Nobody's Son (10 page)

“Well, I better let you go, then.” Shaun used the paperwork talk as an excellent excuse to get off the phone. “I’ll look for your text and let you know if I have any conflicts or if anything comes up.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s great. See you soon, son.”

Don’t call me that
. Shaun gritted his teeth to keep from blurting that out. He was trying, dammit, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Good-bye, Mr. Erwin.”

Shaun ended the call and flopped backward on his bed to stare up at the ceiling. His stomach roiled, but at least he’d done it. He didn’t have the question of whether he’d be getting the testing done hanging over his head anymore. Now all he had to deal with were the results.

And what was going on with Con. And whether, and how, he’d tell his gran. And oh yeah, the offer for a promotion at work and the juggling that might entail.

No pressure or anything
, he thought, shaking his head as he pushed to his feet and reached for his overflowing basket of dirty clothes. Maybe some laundry therapy would soothe his battered brain.

And maybe aliens will blow up the planet overnight and I won’t have to worry about any of it
, he thought, laughing at himself as he headed for the machines.

WHEN SHAUN
walked into Stripes Wednesday night, Darnell wasn’t sitting on his usual stool. Lewis looked up and gave him a smile, though, so Shaun walked on over.

“You alone tonight?” Lewis leaned on the bar.

“Not supposed to be.” Shaun slid onto a stool. “What’s on tap tonight?”

“Just the usual.” Lewis rolled his eyes. “Distributor’s tryin’ like hell to get me to put in some of that pumpkin beer. I think you two were the only ones who even tried that blue stuff. Can you see the people who drink here buyin’
pumpkin
beer?”

Shaun chuckled and shook his head. “Not in a month of Sundays.” He glanced at the taps. “Whatever SweetWater you have will work.”

“Gotta support the home team.” Lewis gave an approving nod and reached for a glass just as a hand landed on Shaun’s shoulder. He turned to find Darnell joining him.

“Make it two, Lewis.” Darnell gave Shaun a smile. “Sorry I’m late. Got held up at the jobsite, and then wouldn’t you know there was a wreck less than a mile from here?” He shook his head. “Just a fender bender, but people couldn’t even make up their minds to get out of the road ’til I’d already been sitting there an extra ten minutes.”

Lewis delivered their beers and then raised an eyebrow at Darnell. “Leland said he saw you out to dinner the other night with a girl.”

Darnell snorted and picked up his beer. “Not exactly a girl,” he said. “She’s thirty-seven years old.”

“That’s eight years younger than you.” Lewis waved a hand. “Don’t make me no never mind if you never bring her in. I know you gotta impress a lady and all that.”

“Get outta here.” Darnell sipped his beer and watched as a laughing Lewis walked to the far end of the bar to talk to another couple of regulars before he shot Shaun a nervous look. “There’s something I didn’t tell you about Katie. She’s… she’s Mexican.”

Shaun blinked. Did Darnell really think…? He barked out a laugh. “Man, I don’t care if she’s Martian, as long as you’re happy.”

And he knew he wouldn’t get a better opening than this. Still he braced himself before he spoke, and he kept his voice low and wrapped both hands around his beer glass, as if it would protect him.

“I’m… kinda interested in someone different myself.”

“Do tell.” Darnell picked up his beer again, and Shaun waited for him to swallow his sip before speaking again.

“His name’s Con.”

Darnell choked anyway, but he recovered quickly. “I….” He gave Shaun a wide-eyed stare. “I had no idea, man.”

Shaun laughed, a little giddy to have it out in the open for the first time. “Took me a while to get used to the idea myself.” He shook his head. “No, I’m
still
not used to it.”

Darnell snorted. “You just gotta one-up me, don’t you? ‘Oh hey, the woman I’m seeing ain’t black.’ ‘Yeah? Well, wait’ll you get a load of
this
one….’”

“Hey, at least mine’s black.”

Shaun managed to keep a straight face for about five seconds before they both lost it. Their shared laughter left Shaun drained but happy. The strain of worry over Darnell’s reaction washed away. By the time he reached for his beer, he felt back on solid ground.

He lifted his mug. “To broadened horizons.”

Darnell copied his gesture. “Amen to that.”

Shaun almost chickened out again on talking to Darnell about Erwin. Even though yesterday’s conversation had gone better than the first, Shaun still didn’t know if he wanted to have anything to do with the man, even if he did turn out to be his father.

