Chapter 12

Albert stared at me with his mouth open. "No way!" A few people in the restaurant in Moonlight Inn turned to stare at my best friend.

"Way," I said more quietly. I pulled out my phone and opened the photo gallery. "He let me take a picture and everything." I turned my phone to show him.

Albert took the phone from me. He examined the picture up close. "Nice job on the makeup," he said. "He looks good. Different. But good." Albert handed the phone back to me. "I don't see him wearing that every day though."

I shook my head. "No. It's not his thing. It was enough that he asked me to do it in the first place."

"Why did you wait a whole week to tell me about it?" Albert asked.

He made it sound lighthearted, but I could tell he was hurt that I'd kept this from him. "I was going to call you on Monday, but then I started getting calls from my relatives about going to my mother's for Easter, and I forgot about it."

Albert's brows pulled together in anger. "For all the shit they give you about your makeup and you being gay, you would think they'd be happy you weren't going to be there."

"You know that's not how it works," I said. "They want me to comply ‘for the good of the family.'" I made air quotes. "Because what I want doesn't matter as much as what Macho Man Carlos wants."

"But he's only related to you all by marriage. Why does his opinion matter more?"

A server came to the table and said with a smile, "Hey, Miguel. What can I get you?" She noted the two extra chairs. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Hey, Lisa, we're waiting for Mr. O'Neil and Caitlin. May I have a glass of the house white wine, please?"

"And I'll take a glass of the red," Albert added.

After Lisa left, I answered Albert's question. "Because Carlos gave my parents grandchildren. Something I can't do since I'm gay."

Albert tilted his head. "Um, there's such a thing as adoption. And surrogacy."

I made a mock dismissive gesture. "You with your logic. It only counts if it's done the heteronormative way."

Albert sighed. "I'm sorry they're being such assholes. Have you talked to your cousin, Raphael, about it?"

I shook my head. "I don't want to bother him. He doesn't usually come to our Easter dinner anyway. He spends it with his parents. Now that he's married, he probably has to split his time between his parents and Evan's parents."

"Well, you know you're always welcome at my mom's house," he said.

I smiled. "I know. I was going to ask you, but Zach overheard my conversation with my mother and invited me to spend it with him." I felt a blush rise to my cheeks. "He looked so nervous about asking, I couldn't say no."

Albert shook his head. "You are so gone over that boy." He put his hand over mine. "Be careful." A different server came by to refill our water. After the server left, Albert said, "I still think he's questioning. I'm betting he's one of those people who had shitty parents growing up and wouldn't dare admit to a same-sex attraction."

"It wouldn't surprise me," I replied. "But at the same time, I won't push it. Zach's a sweet guy, and if I'm wrong, he's going to be embarrassed and might pull away. I like him, Al. I don't want to ruin what's becoming a really nice friendship."

Albert let out a long-suffering sigh. "Honey, you are just fooling yourself." He speared me with his dark eyes. "How long has it been since you've gotten wrecked by a nice, big cock?"

I nearly choked on the wine I'd been sipping. I looked around to make sure my bosses weren't in earshot. "Jesus, Al," I whispered. "This is my place of employment. What if Mr. O'Neil had heard that?"

"From what I've heard about him, he'd have probably laughed." He crossed his arms over his chest. "How. Long?"

I closed my eyes so I wouldn't have to look at him. "Since St. Patrick's Day."

He looked at his smartwatch and hummed. "And it's now April third."

When I opened my eyes, he was looking at me expectantly. I growled in aggravation. "I know. I know. I guess part of me hopes Zach will finally admit it to himself."

He raised a brow. "That would be nice, but are you going to be celibate until he gets his head out of his ass?"

With a sigh, I replied, "You're right. I'll do something about it after Easter."

Albert nodded. "All right. I'll hold you to that." He took another sip of his wine. "My mom says hi, by the way."

I smiled. "Tell her hello for me. I'll try to get by to see her next weekend."

"She'll like that," he said quietly.

"How is she doing?" I asked.

"Not great," he replied. "She hates being on dialysis, and we're constantly arguing about what she can and can't eat."

