Page 88 of Mr. Frosty Pants
“What are you doing?” his father asked stiffly.
He didn’t bother giving him an answer. Talking never did any good with Charlie, and it wasn’t going to do any good now. Besides, this wasn’t a threat or a negotiation. He’d made up his mind, and there was no discussion, pleasant or abusive, that was going to talk him out of it.
Maybe he understood where Casey was coming from with his father more than he wanted to admit.
“Goodbye, Pop,” Joel said gently, calling him by that name one last time. He came to stand near him, but out of cuffing range. “I won’t be back again. You’ll need to eat the breakfast food they serve you from now on.”
“What?” Charlie’s face reddened incredulously. “You’re going to leave me here alone? To rot?”
“You’re not alone, and you won’t rot. You’ve got the nurses, and they’ll take care of you.”
He took a step back, his heart twisting in his chest and adrenaline screaming through him. Was he really doing this? Did he dare? Was he allowed? Would he be able to stick to it later without drowning in guilt?
“Just because you’re my father doesn’t mean I have to take your abuse. I watched someone I care about stand up for himself and for me today in a way I never expected. It’s about time I do the same.” He lifted his chin. “I’m gay.”
Charlie stared at him, mouth open, his face growing purple.
“And I’m sorry you never loved me, because I couldn’t help but love you.” Joel’s lips twisted and his throat clogged. “But I’m done now. No more. I’m gay, and I’m in love, and I’m not going to be your whipping boy or let you tear me down. I’m through with you. The nurses have my number, and they’ll call me if I’m truly needed.”
Joel turned away, but he paused in the doorway. “Goodbye. I hope you find a way to not die a miserable fuck.”
He didn’t look back.
Casey closed Joel’slaptop on the notes he’d made for a social media strategy for the Joel Grimsbane pen name. After petting Bruno for a bit and thinking, he found some blank paper in a kitchen drawer and started mocking up branding for Vreeland’s Home and Garden and jotting down ideas for drawing in a younger crowd.
Things like: fresh coffee to sip as customers strolled the store and checked out the outdoor plants, a sandwich chalkboard at the front entrance with a daily quirky quote and drawing (that Angel girl could be in charge of that), and monthly “medicine in your garden” meetings for instruction on the uses of herbs and other plants. He knew there had to be plenty of people in Knoxville who could speak on that subject. Local Osteopaths or chiropractors or herbalists or something.
He also made notes about seeking out locally made garden ornaments to feature during a “local craftsman day” where the artist could come in and show off their work. It could be a real draw to have some bearded hipster redneck carving their wooden garden sculptures with a chainsaw in the Vreeland parking lot where everyone could see.
And there was more.
Casey was bursting with ideas for how to get Vreeland’s on the Knoxville millennial hipsters’ map. He was certain he could turn the store around in less than six months.
Bruno, who was stretched out at Casey’s feet, looked up at him and sighed.
Casey stroked his silky ears. “We’re going to do this, Bruno. No matter what my folks say or do, or what Joel thinks now, we can make this work. His books, the store, our relationship. All of it. Don’t you agree with me?”
Bruno stared soulfully at him, sighed again, and dropped his head down, closing his eyes.
Casey hoped that was a yes. He kept swinging between ecstasy and terror, and optimism and despair. He couldn’t let Joel see anything but his hope, though, or he’d use it to try send Casey home. And he wasn’t going home. Not yet. Not when he truly felt alive for the first time and knew Joel loved him.
He stood and stretched. Bruno opened one eye and looked up at him, then closed it again. Casey meandered over to the tree, checking out the ornaments again, remembering them from Joel’s old house in Belmont Hills.
Glancing under the tree, Casey found two small packages wrapped up with his name on them. And another package for Bruno. He wondered when Joel had had time to do that.
Casey had picked up something for Joel when he was out with Courtney the day before. God, had it only been twenty-four hours ago that he was joyfully telling his aunt all about Joel while watching her try on more shoes than he could count?
Shit.His gift for Joel was in a bag in his bedroom at home. Casey had thought he’d have plenty of time to wrap it and bring it to Joel in the afternoon on Christmas Day.
Sucking his teeth, he paced around the living room before grabbing his phone. There was a text message from RJ including a photo of him relaxing in a hotel bed with a tall, skinny, shirtless guy who must be Pan Soldier.
Wishing you a Merry Christmas, dude. Give Joel my love. Hoping for the best for you both in the new year.
Casey sent back a smiley emoji and an all-capsMERRY CHRISTMASand then fielded his next new text, which was oddly from Theo. It was simply a Christmas tree emoji and the words, “Merry Christmas.” Casey replied the same way he had to RJ, sans the all-caps, and quickly moved on.
Pulling up his last text stream with Aunt Courtney, he scanned everything she’d sent the night before, all outraged for him and worried. He’d messaged her in the morning to let her know he was all right, but now he needed a favor. He thumbed in his request and hit send.
After her response came through, he grabbed his jacket and headed out. It smelled like snow was coming, and he took a deep breath of the ozone scent before ducking into his SUV and turning the heater on full blast.