He took a deep draught of his beer and set the glass on the bar. “Have something else I need to tell you about.”

Darnell glanced over, then looked harder and turned toward Shaun, his expression serious. “What’s wrong?”

Darnell’s concern loosened Shaun’s recalcitrant tongue. “A man contacted me last week and told me he’s my father.”

Darnell tensed. “Is he?”

Shaun shrugged a shoulder. “No clue. He says he knew my mama back then. I mean,
knew
.” He suppressed a shudder. “I met up with him, and he was kind of an asshole, but something a friend said made me decide to give him one more try.”

“You gonna show up on
Maury
? He is the father?”

Shaun barked out a laugh. “Nah, not going for that kinda drama. I’ll just get a test and find out if it’s true. If it’s true, we’ll see. Only up for one thing at a time right now.”
And I’ve already got about four things going
, he added silently.

Darnell had that figured out already, though. “Sounds like you got a lot more than that, what with this guy you haven’t told me anything about yet.”

He took a sip of his beer and waited, an expectant look on his face. Shaun shook his head ruefully.

“All right. His name’s Con, he’s the size of a brick wall, and he’s funny. He’s a friend of my boss. He’s putting in new computer systems and stuff at the resort.”

“And he’s just so hot you couldn’t help yourself?”

Shaun snorted. “Something like that.” He ran a finger through the condensation on the side of his glass. “I don’t know. I mean, I can admit he’s not the first guy to catch my eye. But it’s just….”

He couldn’t put it into words. Hell, he couldn’t get his own thoughts in order, so how could he explain it to someone else?

“Does your gran know?”

Shaun’s gaze shot up to meet Darnell’s. “Oh, hell no. I wouldn’t even know where to start with that.”

Darnell laughed softly. “Might wanna start thinking about it. Your gran may be getting on up in years, but she’s sharp as a tack.”

“Yeah.” Shaun took a quick sip of beer. “She knows something’s up, that’s for sure. I just… I don’t know how she’ll take it.”

“Finding out you’re gay?”

“I didn’t say that.” Darnell gave him a look, and Shaun waved a hand. “I just like the guy, okay? I’m not going any farther than that right now. And that’s part of why I haven’t talked to her yet. I mean, what if it’s just a fluke? What if it’s just a passing crush, and next week I’m lusting after a woman?”

“And what if it isn’t and you aren’t?”

“Ugh.” Shaun lifted his beer, taking a longer draught this time. “I don’t wanna deal with it, okay?”

“Sure, sure.” Darnell nodded quickly. “And you haven’t told her about this ‘hi-I’m-your-father’ guy either?”

“Shit.” Shaun slumped on his barstool. “That’s just begging to blow up in all our faces, isn’t it?”

“Life tends to do that.” Darnell drained his beer and pushed to his feet. “Let’s forget all this stuff for now and play some pool.”

“That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.” Shaun emptied his glass as he stood and then followed Darnell toward the back of the bar. Pool and trash talk were exactly what he needed to take his mind off everything else.

“WHAT ARE
you
doing here?”

Phillip Hawking lifted his head from his book and blinked at Shaun from behind the desk where Jimmy usually sat when Shaun showed up. “Um, working?”

Shaun blew out a breath as he crossed the lobby. “Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to go off like that. I just…. Is something wrong? Where’s Jimmy?”

“Sick.” Phillip slid off the stool. “Cory called and asked if I could come cover until you got in. Food poisoning or something, I don’t know.” He lifted his backpack off the floor and shoved the textbook he’d been reading into it. “I gotta jet. Class at one, and it’ll be hell finding parking on campus in the middle of the day.”

Shaun waved toward the door. “Go on, get going. I’ll check in with Cory. Thanks for covering.”

“No prob. Extra hours are always a good thing.” Phillip grinned as he shouldered his backpack and hurried toward the door. Phillip was about Jimmy’s height and slight, with glasses and wispy brown hair, and Shaun didn’t know much about him except that he was a sophomore at the University of Georgia. Shaun hadn’t spent much time with him, since their schedules rarely overlapped.

I should do that if I’m gonna be managing the place.
He stowed his own backpack under the desk and took a seat. Maybe he could drive down to Athens after work one day, and they could have dinner or something.

