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More dangerous than drugs could only mean he worried that his son might attempt suicide. “I don’t think that’s a worry, Rick. If it were drugs or…that, I would tell you. I just met him, so I don’t know much yet. If all you wanted me to do is report back…”
“No,” he said quickly. “I want him to trust you, and for you not to break that. When I was growing up, I had an uncle I could confide in that helped me with things my parents never could understand. He still is there for me when I need him, and I still need him quite often.”
“You don’t have siblings?”
“No. My mother had a series of miscarriages before and after I was born. I was known as the miracle baby by her and my father.”
Another reason he probably held so tightly to his sons. “I see. My parents simply didn’t want to leave two kids in motel rooms while they made movies and traveled to promote them.”
“Well, looks like you have brothers now,” he mentioned, which made me smile.
“Yes, and in fact, Joel just said how I was like his brother. It was really nice. Since coming here, I’ve met some really great people.”
“I’d like to credit our town, but a lot of the newer people here are exceptionally good for the town. That, uh, club of theirs, it’s brought more tourists in, though they try so hard to keep it hidden.”
“Nobody would ever shut it down, right?”
He laughed breathily and then his eyes heated. “Not while I’m mayor. Even the conservatives tout how everyone should mind their business. If the government, me, stepped in to shut it down, you’d have a town filled with people rallying to keep it.”
“Are you sure about that? If they knew it was a gay club?”
The man was so handsome, it was distracting. “I have spoken to a few people about topics such as that. The few that have issues with it, well, I posed a question to them. How would they like someone nosing around their bedroom? And most didn’t like that idea. Listen, as long as no one runs around town half-naked or making out in the streets, which would piss off those same conservatives if they were a straight couple, by the way, I don’t ever see a problem. We like living free here, as much as possible. The politics of the day, well, this is still a place that says to leave talk about religion and politics out of the public. Policies, sure, raise their property taxes, you’ll hear it.”
I laughed as I’d heard a very liberal Burke mention that very subject. “I’m sure. It’s kind of expensive to live here as it is, I hear.”
“Supply and demand. We keep the supply low for a reason, and it’s not for the prices to be high, but it makes it so. We like the area like it is. New builds here are frowned on unless it’s really necessary. No apartment buildings except the three that already exist. As for affordable housing, we have that. There are bigger towns to the east and west of us that have plenty more options.”
I’d learned more about the town in twenty minutes than I had since I’d arrived. I guess that comes with being close to the mayor. “I like that. New people coming into town, well, they’re taking places already built. I get it, I do. I have lived in a lot of places. I think this is my favorite.”
“Good,” he said with his eyes shining. He rose and said, “Well, I’ll let you get unpacked and settled. How is getting started with Chan in the morning? He never wakes before ten, but I’m hoping that will change.”
“We could go for a run in the morning. I always run before the sun’s fully up.”
He laughed heartily over that and vowed, “If you can get him to do that, I’ll give you a raise.”
“I don’t need a raise, but I also can’t promise.”
“Good luck.”
I spoke to Chandler before lunch, and Rick was right, he had just gotten up and come down in tattered pajamas. As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he noticed me sitting in the kitchen as Rick made sandwiches with Colby bouncing around his legs.
“Oh! Are you here already?”
“I’m here. I’m hoping to get some time with you this afternoon to start off some things. Sound good?”
He shrugged noncommittally and then sat next to me at the island. “Turkey?” he asked his father.
“Turkey or ham.”
“Ham is bad for you. All pork is, Dad, we’ve had this discussion.”
Rick rolled his eyes and asked me, “Did you know that?”
“I generally prefer poultry too, but it’s the taste for me.”
Rick smiled and said, “Then turkey for you both.”
Chandler snagged a piece of lettuce to munch, and Colby came over to his brother, begging to be held. “Chan, Chan!”
