Seb’s Summer by K.C. Wells

Chapter Eleven

 

July 3

By Friday afternoon, everyone had arrived. Marcus had been hugged to death, and he was already growing tired of answering question after question about why he wasn’t in New York. He knew concern lay at the root of the interrogation: Lisa had asked him more than once if he was okay, and his brother Chris had come out to find him in the summerhouse, ostensibly to inquire whether he had a HDMI cable. Marcus knew better—Chris was checking up on him.

A HDMI cable, for Christ’s sake. Chris was the techie of the family. As if he’d turn up unprepared.

Once the logistics of who was sleeping where had been worked out, calm was restored. His cousin Lisa had the luxury of a room all to herself, and his niece Sarah didn’t have to share her sofa bed with anyone. Not that the others complained—they were accustomed to family gatherings at the house.

Mom had told them all there’d be a visitor Saturday, and that prompted another round of questions about Seb’s age, occupation, and marital status. Jess provided them with more info, and that clearly piqued their interest. What is it with Gilberts and their all-consuming need to matchmake? Maybe it was his age. Maybe his family was worried he’d have no one to lean on when he got old and gray. Marcus chuckled to himself. Already halfway there. The only one of his siblings and first cousins not to show considerable amounts of gray was Jess, and Marcus suspected that was down to frequent visits to her hairdresser. Jess did not intend to go like Mom, who’d been going gray by the time Marcus put in an appearance when she was twenty-six.

“Uncle Marcus!” Sophia dashed into the backyard where he’d gone in search of a little peace. “Will you play Sorry with me and Alex? No one wants to play.”

He wasn’t her uncle, of course—strictly speaking, she was his first cousin twice removed—but Ashley’s nine-year-old daughter and eleven-year-old son referred to him as such. It made life much simpler. Sophia was a bundle of energy who wore everyone out.

I suppose it’ll soon be the turn of Mike, Sarah, and Jake to produce the next generation. Except that it was too soon to be thinking about that. They were still in their early-to-mid-twenties, and so far none of them were in a relationship. That I know about. Marcus didn’t keep tabs on them, relying on his mom or siblings to pass on any news.

Lisa and Ashley were taking care of dinner, Chris was doing God knew what with the TV in the living room, and Dad was snoozing in his big armchair in the den. Mom was getting into some serious weed removal in the front yard, and Sarah was helping. His nephews Jake and Mike had gone for a run down to the wharf, and he suspected Jess was keeping out of everyone’s way in the room she shared with Ashley.

Looks like I drew the short straw.

“Sure. How about you and Alex come into the summerhouse? We can play there.”

“I’ll go get the game.” She dashed off again.

Marcus didn’t really mind spending time with the kids. At least they weren’t going to ask awkward questions. Then he reconsidered.

They’re kids.Awkward questions are a given.

 

 

Sarah and Ashley cleared the dishes from the table, Lisa went to make coffee, and Dad leaned back in his chair with a contented sigh. “I could get to like this not-doing-anythingactivity.” He seemed more relaxed than he had on arrival. Then he straightened. “Okay. Tonight, I want everyone in the living room at eight o’clock. Including the kids.” He rubbed his hands together, smiling gleefully. “Chris and I have a surprise for you.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “I am not playing charades again. You always come up with movies I’ve never heard of.”

Dad gave her a mock glare. “That’s because you watch crap movies.” He addressed the rest of the table. “I gave Chris all our summer home movies from years ago, and he’s converted them. He’s going to hook his laptop up to the TV and we’re going to watch them tonight.”

Marcus stared at Chris. “You converted his Super 8s? How long did that take?”

Chris sighed heavily. “Don’t ask. I thought he had a couple of them. He turned up with a box full.”

“Who’s on them?” Mike asked Dad.

“Me and your grandmother, your dad, your aunt and uncle, your great aunt Carol, her kids….”

“Hey!” Lisa called from the kitchen. “This kid is fifty-five.”

Dad waved his hand. “Life is too short to be wasting breath using terms like first cousin once removed, okay? Especially when I want to hold onto as much breath as I can. If you’re younger than me, you’re a kid.”

“So were these filmed in the fifties, sixties…?” Jake grinned.

Jess smacked the back of his head. “I wasn’t born until 1980, you little shit.” Then she winced as Mom fired a glare at her, before inclining her head toward the small table where Sophia and Alex sat.

“Little pitchers?” Mom said, her eyes gleaming.

Mike snorted. “I was seven the first time I said the word shit. Mom handed me a bar of soap—you know, the whole wash-your-mouth-out routine? Then Dad said, ‘where do you think he heard it? That would have been you, last week.’” He grinned.

Chris coughed. “The things you say nowadays would make your mom’s eyes pop out. Good thing she’s not around to hear them, right?”

There was a moment of awkward silence. Chris’s marriage had only recently hit the rocks, so it still had to be pretty raw.

Dad cleared his throat. “We got plenty of popcorn in the house?”

Marcus laughed. “Not enough for this many. There are maybe one or two bags in the cabinet.”

“Then you’re going to Bradbury’s to get more,” Dad informed him.

He arched his eyebrows. “It’s six-forty-five. They close at seven.”

“Then you’d better drive,” Dad said with a grin. “Your car is blocked in, so you’ll need to—”

“We can take mine.” Jake got up from the table. “Come on, Uncle Marcus. I’ll drive you.”

Marcus followed him out of the room and waited while Jake grabbed his car keys from his jacket that hung in the hallway. They hurried out to Jake’s car, and he pulled out of the driveway.

“Want to remind me how to get there?” Jake asked with a chuckle.

“Turn right at the end of this road, then follow it to the end. Bradbury’s is on Main Street.”

