Page 83 of Pages of My Heart
Thomas sighs. “Michael has his own family, and even Maggie is engaged now. I love them, and my nieces and nephews too, but they’ll be okay. What if . . .” Thomas bites his lip.
“What if . . .?”
“What if Evie and Jonathan came with us? We could get a bigger house for all of us, or get two places nearby. I just—I don’t want to be around my family if they’re always going to look at me with disgust. I don’t want to pretend anymore. Evie accepts us, just as we are, and that changed everything for me. And if she can accept us, then I bet there are other people out there who would too.”
This certainly isn’t what Charlie expected when he first broached the topic. It’s a lot to take in, but he can’t deny that there’s a spark of excitement building inside him at the idea. There’s a healthy dose of fear and apprehension there, too, but it’s thrilling to think of a new beginning far from the ghosts that haunt Chicago.
“You wouldn’t mind my sister and Jonathan livin’ with us?”
“Of course not! We could get a nice place with three bedrooms. Put a lock on our door and turn the radio on when we make love so no one hears you moan.” Thomas smirks and throws him a wink.
“Eh! You’re way louder than me. You and all your filthy talk.” They both laugh as Charlie moves across the room and straddles Thomas’s lap. “You got a city in mind?”
Thomas’s arms circle around his waist. “This might sound crazy, but what about someplace in California? No more snow and freezing our butts off every winter . . . just sun and the beach.”
Charlie tries picturing them walking along a sandy shore and it immediately appeals to him. Still, he hedges a bit. “That’s the other side of the country. What if we can’t get jobs once we get out there? And I only just started up at Jimmy’s again . . . I’d kinda be leavin’ him in the lurch after he’s helped me out so much.”
“But you have experience as a manager now, and I’m sure Jimmy will understand you wanting to make a fresh start. I bet he’d give you a glowing letter of recommendation after all the years you’ve worked for him. And I don’t think I’ll have any trouble securing a teaching position. Besides, I wouldn’t mind continuing my studies again soon. I still have my heart set on becoming a professor one day. And we have some savings to tide us over until we find positions.”
It’s silent for a moment, a future in California beginning to take form in Charlie’s mind. He runs his fingers through Thomas’s red hair and smiles impishly. “I bet you’ll burn red as a tomato in that California sun.”
“Hey!” Thomas squeezes him tight and bites playfully at his chin, both of them laughing.
“But ya know,” Charlie says, thoughtful again, “I wouldn’t mind owning my own garage one day.”
“I know, and you’d excel at it too. Come on, Charlie, let’s take a chance. How about we visit Evie and see what she thinks?”
An hour later they’re sitting around the kitchen table at Evie’s, faces flushed with nerves and excitement. Charlie knows he won’t leave without her.
“What’s gotten into you two? You’re acting like a couple of giddy schoolboys.” Evie eyes them suspiciously, mouth quirked in a half-smile.
“Tommy, this was your idea. You should tell her.”
“No, darling. I think it should come from her brother.”
“Please, someone just tell me, for heaven’s sake!” Evie says, patience running thin.
Charlie lays his palms flat on the table. “Okay, okay. Tommy and I are thinkin’ about makin’ a fresh start. We wanna move. Get outta Chicago and buy a house together. Make a real home somewhere.” He takes a deep breath. “And we want you and Johnny to come with us.”
The shock on Evie’s face is plain. She looks to Thomas, then back at Charlie, then back to Thomas once more. “Tom . . . you want this too? Wouldn’t Jonathan and I be in the way?”
Thomas takes Evie’s hand. “Never. I think of you as my sister and Jonathan as my nephew. You must know that. Richard is gone, and we’re so deeply sorry about that, but we want to be there for you. And we want to help raise Jonathan, too . . . if—if you’re okay with that.” Thomas glances at Charlie before he continues. “I know as Jonathan gets older you may not want men like us around. Maybe we aren’t . . . maybe we—”
“Tom, stop” Evie says, firmly. “I won’t have you speak that way about yourself or my brother. You are both better men than Richard ever was, may he rest in peace. Jonathan loves you both, and you love him, and that’s all a child needs. And God knows I could use the help. So . . . yes.” She grins widely. “My answer is yes!”
Charlie sighs in relief, and all three of them sit around grinning at each other like a bunch of fools until he realizes they didn’t tell Evie the second part of the plan.
“Don’t ya at least wanna know where we’re gonna go?”
She slaps his arm across the table. “Well, of course, dummy! Tell me! But I swear to God, Charles, if you say—”
“California,” he cuts in, squeezing Thomas’s thigh under the table.
Evie’s jaw drops and her eyes widen with excitement. “We’re going to live by the ocean?”
“That’s the plan,” Thomas says, eyes sparkling as they lock with Charlie’s.
Just then Jonathan runs into the kitchen brandishing his toy boat in his chubby hands. “Uncle Tomm-eeee! Look, look!”