Riding and Regrets (19 page)

“And I can’t stay here and let him hurt someone else,” Noel said, desperate to get Jody to understand. “Could you do that? If you were in my shoes?”

Jody pressed his lips together tightly and didn’t answer.

Ian edged back into his peripheral vision. “If it helps, Glenn said he’d asked a friend in California to keep an eye on the guy. Glenn told me his husband has a real…thing for abusive men. Can’t stand them, and because of him, Glenn would keep having his friend dig until he turned something up on Clive.” Ian was now almost directly in between him and Jody. “It ain’t perfect, but sometimes the best you can do is hope. What good would it do for you to go confront Clive, Noel? You think he’s going to lay out a confession for you? Or is he more likely to beat the shit out of you? You need to
think
,” Ian stressed. “Both of you. Jody, getting mad and pitching a fit won’t do anything but push Noel right where you don’t want him to go. Manipulating him with a guilt trip, that’s shitty.”

“Prissy—” Jody got out before Ian shut him down with a cold glare.

“She’s important, yeah, and that’s why you
talk
to each other instead of doing this shit.” He gestured at them both. “Grow up, both of you. Sometimes that means realising you can’t save the world. You’ve got to step back and look for another approach to a problem.” Ian wiped at his arm, whether because he had some speck of dust on it or for show, Noel had no idea. “I’ll be billing both of you for this session.” He walked off and left them standing there.

Noel needed to think. They needed to talk. There were responsibilities they had to deal with first, like their jobs.

Jody shifted from foot to foot and while he’d quit trying to press his lips into a permanently flat state, he was still obviously agitated.

“We can be mature about this,” Noel began tentatively. “Ian was right. We need to talk. Maybe being apart while we’re working will give us some time to cool down and approach this with clearer heads.”

Jody gave a clipped nod. He crossed then uncrossed his arms. “I’m sorry, Noel. I acted like an asshole, and I’m sorry. Just, just keep that in mind while you’re working today.” Jody went back inside, and shortly thereafter, escorted Prissy to him. “You two have a good day.” Jody bent and kissed Prissy. “Love you, honey.”

“You too, Daddy.” Prissy started down the steps.

“Noel?”

Noel looked at Jody.

“I love you, too.” He went up on his toes and kissed Noel. “I do.”

It was amazing the way Noel just lit up, and Jody figured he did the same when Noel replied, “I know. I love you too.”

Prissy slipped her hand in Noel’s.

Noel gave him a sweet smile. “We’ll see you after work.”

The drive in seemed to take forever. Noel couldn’t stop thinking about Clive and worrying that he’d quit texting because he’d found someone else. There was always the possibility that Clive hadn’t treated anyone else the way he’d done Noel. His past lovers could have been into the BDSM scene and liked what Clive did to them.

Dwelling on it wasn’t helping anything. Worrying wasn’t either. Noel talked to Prissy instead, and sang songs with her until they had to get out at the daycare. “We’re going to have us an awesome day, aren’t we?”

“Yes!” Prissy bounded to the door. Noel opened it and let Prissy go in before following her. “You going right on back to Miss Seana?”

“Yes. Bye.” Prissy skipped off. Noel made sure she got to her room and that Seana was there. She was supposed to be and hadn’t ever been late. Noel still wouldn’t have been able to not check.

Seana waved at him and Noel waved back. He returned to the front of the building where his desk was. He’d just sat down when Gertie came out of her office, looking madder than a mama grizzly whose cubs had been caged.

“Bad morning?”

Gertie stomped over to his desk and slapped her hands on the top of it. “Your parents are the biggest jerks in existence,” she seethed. “I just got calls from their assistants, one right after another, telling me to expect them at my house this evening. Like they’re some kind of royalty!” Gertie lifted her hands up and planted them on her hips. She gave him a fierce scowl. “You know this has something to do with you.”

Noel stood up and started apologising. “I know, and I’m sorry. I’ll call and see if I can talk them out of it. I didn’t—”

“Oh, stop that babbling. That’s not what I mean,” Gertie snapped. “Sit your behind back down and listen to me. It’s not your fault your parents are nut jobs. That isn’t something you should be apologising for. I just meant you need to be on the lookout for whatever crap they’re gonna be slinging your way. You haven’t seen them in how long?”

