Family Obligations Read online

  I’m sorry, I’m babbling. My mind goes off in a million directions at once when I’m in these kinds of situations. Though I thought I was prepared for Mark’s death, I was wrong. I just hope I don’t embarrass myself in front of you at the funeral.

  Second, please don’t be angry or upset with your dad for never telling you about any of this. As far as I know, he never told anyone. That was his choice to make, just as it was mine to come out. He did it, not to hide from you, but because he loved you so much. You were the center of his world, and he wanted you to have the family he thought you deserved. Believe him when he said he loved your mom. He did. He had the greatest capacity for love of anyone I ever met. It’s just that love comes in a lot of different forms. That doesn’t make what he had for Sharon any less real or valid.

  While I occasionally have this wistful desire to know what my life might’ve been like if he’d decided to stay in Seattle, I’m glad, for his and your sake, that he didn’t. This world is a better place for having you in it.

  Life is short. It’s precious. Do me a favor and tell your beautiful little girl about her grandfather. That way I can know he’ll live on, in you and in her. He was so proud of you, all the way to the end. Honor him and his memory with the choices you make for your own life and family.

  I didn’t include them, but I have a ton of pictures of your dad from our college days. If you ever decide you might want copies, I’m enclosing my contact details. Please don’t hesitate to ask me for them or for anything else you might need. I know you’ve got people there for you, but I want to assure you, you have someone in Seattle too. I would’ve done anything for Mark. The same holds true for his son.

  All my best,

  Randy Frank

  Tate sat for a long time in his study, simply staring at the computer screen yet not really seeing it. Outside, a thunderstorm like only Miami could produce had blown up, and the pounding of the pouring rain, the hiss of it on hot pavement, punctuated by cracks of deafening thunder and blinding lightning strikes, provided an odd backdrop for him.

  He felt, not surprisingly, a little numb. It wasn’t that he had discovered his father was gay and had had room in his heart for someone outside the little immediate family in which Tate had grown up that left him confused, but the fact that his father was a person, with a life outside of the one Tate had imagined.

  Tate shut off the computer, something he rarely did, but it seemed appropriate now. The letters, he thought, had helped him see his father as more than a dad, or a husband, or even a healer, but as a man, a human being. The façade he had projected was one of almost infinite kindness and patience, yet inside he must have been unsettled by desires he knew he could never consummate.

  And yet, in the end, Tate thought, had he really been unhappy? If there was one thing he got from the letters, it was the fact that his father may have made compromises, but he had no regrets. He had loved his family, Tate didn’t doubt that. And that, he supposed, was enough.

  He pulled the thumb drive out of the USB port on his computer and held it in his hand, staring at it in wonder. How a tiny rectangle, fashioned of metal and plastic, could hold the secrets of a life was something mysterious, almost magical.

  He looked around the office for a place to put it. He didn’t know yet if he was ready to share it with Kelly. Maybe this was something he would keep for only himself, holding it close to his heart.

  He got up and put the thumb drive at the bottom of the drawer where they kept software and miscellaneous computer items. He would be reminded of his dad—and his love of family—every time he opened that drawer.

  He brushed away the tears that had rolled down his cheeks as he read and stretched. Outside, the downpour had slowed to a steady, less violent patter. The rain hitting the windows was now a soothing sound, making Tate appreciate how he was cocooned here in this house with his own family.

  He hurried down the stairs. He could hear Kelly and Claire in the kitchen. How had so many hours have passed? He had practically been hypnotized by what he had read.

  It was suppertime, almost, already. He stood just outside the kitchen, unobserved and watching as Claire sat in her high chair, moving a handful of Cheerios around on the tray in front of her, humming the song his father had always sung to him as a lullaby, “You Are My Sunshine.” Tate had continued the tradition with his own daughter, and she knew the melody, if not the words.

  He looked to Kelly at the stove, and a rush of love for the man coursed through him. Kelly stirred a pot of what smelled like picadillo. His broad shoulders and black hair shone under the warm kitchen lights. He was barefoot and wearing a pair of cutoffs and an old T-shirt Tate had urged him to throw out, but now he was glad Kelly hadn’t listened to him. The worn red cotton molded itself to his body, and in spite of the fact that it had a few holes in it, it was him, Tate’s husband. Tate’s family.

  He appreciated Kelly all the more, knowing what his dad had longed for all his life. He appreciated that, although their world was not perfect, they could live pretty freely in it as who they were, with little need to hide.

  Tate moved quietly across the terrazzo tiles of the kitchen floor.

