Trouble and the Wallflower Read online

  “Davy, good to see you,” Carmen said cheerfully. If anyone else questioned the sincerity of that in her voice, they kept it to themselves, though she had seemed to warm to him more than after her first visit. Maybe she just needed to get used to him. Davy’s quiet demeanor and eyes that seemed to be able to read you like a book could be unnerving if you didn’t know how genuinely kind the guy was. To someone like Carmen who’d probably dealt with few genuine people in her life, Davy’s frequent appraisal of her in social situations was probably intimidating, especially knowing how much Gavin cared for him.

  “Hi, guys,” Davy said, standing from where he’d been sitting in a kitchen chair he’d brought out so he could be next to Ray. Gavin met Davy halfway and they shared a chaste kiss on the lips. Gavin didn’t realize how much he’d needed that to steady him, but he felt better.

  “Did you have fun seeing the fish, Ollie?” And the question of whether everything had gone okay settled in the space between Davy and Gavin. Gavin gave Davy the hint of a smile and nodded for reassurance.

  Oliver took an audible inhalation that Gavin had learned meant his brother was about to burst with information, but before Oliver opened his mouth Carmen put her hand over it, laughing. “Use your inside voice,” she warned playfully. Everyone laughed at Oliver’s eye roll. He must have gotten that from Davy, because whether Davy knew it or not he rolled his eyes at Gavin a lot.

  And he was off. Oliver started telling Davy and Ray about the fish and getting a high five and feeding seagulls in the park (which was frowned upon). Ray and Davy oohed and ahhed in all the right places to satisfy Oliver. At some point Carmen excused herself to cook dinner.

  For a while there was a flurry of activity thanks to the two-and-half-foot-tall tornado known affectionately as Oliver. There was showing off things they’d purchased in the comic book store where Sean worked, Oliver’s input on the Sudoku puzzle (no one destroys that hard work like a three-year-old), and the constant begging for the ice cream Davy had accidentally mentioned that he’d brought from work “for desert.” They must have heard “just one bite” twelve times if they heard it once.

  “You’re being a brat. Go see if Mommy needs any help with dinner,” Gavin instructed.

  “Okay!” Oliver hollered in Davy’s face, making Davy rear back and Ray, who was sitting next to them, wince. As soon as Oliver was through the kitchen door, the silence that followed was almost deafening and the three men looked at each other slowly.

  Then they burst with laughter.

  God, Gavin felt so light, even more so when Davy moved into his arms and hugged him, bussing Gavin’s cheek. “So it really went well?”

  “Yeah, yeah it did,” Gavin said honestly. “It was a good day.”

  “That’s my boy,” Ray said merrily. He knew Ray was thrilled that things were working out even if progress was slow. Gavin was glad that Ray got to meet Oliver and, yes, that he’d gotten to see the prodigal daughter once more before—

  Gavin couldn’t even think it. The day was going too damn well. With Davy in his arms and Ray having such a good day, his mind rebelled against any negativity, even where Carmen was concerned. He folded into Davy and enjoyed the silent happiness of the moment.

  Until Oliver barreled through the swinging door hollering, “Dinner’s ready!” Gavin and Davy shared an exasperated look.

  “Wasn’t it you that said that kid was cute?” Gavin asked.

  Davy shook his head and pointing, said, “Hell no. Not me. I’m pretty sure it was you.” Yeah, it was Gavin. So he had a soft spot for the loud little fucker. What could he say?

  “Well somebody’s gotta make up for the talking you don’t do,” Ray fussed. Davy’s face flushed, and Gavin had to put his hand over his mouth to cover his grin as Ray stood from his chair and headed toward the dining room, mumbling, “Quietest one boy I’ve ever met in my life.”

  Davy talked so much to Gavin that Gavin had forgotten just how quiet Davy could be around other people sometimes. He knew for a fact Davy hadn’t really had any one-on-one time with Carmen, but Carmen and Davy both seemed to dance around any situation that would call for that. Not that Gavin could blame Davy in the least.

  Gavin kissed Davy on his nose, then took his hand, following Ray into the dining room. Carmen and Oliver were setting the table. Well, Carmen was setting the table and Oliver was playing with the silverware, but she thanked him for the help all the same. Gavin and Davy took a seat across from Carmen and Oliver, Ray at the head of the table.

