few doors down from the vet clinic. He’s probably going to bring his hunny a little something.”
“Cameron is not my hunny,” I said with an arch look. “He’s just a friend.”
“Mmm.” She eyed me skeptically over her pad, pencil still poised. “Then it probably wouldn’t interest you that he likes his burgers medium rare with extra pickles and no onions.”
I paused, thinking of a way to thwart her nosiness, but the woman had me dead to rights. My dad made a sound of amusement and impatience. “Stop teasing the boy before I expire. I’d like my turkey club sometime this century, Glenna.”
She winked at me again. “I’ll bring your meals first and the to-go order about ten minutes later, so it’ll be hot.”
“Thank you,” I said begrudgingly. Not so much for the nosy convo but everything else.
After she bustled off, a silence descended on our table. I felt a little awkward about what Glenna had revealed, but it wasn’t like my father hadn’t already suspected. When you break out into “Your Song” by Elton John while you’re doing dishes, people notice that shit. They also notice when you go to the mailbox for the mail and come back two hours later with no fucking mail.
I fiddled with the saltshaker. Didn’t mean I had to talk about it, though.
Apparently, my dad didn’t get the memo. “So. You and Dr. Foster.”
“Me and Dr. Foster what?”
“Well… you know. You boys getting back together?”
“Don’t you people have Netflix?” I demanded.
“I’m just saying that it’s been a long time coming. You could do a lot worse than Foster, you know.”
“We’re not getting back together, Dad.”
“Why the hell not?”
Well, I could hardly clear it up for him, could I? Well you see, Dad, Cameron and I decided we’re not right for one another because we still want different things out of life. But the chemistry is out of this world, so we decided to fuck each other into oblivion before I leave town again.
“We’re just looking for different things,” I said vaguely.
“Oh.” He seemed dissatisfied with my nonanswer. “So you are open to a relationship, then? Because you haven’t brought anyone around.”
“Err—”
“You want my advice?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Put yourself out there,” he said sagely. “You’ll never find love if you don’t take chances.”
“I’m not in the market for—”
“My friend from church has a son you might hit it off with. You know Suzette?” He peered at me until I shook my head. He clucked his tongue impatiently. “You know Suzette.”
I hadn’t the foggiest. His level of distress increased, all because I couldn’t remember some rando from a church I only set foot in at Christmas… if that.
“You have to remember Suzette,” he said stubbornly. “She’s the one with all the crazy hats.”
“Oh,” I said, before he started shaking me. I still wouldn’t be able to pick her out of a lineup, but whatever. “That Suzette.”
“And her son George,” he prompted.
Now him I remembered. George took great pride in being an usher. He equated shuffling parishioners into the right pew at the same importance as being a Navy SEAL.
I cleared my throat. “Um, so George is… er, gay?”
“Well, I didn’t interrogate the man.” Just like that, he was irritated all over again. “He likes Cher and knows the lyrics to most Broadway show tunes.”
Close enough. Guess that made my grandmother a little gay, too, and anyone who had ever shaken a glitter stick and fist-pumped the lyrics to “Song for the Lonely.” Hmm, maybe he had a point. Now I had that song in my head, too.
I cleared my throat, trying to come up with some claptrap to get him off my back. “I’m in more of a single place right now. Trying to get to know me a little better before I jump into a relationship.”
My dad snorted as he picked up a newspaper someone else had left in our booth. “That sounds like a bunch of malarkey.”
Well, of course it fucking was, but he was supposed to be too polite to say so. I let out a huff of breath. “You could make this easy on me, you know.”
“I’m an old man, JJ. I get my entertainment when and where I can.”
“I bought you a Roku.”
“It was too complicated.” He unfolded the newspaper leisurely. “Watching you turn red and scramble to explain away your relationship with Foster is on the highlight reel of my day.”
I glared. Before I could respond, Glenna dropped off our food. My father wasn’t one for a lot of chitchat