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She gripped my hand tighter. “Of course not, sweetheart. You are different,” she stated. “You feel things differently than some. You love differently. You are forgiving and kind, and you have an amazing capacity to care. I sure hope that isn’t considered weird.”
“I feel empty though,” I replied, tugging at the bottom of my T-shirt, wanting to hide from my vulnerability.
“That’s because you’re reeling from disappointment, but you are a man who has unique abilities,” she said. “You see things in others that most of us ignore. And not just see, you appreciate those things. You value others and that is why people value you, Chad,” she added, lifting my chin with her finger. “Do not change because of a couple of setbacks.”
“I’m thinking about him, Mom. Like really thinking about him,” I confessed.
“I know you are, honey. I’m not blind. And Mr. Hicks is thinking about you too.”
“You knew who I meant?”
She grinned. “A mother knows these things.”
“But I can’t go there,” I stated, looking past her and toward my safe place, the water. “Not this time.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Cole
“Are you sure?” I asked the attractive young male in the valet drive. “A week ago?”
He nodded enthusiastically. “Positive, sir. I’m the one that replaced Chad.”
I scrunched my nose in dismay and looked around the hotel entry and the large overhang shading the valet area. I believed him but needed more proof as my eyes swept the open space. “Did he tell you if he had another job?” I asked, still unconvinced and disappointed that Chad hadn’t been there. My nervousness had taken days to overcome when I’d finally decided to make the second move and ask Chad out on a real date.
“He said something about driving up to The Hamptons and visiting some dude,” he stated. “And this is the weird part,” he added before clamming up. He hesitated a moment before continuing. “Never mind. I probably shouldn’t tell you that part.”
“I won’t tell him you told me,” I urged, pulling a twenty from my jeans pocket and waving it at him. He looked around cautiously. “It’ll be okay. I promise I won’t spill the beans,” I encouraged.
“Well… he actually said the dude was dead.”
“Dead?” I asked. “Like in a cemetery?”
“Not exactly, sir,” he replied. “I asked him that too, and he told me the guy was in the water.”
“Jesus,” I mumbled. “You sure?”
“Sounds made up, right? I don’t know Chad all that well, but people here that do know him say he sees stuff the rest of us don’t see,” he said sheepishly, like he was embarrassed to be gossiping.
“Thank you,” I said, handing him the twenty-dollar bill. “I was never here,” I added.
“Understood, sir,” he confirmed. “One more thing, sir,” he began. “I like Chad a whole bunch. He’s one of the kindest dudes I think I’ve ever met, so I hope that what I said doesn’t sound too creepy and stuff. I’d hate for you to think of him in a bad sorta way.”
“You’re fine,” I said. “I like Chad as well. Perhaps you misunderstood him.”
He shook his head slowly. “No, sir. I understood him perfectly fine. He even told me the dude’s name.”
I felt chills racing down my spine. “And what name was that?” I asked, knowing exactly who his answer would be.
“Jack,” he said. “He called him a close friend, an advisor of sorts.”
My eyes expanded at his answer. An advisor? What the fuck?
* * *
“Two calls in the same month after years of no calls?” Perry joked after picking up. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Cole?”
“How about a who? A young man named Chad,” I said.
Perry inhaled deeply at the name. “No shit?” he asked, letting his held breath out slowly. “Well, I’ll be damn. I knew it. I told Lucas after the last time we spoke that Jack was up to something again.”
