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The good thing was she could still take care of some of her responsibilities remotely. It was what she often did when we weren’t together.
I wondered how we would move forward. I wasn’t leaving Little Beach; I loved it here. Even if Gideon and I broke up, I would want to stay. I’d be devastated and miserable if I didn’t have him as a boyfriend, but Gideon had promised we would always be friends, and I believed him. We were totally bestie goals. And Little Beach was home. My home, and that wasn’t something I ever thought I’d have.
“You can’t push her, Milo.” Gene closed the door, and the two of us went into the kitchen.
“She pushes me.”
“And do you like it?”
“No, but she still does it.”
He chuckled. “She has to want to hear about Wilma, and she has to do it in her own time.”
“Well, her time sucks.”
We went out the back door to the yard, where Gideon had delivered my supplies earlier. It was beautifully landscaped with tons of flowers, bushes, and cobblestone walkways weaving throughout.
It was my day off, and I’d told Gene I would start building him a porch swing with a canopy so he could enjoy Wilma’s garden without the sun frying him alive.
There was a chair in the shade beneath a tree, where Gene sat. He liked being close to me when I visited, I’d noticed. That worked because I enjoyed his company and liked hearing stories about Wilma.
“So…you and Gideon,” Gene started.
I grinned. “Oh, do you mean my boyfriend, Gideon?” I put my goggles and hard hat on and then handed my spares to Gene. He wore his without arguing. Rachel and Gid needed to be more like Gene.
“That’s what I’ve heard around town.”
“This is the kind of gossip I can get behind. Everyone is talking about me having a hot boyfriend.” I sighed while pulling the plans I’d drawn out of my bag. “But it’s more than just that, ya know? How did you know you loved Wilma? I asked Mom, and she gave me her advice, but I figure I should get as much information as possible before I tell Gideon how I might feel.” I blurted things out a lot, but I was determined not to with this. I didn’t want to do anything to screw it up. What if I pushed Gideon away? What if he liked me okay, but he didn’t love me and I ruined everything? Or what if I thought I loved him and told him but then figured out I didn’t? I wanted to be sure.
“I think it’s something that happens slowly. One day I realized I was never quite as happy with anyone else as I was when I was with her.”
“Oh, I definitely feel that.”
“Things that might embarrass me or cause me to feel silly in front of other people didn’t feel that way with her because I knew she liked me just the way I was.”
“I think Gideon does too…like me that way. He says he does, and he never makes me feel incapable or like he’s embarrassed of me.” There was the one time with Orlando, but it had been a misunderstanding, and nothing like that had happened since. I always felt safe with Gid.
“I wanted nothing more than to see her smile, to make her happy, to be there for whatever she needed.”
“Gideon’s smiles are one of my favorite things in the world. It’s even better when they make an appearance because of me. It’s like, even if I screw up a lot of things, I at least got that right.”
Gene nodded. “Sounds to me like if you’re not there yet, you’re on your way. He’s sure smitten with you, couldn’t stop talking about you when he came by earlier.”
I reached out and anchored myself with a hand on the porch railing, like hearing that would make me float away. Even if this wasn’t love, it was fucking awesome. “It’s all because of Wilma, because she loved me even though she didn’t know me. And she left me the store, so I moved here, and I’m happier than I’ve ever been. I wish I could thank her.”
“You can,” Gene said. “I don’t know what I believe about afterlife or where we go when we pass, but I talk to her, and I believe she hears me. But even if you don’t, I think she knows. If there’s any way for her to watch over you, I know she is.”
“Just tell her I don’t wear pants at home. I wouldn’t want her seeing anything she shouldn’t,” I teased, making Gene laugh. “You must miss her a lot.”
“Every second of every day.” He looked out just as the wind blew through the flowers. “But it’s better now that you’re here.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. It was a lot, but in a good way, so when he glanced at me again, I offered a grin and got to work. We talked about Mom and Wilma, and apparently they were both stubborn. He told me more stories and said he’d made a photo album for me. I kept thinking about what he said, though, about how it was better now that I was there. I liked Gene a lot; he was family to me. I’d never had that besides Mom—and Dad before he left. Now I had Gid, Mom, Gene, Rach, Cammy, and Gideon’s family.
