Page 22 of A Dye Hard Holiday

“I’m lucky? You watch that video footage and tell me how luckyIam,” I replied, shaking my head. “That lady was a psycho who physically attacked my mother, yet somehowIwas the one who was arrested.” The more I thought about it, the angrier I got, but I could see I was barking up the wrong tree with Officer Numb Nuts.

“Joshy!” My mom burst into tears when I walked out of the holding area. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you? I called Gabe and he took care of everything.” There went my chance of burying this under the damn rug.

Lord, the only thing injured on me was my pride. “I’m fine, Mama. It’s best we get on home, so I can face the music.”

“I told Gabe everything that happened,” my mother tearfully assured me. “He knows that your arrest was bullshit.”

I appreciated my mom’s optimistic outlook, but I knew my husband was most likely wearing out a hole in the carpet from pacing. He wouldn’t look at my actions as justified, he would view them as potential for getting hurt. I reminded myself that fear would be at the heart of the blustery reception I could expect to receive.

“He wants you to call him,” my mom added when we got in the SUV.

I wasn’t dumb, I dialed him straight away.

“Do you have me on speakerphone, Josh?” he asked in a dangerously dark voice. See! Not dumb. He wouldn’t blast me like he wanted to with everyone listening. He’d have an hour to calm down before we got home, longer if we stopped for lunch.

“Yes,” I said, trying to sound calm. The truth was I was afraid, not of Gabe hurting me, but of seeing disappointment in his eyes. I was used to seeing love, respect, and adoration when he looked at me. Sure, I’d made him mad, or confused him plenty of times, but I never disappointed him. The fact that he used Josh instead of Sunshine was the biggest clue as to the trouble I was in. “I’m sorry, Gabe.”

He released a long, frustrated sigh. “Just get home safe, Sunshine.”

I released a sigh of relief. “I will.” I disconnected the call and asked, “Who’s hungry?”

“No way,” Mere said. “We’re going straight home.”

“But, Mere.”

“Can it,” she firmly said. “You did nothing wrong and we’re going to tell Gabriel so. It was complete bullshit what that woman did then cried foul when you called her out.”

“I got it on video!” Martina exclaimed. “So help me God, I’ll release this on You TV if they show a false portrayal on the news.” I suspected that Martina was about as familiar with social media as her beloved son and meant YouTube, but I certainly wasn’t about to correct her. I needed her on my side.

I groaned because I hadn’t even thought about cell phone videos. Oh man. There’d be ten different edited versions floating around by the time I got home.

“It was a setup,” Chaz said calmly. “We’ll make sure Gabe listens and understands.”

Too bad Gabe grabbed me by my Burberry scarf and practically dragged me up the steps to our bedroom without giving my fan club a chance to talk him down. “Are you okay?” he asked, but he sounded more pissed than concerned.

“My pride is hurt that I didn’t see that setup for what it was,” I replied. “Your mother has the entire video on her phone.”

“Great, we can show it to Dylan and Destiny as part of your highlight reel, because I can guarantee there will be plenty more fits in the future,” he said hotly.

I put my hands on my hips and aimed my best indignant expression his way. “And just what do you expect me to throw a fit about, Gabriel?” Apparently, he didn’t notice my tone of voice or the way I skipped using his nickname.

“If Dylan doesn’t make captain of the baseball team or Destiny doesn’t make the cheer squad,” Gabe said. “Oh, I bet you’d raise a fuss if you’re not allowed to send birthday treats to school. I hear that they’re cracking down on that stuff nowadays. No cupcakes and fruit punch, you get carrots and water.” He kept rambling on, completely unaware that I was stewing.

“Maybe I get my knickers in a knot ifDylandoesn’t make the cheer squad or Destiny doesn’t make captain of her softball team,” I corrected him. “It’s a little early to be deciding their extracurricular activities, isn’t it? I’d also like to think that as gay men we wouldn’t guess their hobbies based on their gender either.”

“Now, Sunshine, you’re deliberately misunderstanding what I meant, so you can divert the attention away from yourself. That’s not going to work this time,” Gabe said, but I noticed he was quick to drop my cutesy name.

“Save it, Gabe. I’m not in the mood. I need to put on warmer clothes if we’re going to traipse through the woods to find the perfect tree.” I heard the deflation in my voice, and I was sure he did too, but did he understand why? I thought that disappointment was the worst thing I could see in his eyes, but I was wrong. Ridicule was far worse. He didn’t give me a chance to explain anything, he assumed the worst,andmocked me. It felt a lot like the time we broke up two years ago. I knew we were in a much stronger place, but damn it still hurt. “Just give me a few minutes to myself please. The twins have new snowsuits in their closet.”

“Sunshine…”

“We’ll talk about this later.”

I walked to our closet and willed him not to follow me. Thankfully, something went right for me that day because he honored my request and had the twins suited up by the time I joined our family.

I planted a fake-ass smile on my face, but I could tell that I wasn’t fooling anyone. “Is everyone ready?”

We crammed ourselves into the minivan with all the enthusiasm of people attending a wake. I wanted to do or say something to lighten the mood, but you know what? Fuck it! Gabe wisely kept his mouth shut during the drive out to the tree farm, which was good because I was working myself into a good snit.