Page 10 of Twice Shy

Alyssa pushed a bottle of white in his direction. “Sit,” she said. “Relax. Nia loves kids, she’s great with Dalia, my youngest. Stop fretting.”

“I’m not fretting.” He perched on the other end of the bench, opposite Joel. “It’s just— I haven’t left him before. Sometimes he— Anyway, it’s fine. I gotta do it, right? It’s good for him.” At that moment, he looked up and seemed to notice Joel for the first time. “Oh, hey.” He smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi.” They looked at each other for a beat longer than casual, neither with anything to say.

Thankfully, Jackie chose that moment to begin the meeting and Joel escaped the pull of Ollie’s warm brown eyes.

It was the usual PTA business, looking for fundraising ideas and volunteers to carry them out. Always more of the former than the latter. Jackie and Alyssa dominated, running through the events planned for the year and strong-arming people to take responsibility for organizing them: Charity Car Wash, October Fun Run, Halloween Ice-Scream Social, Fall Festival, Christmas Market, Kids’ Valentine Disco, and the Summer Carnival.

Joel, as the teacher rep, wasn’t expected to organize anything and he noticed that Ollie kept his mouth shut too. He didn’t blame him. As a single working parent, Ollie Snow had enough on his plate. And, really, how old was he anyway? Couldn’t be more than his early twenties. When Joel looked back at himself at that age, just starting out at ABM after finishing grad school, he’d been earning money hand over fist and partying every night. He couldn’t imagine having been responsible for two young children. Although in retrospect, he wished—

Nope. That didn’t help.

Nonetheless he couldn’t help wondering how Ollie had ended up as sole parent of two small boys. Not that it was any of his business. Ollie Snow was a parent at the school, not his friend. He shouldn’t really be thinking about him at all.

Deliberately, he turned his attention back to Jackie—just in time to find her smiling at him. “Now last year,” she said, “Mrs. Allen wasnothappy with the car wash taking place on school premises. It caused some damage to the grass, apparently.” If by ‘damage’ you meant turning the sports field into a swamp. Jackie sighed dramatically. “Unfortunately, I’m struggling to find an alternative venue. Mr. Morgan, could you talk to Mrs. Allen about changing her mind?”

“To be honest, I don’t think she’ll—”

“How about the hotel?” Ollie piped up, cheeks pinking when everyone turned to look at him. It made him look even younger than he probably was. “They have a huge driveway.”

Jackie blinked at him. “The Majestic Hotel, you mean?”

“Yes. On the cliff. I—I was passing the other day. They have an enormous driveway and…and maybe they could sell refreshments, too?”

“I thinkwe’dwant to sell the refreshments,” Jackie said with an indulgent smile. “Itisa fundraiser, after all.”

“Oh, yes. Of course.”

Joel bristled, indignant at her patronizing tone. “I think it’s a great idea,” he said. “Definitely worth asking. We’d have to choose a day they didn’t have a wedding on, but maybe some of their guests would like to get their cars washed, too? And local businesses love to get involved in community projects. Good for local buy-in.”

“You don’t think…?” Jackie cleared her throat delicately. “You don’t think some parents might be put off by the, er,homosexualthing…”

An awkward silence followed, broken only by the music and the distant clatter of a pool table. Ollie looked tense, lips pressed tight, and Joel was about to respond when Alyssa said, “C’mon Jackie, really?”

“I’m not sayingImind. Butsomepeople—”

“Can piss off. Excuse my language, butreally? What decade are we living in here?”

“I agree,” Joel said. “That’s not an issue. And if anyone does have a problem with it then that’stheirproblem not ours.” A general murmur of agreement followed, along with some awkward sipping of wine and embarrassed glances in Ollie’s direction. Keen to show that Ollie had his support, Joel added, “You want me to find out if the guys at the hotel would be up for it?”

Ollie’s eyes darted to him. “I’ll do it.”

Joel smiled until he remembered the way Ollie had been watching Luca Moretti on the beach. “Sure,” he said, trying to hang onto his smile. “Do you know the couple who own it?”

“Um, no. But I’ve—” He flushed. “I mean, if someone else is friends with them…?”

“Not me,” Joel said. The Majestic Hotel marketed itself as an LGBT-friendly wedding venue, and weddings, wherever they fell on the rainbow spectrum, really weren’t Joel’s thing anymore.

“You go ahead and get in touch,” Alyssa told Ollie. “My girls had surf lessons with Luca a couple years back and they say he’s ‘super nice’.”

“Yeah?” Ollie gave an uncertain smile. “Cool. Okay, I’ll— I’ll go see him. Them.”

Jackie started talking, but Joel didn’t really listen; he was watching Ollie gaze unseeing at the table top, lost in thought.

“What do you say, Mr. Morgan?”

He started at the sound of his name, embarrassed to find Jackie watching him expectantly. “I’m sorry. What was that?”

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