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  He shrugged. “So? We schedule travel to coincide around my doctor appointments. No biggie. There are doctors out there who deal with MS who aren’t in the Columbus area.” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Come on, hot guys for you, hot guys for me, we can scope them out together.”

  She burst out laughing. “You’re too much.” She walked over and hugged him. “And I wubs you, bro.”

  “Wubs you too, sis.” When she straightened, he grabbed her hands and squeezed, hard. “You and me, right? No matter what they say to us at dinner? You have my back and I have yours, right? Promise?”

  “Yeah, I promise. No matter what.”

  She didn’t know if she liked the devious grin he wore. “Good. Now let’s get my ass loaded.”

  They pulled up to their parents’ house a little after six. Gwen no sooner had the ignition turned off when her mom flew out the front door, hovering over Liam as he tried to get out.

  “Mom,” he said, a hard edge to his voice, “I love you, but back the hell off.”

  She looked hurt. “I just want to help!”

  “I know, but I can do this. Just stand back.” He used his cane and carefully unfolded himself from the seat. He smiled. “See?”

  “Where’s your chair? You should be using your chair outside!”

  “I made Gee leave it home. I didn’t need it, and it’s stupid to make her load it.”

  Her mother shot Gwen a dark look through the car to where Gwen hadn’t unfastened her seatbelt yet. “Why are you letting him walk and wear himself out?”

  Before she could respond, Liam waved his hand in his mother’s face. “Helloooo, standing right here, Mom. Not a baby, not an invalid. Get over it.”

  Gwen knew that look she gave him, the hard set to her jaw. Guilt trip alert. “Well,” she huffed. “I’m glad to see I’m not needed.”

  Liam’s sharp tone surprised Gwen. “Mom, stop it. Right now. Cut the guilt crap. I tried for years to tell you I wasn’t a baby, and you never listened. I love you, and believe me, I really appreciate everything you and Dad did for me, but I’m okay and I’m getting along fine with Gwen. You and Dad should be enjoying your privacy.”

  Their mom turned on her heel and stormed back to the house. Liam ducked his head and looked inside the car. “Bok bok bok,” he clucked at her.

  She finally unfastened her seatbelt. “I’m not a chicken.”

  “Bok.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him, earning herself a laugh from him.

  After getting out and locking the car, she followed a step behind him, close enough she could steady him if he stumbled, but not hovering. He made it up the drive and onto the front porch without trouble or hesitation. He went straight to the dining room, where their mom had already set the table. Their dad walked in, a thunderous look on his face.

  “What did you say to upset your mother?” He directed the question at Gwen.

  Liam raised his hand. “Get off her case. Mom’s mad at me. I told her I didn’t need any help walking from the car and she tried to chew Gee out for not bringing my chair.”

  Their father’s gaze didn’t waver from Gwen. “Well, why didn’t you bring his chair?”

  “Yo, Dad. I’m sitting right here.” Gwen recognized the frustration and barely checked anger in Liam’s voice. He’d had enough, and now that he wasn’t living here, he’d make his stand. “I told her not to bring it.”

  “You’re supposed to take care of your brother—”

  Liam’s fist slammed into the table, rattling the dishes and making Gwen jump. “Dad, stop it! Right now!”

  Their father finally looked at Liam. “What did you say to me?”

  “I said stop it. I’m thirty-five, not a kid, not a baby. Lay off Gee. If you have a problem, take it up with me, not her.”

  Their mother appeared in the doorway, a pinched look on her face and a casserole dish in hand. She set it on a hot pad on the table. “Everyone sit down,” she said, ignoring the fireworks. “It’s ready.”

  “Do you need any help, Mom?” Gwen asked.

  She didn’t even look back as she turned. “No.”

  Without the leaf, the dining room table was round. Gwen sat with Liam on her right and her mother on her left. Liam reached under the table and patted her thigh reassuringly.

  Their father sat in his usual place, a dark, thunderous look on his face as he glared at them.

  Gwen wondered when the true fireworks would start. She fought the nervous roll her stomach took and prayed she didn’t yak all over the table.