“Over a year,” Noel answered. “I haven’t heard from them at all, like I told you. No birthday or Christmas cards, not even an email, so I know they’re after something, but what? They’ve got the money, fame and fans.”

A niggling idea like an itch in his brain became impossible to ignore. “Clive,” he mumbled. “He finances a lot of Dad’s films.”

“That’s the rat bastard who sent you running away,” Gertie said. “Well, I might ought to thank him for bringing you to me before I bust his—”

The front door opened and Gertie snapped her mouth shut audibly as she turned around. “Good morning, Mrs Neil, Joey.”

“Good morning, Gertie,” Mrs Neil replied in her usual booming voice. Poor Joey’s greeting could hardly be heard after her. “What a beautiful morning it is! Praise the Lord for this day!”

“It is a beautiful morning.” Gertie and Mrs Neil talked while Noel took Joey back to his daycare worker’s room. Mrs Neil was as sweet as she was loud, and while she frequently mentioned God and thanked Him, she never had tried shoving her views down anyone else’s throat that Noel knew of. He wished more people were like her, with their religion and their politics, except maybe a few decibels quieter.

He returned to his desk. Gertie was still up front waiting for him, but Mrs Neil was gone. “Back to your parents,” Gertie said. “I’m not putting up with anything from them. That my own brother thinks he can treat me like a servant and just pop in after me not hearing from him for years. You know he never thanked me, not once, for moving in and helping? Neither did your mom, but whatever. I wasn’t doing it for them anyway. I think I’ll call their assistants back and tell them where to stuff their priority lists. Only a certain brand of bottled water, chilled but not icy, all these foods they think I have time to hunt down and—” Gertie snorted. “They’re just crazy as you know what. The F-word.”

“They’re something. I still think I should call them and talk to them myself.” Noel took his cell phone out of his pocket. “Whatever they’re wanting from me, I can guarantee you if it’s bad for me or the people I love, it isn’t going to happen.”

“I didn’t tell them anything about Jody and Prissy, or that you didn’t live with me. Figured they didn’t have the right to know, and if you wanted them to, you’d tell them yourself.” Gertie sniffed. “Their assistants didn’t ask, anyway. Just told me to expect them and what I needed to have waiting at the house. As. If. We’re having hotdogs for dinner tonight.”

Noel burst out laughing. His parents would never eat such a pedestrian food, unless it’d suddenly become the newest food fad.

“I’ll make sure they aren’t those cheap ones, but we won’t tell your folks that.” Gertie rubbed her hands together. “Yeah, and sauerkraut, chili, pickle relish, liquid cheese—we’re going to have every unhealthy topping I can think of. You going to invite Jody and Prissy over?”

Noel bit his bottom lip. Should he? He and Jody had already had a nasty disagreement that morning.

And that had been because they hadn’t talked, as Ian had pointed out. “I don’t know. I need to talk to Jody first. We had an argument this morning and I feel like crap because of it. Being in love is complicated, but he’s so worth it. ”

Gertie nodded. “I get that. Tell you what. I’m going to run to the store when it opens in an hour or so, then when I get back, you take the rest of the day off. Go talk to Jody, maybe he can take a lunch break by the time you get home.” She smirked and Noel had to look away.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Gertie.”

“Why?” she asked. “At least one of us will be having fun later.”

Noel lowered his head to the desk. “Aunt Gertie,” he whined.

“I’m going. Let me know who all is coming with you to the house.” Gertie patted his head and he listened as she walked off.

Another parent entered with their child and Noel raised his head up. He plastered on a smile. “Good morning, Mr Gentry. How are you and Molly doing?”

Chapter Fifteen

Jody got a text from Noel asking him to come home for lunch. It surprised him. Noel was supposed to be working until four, then bringing Prissy home with him. His first thought was that Prissy was sick, but Noel followed quickly with a second text stating it was just him and they needed ‘to do the talking thing’.

Jody’s stomach was doing its jittery thing when he parked the truck behind Noel’s little car in their dirt driveway. He got out and jogged up to the door despite his nerves. There was no reason for him to be so edgy. He and Noel loved each other, and they were both reasonable adults. Sometimes they argued, but who didn’t? It made for fantastic makeup sex.

He opened the door and Noel came out of the kitchen to greet him. “Hey, Jo. I made lunch. Sort of. I warmed up leftovers from last night, anyway.”

