In His Secret Life

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Months passed. Dayton and Elsie became inseparable. Dayton was indeed for real.

And Fay simply adored him. All three of them spent most of their free weekends together, getting to know each other.

I was also included in this budding family, and instead of feeling like Dayton had taken the girls away from me, I felt quite the opposite. These days, I found myself with much more free time on my hands. I didn’t need to worry so much about my big sister anymore. One afternoon, I’d walked into her kitchen to find the table had been cleared of all bills. Dayton had picked them up. He was taking over. I’d have to start finding other things to do with all those long, lonely hours.

“Allan?” Elsie flicked a crumb at me. “What are you thinking about?”

We sat around her dining room table, contemplating the last of our traditional Sunday night lasagna. Dayton was in the kitchen washing dishes with Fay. “I was just thinking about you and Dayton. And Fay. And how amazing it’s turned out to be.”

“I never thought it would happen to me.”

“But it has.” I raised my glass. “You deserve it. Every moment of it.”

“So do you, Allan.” She wasn’t smiling anymore. “It’s your turn now. Remember how we said we led parallel lives? That what happens to one, usually happens to the other? So, maybe love is just around the corner for you.”

“Yeah?” I got up and looked around in jest.

“Stop it! Listen, I have something to tell you. I wanted to tell you when we were alone—”

“We are.”

“You know what I mean…Allan, Dayton asked me to marry him.”

I had to sit down. “I see.”

“I love him, you know that, right?”

My sister, getting married? Fay having an actual father? This was too big for me to take in with grace and poise. “It’s really fast.” I immediately regretted my comment. Who was I to judge her?

My sister’s face turned white. I’d hurt her. We were orphans. We’d been on our own for eleven years. This was our family. She and I. And Fay.

Yes, and Dayton, of course.

“It’s fast,” I said, quickly reaching for her hand. “But it’s real…And it’s time.” She wasn’t a child and I trusted her on this. “Congratulations, then.”

She burst into tears.

Moved as well, I pulled her into my arms. “You’ll be happy,” I whispered, squeezing her hard. “Go for it. Get your happy ending.”

“Hey,” Dayton said, hunkering down and nudging my arm. “What’s going on?”

“Mommy?” Fay stood nearby, stricken with fear. “Mommy?”

“She’s fine,” Dayton said. “I think she’s just happy.”

He looked into my eyes and I knew he’d be good to them.

* * * *

“I love this neighborhood.” Dayton leaned up against the railing, facing me. “It’s surprisingly quiet at night.”

We were on the balcony, drinking our coffee while Elsie put Fay to bed. Fay hadn’t reacted very well to the news of the wedding, but Elsie had reassured her it would be a very long engagement. There would be lots of time to ease into the idea. For everyone. Fay need not be afraid—they’d take their time.

“Yeah, it’s a nice place to live.” I didn’t know what to say exactly.

“Allan, listen, you’ve been amazing, I wanted to tell you that. You could have made it really hard for me, but you didn’t, and it makes being part of this family even greater.”

“My sister loves you.”

“And I love her with all my heart.”

“I know. You guys have something amazing.”

“Something on your mind? I want things to be on the level between us,” Dayton said. “Always.”

God, I was actually going to ask him? How lonely was I? I’d been thinking about mentioning this to him for days now. “I don’t know what you’ll think of this,” I said, not making eye contact. “But your brother, I mean—”

“What about my brother?” Dayton tensed defensively. Why, I couldn’t know.

“Is he single?”

“Oh, you mean Dali?” He seemed to relax and lolled his head, looking at me intently, the moonlight dancing in his eyes. “You wanna meet him or something?”

“It’s not a good idea. Never mind.”

“No, no, on the contrary, I think it’s a great idea. Matter of fact, I think he’d like you. He’d like you a lot.”

“Yeah?” I sounded pretty desperate. But I was. If I didn’t start opening up to people and finding new ways of meeting them, I’d be single forever. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I hadn’t shared my life with another man in over two years. I wasn’t the type to be alone.

“Absolutely.” Dayton seemed to be planning a double wedding in his mind. “You’re totally his type. Well, I think.”

“And what’s he like? Is he anything like you?”

“No, not at all. We’re very different.”

Bummer.

“But Dali’s more interesting than I am. He’s more fun, I guess.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by fun, but I’d take my chances. “What’s he do?”

“Right now…Um, well, Dali’s sort of in between jobs, but he’s actively looking. You know what? I want to throw a little get-together to celebrate the engagement. Make it official.” He slapped his thigh. “Yeah, let’s do that. Let’s get my family and your family together. My brothers will love Elsie.”

“Brothers?”

“Yeah, I have an older brother, too.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. Elsie never mentioned him.”

“He’s got a family…Come to think of it, his two boys are just about Fay’s age. They’ll love her to pieces. It’ll be great.”