  Her mother finished bringing out the food. During her father saying grace, Liam reached over and held Gwen’s hand under the table. As their father finished, Liam gave her hand a gentle squeeze. When she looked at him, he winked.

  This would be okay. This time she was fine letting him step into protective big brother mode without feeling guilty or irritated about it.

  Truth be told, she needed it. She didn’t know if she was strong enough to stand up to their parents on her own about this, even at her age.

  The conversation was strained all throughout dinner as they moved on to dessert. Liam forged on as if everything was fine, deliberately ignoring their father’s stony silence and their mother’s clipped replies.

  Finally, their mother thawed a little. “I still can’t believe Amy has turned like this. I don’t know what is wrong with her. I wonder if she’s taking drugs?”

  “No, Mom, she’s not taking drugs,” Liam said. “She’s just trying to figure out her life. Midlife crisis.”

  Mom sniffed. “Well. I don’t know why she should be having a crisis. What is there to be…crisising about? She only works part time. If she’d stayed here, you wouldn’t have moved out—”

  “Mom, don’t,” Liam gently warned. “Don’t go there. Please. Let’s enjoy dinner.”

  Gwen inwardly groaned at their mother’s high-pitched tone. That indicated tears would soon follow. “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? She leaves, you leave.”

  Gwen gave Liam credit for trying. He kept his voice gentle. “Mom, I moved out because it’s time for you and Dad to get your lives back. When he retires, you two can do everything you planned. Gee and I get along great—”

  “And we didn’t? I thought you were happy living here. I tried so hard.”

  Their father said nothing.

  Gwen’s stomach rolled, but Liam continued, undeterred. “Remember how you freaked out when each of us left for college? Think of it like that. Only you should be glad it’s me and Gee sticking together. You always told us as kids that we should stick together.”

  That mollified her a little. “Well, I do have to say I’m proud of you two for being so close. Now if I could only figure out where we went wrong with your sister.” She dramatically sighed.

  “You didn’t ‘go wrong’ with any of us.” Liam took a bite of his peach cobbler as Gwen was suddenly seized by a really bad feeling her brother was up to something. He didn’t disappoint, either. “Being pregnant will do that to you,” he blithely added.

  Gwen froze. Liam continued eating as if he hadn’t just dropped a Hiroshima-sized bomb on their parents.

  Their father finally spoke. “What did you say?” His voice sounded tight and strained. She prayed he wasn’t close to having a coronary.

  Liam took another bite of his cobbler as if nothing was wrong. “Pregnant. Amy had her OB appointment today.” He frowned a little. “Didn’t she tell you about it? Mom, this cobbler is great, as usual. Gee, do you have the recipe so you can make it for us at home?”

  Gwen fervently prayed Liam had an exit strategy. Her stomach dangerously rolled again.

  Their mother looked stunned. “Amy is not pregnant. She’s…she’s not married. She doesn’t even have a man in her life!”

  Liam snorted. “Um, yeah, she is.” He faked innocent confusion. Gwen recognized that expression from when they were kids. “I could have swore she said she told you guys about the baby.”

  Their father threw h
is napkin on the table. “What is going on? No one’s told us anything! What baby? What in Heaven’s name are you talking about?”

  Gwen forced down the last bite of her cobbler and kept her mouth shut. Liam finished his and leaned back in his chair. “I’m sorry, Dad. I thought she told you.” The picture of Mr. Innocence.

  “Who’s the father?” their dad demanded.

  “Now that I don’t know. She didn’t tell us that.” Okay, technically that was the truth. She didn’t tell them. Gwen had figured it out on her own after catching Amy and Rat Bastard red-handed.

  Oh, good, another man to nickname.

  Their mother shook her head in disbelief. “No. I don’t believe it.”

  Liam scratched his head. “Well, sorry to be the bearer of all this bad news tonight. Amy’s pregnant, Gee and I are moving to South Dakota, and I’m gay.”

  Gwen closed her eyes, her lips pressed together, cringing, waiting.

