boy.”
“You’re not going to lose him. Have I lost our kids now?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
I sighed. “Listen, we don’t have to figure it out right this second. Let him rest, then talk to him. The three of us can video-call and figure out what’s going on, if that’s really what he wants. But I can’t…I won’t turn my back on him if he wants to come and live with me.”
“I know you won’t. I wouldn’t have loved you as much as I did if you were the kind of man who would turn away from his son.”
The next day the three of us video-chatted. As soon as we got off the call, I booked a flight to Colorado.
CHAPTER THREE
Callum
I smiled as I looked up at the sign for Sunrise Café, where my mom was a waitress.
I’d been in Havenwood for a week now. Things were going well with Mom. We hadn’t talked about anything important, like the past or my shithead ex. The fact that I was there was all she cared about. That was the mom I remembered. The one who would do anything for me and wanted me happy. That’s what made her reaction when she had found out I was gay even harder to take. When she told me I could hide who I was, that I could change.
I shoved those thoughts from my head. It wasn’t what I wanted to be thinking about then.
The house I went to look at hadn’t been what I was looking for. Mom told me not to rush, that she’d love it if I stayed with her, and surprisingly, I accepted. I told myself it was because I didn’t want to get into a house I didn’t like, and what if I discovered Havenwood wasn’t for me? But if that were the case, the job interview I just nailed didn’t make sense. I knew I was staying with her because I wanted to.
The thing with Stan had fucked with my head, made me realize that even before he thought it was a good idea to fuck numerous guys behind my back, I hadn’t been happy for a while. I wasn’t sad or anything like that. I knew the signs of depression. Been there, done that, kept an eye out for it like a motherfucker, because you never knew if it would attack again. But I hadn’t been happy. I was missing something, and I didn’t know what that was or how in the hell I planned to find it in a small town in Virginia, but hey, a guy had to start somewhere.
Deciding I probably looked like a crazy person staring at a sign while standing on the sidewalk of a town that looked like a postcard, I pulled the door open and walked inside.
The place was pretty full. The white walls were filled with photography—mountains, beaches, and other nature scenes. Eyes darted my way—mostly, I assumed, because I was a new face and no one knew me. I wasn’t wearing eyeliner, but I looked pretty damn good, if I did say so myself, in black slacks and a button-up shirt, the sleeves rolled up to my elbows. It was my interviewing outfit.
Mom looked up as she finished talking to people at one of the tables. Her eyes landed on me and widened with joy. I’d noticed that happen every time she turned my way since I’d been there. I’d catch her staring at me sometimes, watching me as if she couldn’t believe I was there.
“Cal! Hey! I didn’t expect you,” she said as she approached me. I hated the name Cal. It was so country, but I didn’t tell her that. She was the only one who used it for me. Anyone else who tried, I always asked them to call me Callum.
“I thought I’d come see where you worked.”
“And…?” Mom prompted.
“I got the job! You’re looking at the new Family Nurse Practitioner at Havenwood Clinic.” Well, as long as my background checked out, which I knew it would.
“That’s great news! I’m so happy for you. Here, come sit down. Lunch is on me.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I said, following her to a small two-person table near the back.
“I know. I want to.”
“Okay, but I’m buying dinner.”
“Deal.” I sat down, and she handed me a menu. “Do you want anything to drink other than water?” she asked, and I realized how strange this was, sitting at the café where my mom worked and having her serve me.
“Is it