Saving Grapes - Madeline Kirby Page 0,29
sound of voices to the kitchen where Thom was pouring Chuck a cup of coffee.
“Morning, Uncle Chuck.”
“Morning, Ben. Just the man I came to see.”
“Yeah? Let me get some coffee first.”
“I’ll leave you two to talk. See you later Chuck.” Thom picked up his own mug and headed down the hall.
“What’s up, Uncle Chuck?” Ben sat at the table. Chuck sat down across from Ben and looked at his nephew with a smirk. “What?”
“That’s, uh, quite a love bite Thom’s got.”
“What?!” Ben sat up straight. “What are you talking about?”
“Right about here,” Chuck pointed to his own neck, just above the collarbone where the open collar of Thom’s shirt must not have concealed it.
“I hadn’t noticed,” Ben tried for nonchalant, but figured his uncle wouldn’t be fooled.
“Mm hmm.”
“Shit.”
“Oh, I remember what it was like to be young and impetuous. Just be more careful next time.”
Ben hung his head, embarrassed for Thom’s sake. “Don’t say anything to him, Uncle Chuck.”
“Of course not. Thom’s the private sort. Discreet, you know. He’d be embarrassed if people saw.”
“Are you mad?”
“Why would I be mad?”
“Well, Thom and me. Thom figures you wouldn’t approve. He thinks you’ll think he’s betraying your trust or something if he gets involved with me. Also, he thinks you don’t know he’s gay.”
Chuck snorted and sipped his coffee. “I’ll admit it took me a while to figure out, but even I’ve got the lay of the land now. As far as I can tell, the only person in this town who hasn’t figured out Thom Caldwell is gay is Thom Caldwell.”
“I think he knows.”
“You know what I mean. Look. I’m an old man. Okay, getting old. But even I can see how he’s changed since you’ve been here, especially lately. He’s always stayed out here too much, especially now that Steve’s moved to Arizona. See if you can drag him into town now and then for more than a grocery run.”
“Uh, okay.”
The two men sat and sipped their coffee for a couple of minutes before Chuck broke the silence.
“So, about the reason I headed out here this morning.”
“Yeah?”
“I tracked down your father.”
Ben took another sip of his coffee, not sure what to say.
“Ben?”
“Yeah. Okay, that’s good, right?”
“Well, that’s for you to say.”
“Did you talk to him?”
“No, of course not. I wanted to talk to you first and tell you what I found out. Then we’ll figure out what to do next.”
“Okay. Well, he may not want to hear from me. I don’t know… What did you find out?”
“He’s living near Los Angeles. It wasn’t all that hard, really, what with the internet. He’s a history professor and has a university web page. He teaches American history and he’s written a couple of books about the Gold Rush and early California. Also, there’s sites where students can rate their professors, and he’s popular with the students. And apparently a lot of them think he’s ‘hot’.” Chuck paused to sip his coffee, “Do students really do that? Rate their professors and talk about how good looking they are?”
“Oh, yeah. We did, anyway. Didn’t students have crushes on teachers when you were in school?”
“Sure, but we wouldn’t want the teachers to know! The world sure has changed since I was a kid.” Chuck shook his head and drank more coffee.
“So, we know my father is intelligent, well-liked, and good-looking. Could be worse, I suppose.”
“I didn’t know him real well back when he was with your mom. I was already here, starting my own family, so I only met him a few times. You look like him, though. And he seemed nice, but I couldn’t say for sure. No one really knows what goes on in other people’s marriages.”
The two men sat for a minute, drinking their coffee. “What now? Do you want to think on it some?”
“No,” Ben shook his head. “I’ve been thinking about what I’d want to do if you found him. I’d like to meet him, if he wants to meet me. What do you think?”
“Okay. I was thinking, maybe I should call him, find out if he’d be open to meeting. I didn’t see anything about his personal life, and to be honest I didn’t do any real digging. I don’t know if he’s married, or what.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. I don’t want to screw up his life or anything, just get some answers. That’s a lot of trouble for you, though, Uncle Chuck.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to do it. Besides, I have to admit I’m kind of