  Their father did not disappoint. “If this is some idea of a joke, young man—”

  “Oh, it’s no joke, Dad.” She heard Liam push his chair back. She didn’t dare open her eyes yet. “We love you, but you two have been operating under some pretty unrealistic ideals for a long, long time. Gee makes a damn good living at what she does. Amy has a life to live, and so do I. I’m tired of being scared of hiding who I am around you. Now I don’t have to. I’m going to move out there and start a new life, and Gee is willing to pull up stakes and go with me.”

  Gwen finally dared open her eyes. Her parents stared at her. Her father trembled with anger and jabbed a finger at her. “This is all your fault, young lady! You writing that…that…filth! You’ve corrupted your brother!”

  “Stop!” Liam stood, holding on to the table for balance. Gwen felt close to tears, but the protective anger on Liam’s face kept her from breaking down. “Gee is the one person I felt safe coming out to. The first person I came out to. This isn’t her fault, it’s the way I am, the way I was born. So back off, Dad. I knew you’d react this way. It’s why I was afraid to admit the truth to you. Well, I don’t have to be afraid anymore. I love you, and I love Mom, and I’m grateful beyond words for your love and support and care when I got sick, but it’s time for me to suck it up and move on and be who I need to be. Now I’m not scared to take care of myself anymore.” He grabbed his cane and held his hand out to Gwen. “Come on, kiddo. Let’s go home.”

  “You’re not going anywhere!” their father screamed. “You’re going to stay here and discuss this, and then I’m calling our minister and have him come talk to you.”

  Their mother didn’t rise from her chair. She sat there and cried. Gwen felt a little guilty about that, it coming down to this, but she trusted Liam and knew a confrontation would have happened regardless of how they approached it with their father.

  Liam shook his head. “Sorry, Dad. This isn’t a demon you can say a few prayers over and exorcise. I’m gay, not possessed. Deal with it. You have a gay son, you have one daughter who makes her living writing erotica, and another daughter knocked up out of wedlock. The irony is, of course, that the knocked-up daughter is not the one who writes erotica, but the ‘good’ daughter, the one you’ve thrown in poor Gee’s face all these years.”

  Gwen took his hand and stood, her own tears close to the surface.

  Liam looked at her. “Come on, sweetie,” he gently said. “Let’s go home.” She let him lead her toward the front door.

  Their father moved faster and blocked their exit. Liam still had a good three inches of height on him. “You’re not going anywhere!” their father roared. “You’re going to stay here so we can pray over you!”

  Liam’s voice dropped, angry. “Get out of our way, Dad. We’re leaving.”

  “I’m not moving!”

  “Okay then.” Liam hooked his cane over his arm and, without releasing Gwen’s hand, reached into his pocket for his cell.

  “What are you doing?” their father demanded.

  “I’m calling 911 and telling them you’re holding us hostage and refusing to let us leave.”

  Their mother finally stood and rushed to the front door. She grabbed their father’s arm. “Dave, please, just let them go!”

  Liam’s thumb hovered over the send button on his phone. “What’ll it be, Dad?” Gwen never remembered hearing Liam sound so angry. “We’re not staying and being subjected to your abuse about our lives. We’re not backing down. Not this time. It’s time you see the truth about who your children are and learn to deal with it. You want to go after someone, go after Amy for scaring the crap out of all of us by disappearing the way she did and getting herself pregnant.”

  Gwen clung to Liam’s arm, terrified he’d follow through with his threat to call. As pissed off as she could get at her parents, she didn’t want either of them in jail.

  Their father finally let their mother pull him aside. Liam nodded and thumbed the end button to clear the number from his phone before he slipped it back into his pocket. “Mom, Dad, we love you. We are grateful to you, and we think you were good parents. But we are adults and we are tired of having to hide the truth about ourselves and trying to fight for your approval. We love you the way you are. We just wish you loved us for who we are and saw us for the functioning, successful adults we became. You did good. That should be good enough for you, and I’m sorry it’s not. No matter how much we love you, I’m not letting you bully us anymore.”

