Saugatuck Summer (Saugatuck, #1)(26)
After I’d exhausted myself, I lay on my blanket, toasting my chilled skin under the brilliant sun. I wished Mo could’ve stayed another day, but of course she had to be back before the next camp session began. Being there by myself was lonely, though I went swimming on my own all the time. On this particular day, I wanted company. Or maybe I was just missing Mo. I was surrounded by people, but I wasn’t with them, and I’d already had a couple encounters with nearby residents who didn’t believe that, yes, I was staying on one of the properties that gave me rightful access to the beach. It made me leery of trying to strike up any conversations. I was debating packing up my towel and returning to the house to scare up some lunch when I glanced at the stairs to see Brendan coming down the dune.
I couldn’t help it; I smiled. I’d missed his company, and now that I had a grip on my silly infatuation, I could just be happy to see him without worrying about the rest.
“Hey there!” I called as he caught sight of me and crossed the sand. “Just get back?”
He nodded, giving me a friendly smile in return, and sat on the blanket beside me as I rolled to my side to face him. “Yeah. Adele had an emergency at the hospital, so I thought I’d head back early. She says to tell you hi, by the way, and she’s looking forward to meeting you on the weekend of the Fourth.”
The thought of meeting his wife made me cringe in embarrassment. Oh, hi, Mrs. G. Glad to meet you. I’m the weird gay boy who’s been ogling your husband for the past couple months.
“Oh, she’s coming over for the Fourth?”
He nodded, looking out over the lake. “Yeah, that’s when she scheduled her vacation. For three weeks, actually, so she’ll get to spend some time with Morgan, too.”
“That’s cool.” I smiled and dug in my bag for another water bottle. “Did you get a lot of work done in Ann Arbor?”
He chuckled, accepting the bottle when I offered it. “Thank you. Yeah, actually, I did. Adele works a lot of long shifts at the hospital, so I was alone a lot. I had plenty of free time to work.”
I blinked, frowning. “I’m sorry. Is my being here keeping you from working?”
“What?” He looked taken aback by the question. “No, of course not.”
I nodded, still feeling a little troubled by the idea. “Okay. Because I’m still trying to find a job. Mo said she saw a job advertisement at an art gallery, though I don’t know what sort of qualifications I’d have. I’ve got an offer to play for tips at the coffeehouse, too. If you need me to get out so you can have some quiet . . .”
“Topher.” His hand came to rest on my bare, sun-warmed upper arm. “You don’t disturb me. At least not any more than I want to be disturbed. I enjoy your company.”
I think I must have given him a really sappy, smitten smile at that. I don’t know. All I know is something shifted in the next instant, that companionable moment suddenly growing tense and awkward. His hand dropped from my arm like he’d been burned and his eyes darted around in an almost furtive way. After a second I dared to sneak a glance in the direction he’d been looking to see a woman seated on a nearby blanket watching us over the top of her book without trying to seem obvious about it. She was a neighbor; I’d seen her around a few times before while I was swimming. She was one of those who’d challenged my right to be on the private beach, until I’d called Mo to have her come down and verify that I was indeed a guest of hers.
I didn’t like the speculative way she was looking at us, the obviously gay boy and the middle-aged man. Suddenly it was like my family and my high school choir teacher all over again; he’d been nice and I’d loved working with him. He’d been a mentor, but their insinuations had made it into something dirty, to the point where I never felt comfortable working with him after that.
My harmless little crush was nowhere near as filthy as whatever that woman was imagining; I knew that without a doubt.
“Well, Topher.” Brendan cleared his throat, and his voice was a little louder, a little more proper and paternalistic. “I think I’ll go back up to the house and fire up the grill for dinner. I grabbed ribs on the way through town, if that’s okay with you?”
“Sure, Mr. Gardner.” I nodded agreeably, disgusted to realize I was doing it too. Speaking loudly enough so she could overhear just how innocuous our interaction was. No hanky-panky going on here, no ma’am!
Fucking filthy-minded busybody bitch. And here we were, placating her, trying to defend ourselves against silent intimations of vile things we hadn’t even done.
“If you don’t mind, sir, I’m going to read a while longer. I’ll be up for dinner later.”
Brendan nearly winced at my formal tone. He darted another glance at the woman, and his ears began to turn red.
“Sounds good, Topher. Enjoy your afternoon.” He gave me a stilted smile and pushed himself up off the blanket, trying to look unconcerned as he made his way back up the stairs.
I spent the next hour trying not to feel the woman practically leering at me until I finally assumed I’d proven that I wasn’t rushing up to the house to be banged by my host.
I suppose for Brendan it was a little like encountering the serpent in the Garden of Eden; there was no sin until someone told him there was.
Then he couldn’t ever be clean of it.