  Gavin looked at the spread in surprise. Carmen had never been much of a cook when he was growing up. That was why he had developed some decent skills in the kitchen. He’d spent hours watching the Food Network, perfecting a few random dishes. (He still watched it if he was honest.) Carmen had prepared a decent dinner, though. Roast Beef, potatoes, and some random veggies.

  The table was silent as everyone passed dished around, serving themselves. Gavin was impressed when he took his first bite and the roast actually melted in his mouth. He’d expected it to suck.

  “This is real good, Carmen,” Ray said. You could hear the shock in his voice. Carmen beamed with pride.

  “Yeah, Carmen. Did you take a cooking class or something?” Gavin asked. Carmen’s face dimmed. Gavin didn’t mean to insult. He was genuinely curious. “No, no. It’s really good. I just don’t remember you cooking much.”

  Carmen picked around her food for moment before answering. “I picked up some stuff on this last trip to rehab.”

  “Hmm,” was Gavin’s only response. He had to give her kudos for honesty.

  Silence descended on the table again for a few minutes. All that could be heard was Oliver’s humming to himself and the clinking of silverware on plates. Carmen cleared her throat, making Gavin turn his attention to her. “So, Davy, you’re so quiet. Do you like it?”

  Gavin looked from Carmen to Davy, who looked as unsure as to what to say. Ah, good ol’ predictable Davy, squirming now that all the attention was on him. Gavin reached under the table and placed his hand on Davy’s knee for comfort. Davy swallowed the bite he’d just taken and licked his lips. Oh shit. That tongue made wicked thoughts dance through Gavin’s mind. Wrong time, wrong place.

  Davy looked knowingly at Gavin before answering Carmen. “Uh, yeah. It’s great. Thanks so much for having me, tonight.” Polite and to the point. Gavin knew that wouldn’t be enough for Carmen, though.

  “So are you in school?”

  Davy looked at Gavin again then answered, “Yes, ma’am. I do correspondence through U-Dub.”

  “Any particular major?”

  “Well, I’m taking mostly business courses.”

  Carmen’s face held that smile that could have been either genuine or annoyed that was the usual way she looked at Davy. “That’s nice,” she said, and Gavin thought maybe she’d leave Davy alone. “So how did you and Gavin meet?” No such luck.

  “Carmen,” Ray and Gavin said at the same time.

  “What?” Her face was all wide-eyed innocence.

  “Ha! You said that at the same time. Silly.” Everyone laughed at Oliver’s outburst.

  Carmen turned her attention back to Davy. “Sorry. I just want to get to know you. You obviously mean a great deal to Gavin and Daddy.”

  Gavin frowned, wondering when she’d taken to calling Ray Daddy. He’d always known her to call him Ray with the highest amount of distaste.

  “Oh, it’s okay,” Davy assured. “Um, he came in my work.” Davy looked at Gavin from the corner of his eye, grinning. “A lot.”

  Ray snorted and got a “Bless you, Grampa,” from Oliver.

  “He’d come by once or twice a week with his whole group of friends. He’d hang back and leave me his number.” Carmen looked amused.

  “He’s a persistent little shit, isn’t he?” Ray snorted.

  “Hey, hey. I just go after what I want,” Gavin corrected, sniffing delicately. “Besides”—he squeezed Davy’s knee and stared at his profile for a mom
ent—“it worked, didn’t it?”

  Davy turned to Gavin with a smile, the one Gavin knew was just for him, and place his hand on top of Gavin’s.

  “Oh, you two are sickening.” Gavin snapped his head to Carmen, ready to pounce on her. He’d just known she had a problem with it, and her words sent a bolt of hot anger right through him. But when he looked at her, she was looking at them with a teasing smile. Davy nudged Gavin’s shoulder, obviously having picked up on what Gavin’s initial thought had been. Gavin felt himself blush, and didn’t that beat all? He felt like an ass.

  “Well, I think you two are cute together,” Carmen said, shocking the hell out of Gavin again. He looked at her slack-jawed until he heard Davy laughing at him. After shooting a glare at Davy, Gavin decided to move the conversation off them.

