Page 22 of Persuaded

The irony made him smile, gaze fixed on the beer bottle label as he carefully peeled it off. “Not really.”

“Youdohave to get lucky. Still can’t believe my luck, man.”

Joshua’s smile turned warmer. “Yes, you’re very lucky. Tejana is lovely.”

“She is.” After a beat, he said, “I wish Finn had been so lucky, you know? I mean, I know he’s famous and everything, but—” He cut off, like he’d said too much.

Knowing he shouldn’t press the subject didn’t stop Joshua from doing exactly that. “But what?” he said mildly. “Don’t you think he’s happy?”

Sean shook his head, looked out at the night-black window. “Iknowhe isn’t. I’m not sure he ever was, you know? All that crap growing up... It’s like he’s always on edge, always looking for something he can’t find.”

“He’s a very driven person. Ambitious.”

“Yeah, but more than that. He’s—” Sean lowered his voice. “Sometimes I’m afraid he doesn’t think hedeservesto be happy. Like, he just has toacthappy instead.” He huffed a bleak laugh. “It’s no coincidence he became an actor, by the way. Finn’s been acting his whole life.”

Strangely, that was something Joshua didn’t recognize. The Finn he’d known had been...well, happy. Alight with it. Happiness had poured out of him like sunshine.

It occurred to him then thatthatFinn might have been unusual and that this closed-off, reserved Finn was normal. “I—” He got cut off by Sean’s phone ringing.

Sean grinned as he glanced at the caller ID. “Speak of the devil...” He answered the phone with “Were your ears burning, dude?”

Joshua couldn’t hear Finn, although the knowledge that he was right there on the line made his pulse skitter.

Sean laughed. “No, she’s still in New York. Joshua is here.” There was a pause. “Yeah, Joshua Newton.” He frowned. “Uh, not that it’s any of your business, but he was here sorting out some of his parents’ stuff and I asked him to stay for dinner.” He rolled his eyes at Joshua and mouthed,See what I mean?Then, to Finn, he said, “That okay with you?” A beat, then an exasperated “Well, I dunno, man, whywouldyou care?” Sean shook his head, but whatever Finn said next made him brighten. “Awesome. Yeah, Tejana’s getting in Wednesday nighttoo.” Startled, Sean looked at the phone and shook his head again. “Yeah, whatever,” he said as he ended the call. But he was smiling when he turned back to Joshua. “My brother,” he said. “I have no idea what’s going on with him sometimes. Seriously.”

Joshua could imagine. The idea of him sitting there eating dinner with Sean probably pissed Finn off no end. It almost made him laugh. “Finn’s coming for Thanksgiving?”

“Yeah. I’m excited.” Sean tipped his head. “How about you? You got plans?”

“The usual.” With luck, that would be enough to deflect Sean’s well-meaning curiosity. To help it along, he glanced at his watch and stood up. “I should get going. Thanks for your hospitality, Sean.”

“Hey, any time. It was fun.” Getting to his feet, he clapped Joshua on the shoulder. “And I mean it about the piano. If you ever want to play it, just have at it.”

Joshua found himself caught by Sean’s kind eyes, felt another warm burst of friendly affection. “Thank you, Sean,” he said. “I appreciate that.”

As he left, he thought he might just take Sean up on the offer—it had been a long time since he’d played his mother’s piano and he’d never get the chance again once it was sold.

Chapter Eight

Joshua spent every day at the school in the week before Thanksgiving weekend. Mostly he bashed out the accompaniment on the school’s old piano as class after class rehearsed their songs, and when he wasn’t doing that he was playing for the soloists.

He enjoyed it. Every year the school put on a concert and every year Joshua loved the distraction. There was no denying that the holidays were hard. Not in the way that most people thought, of course. He didn’t mind being alone. He much preferred it to spending time with his family. But what he dreaded was other people’s pity and, worse, other people’s invitations to spend Thanksgiving with them. He’d discovered immediately after his father threw him out that there was nothing more guaranteed to make him feel lonely than being part of someone else’s family holiday. He hated being the beggar at the feast, surrounded by warmth and love that he could see but couldn’t feel.

So, no. He’d rather do what he usually did on Thanksgiving, which was to go for a long walk on the beach, then home for Netflix and one of Dee’s pumpkin pies all to himself. He’d never been afraid of his own company.

So, when Liz sidled up to him at recess on Monday morning, he braced himself to turn down her offer to join her for Thanksgiving dinner. But that wasn’t what she asked.

“So, listen,” she said, smiling like she couldn’t help it, “any chance you could watch Matt Wednesday night? After the concert?”

It took him a beat to change the direction of his thoughts. “Babysit?”

“If you don’t mind? Just for a couple hours. My usual sitters are busy, you know—the holidays.” She grimaced. “I mean, not that—”

“It’s fine,” he said, swerving her sympathy. “I’d be happy to watch Matt. Uh, do you want me to come to you or will you bring him over to me?”

“If you could come over, that would be great. Then he can go to bed at his normal time and won’t be a bear on Thanksgiving.” She smiled. “I don’t plan on being out that late—too much to do the next day to risk a hangover.”

He smiled. “Of course.”

---