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“Hi,” she said with a wave of her hand.
“Hi, Charlie,” I said. “I’m Everett.”
“I thought your name was Mr. President.”
“Honey, I told you that was what you should call him, but that’s not his name,” Gage said.
“You don’t have to call me that,” I quickly added. “If it’s okay with your dad, I’d like it if you called me Everett.”
Charlie looked at Gage and he nodded.
“It’s nice to meet you, Everett.” She held out her hand. I shifted the dog in my arms and shook it.
“And this stern-looking young man is Nash,” I said.
Charlie scrunched up her face. “What’s stern mean?”
“It’s like what we call Zeus,” Gage said.
“Oooh,” Charlie said with a nod before looking at the big mastiff lying at my feet.
“What do you call Zeus?” I asked.
“Grumps, because he’s always grumpy,” Charlie announced. “Daddy says it’s ‘cause he’s old, but Pépère says it’s because he’s always constipated.”
I let out a bark of laughter and couldn’t stop myself from looking at Nash. He looked less than pleased. His irritated eyes fell on Gage, who just stared back.
And there it was again – that thing between them.
To diffuse the tension, I said “Pépère? That’s French for Grandpa, right?” At Charlie’s nod, I continued. “So this is Zeus,” I said as I motioned to the dog at my feet. “So that must mean this little girl is Happy.” I held up the tiny dog in my hands.
“No, that’s Medusa,” Charlie said. She pointed at the dog sitting at Nash’s feet. “That’s Happy.”
“Medusa?” I said with a smile as I turned the little dog to look her in the eye. She was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.
Gage tucked his daughter up against his side. “Like her grandfather, Charlie’s got a thing for Greek mythology.”
“And since Pépère got to name Zeus and Daddy got to name Happy, I got to name Medusa,” she said as she reached up and took the dog from me. “Daddy, can I go tell Pépère they’re here?”
Gage nodded, and the girl took off like a shot.
“Mr. Fortier, the property,” Nash said impatiently.
“Have at it,” Gage said. “You and Everett will be staying in that house there,” Gage added as he motioned to the smaller house. Nash nodded and then looked at me.
I sighed and said, “I’ll wait here until you’re done.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him,” Gage said.
A muscle in Nash’s jaw ticked, and he held Gage’s gaze for a moment before turning and striding toward the smaller house. When he was out of hearing distance, I said, “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be,” Gage said. “It’s his job to keep you safe. I’d hate to have to kick his ass for failing to do that.”
I reminded myself that his comment didn’t actually mean anything, but I couldn’t stop the warmth that heated my insides. Gage was watching me intently, which I liked just a little too much, so I brought up the one thing that I needed to remember while I was here.
“I hope your wife is okay with all this,” I said. “It truly wouldn’t be a problem for Nash and me to stay at a hotel.”
“Nonsense,” Gage said. “We have plenty of room here.”
I nodded and dropped my eyes when Zeus began sniffing my shoe. Happy had disappeared to follow Nash.
“And Everett?”
I forced my eyes up.
“I’m not married. And if I was, it wouldn’t be to a woman.”
It took a good five seconds for understanding to dawn, but instead of handling the news like a mature man who knew better, I blurted, “But you have a daughter.”
I could feel the heat filling my cheeks as I heard my own words. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean that. I just meant—”
“Everett,” Gage said, his voice gentle. Fireworks went off in my brain as his hand settled on my shoulder and he stepped closer to me. “Take a breath.”
I nodded. “Sorry,” I murmured again. God, why couldn’t I get it together around this man? Or Nash, for that matter? I’d held a position of power that had required infinite amounts of patience, discipline, and coolness under pressure, but my emotions were nothing but a jumble around Gage and Nash.
“Yes, Charlie is my biological daughter and yes, I’m gay.” He hesitated for a moment before saying, “Will that be a problem for you?”
“What?” I asked, snapping my head up. “No, of course not. No, I’m ga—”
My words abruptly cut off when I realized what I’d been about to say. While certain people in my life knew I was gay, I’d never actually said the words out loud to any of them. I knew Gage had been there when Reese had accused me of fucking Vincent, but knowing that he knew still didn’t make it possible for me to dislodge the frog in my throat that kept me from completing the statement. An unexpected bout of humiliation tore through me. How many times had I told Pierce I’d come out once my term ended? That I’d proudly tell the world who I really was and that he was the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with? How many times had I told him that I’d tell the rest of the world to fuck off – that they no longer owned any piece of me and I didn’t owe them anything?