Jake sped up the road, and when they reached the store, Marcus left him in the car and dived through the doors. He didn’t bother wasting time checking on flavors, just grabbed as many boxes as he could carry, and rushed to pay for them before they finished for the day.

The lady at the cash register smiled as he packed them into a brown paper bag. “They’re not all for you, are they?”

Marcus merely grinned. He went out to where Jake sat, his phone in his hands. Marcus got in, and reached over to place the bag on the back seat. “I got multi-pack boxes. That should keep us going. And if anyone wants fancy flavors, they’re out of luck. It’s butter or nothing.”

“Butter works for me,” Jake murmured, his eyes locked on the screen.

Marcus was in no hurry to get back to the house. It was the first chance he’d had to be alone with Jake, and mindful of Jess’s request, he meant to make the most of it. “You okay, kiddo?”

Jake let out a soft laugh. “You still call me that.” He pocketed his phone. “I’m fine.”

When he made no move to switch on the engine, Marcus took that as a sign. “Sorry you and Mike drew the short straw and got one of the couches. Mind you, Sarah got the other one.”

He shrugged. “It’s okay.”

Except it didn’t feel like it was okay. Maybe Jess was right.

Marcus studied him. “Anything you want to talk to me about?”

Jake gave him a puzzled glance. “Like what?

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you’ve got something on your mind. Something you can’t tell your mom.” It was as far as he dared go.

Jake blinked, then gave a hard, obvious swallow. “No. Nothing I can think of.”

Marcus wasn’t buying it. “I know it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you, but… I get the feeling something is not quite right. You’ve just finished college. You should be turning handsprings. Or is it a case that you don’t know what to do next?”

Jake sagged into the seat. “I’ve put out a few applications. We’ll see what comes of those. And… I’ve just got a lot going on, okay?”

Marcus looked closely at him. The dark circles under Jake’s eyes concerned him. “Didn’t you sleep well last night? Did Mike keep you awake wanting to talk? I bet you haven’t seen each other for a while.” Marcus could remember summers when they were little. The two cousins were almost inseparable every time they got together.

“We didn’t talk all that much. We were both tired.”

“At least you have someone to go running with.”

Jake stared at the side of the store. “Uncle Marcus…”

“Just Marcus, okay?”

His lips twitched. “It makes you feel old, doesn’t it?”

Marcus chuckled. “You got that right.” He waited, trusting his instincts.

Jake gripped the steering wheel. “You were right. There was something I wanted to talk to you about, only…” He swallowed. “Jesus, this is hard.”

“Why did you want to talk to me in particular? Is it because you felt I’d understand?”

Jake drew in a deep breath. “Because I thought you of all people wouldn’t judge.”

“I’m hardly likely to do that, am I? What does your mom call me? ‘The rainbow sheep of the family’?” Relief flooded him to hear Jake laugh. “So… what’s up?”

Jake didn’t look at him. “I know why this is so fucking difficult.” He froze.

“It’s okay. Your mom’s said much, much worse,” Marcus reassured him.

He snorted. “Yeah, why don’t I find that hard to believe?” He shivered. “I guess… I’m scared you’ll look at me differently, once you know the truth.”

Christ.

Marcus fought to repress his own shudder. “I know exactly how you feel. Not going to say more than that, because I can’t right now, but trust me, Jake… I do know where you’re coming from.”

Jake turned his head to meet Marcus’s gaze, and his eyes widened. “You do, don’t you? I can… sense it somehow.” His breathing hitched. “Have you ever been in love?”

Marcus sighed. “I thought I was, once. It turned out to be more of a case of being in lust with someone.”

“I wouldn’t know about that.” Jake bit his lip. “I’m still a…” Another swallow.

Marcus caught up fast. “Hey, nothing wrong with being a virgin, all right? And don’t let anyone rush you into doing something you don’t want to do. You choose when the time is right, okay?” He cocked his head. “But that’s not what this is about, is it?”

Jake shook his head. “I’m in love with… someone, and… oh fuck, it’s never gonna work, and that’s what torments me.”

“Does this someone love you?” Marcus was careful to avoid pronouns.

“I haven’t dared ask. Too scared.” He put his head against the rest and closed his eyes. “What if… what if I tell them how I feel, and…”

Marcus’s throat tightened. Whatever was eating away at Jake was plainly much bigger than the fear of coming out, and Marcus felt so fucking useless.

He took a couple of deep breaths. “Look… I don’t know what it is you feel you can’t tell me, but… If you ever want to talk, call me.” He removed his wallet from his pocket and handed Jake one of his business cards. “My cell number’s on here. Anytime, okay? And Jake.” He cupped Jake’s chin, holding his head still. “I will never judge you. There is nothing you can tell me that will make me love you less, or think differently about you.”

Jake’s eyes glistened. “Thank you,” he whispered. Then he shivered. “I think we’d better get back, before Granddad sends out a search party.”

Marcus got the message. Talk over. “Come on then. Let’s go watch movies of me, your mom, and your uncle Chris when we were kids.”

Jake switched on the engine. “Do they have subtitles? Because movies with sound weren’t around then, were they?” He smirked.

“Just for that, you don’t get popcorn. And you definitely don’t get one of my beers.”

“Aw,” Jake wailed as he turned onto Main Street.

“Yup, that’s me. Mean ol’ Guncle Marcus.”

It took Jake a second to react, but then he laughed. “Fuck, that’s even better than rainbow sheep of the family.” They headed for the house.

Marcus fell silent, his mind on Jake.

I wish I could help. What could be so bad that he couldn’t share it? It couldn’t be worse than what lay so heavily on Marcus’s heart.

Oh God, he hoped not.