Jody appreciated the peace offering. He walked right up to Noel and clasped his oven-mitted hands. “I’m sorry.” Jody kissed Noel, and Noel returned it with such tenderness that Jody’s nervousness dissolved.

When they separated, Noel took the oven mitts off. “I’m sorry too. I should have said so sooner. And I can’t believe I forgot to take these things off. The rest of the meatloaf casserole is on the table.”

Jody patted Noel’s butt, because it was a very fine butt. “Can we talk first, or you think the food will get cold?”

“We can talk and eat, right?” Noel asked. “It’s just us. We don’t have to use our special manners.”

“You mean regular manners.” Jody pulled out a chair for Noel.

Noel sat down. “Thanks. I feel special.”

“You are.” Jody gave him a peck on the cheek. “Even if you’re being sarcastic.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever pulled out my chair before.” Noel scooped some casserole out and set it on Jody’s plate while Jody sat down. “But I’m not opposed to it, in case you thought otherwise.”

“I’ll have to do it more often then.”

Noel got his own food then put the large spoon down. “So here’s the thing. My parents are coming out here. Tonight. Well, to Aunt Gertie’s. They don’t know I live here.”

Jody had been about to shove a forkful of food in his mouth. He set the utensil down. “Why’re they coming out? You said you haven’t talked to them in a long time.”

“Right. I don’t talk to them, they don’t talk to me. Last time I tried getting hold of either of them, their assistants promised to pass along the messages and I never heard back.” Noel shrugged. “That’s just the way they are.” He hesitated and Jody waited for whatever was coming next. “I think it’s got something to do with Clive. I told you, he’s the financial backer on a lot of Dad’s movies. The timing… Maybe I’m wrong, but it seems suspicious. I wouldn’t put it past Clive to threaten to withhold funding unless he got me back.”

“Then your dad’s movie is just fucked.” Jody stood up and walked over to the cussing jar. He took a few bucks from his pocket and dropped them into the jar. “I’ll be happy to tell him so myself. I know you don’t want anything to do with Clive, so I don’t think I’m overstepping here.”

“You’re not, and I like the possessive, growly you when you’re not in my face and mad,” Noel said. “I’m not opposed to you wanting to protect me, as long as you know I’ll protect me, too. And you and Prissy. I’m not stupid or weak. This morning might not be proof of that. I was mad, disappointed. Scared for the next naïve guy Clive gets a hold of. If he does so. For all I know, I could have been a fluke for him. He might choose more suitable lovers, ones who are into what he’s into.”

Noel waved that idea off. “Anyway, I’m not going to go charging back to California to confront him, but I will start letting people know about him. I haven’t stayed in touch with any of my old friends because honestly, they weren’t good friends in the first place. Doesn’t mean I can’t contact some of them and have them start spreading the word. Gossip spreads like the flu.”

Jody winced and Noel did too. “What? Saying it spreads like wildfire is too clichéd, and besides, the wildfires in California are nothing to joke about. Those things are deadly.”

“That’s a start. It’s a good start, don’t you think?” Jody asked.

“Best idea I could come up with.” Noel ate a bite then pushed his plate away. “Also, I can hope, like Ian said. Maybe someone will bust Clive for I don’t know what, anything. Tax fraud. That’s a possibility. As for my parents, I didn’t know if you want to go with me—”

“Of course I do.” It wasn’t a question in Jody’s mind. He was going. “I think Prissy should stay here. What do you think?”

“I think that’s best, because it might get ugly at Gertie’s. Not that my parents will show any real emotion, but Gertie might punch one or both of them, and I’m not taking any of their shit.” Noel sighed and started to reach in his pocket.

“I paid extra already.” Jody gestured to his plate. “You ought to eat.”

“Aunt Gertie’s making nuclear hotdogs,” Noel told him. “Good ones with every kind of topping you could want.”

Jody frowned. “Then why are they called nuclear hotdogs?”

Noel snickered. “You don’t wanna know what they’ll do to your stomach and other parts later on.”

“Think I’ll be careful with what I put on ’em then.” Jody gave Noel what he hoped was a sexy look. “I have plans for later tonight.”

Noel scooted his chair back. “How about right now? You have anything planned?”

Jody almost choked on his food. He swallowed it down and moved his chair back as well. “I was just gonna eat, but something better just occurred to me.”

“Oh really?” Noel spread his legs and cupped his bulging cock. “Something like this?”