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“Chad said the two of you are friends, so I guess that’s true?” I asked.
Perry ignored the question and asked one of his own. “Where’d you meet Chad?”
“His parents are my neighbors now,” I said. “Alex is an early investor in my software company. Isn’t it a strange coincidence that I bought a house a few doors down from his and Maggie’s?”
“Coincidence?” he asked, sounding more like he doubted my explanation. “I met Chad in the valet drive of a hotel in Virginia Beach and thought that meeting was a coincidence.”
His admission stunned me. “The one on the main drag next to the McDonalds?” I asked.
“Yep. That’d be the one,” he replied. “Chad took me over to his parents’ house unannounced the evening I met him. That’s how I met his folks.”
“I was just over at the hotel looking for him,” I admitted.
“So, you’ve actually met Chad,” he reflected. “The beautiful, ethereal Chad.”
“Met him?” I joked. “I hired and then fired him.”
“Weirded you out, huh?” Perry asked, sounding like we shared inside information.
“I wouldn’t quite say that,” I defended. “He is certainly something, though.”
“Oh, trust me. You have no idea,” he said. “Why were you looking for him at the hotel? Couldn’t you just go next door?”
I wasn’t prepared to admit why I’d been at the hotel, so I fibbed. “I was in the area and wanted to say hi. He’s a nice kid. I like him,” I said.
“Uh-huh,” Perry said, sounding as suspicious as a judge at a Trump hearing. “Okay, my friend. What’s the real story here? Why are you calling me about this incredible young man you’ve been led to?”
His observation was interesting, to say the least. “You believe that I’m being led?”
“Let’s just say that I believe nothing is impossible in this wonderful world,” he responded. “And if Jack happened to send Chad your way, consider yourself the fortunate recipient of Jack’s love.”
Perry’s direct way of speaking about something so odd was compelling. “This is weird, Perry,” I stated. “Highly unusual at best.”
“Then tell me this, my friend. Why are you calling me today?” he asked. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy, but what’s the real purpose of your call?”
“Who the fuck is this kid?” I asked, releasing a massive sigh, and basically admitting the reason for the call. I needed a personal vouching for someone who was stuck in my brain and causing my heart to hurt.
“How about this?” he began. “What if we were to simply call Chad… lemme see here… Jack’s long-lost twin? The next generation of an amazing man.”
“Don’t you think he’s a bit…” I didn’t want to sound flip or mean. “A bit, let’s just say, odd? Somehow different?”
“Oh, hell yeah! He most certainly is that. Chad is a whole heap of different, Cole,” he exclaimed. “A big, fat, serving of the most different person you’ll ever have the pleasure of knowing.”
His response was the assurance I needed to hear. Perry had been married to different. He was an expert on different. If he vouched for the mysteriously different Chad, then I could trust the assessment.
“Any idea why he’d drive up to The Hamptons?” I asked.
“Who told you he did that?” he asked.
“His old employer,” I replied, breaking a promise not to tell. “The person told me Chad was going to visit a dead friend, and not one located in a cemetery.”
“Well, shit,” Perry expressed. “That doesn’t sound good.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Chad
I stood on the beach, facing away from the water and at a massive home I remembered well. I’d spent a few weeks there a couple of years ago when I first met Perry Jackson. He’d since sold the mansion, saying the home reminded him too much of his dead husband, Jack. That and Lucas never felt comfortable in something so ridiculously over-the-top.
The stately building appeared empty; the window shutters closed on the faded, grey, shingle-sided structure. Whoever the rich individual was that purchased it from Perry either rarely visited, or wasn’t home on this gorgeous summer day. What a shame to own such a home and not be there every day.
