Page 42 of The Leaving Kind

Cam’s lips were parted, as though he was searching for words. He shook his head. “Ah, no, that makes no sense whatsoever. What pressure?”

“That you need to be married to have children, or straight, for that matter. We did live together until the kids were in high school. Then Tez fell in love and moved out. We tried to foster the idea of family but not as a legal unit. As people who chose to live together.” Victor allowed a rueful smile. “It sounds a lot more complicated than it was. Really. Most of it was living with a person I adored and raising two wonderful children with her.”

“So, did you and ... Tez, you said?”

“Tereza, Tez.”

“Did you date other people?”

“On occasion. Each of us had a lover move in at some point.”

“And that wasn’t disruptive?”

“Oh, no. We always had friends staying. Sometimes for months. I enjoyed having a lot of people around. I think the kids did too.” Victor gazed at his house, the place that had been a true home to so many, and tried to ignore the wave of sadness rolling through him. He enjoyed living by himself, didn’t he?

Perhaps it was time to consider becoming an official foster parent.

“What about the guy you tossed out a couple of weeks ago?” Cam asked.

Victor turned his attention back to Cam. “Tholo?” He waved dismissively and then reached for his beer. “He lived here for a while, when we began our relationship. But he travels a lot for work. He was a model with his sights set on Hollywood when I met him. Now he’s acting full-time. I’m happy for him, of course, but ...” He shrugged. “Truthfully, I was over Tholo a while ago.”

“Didn’t look like it.”

“Who doesn’t love a little drama?”

Cam laughed quietly. “Me.” He finished his beer and put the bottle down.

“Another?”

“No.” He glanced over his shoulder at the setting sun. “I should head home. Honey will want to eat.”

Victor grinned. “Aha! See, it is a good name.”

“It’ll do for now. Until her people come for her.”

The look Honey gave Cam showed Victor she considered her people to be right here. But Victor knew if he’d lost such a lovely dog, he wouldn’t stop searching until he’d drawn his last breath.

He stood and patted his wallet pocket. Not there. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Sure.”

But when he returned to the patio, Cam and Honey were missing.

Then Cam appeared at the top of the path from the driveway. “I carried her to the car.”

“She’s very well-behaved. She sat and watched me while I dug my hole and planted the tree.”

“Yeah. She’s not at all excitable. I could probably leave her at the house? But I think she likes having company.”

“She certainly seems to.”

They were talking about the dog, but standing there, face to face, perhaps a foot and a half between them, all Victor could think about was Cam and how the words suited him. Not at all excitable. Did well on his own, but seemed to enjoy having company.

Heh. They suited Victor too.

In the low light of the setting sun, Victor made a quick study of Cam’s face. Still not classically handsome, but not unattractive. More familiar than last week or the week before. He’d seen Cam happy now. And sad. Concentrating. Telling a joke—or spinning wild stories. He was getting to know this face, and the more he got to know—

“Still not a good idea,” Cam said softly.