They both froze and stared at each other. Obviously, Sean hadn’t meant to say that, and Holden was surprised to hear it. Yes, he was Sean’s uncle, but Sean had never called him that before.
“That’s, um…that’s okay, right?” Sean asked hesitantly.
“That’s better than okay, buddy. It’s perfect.” Holden patted him on the shoulder, unexpected emotion swelling in his chest.
He and Sean spent a lot of time together over the next couple of days, some of it while Marilee was at work, but some after. The three of them drove down to a creek that had a walking trail and did some exploring. They ate dinner in the park. As much as he wanted to get close to Sean, he wanted to spend more time with his sister too. She worked a lot, though, trying to put money away and pay bills off so she could get back on her feet.
Holden hadn’t spoken to Monroe since the other night, and that grated on his nerves much more than it should have. Why did he give a shit what some homophobic asshole thought? But the reason it mattered was because he’d liked Monroe, thought he was a good man, and Holden hated being wrong about people.
It was a Saturday night. Holden got them pizza, and the three of them played board games and just hung out. Sean told his mom how he’d driven down the driveway that day, and Marilee pretended to be scandalized when Holden knew she wasn’t.
“You stole a car at fourteen, remember?” he teased.
Sean nearly choked on his drink. “What? Mom stole a car?”
“Holdy!” Marilee griped at him before turning to her son. “I didn’t steal a car. It belonged to our parents. They were too drunk to drive me into town. Holden wasn’t home, so I took the liberty of driving myself.”
“Only she went into a ditch.”
“Not my finest moment,” Marilee mused.
“Wow…that totally means you can’t be mad at me if I take your car,” was Sean’s conclusion.
“No, that’s absolutely not what that means. If you take my car, you’re grounded until you’re eighteen.”
“So unfair.” Sean crossed his arms.
They joked around for a while, watched TV and such. Once Sean went to bed, Marilee and Holden went to the porch.
“You keep chain-smoking those things, and your lungs are gonna fall out.” Holden cocked a brow at her and swatted at a mosquito. Moths fluttered around the porch light.
“Don’t give me a hard time. I’m doing the best I can.”
“I was joking with you,” he replied. “What happened, Mari? I’d like to know the whole story.”
“You basically know what happened. Everything was great at first. Then he started keeping me away from people. He told me everyone hated him, and that everyone wanted to keep us apart. That we only needed each other. And I was… I was so lonely, ya know? Because of Mom and Dad. I just wanted to be happy, and I thought…ugh, I thought if I could just be a good wife, then everything would be okay. God, I was so dumb.”
“No, you weren’t. He used you. He manipulated you.”
“I still should have known better.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t let him get into your head. He was a predator, and he preyed on your insecurities.” With each word Holden spoke, he got angrier and angrier. Not at Marilee, of course, but at Adam…and at himself.
His sister swiped at the stray tears on her face and took a drag of her cigarette. He reached over and grabbed her free hand.
“I’m not ready…to talk about anything else. I’m sorry, Holdy.”
It was killing him not to know, but he wouldn’t push her. “I’m here, when you’re ready. I’ll always be here for you.”
“I know.” She looked at him and gave him a weak smile.
Noise came from the other side of the house, and Holden caught a glimpse of Monroe and Zeus heading into the barn. He decided to give her an easy out. “Oh…so your neighbor is a homophobe.”
Marilee frowned, and…well, she looked at him like he was crazy. “What makes you think that?”
“We were outside the other night, talking. Vince called, and I told Monroe it was my boyfriend. He got all weird, took off, and I haven’t talked to him since.” And then it was his turn to stare at his sister like she was crazy when Marilee busted out laughing. “What is so funny, brat?”
“I’m sorry, it’s just…I really don’t think Monroe Covington is a homophobe. Everyone actually says he’s gay, but I’ve obviously never come out and asked him, and I’ve never seen him with a man.”
“Wait. What? Really?” Huh. Holden hadn’t seen that coming. “What about the whole kid-wife/ex-wife thing?” Not that gay men had never been married to women or had kids with them.
“Well, I don’t know how true it is. These are just rumors, but from what people in town say, Roe and Lindsey have been best friends their whole lives. Roe came out. It was a big deal, you know, because the world is shitty like that, but Lindsey always had his back. His family too. Roe left at eighteen, and from what I heard, she was heartbroken. Roe is a family man, though, and he visited often. Then suddenly Lindsey was pregnant, Monroe was the daddy, and they were gonna raise the baby together but as best friends. Roe still lived in DC, but he came back a couple of weekends a month. At one point, he had a boyfriend. I never met the guy. I think the distance became too much for Roe. He didn’t want to just be a weekend daddy and, well, again, Roe belongs in Harmony. Apparently, he and the guy broke up. I don’t know the details. Roe moved back here, and he and Lindsey raise Wyatt together. They’re not dating or anything, but folks like to talk. They all assume the two of them will end up together one day, which confuses the fuck out of me if he’s gay. Maybe he’s bi? I don’t know. Or it could simply be small-town talk.”
Wow. That explained why Monroe and Lindsey seemed so close. If Monroe was bi, Holden could understand why the townsfolk would think they’d end up together. They were great when Holden saw them.
“She never married?” Holden asked.
“Nope. Doesn’t date much either.” Holden was quiet for a moment, just taking it all in, as his sister continued, “As far as I know, there are no other out men in town. I suppose there have to be, but I haven’t been made privy to it. So he really doesn’t date either, unless he leaves town to do it.”
Holden didn’t know how Monroe did that. He couldn’t imagine living in a place like Harmony permanently as a gay man. While he wasn’t close to a lot of people, he enjoyed queer spaces. He guessed Monroe had just been surprised when Holden had announced his boyfriend.
When he couldn’t sleep again that night, he spent way too much time thinking about Monroe’s dark eyes, his story, and wondering about him and Lindsey.
CHAPTER NINE
Monroe
Roe had been busy as hell the past couple of days. He’d had a store employee call in sick, and his family had needed both his and Wyatt’s help at the farm.
Still, he woke up early on Sunday morning to get to work on the barn. He needed that kind of activity today. Manual labor worked his body in a way he enjoyed, and also gave him time to think.