"That sucks. Tell me what snacks she's allowed to have, and I'll bring some when I visit."

"That would be great," he said. I saw how weary he looked then. Albert had been living in New York City when his mother got sick. At first, he'd tried to deal with her care from there, but it was too difficult. He was going back and forth from New Jersey to the City so much that his then-boyfriend got pissed and broke up with him. After that, he'd just given up and decided to move back to New Jersey to take care of her. I made a promise to myself that I would go visit her more often.

I looked up and noticed Lisa pointing in our direction. That's when I saw Mr. O'Neil and Caitlin coming toward us. To my surprise, Liam was also with them. "Sorry we're late," Mr. O'Neil said. He turned to Albert and held out his hand. "You must be Albert Jackson. Sean O'Neil. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Albert stood and took his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. O'Neil."

Mr. O'Neil smiled. "Just Sean is fine." He indicated the people with him. "This is Caitlin Barnes, the general manager of Moonlight Inn. She'll be working with Miguel to coordinate the event." He jerked a thumb toward Liam. "This is my brother, Liam. He just wanted to meet you."

Liam grinned. "I'm a big fan of Darlene."

"Why thank you, darling," Albert said in Darlene's regal tone.

A server brought over an extra chair and a place setting for Liam, and they all sat. After we all ordered our food, we got down to business. Caitlin had brought a tablet to write down ideas and pass them along to the event coordinator, who couldn't make this meeting.

"Thanks for coming on your day off, Miguel," Mr. O'Neil said. "I appreciate it." He turned to Albert. "We're looking at a date in the middle of May, right?"

Albert nodded. "Yes. I was thinking a Thursday night would be good."

Caitlin looked at her tablet. "I like it. And if we do it two weeks before Memorial Day weekend, we can get a jump on the season. That's the eleventh. We can tie in a discounted room rate if people book through the weekend." And then we were off. Ideas flew around the table, along with snark and laughter. I'd never had so much fun at a business meeting. By the time we were done and the delicious lunch was consumed, we had a solid event plan and several good ideas for advertising the show.

Albert leaned back in his chair and patted his flat belly. "That was delicious. If you keep serving me food like that, I'll come back as often as you like."

"Sounds good to me," Mr. O'Neil said as he rose. "I have some spreadsheets to go over, and then Jeremy and I have a tasting to go to."

I was confused. "I thought your wedding was going to be here. Why do you need to go to a tasting?"

"It is," he replied. "But I want all the staff to be able to attend, including Chef Joanna. So she gave me the names of a few places she thought would measure up."

I was floored. "Wow. That's amazing. Thank you in advance."

He shrugged. "Moonlight Inn is my family too."

Just then, my phone vibrated with a text message.

Zach (he's straight) Kelley

My landlord went into the hospital over the weekend. He had a stroke. I got a letter today from his son saying I have to vacate my apartment by the 15th because they're going to sell the house to pay for my landlord to go into assisted living.

"What the fuck?" I said aloud.

"What's wrong?" Mr. O'Neil asked.

I read Zach's text to them aloud. "They can't do that," Caitlin and Mr. O'Neil said at the same time.

"New Jersey has very strong tenant rights laws," Mr. O'Neil said. "They can't just throw him out like that, especially if he's been paying his rent on time."

Me

Mr. O'Neil said they can't do that. Are you at home now?

Zach (he's straight) Kelley

Yes. I took the day off to rest up from training.

I looked over at Mr. O'Neil. "Would you talk to Zach? I bet he's panicking. I was going to tell him to come here since he's off after his weekend training."

"Sure," Mr. O'Neil said.

Me

Come to Moonlight. We'll get the information for you. Bring the letter.

Zach (he's straight) Kelley

Ok. Thanks. I really appreciate your help.

Mr. O'Neil turned to Liam. "Doesn't Marco have a brother who's a lawyer? Maybe he could give us some advice."

Liam nodded. He pulled out his phone and stood. "I'll give Marco a call."

And just like that, Moonlight's family pulled together to help one of their own. I really loved working here.