  “So, Carmen, what are you plans? When do you have to go back to Maine?”

  “Well.” Carmen looked to Ray, who nodded for her to continue. “Well, I finished beauty school finally. I thought I’d apply for my license out here. I’d like to bring Oliver here—home—for good, if you’d be okay with that.”

  Gavin blinked. He could tell how pleased Ray was by this turn of events, and if he was honest, the idea of having Oliver around for good was awesome. He’d been dreading finally getting to know his little brother only to lose him, because no way was Gavin going back to Maine. There were entirely too many bad memories to drown him, there. He wasn’t sure how he felt about having her around permanently, though. Things had been going well, but he was way too mixed up inside for the final vote to come from him.

  “If that’s what you want, it’d be great having Ollie around,” Gavin hedged. Damn Davy and that nickname. It had just slipped out, but it was enough to let Carmen know Gavin was not as indifferent as his posturing may suggest.

  “That’s settled, then,” Ray said grandly. Everyone looked at him. “What? Can’t I just pretend I run this family for five minutes?”

  “Yeah, good luck with that, Daddy.” Carmen kissed Ray on the cheek as she cleared her plate and rose. She took Oliver’s and Ray’s with her to the kitchen. Ray harrumphed in offense. Carmen stuck her head out the kitchen door. “If you boys will go to the den I’ll bring out the ice cream Davy brought.”

  Gavin and Ray rose. Davy helped Oliver out of his booster seat and told him to go play with his new cars while Mommy got ice cream. They all watched as Oliver darted off to the living room screaming, “Ice cream.” Well, they could at least be grateful he’d been quiet enough for them to have a conversation over dinner.

  “I’m gonna help clear the table,” Davy said.

  “You sure?” Gavin asked, unsure.

  “Positive. You guys go chill. You’ve been running around all day and she’s right. I haven’t been alone with her. If she’s gonna be around for a while, then we should get used to being around each other.”

  “Okay. Yell if you need backup.” Davy just rolled his eyes and started picking up dishes from the table.

  Gavin walked into the den where Ray had Oliver in his lap. As excited as Oliver had been for ice cream, apparently the long day had caught up with him in the five minutes since he’d left the table, because his eyes were shuttering as Ray read something from a crime novel to him. Probably not the most appropriate bedtime story for a kid, but it was Ray, after all. Gavin watched contentedly from the couch as Oliver lost his fight to stay awake.

  “You’re really happy, huh?” Gavin asked Ray. The serenity in Ray’s eyes when he said “Very happy” was all Gavin could ask for the old guy right now. Ever since Ray had announced to Gavin that the prognosis for his pancreatic cancer was bad, he had less than a year to go and the radiation had failed, Ray’s eyes had been haunted. Ray worried for Gavin, grieved for his daughter. Now their family was together—still broken but working to mend, and that gave Ray peace.

  Gavin could live with that. And he’d remember that look on Ray’s face forever.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Davy sat in front of Ray’s house. He’d been there, pacing for twenty minutes before he sat down on the bench on the porch. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say but he had to do something. He was so angry. Furious. He’d never known anger in his life like he felt then.

  Just the day before everything had seemed so hopeful. Gavin had seemed happy when his mother announced over dinner that she and Oliver might be staying in Washington. Davy was convinced that decision was for the best when he and Carmen had come in with desert to find Ray and Oliver sleeping together in Ray’s easy chair and Gavin looking so happy that Davy’s stomach fluttered.

  That made it all the harder to get his thoughts together. My, what a difference twenty-four hours could make. Part of him said he should have talked to Gavin but a deeper need to protect drove him to acting before he really thought all of this through. He’d gotten on the bus and called his Uncle Drew and ranted about the conversation he’d had with Sean just hours earlier. Drew agreed that Carmen needed to be confronted.

  Drew had been so supportive of Davy and Gavin’s relationship, even when he’d learned of Gavin’s reputation. He’d just said that everyone has a past. Gavin figured it was because he was still shocked that Davy actually had a boyfriend. So Davy had assumed that Drew would say to run fast and far when Davy called to say Gavin was probably going to have a meltdown when he found out his mother was off the wagon she may have never been on. But Drew had said he knew Davy could handle it.

