“More stout, boys? Yes, that’s just what’s needed here,” he said, sweeping away the empty glasses. “And I think I’ll be sending out some of the shepherd’s pie. The lamb’s quite the stuff today.”
Steven nodded. “Thanks, John. You really are the best.”
“Not at all, lad, not at all. And just so you know, laddie,” he said to Paul, “one of our waiters is your way. He’s going to be so chuffed when I tell him!” He pounded Paul heartily on the back and left for the kitchen.
Holly sighed happily. “Love John.”
Steven leaned over to Holly. “Chuffed is a good thing, right?”
Paul hung his head, unable to process any more today. This much turmoil in his life in the past seven days was starting to get to him.
“Cheer up, bro,” Steven said. “Dad just needs a little time. You know how the McDonnell men are. Some of us are just slow.”
Slow to change, that was their dad’s motto. Paul knew Steven was right. Patience and time were the only way out of this. He learned that — painfully — with Steven.
“Your mom was surprisingly cool about it all,” Holly said. Paul could tell her estimation of the woman improved because of how she took the news.
Paul shrugged. “Not that much of a surprise, actually. This increases the odds that I’ll be dating someone. She’ll be planning a New York wedding for me before they leave the state this week. Boyfriend or no boyfriend.”
“Anything to take her mind off my damn centerpieces,” Holly muttered under her breath.
“Speaking of boyfriend or no boyfriend,” Steven said, “any word from Ace?”
“A few,” Paul mumbled.
Steven nodded like a bobblehead doll, waiting for further clarification. “Have you said any words back?”
Paul shrugged by way of response.
“Hey,” Holly punched him lightly in the arm. “Do not lose him. I mean it. Want me to get into this?” She mimed rolling up her sleeves. “I fixed you and Steven. I can fix you and Ace.”
Steven made a scoffing noise. “Yeah, you did all the heavy lifting there.”
Holly waved a solemn finger in his face. “Do not mock.”
Paul took a deep breath to try to clear the thoughts threatening to choke his brain. “I know I need to talk to Ace. But what if –” he stopped himself. “What if he and that guy — I mean, this whole time -”
Holly cut him off. “Do. Not. Lose. Him. Fight for him, if you have to. After all it took to get him in the first place, you’re just going to give up now?”
“I don’t like to share,” Paul muttered.
“That’s a fact,” Steven said under his breath.
“I’m serious, Paul,” Holly said. “Talk to him. Don’t make me sic your mom on you.”
Oh good Christ. Holly was playing dirty.
“I’ll think about it,” he said. Holly gave him A Look. “I promise,” he assured her.
And it was true. He doubted he’d think of much else but Ace.
“Listen,” he said to Steven. “I’m going to bow out of the Royals game tonight. Take Mom and Dad,” he said over their objections. “You can sell my ticket if you want. I don’t want to ruin a good night for them any more than I already have.”
Steven grudgingly gave in. “It won’t be the same,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been to the K without you.”
“I guess change is the theme today, huh?” Paul said. And not just of the day. He wanted to pound his better angel for talking him into all this.
“Want some company?” Holly asked. “I could skip the game, too.”
“And deprive you of more wedding planning with Helen?”
She stuck her tongue out.
John brought out their meals, and they dug in to their decidedly non-Fourth of July feast.
As Holly insisted that she wasn’t going to cave on her flower choices, no matter what Helen had to say, Paul was surprised to find that he could breathe a little easier. On the whole, it felt like a burden had been lifted. But, man, did it threaten to crush him at times.
Still, for the first time, Paul felt free. The most important people in his life knew his biggest secret, and even though he came close to losing them, a weight was lifted from his chest. He grinned at the thought of what he could do with this freedom. Now he could go to Sparks with Ace and —
But there was no Ace and him. Not exactly.
That night, instead of watching the fireworks flash above Kauffman Stadium, Paul sat on his back patio and listened to the scattered pops and booms of the neighborhood kids’ illegal celebrations. He couldn’t see the explosions, but he felt each one rumble up through the earth.