First, though, Shaun needed to check in on Jimmy. He started to call over to the bungalow but then thought Jimmy might be asleep, so instead he pulled out his cell phone and sent a text. He figured Cory or Mikey would probably be covering Jimmy’s phone for him.

Hey, how’s the patient?

Sure enough, a few minutes later the reply came back:
Sleeping at last. This is Cory. He’s been keeping down Gatorade for the past few hours, at least. I think he’s turned the corner.

Glad to hear it. Food poisoning?

Not sure. We ate dinner in Commerce last night, and Mikey and I are fine. I’d probably avoid the Big China Buffet for a while, though.

Shaun winced.
I’ll keep that in mind. Let me know if you need anything. Phillip headed out as soon as I got here.

Will do, thanks.

Shaun wasn’t going to bring it up with Cory right then, but he wondered why they hadn’t called him. Sure, Phillip was closer—around half an hour instead of at least double that for Shaun—but Shaun could have come in a little earlier, at least.

No matter. He was there now, and he could talk to Jimmy about the rest once he’d recovered.

AT MIDAFTERNOON,
the side door opened, and Cory came in, looking worse for the wear. “Hey,” he said, giving Shaun a wan smile as he approached the desk. “Just wanted to stop by and give you an update. Jimmy’s still on just Gatorade. He tried some toast but didn’t manage much.” He sighed. “I hate to ask, but do you think you could stay overnight? Even if he’s eating by then, I don’t think he’d be up to dealing with any problems.”

“Sure,” Shaun answered immediately. “I’ll call my gran. I’m not usually home until pretty late on Thursdays.” He nodded toward the computer. “I just ran the weekly reports, so I know we have a couple of empty cabins. I can stay in one of those and put my cell phone number on the door.”

“Perfect.” Cory smiled. “We can lend you anything you need, or I’ll even run a load of clothes if you like.”

Shaun shook his head. “I keep a change with me in my backpack, since it’s so far back to the house. And we have basic toiletries and stuff in the cabins.”

“Cool. I will feed you, though. I’m making chicken noodle soup for dinner. I’ll bring you a bowl when it’s ready. And a big cup of sweet tea. And cake for dessert.”

Shaun laughed. “You don’t need to do all that, but I’m not about to say no. And just for the record,” he added, “feel free to call me if something like this comes up. I can come in early or stay late most anytime if Jimmy needs me to.”

“He knows that,” Cory said. “He just didn’t want to take advantage.”

“I know. The offer stands.”

Cory smiled, though in his obvious exhaustion, it was hardly a shadow of his usual. “I’m headed back to check on him and get dinner started. Mikey has to go into town for a special seminar tonight, but he doesn’t want to leave. Knowing you’ll be staying over helps us stack the deck to get him to go.”

“Well, then, you’re doubly welcome. And tell Jimmy I said he needs to get better soon. Someone’s got to keep the rest of us in line.”

“Will do.” Cory sketched a lazy salute and headed back outside. As he left, Shaun wondered where Con was in all this. Last Shaun heard Con was working on upgrading the Wi-Fi access in the cabins, now that all the upgrades in the main building were done. In addition to the new computer, networking, and backup systems, he’d installed an alarm system that direct-dialed 911 and included a panic button under the desk.

“I doubt you’ll ever need it,” he’d said when he’d shown Shaun how it worked. “But you’re far enough away from the nearest fire and police services that getting the alarm sounded a few minutes faster can make all the difference.”

Shaun pulled out his phone again.
Are you around?

After a few minutes, Con’s reply came back:
In cabin six. Found some stripped wire, so it’s taking longer than I thought. Everything okay? How’s Jimmy?

Better. Cory asked if I’d stay over tonight in case anything comes up.

The next reply took only seconds:
Plenty of room in my cabin….

Shaun smirked. He knew he’d get a response like that.
Down, boy. I’ll be on duty, and we have empty cabins.

Party pooper.

Get back to work, slacker.

Con sent back a kissy-face emoticon, and Shaun just shook his head with a smile as he set down his phone and went back to work.

CON FINALLY
made an appearance a couple of hours later, looking fresh enough that Shaun knew he had to have showered and changed. Sure enough, when he came closer, he smelled of soap and mint, not sweat and dust, and the tank top and shorts he wore were crisp and unwrinkled.