  Gwen didn’t miss Liam’s particular phrasing, still the protective big brother.

  Liam tugged on Gwen’s arm and pulled her toward the door. He grabbed his cane as she opened the front door for him. Not releasing her, he led her through the doorway and guided her to her car.

  He didn’t let go until after she opened the passenger door for him and he got in, where he winked at her. “Let’s go.”

  She cast a nervous glance at the front door, where her parents stood, staring at them.

  Her tears hit a block from their house. She pulled over into a parking lot and cried with her forehead on the steering wheel until she laughed, then cried again. “What the fuck, Li? You told them about Amy!”

  He rubbed her shoulder. “Well, I figured hey, it would take some of the sting out of me coming out to them and telling them about us moving. It worked, didn’t it? They didn’t even complain about the move.” He shrugged. “Besides, serves Amy right for sleeping with Ruthie’s husband.”

  She spied his playful smile, which started her laughing again. She leaned over and they hugged for a long time. “Well, now you are really stuck with me,” she said.

  He patted her on the back. “Yeah, well, if you think I’m going to let my baby sister move halfway across the country without me where I can’t keep an eye on her, think again.”

  They both sat back. Gwen found a napkin between the seats and blew her nose. “So what now?”

  He laughed. “I’d suggest a bar, but that might get us in trouble. How about over there?” He pointed down the street, to a liquor store.

  She nodded and shifted the Element into drive. “Damn fine idea, bro. Damn fine idea.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “You and your stupid fucking ideas.” Blurry-eyed and hung over, Gwen sat at the kitchen table with a steaming mug of coffee in front of her.

  Liam didn’t look much better. “Hey, you were the one playing Mad Scientist Bartender last night. I thought I taught you better than that. Never mix grape and grain, that’s what I said.” He smiled at her then eventually laughed.

  She couldn’t help it. She smiled and laughed with him despite her pounding head. She didn’t want to check her e-mail, knowing, yet again, there wouldn’t be any messages from Tim.

  Then again, what had she expected? She had told him not to contact her out of respect for Jack.

  God, I’m such a fucking moron. Why had she pushed Tim away just because Jack rejected her?

  That hurt almost as much as her hangover.

  Liam reached across the table and gri
pped her hand. “Partners, right? Laurel and Hardy.”

  “Abbot and Costello.”

  “Ponch and Jon.”

  She grinned. “Bugs and Daffy.”

  “Pinky and the Brain.” He squeezed her hand. “You okay, Pinky?”

  Gwen nodded with a smile that eventually faded. “Yeah. It feels weird though. In a scary, freeing sort of way. Like there’s nothing left to lose. Nothing left to be afraid of.”

  He nodded. “Yeah,” he softly said. “That’s exactly what it feels like for me, too.” They stared at each other for a moment. “I want to show you something,” he said. He got to his feet and, without his cane, slowly but steadily walked to his room. He returned a moment later with several sheets of paper and sat beside her. “What do you think?”

  She looked through them, print outs from a local RV dealership website. “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah. Look, here’s my idea. We get an RV, I’ll put the down payment on it and hell, I’ll even make the payments. We get a tow dolly for your car. We pack up the house and my shit and we put it in storage. We rent out your house, use an agent to manage it for you. That way you don’t have to commit to selling it right now and it’s still making money to pay the taxes and insurance and stuff. We spend a couple of months driving around, wherever we want. California. Florida. Maine. Hell, we can go up to Canada or down to Mexico if we want. An RV is small enough I can get around in it okay, maybe even easier than a damn house. Neither of us are pack rats. We stay in a place for a few days or weeks, we both work during the day, hang out at night and whistle at cute guys.”

  She smiled at his hopeful grin. “You do realize the majority demographic of RVers tends to be retired married couples, right?”

  “That’s why we keep the Element and tow it. Then we can go cruising together.” He grabbed her hands. “Remember when we were kids we talked about traveling the world together? We were going to climb Everest and Kilimanjaro. We were going to see Paris and Tokyo. We were going to take a cruise and all that shit. Remember that night before I graduated high school?”