"Simon, one of the bigger kids," DJ said.
"He's not big," Riley objected.
"No, he isn't, and he doesn't know anything," Wyatt said, but he wondered if this Simon had overheard people talking. "I'm not going anywhere without you guys. If I go somewhere, you're coming with me. Where I go, you go. OK?"
"You'll take me and DJ with you and Barney and Brownie," Riley asked.
"All of you guys," Wyatt told him.
"OK," Riley said happy now.
DJ still looked uneasy though. "I'll have to go to a different school?"
"So you like this school in Peach Tree?" Wyatt asked him since he had been nervous about it only this morning.
"I guess," DJ said shyly and Wyatt reached across the table and ruffled his hair. "Going to Europe is going to be a fun adventure for you guys, I promise." Wyatt wasn't planning to move, but they might visit one day. Since he didn't know what the future might hold, he didn't want to tell them outright that they weren't moving. He didn't want the kids thinking of it as some terrible thing and being afraid.
Right now, he couldn't imagine going anywhere. After all Sam was right here. Wyatt spotted him over at a nearby table taking an order and he smiled. For a moment Sam held his gaze but there wasn't even a hint of a smile in his expression. It left Wyatt to wonder what that look meant.
Chapter 22
Wyatt and the boys had gone home a while ago, and now Sam was doing his work like a zombie. He shouldn't have been surprised at what he overheard. Of course Wyatt was going to be moving back to Europe. Sam was stupid to think otherwise.
"What's worrying you, sweetheart?" Mrs. Del Rio asked him suddenly.
Sam hadn't noticed her there. Clearly he couldn't hide his state of mind from her, but he didn't want to talk about the main thing that was on his mind. But there was something else that had worried him earlier today when he was at the school.
"Sandra was taking pictures. I think she might put them online," he told Mrs. Del Rio. "I know there is only a slim chance of Brian seeing them. But..."
Mrs. Del Rio nodded with understanding. "No use taking chances," she said.
"I want to help with the work for the festival, but now I don't know." The truth was he was trying to keep his distance from Wyatt, and not volunteering to work with him was one way to do that. He didn't want to go back on his commitment to help out though, so he thought about how he could still pitch in. "I can volunteer to clean up after everyone is done. That way they'll all be gone and I won't have to worry about any photos."
"That's too drastic by half," Mrs. Del Rio told him with a shake of her head. "I'll take care of it. The pictures will never see the light of day, and I'll make sure you can do your work with no trouble. Don't you worry."
As she patted his arm, Sam told her he was grateful. He wanted to tell her that he already had a solution, and she didn't need to do anything, but she was already leaving to deal with something else. Sam sighed. It looked like he wouldn't be able to avoid working with Wyatt.
That didn't mean he couldn't keep his distance in other ways. All he had to do was stop feeling everything he felt for Wyatt. Like that was even possible. But somehow he had to lock away his heart to keep it safe. He had to.
Sam had a bad night plagued by nightmares about abandonment and dark empty places that had no end. He woke up in darkness, drenched in a cold sweat, fighting for every breath. There was no sleeping after that. Dawn arrived to find him shaky and tired of being in that little room alone.
Since he was up early anyway, Sam went into the café to help with breakfast prep. He wanted to make it up to Mrs. Del Rio for giving him all the time off so he could volunteer.
He wasn't the only one who was there to help out. Rico was there at the dishwashing station. He greeted Sam with a grimace. "Did you party too hard or what?"
"No. Just had trouble sleeping," Sam told him as he got to work.
"Don't you have a boyfriend who should be keeping you up all night?" Rico asked and Sam flinched.
"Not a boyfriend," Sam said and he felt like he would choke on those words.
"Didn't mean to pry," Rico said, lowering his voice.
Sam wasn't doing a good job hiding how wretched he felt. "Don't worry about it. And thanks for filling in for me."
"It's no problem. I'm kind of looking forward to the festival. I used to love it when I was a kid, but then this other kid at school told me I wasn't supposed to like flowers because I was a boy. It took me a few years to get sick of people telling me everything I wanted and everything I liked was wrong. That's why I'm fighting with my dad now," Rico said, and Sam was reminded of Wyatt and his family.
"Because you're gay?" Sam asked him then realized maybe he shouldn't have.
