He will never belong to me, and I don’t want to be like Stewart and Lance.
“I’m not hungry, and I have to get in early if I want to grab my things and get out before Mom wakes up. I’ll find something on the way to the station,” Sky promised, avoiding Mason’s red, shattered eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Sky. About us and your mother and Lance and Stewart… Don’t shut us out if you need us. Sina’s going to find out one way or another and she’ll want to help if she can.”
“Okay. I’ll keep that in mind,” Sky said as he stood and headed for the door. “Tell her and Sammy that I’m sorry I couldn’t stick around. Give them a hug for me.”
He tried to dodge Mason in the foyer, but he caught Sky’s arm and turned him. “Wait. Don’t forget that we love you—Ilove you—and we’ll always want you. Please take good care of yourself.”
“I will. Love you too,” Sky muttered as he swiped his lips against Mason’s, then pushed him away.
He stormed out, and down the front steps, and ran all the way to his mother’s house. Resolved that it would be the last time, for a very long time, that he would set eyes on Mason, his mother, or Roseview, Sky packed his bag, said goodbye to Nadine, then took a cab to the train station.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Four months later…
The very worst thing that had ever happened to Mason came out of nowhere while he was on his way home from the office. It wasn’t a car accident, but the news that his father had a stroke and was being flown to Mineola hit Mason like a semi. He pulled over, got out of his truck, and stumbled off the shoulder with his phone. Mason fell to his knees on the grass, rocking and panicking as Sarina told him everything she knew.
Being an adult and a father with a mortgage andtwo jobscouldn’t save Mason, he felt like he was six again and was terrified that he’d lose his dad. He called his mother, instinctively seeking assurance and comfort, but the sound ofhertears and fear snapped him out of it. Mason pulled himself together and started making calls. Adele finally had an opportunity to keep Sam Jr. for an evening with Nadine’s supervision, and had been surprisingly sympathetic when Mason dropped him off.
It was a little more than an hour to NYU Langone,but Mason was immensely grateful for Sarina’s quick thinking when she recognized that Sam Sr. was having a stroke. Instead of wasting valuable time at one of the clinics or hospitals in Southampton, she made sure he went to one of the top stroke centers in the region. She was by Sam Sr.’s bed, poking at a monitor, when Mason rushed into the recovery suite.
“You’re awake!” Mason’s voice didn’t work as he hurried around the bed and took his father’s hand. He looked weak and groggy but Mason was crying tears of joy, relieved that he was still there.
“I’m okay, son! I had an angel watching over me and she hasn’t left my side.” Sam beamed up at Sarina, his soft brown eyes misty with gratitude.
“I’m just so glad I was there and everything went exactly the way we needed it to. Your mom is downstairs, making phone calls where the reception is better. Her phone hasn’t stopped buzzing since it happened,” she told Mason.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” he said as he grabbed her face and covered it with tearful, snotty kisses.
“Dad’s going to be okay!” Sarina promised. She calmly explained what had happened before and during surgery, and what Sam Sr.'s prognosis and recovery would look like. “We were really lucky!”
Mason nodded emphatically, overcome with gratitude. “Who knows what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“That’s not what I meant, but early detection makes ahugedifference. All the stars aligned so we could get him here as fast as we did and into an operating room with the right people.”
“You saved my life, Sina,” Sam insisted, then smiled at Mason. “I always joked that we won the lottery when she agreed to marry you and gave us Little Sam. Now we have proof. That girl is the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me after your mother.” He laughed fondly but Mason’s stomach sank and he couldn’t look his father in the eye all of a sudden, he felt so ashamed and guilty.
I could have lost him and he never would have known.
Unlike some people who waited until after their parents passed to come out, Mason suddenly didn’t want his father to die without telling him the whole truth. He would have sooner, if it had only been about his homosexuality. Mason’s parents weren’t homophobic and would probably be supportive. It was about all the rest of it, and how long he had hidden it from them.
“There’s something I want to tell you, but I’m not sure if this is the right time,” Mason started in a trembling voice and Sarina whipped around, stunned.
“Mason? What are you doing?” she whispered tightly but her eyes were screaming at him as she shook her head faintly.
“Will I give him another stroke if I tell him now?” he asked her, earning a genuine laugh from Sam.
“I’ll have another stroke if you don’t. What the hell are you two getting spun up about?”
Sarina cringed hard and shook her head. “He won’t have another stroke but are you sure, Mase? I could care less about what my mom thinks of us but I’ll feel like hell and never get over it, knowing Dad’s disappointed in me.”
Sam spluttered and flailed with his free hand. “Would you two cut it out? I’d never be disappointed in either of you.”
“You might, Dad,” Mason said. “I have to tell you, though. There are things I’ve been afraid to tell you for most of my life, but I’ve made it so much worse by hiding and lying.”
“It’s okay, son. Whatever it is, we’ll get through it together,” Sam said, just as Mason’s mother returned.
