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Grumpy bugger.

“Okay, well, Jay is ten, and Jasmine is six. Biological siblings, both of them now adopted. Came to the boys as fosters a few years back, and it’s been one hell of a roller coaster. Wouldn’t change a thing, though.”

“I see.” He didn’t, his mind clearly elsewhere.

“What do you want to talk about?”

He cleared his throat, suddenly flustered. “I didn’t mean to offend, you know, about your son being gay.” He was looking straight at me. I liked that. Honesty. “I don’t want to sound like a cliché…but I absolutely do.”

“What? Your cousin is gay? Brother?” I smirked. Usual thing. I suppose we were both total clichés.

“No,” he said quietly.

“Not your cousin then,” I said dryly, dragging a faint smirk out of him.

“No.” He was kind of funny. Strangely, this man made me laugh, but I still made my point.

“I don’t take homophobia or any kind of hate lightly. There’s no need for it. I didn’t know my son had a thing for men, not really, until he dragged Gray home and I kept finding him in my son’s bed. Penny dropped pretty quickly then, and looking back, maybe there were signs, but as a father, I simply didn’t understand back then. Now I can see things differently, and it was actually the best thing that ever happened to Reuben, finding Gray. And to me too, I have to admit, because that silly boy changed my life. If not for him, I’d still be living in a council flat in Peckham.”

That seemed to catch his attention.

“That’s quite a change.” He sat up a little straighter.

“A story for another time. I think that laundry can look after itself while the two of us take a stroll.”

“You sound like my father.”

“In a good way, I hope, and anyway, we’re similar in age, are we not?”

“You said you were, what? Fifty-eight?”

“Yes.” I smiled. My age. Sore point. “Still a few years off being able to draw my pension. Hence, a job will be required at some point. Can’t be sat around like this for the next two years. The grandchildren are at school all day; I’ll lose my mind.”

“I’m fifty-one,” he said quietly. “And I’ve already lost mine.”

I couldn’t say the company was thrilling, but it was starting to feel like a more honest one.

Hours later, his bed was neatly made with fresh bedding, and I’d pretty much forced him to occupy my patio chairs for a change, a glass of juice in his hand. No more tea for him. Mine was decaf; I wanted to have a full night’s sleep without having to constantly get up to empty my bladder. Something I, of course, shared with my new friend.

“Your place is nice,” he said, looking over his shoulder. He’d been inside and inspected my humble abode, which was neat and tidy. There were a few books and thingscovering the surfaces, making the place look lived in, but it was clean, and it was mine. Well…

“The house belongs to the boys. I pay rent and do chores. Keep everyone in check. Wake them up in the mornings and sort out the finances on occasion and valet the cars. Driving is something I’m rather fond of, so I do a bit on the side for Gray’s manager, running around bigwigs for events. It can be entertaining, the money’s decent, and you meet some interesting people.”

“How interesting?” That he was talking was a good thing. Major progress from earlier.

“Rich. Famous. Doesn’t mean smart, though. Some of them are a bit… dense.”

He grimaced. “That doesn’t surprise me. I met quite a few dense people in my former profession. It makes no difference how many law degrees you have if you can’t hold a decent conversation and spurt nonsense you’ve read on social media as facts.”

“I stay off all that. Watch the news in the evenings and still read the papers. I like a proper paper. There’s something grounding about sitting down and reading it in the garden.”

“With a cup of tea,” he added.

I chuckled. “You know me already.”

We sat in silence for a while, comforting smells wafting out from the simple stew in a pot in the oven.

“You don’t have any photos up inside. No pictures of those kids. At least, I couldn’t see any.”