Page 54 of Snow Globe Secrets

I called, standing in the kitchen, and confirmed, “Forty minutes,” after I hung up. Mom put three beers on the counter in front of me and carried a tray of hors d'oeuvres and her glass of wine to the family room.

“You boys up for decorating the tree tonight? We waited for you.”

Mom sat next to Dad on the couch, leaning into him and tucking her legs up. Randall was in one of the matching armchairs. Instead of taking the neighboring chair, I went and sat on the far side of Mom and Dad on the couch.

From that distance, Randall risked a smile in my direction, then he looked at my parents. “Please don’t let me intrude. If you’d rather …”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, Randy. We invited you for Christmas so that you’d be here for Christmas. Christmas starts with decorating the tree. Tonight, if you’re both up for it.”

Randall nodded and smiled again, but I could sense the tension underneath it.

“After pizza,” I contributed. “I’m starving.”

“Agreed!” Dad exclaimed. “That should give us time for Randall to catch us up. I know about your company, and the merger, but what about your personal life? Any broken hearts back in England? Kids?” Dad was guileless in his inquisition.

I’d been staring mindlessly at the TV as it shared holiday music trivia, but I snapped my gaze to Randall with Dad’s question. I expected to find him even more tense and nervous than he had been, but instead, he looked serene, a soft smile on his face.

“No kids, Mart. But I was married. His name was David,” he said matter-of-factly before plowing on, leaving no time for my parents to respond. “We were together for over fifteen years, but hindsight being twenty-twenty and all that, we were never really a good fit. I guess it’s best we never had any kids.” He shrugged.

Randall crinkled his eyes at me before quickly darting them to look at my father, his countenance turning to worry.

“Well fuck, Randy. I’m sorry to hear that. Did he not want to move back to the States with you, or was it something else?”

Randall caught my eye quickly again and smiled, letting out a sigh before focusing on Dad and responding. “It was quite the other way around, actually. I caught him cheating and decided after that to take my company up on the offer to return to the States.”

“Shit, Randy. That sucks.”

“I’m sorry, Randy,” my mother added. “You deserve better than that.”

And because my dad couldn’t help himself, he added, “So if we wanted to set you up with someone, is it guys only? Cuz I have this friend who owns a shop near the restaurant. A little younger than us, single …”

A knot formed in my stomach, and I had to will my head to keep it from snapping up to his. I grabbed my phone from the coffee table instead and began swiping mindlessly at social media, something I hadn’t bothered to do in all my time at Randall’s cabin except when I was spying on his idiot ex.

“No!” Randall said rather loudly. I kept my eyes locked on my phone, though all I wanted was to decipher the emotions I would see on his face if I were brave enough to look up. More calmly, he continued, “No, no. I’m gay, Marty. Always have been. Should have told you back then, but, well, I didn’t tell anyone. I moved to an entirely different hemisphere so I wouldn’t have to tell anyone.”

Mom stood up and stood before me. “Aus, will you help me in the kitchen?”

“Huh?” We were waiting for a pizza delivery, our drinks were fresh, and snacks were on the coffee table. What could she possibly need to do in the kitchen? Her eyes got wide when I looked up from the phone. “Sure?”

On my way past Randall, I wanted so much to place a reassuring hand on his shoulder. When I realized what I was doing, I redirected my hand to grab his drink instead, giving it a little shake. It was practically full.

“Ready for another?”

“No, thank you, Austin.” Randall looked up into my eyes, and I hoped mine conveyed how proud I was of him for jumping that huge hurdle with my parents.

God bless Dad for keeping it weird. As I followed my mom to the kitchen, he said, “You know Aus is gay. Did he mention it?”

“It may have come up,” Randall replied, and I had to ball my fists and focus on my blunt nails digging into my palms to keep from laughing.

The two friends spoke at the same time.

“You could have told me back then.” Dad’s voice was so kind.

“I should have told you …” Randall began. When Dad didn’t go on, he continued as Mom waved me over to the corner of the kitchen and put a stack of plates in my hands.

“I figured we should let them talk.” Thanks to the countertop bar that divided the kitchen from the family room, I could still hear every word.

“I was dealing with a lot. I don’t know if you remember, but I went home for a few weeks after graduation. I thought I would tell my mom then, but before I could even bring it up, she said some pretty awful things about gay people. We spent a lot of time over those weeks at church events. I think she knew. I think she even knew I was going to tell her, and she put a stop to it with those words and all that time at church! We pretended like that until she got sick. I told her then. She was dying, so she didn’t push me away, which I’m eternally grateful for. But then she was gone, and I headed off to London. I’m glad I told her, and I’m glad to have told you, now.”