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His face grew sad. Terribly sad. Then he sat up, wiggling around to face me, his gangly arms draped over his knees.
“Elias, I am not disgusted by you being gay.”
That lifted a small boulder off my chest. “I also like to wear girly undies.”
“So I read, and before you ask, that doesn’t bother me either. Not every clergyman is a bigoted ass,” he said with some real passion. Another rock lifted. “Please know that I embrace all people at my church. God does not pick and choose which of his children he loves based on things like skin color, gender, or sexuality.”
“Thanks,” I coughed out, letting my sight go back to the clouds because looking at Billy was going to make me cry. “It’s been…things have been trying.”
“I can imagine. Your father is accepting, yes?”
“Very much so. I kept it hidden from him for years because I felt he would be disappointed in me. I ran off and never came back, not like you.” He made a sound that was hard to discern. “What?”
I glanced his way. The wind was tugging at his hat so strongly he slapped a hand to his head to keep it in place.
“You make me sound like some kind of exalted being for coming back to Kesside. Perhaps I returned because I couldn’t stand the world out there, off island. Jane likes to say that I’m too gentle of a soul to live in the big city. She’s not far from wrong, Elias. I had a breakdown ten years ago and came home to recuperate. I’d seen too many tragedies in Boston. That was when I was serving as an assistant pastor in a large church in Roxbury. The crime rate was astronomical or seemed that way to me. Shootings, stabbings, rapes, assaults, and battering of women and children. It all got to me, and so I came home and took over the church here. The previous pastor had passed right after I’d moved back and the locals were thrilled to have me take over.”
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Dad never mentioned it. He told me you had gotten married, but nothing about your mental health issues.” I sat up slowly and took one of his hands in mine. He didn’t yank it away, instead he smiled and gave my fingers a squeeze.
“Most of them don’t know why I came back. Jane does, of course, and my mother as well. Dad passed over fifteen years ago before I got sick.” A gust of wind whistled through the pines, tearing at his hat and lifting my cap right off my head.
I yelped and shot up to my feet, but the ball cap was gone before I could stumble up to my bare feet. Down into the bay it went, landing softly on the ocean as I watched from above.
“Well crap, that was given to me by my neighbor.” I sighed as the bright yellow cap floated along atop the rowdy waves.
“We’ll need to start wearing bonnets that we can tie under our chins,” he called from our resting spot. I padded back to him, sat down, and stretched out my legs to let the sun warm them.
“I bet most people wouldn’t be surprised to see me in a bonnet,” I said, pulling my lips over my teeth. “Sorry. I’ve been really down since things went to hell.” I glanced at Billy. “Since you have God’s ear, can you ask him to make sure my ex burns?”
That made him chortle. “That’s not exactly how it’s supposed to work. You’re supposed to dig deep into your heart and find the grace to forgive your ex-boyfriend for his sins.”
“Christ,” I huffed and blanched. “Sorry.” Billy nodded and then flung some grass at me. “It’s not in me to forgive him for doing this to me. I know that sounds shitty, and I know that makes me a terrible person—”
“No, it just makes you human. All of us are struggling to live in grace. You’ll work your way through this dilemma and come out stronger. Perhaps this was God’s way of showing you a new path for your life. I believe he wanted me here on Kesside to tend to this salty flock of sheep.”
“And so he gave you a nervous breakdown to get you to come back?” He shrugged. A motorboat sped by out on the water. “To be honest, I’m not a real big fan of his style. He could send a simple text stating that he thought we should be moving in a different direction.”
That made him chuckle. “A text probably wouldn’t have the same impact.” His smiling eyes widened as he looked past me. I glanced over my shoulder to see a blonde woman with a round tummy showing through her summery dress, walking toward us with a picnic basket and a knowing smile. “Well crab apples. She found us,” Billy whispered, then got to his big feet to rush over to take the food from his wife.
I stood, brushed the sand and grass from me, and grinned at Jane Morton. She was a cute little woman with incredibly pink cheeks and bright blue eyes.
“I told Mom that you were out here with Elias talking about treasures and how to best torment poor Portman,” she said, hugging me to her as soon as she got close. I squeezed her gently and then pulled back so Billy could spread out a small red checkered blanket. It took all three of us to secure it since the wind was blowing that hard. We both made up terrible excuses as she held out sandwiches to each of us and took one for herself. “It’s fine. I love coming out here and watching the sea. This island is magical.”
She was right. This tiny rock did seem to have some sort of mystical powers. Sitting here with them was making me feel so much better.
“We were reliving our carefree days as young pirates sailing the waters of the bay,” Billy said around a bite of ham, sharp cheese, and spicy mustard. “We’d not made it to the bridge to torment…I mean visit with Portman.”
“I did that earlier today.” I relayed the visit with the bridgeman. Jane and Billy were roaring when I was done. I chewed on a sour pickle and felt lighter than I had in ages. Then, for some reason, Jane decided we should all talk like pirates for the rest of the picnic.
We were still growling out “argh” and “poop deck,” which always made Billy laugh so hard he snorted, when we rolled into town on our bikes. Yes, Jane had pedaled out to the cove on a retro ’50s pink bike with a huge basket on the handlebars. We passed by the theater, and I slowed to look on in pity at the old grand dame.
“Shame isn’t it?” Jane asked as she stopped beside me, Billy on my left. “We keep asking the town council for money, but there just isn’t any to spare.”
“Small tourist towns don’t have a lot of ready cash.” Billy sighed with sadness. “It’s a pity to see her crumbling to dust. If only someone who loved her had some cash just lying around to spend on fixing her up and—”
“William Ashton Morton, that is not at all the proper way to ask your dear friend to help the playhouse out,” Jane scolded her husband, then turned those big baby blues on me. “What he meant to say was, wouldn’t it be heavenly if a benefactor appeared and bestowed a grant upon the playhouse to restore her to her former glory?”
She batted her lashes. I glanced at Billy. “Oh, she’s good.”
