“Sarina had a one-night stand with Lance when Dad was in the hospital, but she’s actually in love with Lexie Walston, who’s married to Bill, who runs the hardware store.”
“Uncle LanceandLexie Walston?” she confirmed and clutched invisible pearls. “Consider me scandalized.”
“That’s not all. Lexie’s husband, Bill, knows and doesn’t care because he’s in love with fly fishing.”
“What in theDays of Our Whitesis going on up in Roseview?” Kayla asked in a dramatic whisper.
“I have no idea. Why do you think I’ve stayed away?”
She bit back a snorting giggle. “Apparently, the mayor is dropping dick bombs, and the lesbians are getting down in the hardware store.”
“That does sound funny, but sadly, it’s true.”
“What are you going to do? Are you going to go back to see him?”
“No way. I told him he’s only allowed to call me if it’s about my sister or Sam or if it’s an emergency.”
Kayla frowned as she pulled her long locs over her shoulder and twirled one around her finger. “Are you sure that’s what you want? It seems like there’s a lot there.”
“There is a lot. And there’s nothing,” Sky said sadly. “I love Mason. I always have and I don’t think I’ll evernotlove him. It’s the same with him, too. I know he loves me and he wants me, but there’s nothing we can do about it. He has a life in Roseview, and it’s just about perfect. I don’t fit into that, and I won’t do anything to hurt Sina and Sam.”
“I get it…” Kayla said slowly but her face scrunched with disapproval. “But it’s bullshit. He should do the right thing and leave your sister, or she should do the right thing and leave him.”
“They love each other and they have Sam. They don’t have sex, but the rest of their marriage is…perfect. He’s exactly the kind of man I’d want for her and Sam.”
“Except he’s in love with you.”
Sky nodded slowly, allowing the statement to sink and settle. He knew without a doubt that Mason loved him. And their fling had fully confirmed that Sky was made to love Mason and they were better than perfect together. Words like “right” and “bliss” weren’t adequate to describe what Sky felt and he knew he’d never feel anything close to that again.
“It isn’t just about him and Sarina. Mason also loves being mayor, it’s the only job he’s ever wanted, and everyone loves him because he’s great at it. Being with me could cost him everything, and everyone in town would definitely hate me for ruininganothermarriage.”
“Ew. I forgot about that and that you have a big mansion on the beach you might want to return to at some point… Maybe take me with you next time?” she suggested with a lift of her brows.
Sky’s mouth opened and closed as he wondered if he should have asked her to come with him before. Should he apologize? He assumed she wouldn’t want to.Henever did. “You want to go to Roseview? After everything I’ve told you?”
“To the Hamptons? I’m not afraid of some snooty white people and I want to see if this Mason is as sexy as I’m imagining.”
“You’ve never seen Mason?” Sky took out his phone and tapped on the photos icon. “I could have sworn I’ve shown you pictures of him.” He found one of Mason holding Sam up by the ankle like a prize fish and handed her the phone.
“You wouldn’t even acknowledge that he existed before. I only ever get to see pictures of Sam and Nadine when you come home.” She glanced at the screen and did a double take. “No wonder you’re down bad. He looks like thisandhe puts you through the mattresses…” She enlarged the photo and mouthed aDamn!before handing back the phone.
“I can’t be down bad. He’s married to my sister. You can come to Roseview with me next time. Maybe you can stop me from having sex with him.”
She laughed and nodded. “I’ll do my best, but I might have to use my own body as a shield.”
He stared at her, baffled by why she would do that. “You don’t even like men. Too bad Sina’s married and already has a mistress. I might have taken you home a long time ago, if I’d known she was queer.” He flipped to a picture of Sarina in her blue work scrubs and gave the phone back to Kayla. “I really like this picture. She was about to leave for the office and she looks like she loves her work, right?”
Kayla nodded in agreement. “Hello, Dr. Cartwright! No wonder Sam is so adorable.”
“He looks a lot like me and Mom, but he has Sina’s eyes and nose and he’s smart like her.”
“It’s a good thing he doesn’t look more like his father,” she said with a wince. “How do you feel now that you know? You and Uncle Lance were close, and you thought that Mason had cheated on her for all those years.”
“That was so much for me to process. It took about twenty-four hours to really sink in. But I understand why she didn’t want me to know and why she was scared of anyone finding out. We both called him “Uncle” Lance, but she wasn’t as close to him as I was. She didn’t need him like I did. We were both in such an awful place when Dad died. I probably would have gone catatonic if she had told me then.”
“Like when that dog licked your face on the train and I couldn’t get you to move so we rode all the way to Queens.”
He shuddered as he recalled the unexpected sweep of a hot, drooling tongue across his lips and nose and the horror of what he had witnessed just moments before. “It was eating a diaper, Kayla,” he said, his voice cracking as he went back to that train and that fateful evening. They were coming home from a work party that Sky didn’t even want to go to when a small dog of indeterminate breed got loose, excited by the smell of a freshly-filled diaper. Some barbarian had left it under a seat and the dog had ripped it open like it was a chopped cheese.
