Page 37 of Galen's Redemption
“To be honest, I half expect this to turn into a scene fromCarriewhere you get me there and dump blood over me.”
Robert chuckled. “I am not angry withyou. I’m not happy with your father, though. Does that bother you?”
“It did last week, but now? Hate him all you want.”
“No, I don’t hate him. That would give him power over me, and I can’t have that. Booker T. Washington once said, ‘I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.’ If I allow your father to make me hate him, then that darkness starts to creep in and makes me worry that my heart isn’t strong enough. I already have enough testingmy resolve. I don’t need to add hate to it.”
Galen’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be real. No one is that nice.”
“Oh, I’m not nice. I’m fiercely protective of what’s mine. Be it the people at the shelter, my reputation—” Robert reached out and squeezed Galen’s hand. “—or my friends. I will always do my best not to let anyone or anything hurt any of them.”
Galen was about to reply, but his phonerang.
Robert grinned. “I’m going to guess that’s Andy.”
“Yeah.” Galen pressed the button. “What’s up, Andy?”
A slow smile spread over Galen’s face, but it wasn’t as wide as the one he’d given Robert. The warmth he’d seen wasn’t there. It was, as he expected, a smile for a friend.
“Shut up. He’s eating. No, chili, you perv.” Galen looked at Robert and rolled his eyes. “And you know he’s righthere.” He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sure you are embarrassed. Say, Robert asked us to come to dinner at his parents’ house the last Sunday of the month. Are you up for it?”
Robert had finished eating while Galen was talking, but then ended up sputtering when he heard what came next.
“No, it’snotfor a threesome.” Galen peered up at him. “It’s not, right?”
Robert laughed so loud, the staff behindthe counter stared at him. “No, it’s not an orgy. I’m a one-person guy, and I expect my partner to be on the same page with me.”
“There you go. No orgy. Just dinner. Will you come?” Galen shook his head. “For God’s sake, go out and get laid or something. Maybe that’ll get your mind out of the gutter. Will you go with me to dinner at Robert’s parents’?”
The interplay between the friends warmedRobert’s heart. At least he knew Galen had some stability in his life.
“Okay. I’ll see you when I get back to your place.” He hung up. “Andy said he’d be happy to attend.”
“Oh, I’m sure he said something far different, but that’s okay.”
Galen’s cheeks pinked. “He’s got a one-track mind sometimes.”
“He makes you smile. That’s good enough for me. Are you staying with him?”
“Yeah, for now. It’lltake a while for father and the lawyers to steal everything from me, so right now I have to wait to see what’s going to happen.”
The way Galen’s voice quavered, Robert knew that, despite the flippant attitude, he was scared. “It’s going to be okay.”
Instead of the angry outburst Robert had been expecting, Galen’s voice was soft, yearning. “You can’t know that. No one can. My father’s going totake what I’ve done as a betrayal, and that won’t end well. I’ve seen him do some real crap to people for a lot less. Finding out he never planned to give me the job when he retired? That hurt. But when he told me that if Lincoln had come back, he would have fired me on the spot? Yeah, it sucks.” He drew in a sharp breath. “I thought I’d earned at least a modicum of respect, but it turns out hedoesn’t really have it for anyone. Well, except maybe Lincoln.” There was such bitterness in Galen’s voice.
“You know that’s not true, don’t you?”
His gray eyes flashed, and his expression grew hard. “What do you mean? He obviously cared more about Lincoln than me.”
“Do you really think if he cared, he would have gone behind Lincoln’s back and tried to hurt him? It seems to me, the only personyour father cares about is himself. It’s what he wants that’s important, and that’s it.”
There was a slight tilt to Galen’s head. “I have to admit, I never thought about it in those terms. You’re right. No matter what, he still wanted Lincoln back under his thumb. His happiness didn’t matter, only what Father wanted.”
“So, the nice thing is that now he has neither one of you.”
“I’m sure he’sstill going to pull some crap. I wouldn’t put it past him to try to buy Lincoln’s building, just so he can bulldoze the place.”
“Come on. Less thinking and more walking.” Robert stood and held out a hand to Galen, who looked at it like it was going to strike him. Then he hesitantly raised his hand and slipped it into Robert’s. Robert picked up his tray and took it to the counter, then led Galenout the door, heading east to the lake.
