Page 4 of Sight Unseen

“You had an art show, didn’t you? Is Rachel picking up the slack?” Jon moved over to Nate’s side and stroked his arm softly.

I drew my eyes away from the intimate gesture and nodded. “Yeah, Rachel is holding the fort. She understands I needed to be here.” Rachel Norman was the floor manager at my gallery, and more than capable of acting in my stead.

Jon sighed. “Thanks for coming. He’d be pleased to know you were here.” It was said begrudgingly but it was said. That was something.

“He’s my best friend. Where else would I be?”

Caleb made a small groaning sound and I ignored it.

“So have his folks been told? Or are they pretending he never existed like they usually do?” I glanced at Jon. That job had been left to him to do because there was no way on God’s green earth I wanted to speak to any of the toxic people who were Nate’s blood relatives. Especially his father. I despised him.

That family—and I use that word loosely—were traditional old money from the South and devoutly religious. Nate’s coming out at seventeen, coupled with the fact he’d never been the son his father wanted, had led to an ugliness no child should feel from his parents. When they disowned him, he’d lived with my family for three months before we went off to different colleges.

Now Nate’s parents lived in Christchurch, New Zealand, where they’d emigrated to when Nate was nineteen.

Jon shook his head, his eyes stormy. “I talked to Duncan briefly yesterday. I thought no matter what bad blood there was between them, he deserved to know his son had been badly injured. I wish I hadn’t bothered. His exact words were, ‘Well, Nate made his choice to be a sodomite and this is God’s punishment.’”

I winced. Duncan. A bastard if ever there was one. I’d expected nothing less but it still stung to hear that said by a father about his only son.

Jon drew a breath. “His mother Monica said the same thing. Neither of them wanted to know anything about him or his health.” Jon scowled. “Duncan was quick to snidely point out that he’s sure Nate has enough money to tide him over, what with his so-called sculpting job and the money Duncan’s brother left him.”

It had always rankled Nate’s father that at nineteen Nate’s uncle had chosen to leave a large sum of money to his only nephew.

Jon sighed. “It was basically a ‘fuck off, we don’t really care’ from them. We didn’t expect anything else, though. They’re too busy running their hotel empire, and wrote Nate off long ago.”

He sounded a little wistful at the thought of their thriving family business.

I frowned. “Yeah, well that empire is built on the blood, sweat and tears of honest men and women who are nothing like their employers. Duncan Powell takes anything he wants and destroys anyone who stands in his way. He’s a nasty piece of work. Nate hated that business and despised the way his father treated his employees.”

Jon’s eyes widened and Caleb threw a sneer in my direction.

Scowling at the pair of mannequins, I said, “They’d never really liked each other before Nate came out. He wasn’t their idea of the perfect son. He was too independent and decent.” I gestured to the man in the bed. “And they kicked him out because they wouldn’t condone his ‘gay lifestyle,’ being the good Christian people they are.” I stood and began to pace the room. “Gay lifestyle, really? A lifestyle was what my parents chose when they decided to become hippies and raise me as a free spirit. Being gay so isn’t that,” I huffed.

Throughout the years, I’d thought there was something even worse than Nate’s parents disapproving of his sexuality, something Nate had never shared. He’d told me once it belonged in the past and there was no need to dwell on it.

Jon murmured, “I didn’t realize it was quite that bad. Nate never says much about his family other than they’re estranged.”

Petty, but satisfaction surged that I knew more about Nate’s past than Jon. Of course, I had been there, but I felt it had more to do with Jon not caring enough to ask the questions.

Jon said, “I would have thought they might like to reconcile given what’s happened. It seems things are worse than I expected.” He shook his head.

I fisted my hands, wishing Nate’s father bore the brunt of them right now. “God, if it were me in that hospital bed, my folks, brothers and sisters would be rallying the entire Topanga Canyon community to come out here and shake their hippie sticks in support.” True and comforting. “There’d be nakedness, ukuleles and a whole lot of free hugs. As it is, they’re already planning a family pilgrimage to the hospital to see Nate. They’re on their way down now.”

“Yes, well,” Caleb sneered. “I’ve no doubt that would be quite a spectacle. I mean what do you expect from people like that?”

My temper flared. I was easy-going but Caleb got up my nose like a bad smell. “What do you mean, people like that? That’s my family you’re talking about, asshole. And me.”

Caleb’s comment reminded me of what Nate’s father had sneered about my family. The words “no-good pot-smoking hillbillies” and “white trash” had infuriated me. Especially when said parental hillbillies had taken in the man’s son and given him a home after Nate had been kicked out of the one he should have had.

True, I’d seen more naked bodies in my lifetime than a porn film director. I’d also smoked pot from the age of ten and learned to drive in a beat-up old Ford Thunderbird when I was twelve. But my family were genuine, non-judgmental and loving people, and both Nate and I adored them.

Through the open door, a harassed-looking nurse wearing a deep frown scurried down the hallway toward us. I gestured to her. “I think we’re about to get kicked out. Visiting hours were over about ten minutes ago.”

Jon leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Nate’s lips, murmuring something. I contented myself with running a hand down Nate’s naked arm, and closing my eyes for a split second as I promised him I’d be back.

“Sleep tight,” I said as I stepped away. “Wake up soon. I’ll be back later to see how you’re doing. We’re all rooting for you, buddy.”

Well, maybe not Caleb. The only reason he was here was for Jon. No doubt this whole tragic event was going to be the catalyst to enable Jon’s dependency so Caleb could strike while the iron was hot. The calculating look in his eyes as he gazed over at Jon kissing Nate reinforced my supposition.