Page 74 of The Dom

“Dad!” Mom appeared in the dining room with a tray of drinks.

“Just making conversation,” he said as he picked up a glass of tea. “You can’t blame me for wanting to know more about the men in my granddaughter’s life.”

I opened my mouth, ready to ask them where all this sudden interest had come from when Nate butted in, “My father owns a hardware store in the Bronx. He started as an employee, and when the owner decided to retire, Dad bought it. My older brother works with him there.”

“You didn’t want to go into the family business?” Granny asked.

“I had other plans for my life.”

Gramps laughed. “Don’t we all, son. Don’t we all.”

Granny turned her attention to my father. “What about you, Finley? What does your family do?”

“My mother was a seamstress,” he said, “and my parents weren’t married.”

“That’s hardly your fault,” Granny said as if Finley had indicated some sort of shame about his parents. “At least you’re here, trying to do right by your daughter, giving her a job and everything.”

“Ashlee was hired long before I knew who she was.” His voice was pleasant enough, but one glance at Nate’s face was enough to confirm my suspicions that Finley was getting irritated.

“Of course,” Granny said, holding up her hands with a smile. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, though, helping out your own. Speeding up the promotion track. Investing in ideas and business start-ups. Family is everything, after all.”

When I snorted, Nate squeezed my thigh again, and I coughed to cover the sound. “I haven’t asked for investments,” I said before trying to move the conversation elsewhere. “I’m not a business builder anyway. I enjoy working in A&R, but I don’t know that I’ll always want to work in the music business. Maybe I’ll try on Mom’s world to see if it fits me.”

Aunt Janette frowned. “You’re gonna be a dyke? Are you stupid? You got a hot, rich man and you want to trade him in for some pussy?”

Jaws dropped, and we stared at her. Gramps and Granny looked annoyed, but I got the impression it wasn’t that they had a problem with what she’d said as much as how and when she’d said it.

Mom regained her voice first, and I was surprised to hear it steady despite the fury underneath. “I believe Ashlee was referring to my occupation. As far as I’m aware, she’s straight.”

Aunt Janette didn’t even have the grace to at least pretend to be embarrassed. She shrugged. “Easy mistake to make, what with her being raised the way she was.”

“You know,” Finley spoke up, “one thing that I’ve never understood about ignorant straight people like you is how, if a child ‘becomes gay’ because they were raised by gay parents, how were any of us ever ‘made.’”

A beat of silence fell as they worked out what he’d said.

“I should’ve known you were one of them too,” Gramps said, shaking his head.

“It’s an understandable mistake,” Finley said dryly. “My sparkly tutu and rainbow leotard are at the dry cleaners.”

I wasn’t sure if I should cheer, laugh, or say something.

Granny muttered a few words that I didn’t catch, but Nate did, and he was on his feet before anyone else could speak.

“You need to leave. All of you. Now.”

Forty-Five

Nate

I tried my damnedest not to take control of the situation despite the fury simmering inside me. This wasn’t my house or even my girlfriend’s house. This was my girlfriend’s mother’s house, and I didn’t want Roberta to feel like I didn’t think she could take care of herself…but even I only had so much self-control.

I ignored the remarks about money, knowing that if I accused them outright, they’d deny it. Better to catch them saying something that was absolutely clear and deal with it then. I could’ve handled more of that.

But then came the homophobic shit. Finley’s tutu comment was apparently the last straw for Roberta’s mom, and as soon as I heard her muttering a list of homophobic slurs, I was done. I’d apologize to Roberta after I kicked her family out of the house.

I got to my feet, towering over all of them, and growled, “You need to leave. All of you. Now.”

For a second, I thought I would have to physically remove them from the house, and that could’ve gotten ugly, but then Roberta stepped between me and them, fury radiating off her.

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