  “Papi,” Claire called out, grinning and looking up from her cereal.

  Kelly stirred faster and Tate hurried, not wanting him to turn around. He didn’t want him to see the tears standing in his eyes. Tate got up behind Kelly and wrapped his arms around him, laid his head against Kelly’s broad back, and whispered, “I love you.”

  Kelly placed a hand over Tate’s. “Me too, Papi. Me too. You hungry? Supper’s almost ready.”

  “Yeah,” Tate whispered, letting him go. Kelly turned to him and smiled. “Will you set the table?”

  “Sure.” Tate went to take out the plates, the cutlery, and the glasses. Outside, the sky was lightening, and soon steam would be rising from the pavement around their pool.

  Of all things, Tate thought of banks and savings accounts. He wouldn’t say this to Kelly, who would kid him about being a big, sentimental cornball, but the reason he was thinking of such things was because, every so often, interest came due.

  And right now, he knew interest had come due on the feelings and love he had for these two people.

  And for his father, whom he hoped was looking down on the mundane little family scene right now and was smiling.

  More from Vivien Dean and Rick R. Reed

  When their plane crashed, their desire took flight.

  CEO Maine Braxton and his invaluable assistant, Colby, don’t realize they share a deep secret: they’re in love—with each other. That secret may have never come to light but for a terrifying plane crash in the Cascade Mountains that changes everything.

  In a struggle for survival, the two men brave bears, storms, and a life-threatening flood to make it out of the wilderness alive. The proximity to death makes them realize the importance of love over propriety. Confessions emerge. Passions ignite. They escape the wilds renewed and openly in love.

  When they return to civilization, though, forces are already plotting to snuff out their short-lived romance and ruin everything both have worked so hard to achieve.

  VIVIEN DEAN is a firm believer that love doesn’t care about gender. That’s why her titles encompass both GLBT and het, erotic and sweet, as well as a wide variety of genres. After growing up in the snowy and isolated Midwest, she went off in search of her creative muse. She performed on stage, wrote and directed indie films in Orlando, then met her British soulmate online. One wedding, two children, and ten addresses later, she resides in the Bay Area where it’s easy to indulge in her favorite pastimes—good theater, great movies, and amazing food. Vivien is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner and collaborated with Pepper Espinoza to write as Jamie Craig for five years.

  Website: viviendean.com

  Blog: vivien-dean.blogspot.com

  E-mail: [email protected]

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/vivien.dean.3

  Twitter: @Vivie
nDean

  RICK R. REED is all about exploring the romantic entanglements of gay men in contemporary, realistic settings. While his stories often contain elements of suspense, mystery, and the paranormal, his focus ultimately returns to the power of love. He is the author of dozens of published novels, novellas, and short stories. He is a three-time EPIC eBook Award winner (for Caregiver, Orientation, and The Blue Moon Cafe). His novel, Raining Men, won the Rainbow Award for Best Contemporary General Fiction. Lambda Literary Review has called him, “a writer that doesn’t disappoint.” Rick lives in Seattle with his husband and a very spoiled Boston terrier. He is forever “at work on another novel.”

  Rick always enjoys hearing from readers and answers all e-mails personally. Contact Rick at:

  E-mail: [email protected]

  Website: www.rickrreed.com

  Blog: rickrreedreality.blogspot.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/rickrreedbooks

  Twitter: @RickRReed

  By Vivien Dean

  With Rick R. Reed: Family Obligations

  DREAMSPUN DESIRES

  With Rick R. Reed: #15 – Stranded with Desire

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  By Rick R. Reed

  Bashed

  Big Love

  Blink

  Caregiver

  Chaser • Raining Men

  The Couple Next Door

  A Dangerous Game

  Dignity Takes a Holiday

  Dinner at Fiorello’s

  Dinner at Jack’s

  Dinner at Home

  With Vivien Dean: Family Obligations

  Homecoming

  Hungry for Love

  Husband Hunters

  Lost and Found

  Legally Wed

  Simmer (Dreamspinner Anthology)

  Tricks

  DREAMSPUN DESIRES

  With Vivien Dean: #15 – Stranded with Desire

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Family Obligations

  © 2016 Vivien Dean and Rick R. Reed.

  Cover Art

  © 2016 Reese Dante.

  http://www.reesedante.com

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-63533-199-8

  Published December 2016

  v. 2.0

  First Edition published by Amber Quill Press/Amber Allure, 2013.

  Printed in the United States of America