“Oh, yes, and boy, did we have fun!”
“Your coffee, ladies, and sticky buns as requested.”
“Thank you, Chris. These look great.”
“Enjoy.” He turned his head toward Wills. Was he fluttering his lashes again? Fortunately, he had to go wait on another table.
Wills saw my glare, grinned, and shook his head. “So. How’s everyone on your side of the family, Cath?”
“Gracie’s Gracie. She’s my oldest sister,” she said to me, while Wills nodded his understanding.
“She’s also the oldest cousin, and she always bossed us around.”
“She’s still trying to. She and Merry aren’t talking. Again. Merry’s between me and Gracie.”
“How’s your Mom?”
“She’s good.” Cathy put a sticky bun on a plate and handed it to Lexi, then took one for herself. “She’s actually seeing someone.”
“Wait, did she finally divorce Uncle Tony?”
“Yes.”
“That’s been a long time coming. How did Grandma and Grandpa take that?” He draped his arm over the back of my chair and murmured, “No one in either family has ever gotten a divorce.”
No one in my family had either, although that didn’t mean there weren’t unhappy marriages. The men found mistresses and the women…cooked.
“How do you think?” Cathy cut her bun into bite-size pieces. “Incidentally, I heard what they did.”
“What?” Wills had to know what she was talking about, but he seemed intent on choosing a sticky bun for himself.
“Disown you. Dad had the nerve to call and tell us we weren’t supposed to consider you family anymore.” She took a bite and smiled at its sweetness.
“It doesn’t make any difference. They’re still family.”
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t make what they did acceptable. So I called and left a message on their machine.” She gave a slight grin. “I figured they might as well get it all in one shot: I told them I’m a lesbian. Mom told them she’s seeing a former priest.”
“Holy smoke! I wonder which they thought was the worst.”
“Well, we haven’t heard back from them—even Dad hasn’t called—so your guess is as good as mine. On the one hand, they think all homosexuals are heading straight for hell. On the other, people who leave the clergy will probably be right behind us.”
“My Dad told me Grandma always helped out at the rectory.” He licked the sugary coating off his fingers and blushed when he caught me staring at his mouth.
“She did. She used to drag me and Merry and Gracie along with her. The funny thing is that when Dad was still up on Long Island, he never went to church.”
“Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?”
“It does. Well, at least Mom’s parents are okay with it. I wonder if it’s because that side of the family has been in America since the Civil War.”
“That’s right. Didn’t I hear one of your greats fought with Custer?”
“Yes, in the Battle of the Wilderness. I always thought that was so fantastic.”
“Which it is.” Lexi reached for her hand, then smiled ruefully as she got the sticky on Cathy’s fingers. Cathy just licked it off.
A woman after my own heart.
“Well, Grandma and Grandpa are only second generation.” Wills tore off a piece of the bun. “Theo?” I shook my head—I was pretty stuffed—so he took a bite, and then said, “My Dad’s folks are good with it too, but I figured that was because of Uncle Pete.”
“How about you, Theo?”
“Oh, my parents are…” Wills nudged my ankle under the table. “…better about it now, but when they first found out…it wasn’t a pretty picture.” Beyond that I wasn’t going to say.
“And you, Lexi?”
“No,” she said. “My family has no idea.”
“Oh?”
Was she hiding her relationship with Wills’s cousin? Everyone came out in their own time, and I wasn’t about to judge, but I wondered how Cathy would feel if she were Lexi’s dirty little secret.
“I haven’t been home for the past eight years. I was in the closet all through high school, and I wasn’t going to live like that again. I knew how they’d react, so once I left for college I just never went home.”
Wills looked horrified—family meant so much to him—and she saw and hurried on.
“Oh, they know I’m okay; I call and send them Christmas and birthday cards and gifts.”
“And they never questioned why you haven’t been back?”
She shrugged. “They think I’m wrapped up in my career. I’d rather keep it that way. I can always pre- I mean, tell myself I can go home one day.”
“Ah, Lexi.” Cath reached for her hand. “Maybe one day….”
“No. They’re very conservative. As a matter of fact, your grandparents are the epitome of liberal acceptance compared to them.”
“Families can be really fucked up,” I muttered.
“That’s the truth. The last time Dad came up to Long Island was for Merry’s wedding.”
“That was three years ago. Wait a second.” Wills turned to Lexi and studied her features. “Weren’t you there? Only…as a blonde?”