Page 58 of Resilience on Canvas

Ripples of worry rolled through Robert’s chest. Didn’t matter that Clara was one of the sweetest people in the entirety of Oklahoma. Robert had seen the way some people treated men like him. He couldn’t never picture Clara being mean to him, or, hell,hatinghim, but...

It would shatter his heart if she rejected him.

“You and Henry,” she repeated with a sniffle. “Do you really think you can fix this?”

“We will. I swear it.”

Clara sniffled once more, and then she wiped the tears from her eyes with her fingertips. Robert thought that maybe that was it. Maybe Clara, innocent as she was, hadn’t caught on to what him and Henry were becoming to each other.

Or, hell, what they alreadywereto each other.

Jesus Christ, things were moving so fast between them. Maybe not the kissing and the... the other things Robert wanted with Henry, but things were moving fast in other ways. Hell, Robert couldn’t never imagine his life without Henry now. Holding Henry’s hand the other night, it had been like finding a lost piece of himself.

Just when Robert came to the conclusion that the conversation was over—smacking his knees to push himself to stand—Clara caught his wrist.

“You and Henry,” she repeated once more.

Robert’s breath caught. Clara began moving her tongue over her teeth, like she was trying to taste the way those three words sounded or something. Her hands found her hair again, but this time, she focused on smoothing it out, her fingers untangling the knot.

In a smaller, more tentative voice, she said, “It’s interesting how close y’all are now when the two of you really only started talkin’ earlier this month.”

Gently, Robert settled back onto the mattress.

“Yeah. It is,” he said.

“I haven’t never seen you take to someone so much before,” she said.

Robert inhaled a shallow, trembling breath, spots forming in front of his eyes. Son of a bitch, were him and Henry being that obvious? Or was it only the way Robert had phrased everything just now?Me and Henry.Christ.

Clara said, “It seems like it’s more than friendship, maybe?”

Robert went rigid.

“I’m sorry if I, uhm, if I misread things,” she said. “Did I?”

Robert’s hands started to tremble. He clenched them into fists, bracing himself for the inevitable harsh words that would soon follow once he forced himself to say the truth.

Because Robert couldn’t lie to her.

“No, you didn’t,” Robert said, his voice tight. “Me and Henry, we’re... something.”

Clara let out a hum. Robert’s muscles stayed tense as he prepared for her to lash out with something mean or hateful.

But then, in the sweetest, softest voice, Clara said, “Well, I think that’s wonderful, Robert. Truly.”

It took Robert a few seconds to register her words and internalize the meaning behind them. And it took several more to let himself feel the love in her voice. All his life, he had been keeping this to himself. He hadn’t never thought ofnotkeeping it to himself. Not before this very moment. Why would he have ever chanced telling someone that he liked men? He hadn’t never thought he’d be with a man in a romantic kind of way. He hadn’t even knownthat there was a single other person like him in all of Guymon. But then, he had met Henry, and...

Christ Almighty, how had his life changed so Goddamn fast?

When the enormity of Clara’s words finally settled in Robert’s brain, he leaned forward and buried his head in his hands to try to stifle a cry. But he couldn’t keep the tears from falling. Silent sobs began to erupt out of him, and Clara rubbed his back, the touch soothing his heart.

Clara knew. Holy hell, sheknew. She knew, and she still loved him.

What a miraculous thing it was.

Minutes passed. Eventually, Robert sat up and wiped his eyes with his callused fingers. Afterward, they sat in silence for a while with the weight of Robert’s truth hanging between them.

Robert rasped a soft, “Thank you.”

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