  “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit. I know I’ve treated you with kid gloves but you care about him, right?”

  “I love him,” Gavin said fiercely.

  Drew chuckled into the phone. “Go stand up for your man. Go stand up for your new family, Davy. You may not get another chance to have one.” Davy could hear the regret, the sadness in Drew’s voice. His uncle’s words were exactly what he needed.

  He just didn’t know what to say. He thought back over the information he had and thought how best to handle Carmen.

  Sean had come into the shop as Davy was getting ready to leave work. “I need to talk,” he announced. Davy had never known Sean to look so flustered. He was usually pretty well-put-together.

  “Okay.” Davy frowned, waved to the girl who was taking over the counter for the afternoon shift and followed Sean to a booth.

  “Yesterday, when I was with Gavin and his mom, I noticed something,” Sean said, fiddling with his hands, obviously uncomfortable.

  “What?”

  “Gavin’s mom went to the bathroom and was taking a while, so I hung back to wait on her while Gavin went on to the comic book store with Oliver….”

  Davy waited until he thought Sean might not finish his thought. Davy gestured impatiently, worried now. “And…?”

  “I got tired of waiting, so I went toward the bathrooms to see if maybe she was talking on her phone or something.”

  “What was she doing?” Davy wasn’t sure he wanted to know if the strife on Sean’s face meant anything.

  “She was in the downstairs bar drinking.” Sean’s voice was so sad.

  “I guess she wasn’t drinking juice, huh?” Davy asked, lamely.

  “Try a double vodka, neat.”

  “Shit,” Davy hissed. He felt his blood boil.

  “I can’t figure out what to say to Gavin, I just knew I couldn’t do it in front of the kid and I sure as hell couldn’t do it when all of you were having a big family night last night. I didn’t know what to do.” Sean was clearly beating himself up.

  Davy put his hand on Sean’s, knowing better than anyone how it felt not to know what the hell to do when it came to others and their feelings. “Hey, don’t worry. I’ll do something, okay?”

  Sean looked at Davy dubiously. Davy knew that his social ineptitude and less than aggressive attitude didn’t inspire much confidence, but this was Gavin and Ray and Oliver. Davy thought of all of those times he’d seen Gavin look at him with trust in his eyes, making Davy constantly feel as though he was a he
ro.

  “I’ll handle this,” Davy said. Sean must have seen something he liked in Davy’s eyes, because he smiled sadly and patted Davy’s hand on the table.

  “Take care of our boy, okay? This is going to crush him.”

  “I know.” And Davy did know. That was why it was imperative he find the right words to say to Carmen. He didn’t know how alcoholism worked. He’d thought his mom’s agoraphobia was difficult but at least it hadn’t made her a liar. Or a monster. Davy knew Gavin still struggled most because of what happened with Max, so his trust would be completely destroyed if he found out he’d let Carmen in a little for Oliver and Ray’s sake only to be lied to again so she could go get drunk while on their first-ever family day.

  Davy wanted to fucking puke, he was so angry.

  Finally, he stood and wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. He thought he might talk to Ray first and hoped Carmen wasn’t around right now. He eased in through the front door, not bothering to take of his shoes this time. He made his way from room to room, only to find no Ray. Damn. Davy looked at his watch. Ray must be napping. It was that time of the day that Ray was known to have a lie down after taking his afternoon meds.

  Before turning to leave, Davy was stopped by quiet murmurings from the kitchen. He went for the door but realized the voice on the other side was Carmen. The conversation was one-sided, so Davy figured she must be on the phone. He was about to turn to leave, disgusted at the slight slurring of her words, until he caught her side of the conversation.

  “…need the money.”

  Gavin frowned.

  “I know, but Ray needed convincing I was going to stick around after he died…. He wants someone watching over Gavin and that judgmental little shit he’s dating.”

  Gavin wondered why she thought he was judgmental. He knew some people said that was what they thought when they first met him. Silence was apparently intimidating. He hadn’t been judgmental of Carmen, not once. He’d wanted it to work out for Gavin’s sake.

  Up until now. Now his blood was so hot in his veins he felt it might burn through his skin. Anger was definitely a new thing for Davy and he wasn’t sure he liked it, but the more he heard of her conversation, the more Hulk-like his anger made him.