn’t be supportive.”
