Page 18 of Country Road Romance

“What are we going to do then?”

Rebecca rolled her eyes.

“How is it that I always end up getting called in to get gays out of the scrapes that they get into? What I want you to do right now is go home and get some sleep. Leave the rest to me and Sheri.”

Jared didn’t like the sound of that, but he really had no options at the moment. So, he did as she said and went home.

I have a feeling this is all going to get much more complicated,he thought as he snuggled into bed, faintly wishing that Charlie was there.I just know it.

CHAPTER 6

Charlie knew that he was in trouble the minute Sheri stepped in the door. He’d seen her in a number of emotional states, but he’d only rarely seen her truly angry with him. This, though…well, this was clearly going to get very unpleasant.

For several minutes she just stood there, eyes closed, nostrils flared, and that made him more frightened than if she’d come in screaming her head off.

She must be really,reallymad at me,he thought.

Finally, she opened her eyes.

“Charlie, what thehellwere you thinking?”

She started pacing in front of him, her heels clicking on the hardwood floor of the hotel room. “I specifically told you not to get into trouble, to avoid getting into any sort of ugly confrontations, and what did you do? You got into a very ugly confrontation. You had to know that that guy was just looking for trouble, setting a trap for you, and you walked right into it.” She huffed. “Just tell me something,” Sheri said. “Why did you do it?”

How to answer this question in a way that would make Sheri understand? She was an undeniable ally, and while shewas always trying to get him to be less outspoken about queer issues and politics, Charlie liked to think that was because she was looking out for his career and not because she had any kind of discomfort with who he was as a person. Even so, no ally could really understand what it was like to hear that kind of word hurled in their direction, a word designed to hurt and to wound. And, growing up in California in a nice, liberal family, she’d never known what it was like to have religion wielded as a weapon against her, either.

She also didn’t know what it was like to have a person like that go after someone that she cared about.

He took a deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts.

“Look, it’s like this. Growing up, I had to put up with men like that, calling me names and telling me that I was going to Hell for being gay. They didn’t even have to know that I was gay in order to say those things, because I wasn’t like the other kids in my high school. Back then I was afraid to do anything about it, and ever since I’ve become famous and had the power to do and say something about it, I’ve wanted to push back.” He took another breath. “And he also started to come after Jared, and that just pushed me over the edge. If you expect me to be sorry, I’m not. I did the right thing.”

“Yeah, well, that comes with complications too, doesn’t it?”

He sighed. She was right. It did come with a hell of a lot of complications, many of which were staring him right in the face. This was supposed to be a weekend in which he burnished his image and showed that he was worth taking seriously as an actor, not just someone who happened to be in a bunch of made-for-TV movies. This was also supposed to be the weekend in which he showed that he was responsible and that he could be trusted with a big press tour.

And now all of that was at risk because he’d let his principles get in the way again.

“You know, Charlie, sometimes I don’t think you want to be helped. Sometimes, I think that you just want to do what you want to do and let other people pick up the pieces. I don’t think I need to tell you that that isn’t fair, to either me or to the people that end up having to do the picking up.”

She took a deep breath to calm herself.

“But that’s all water under the bridge. The only thing that we have to figure out now is what to do with you. We’re just going to have to go into damage control mode.” She huffed. Couldn’t you have just chewed the guy out rather than punching him?”

“What would you have done if you’d seen someone pushing someone that you cared about?”

He hadn’t really meant to ask the question so bluntly, but now that it was out in the air, he was glad that he had. He loved Sheri dearly, but she didn’t always see her own blindspots when it came to what homophobia was like in the real world.

“Well,” she said, “I probably wouldn’t have punched him, if only because I wouldn’t want to set my career on fire.”

She looked like she was going to keep on in this vein, but then her phone rang. She looked down at her phone and frowned.

“This is just fantastic. It’s Rebecca. I’m guessing she’s already heard about what’s happened and wants to talk about what we’re going to do about it. About you. Give me a sec.”

Without waiting for permission she stepped out into the hallway. He could only dimly hear what she was saying, but it was enough to tell him that things were getting a bit heated.

“And just what would you propose that I do with the headliner for your little festival?” Sheri almost shouted. Charlie cringed, not just because he hated the thought of her and Rebecca getting into but also because he didn’t like the idea of Sheri making a scene in the hotel. He’d already made enough of a fuss for both of them.

“You know, that’s actually not a bad idea, not a bad idea at all. Okay. That’s what we’ll do then.”

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