Bombora (46 page)

I see this look pass between Nate and Phel, a quick flash of smiles and locked gazes that suggest a lot of making out is probably imminent, so I sigh in resignation and look down to where Liam is currently trying to wrap himself around Nate’s leg like an octopus and bring my brother to the ground. “C’mon, Liam,” I beckon, and go fetch both our surfboards where they’re lying a few feet away. “I think we better get in the water unless you’re in the mood for a free show from these two.”

“Ew,” yelps Liam, and he pretends to fling himself away from Nate as Phel leans in for a kiss to prove my point.

Considering Liam spent the first ten years of his life exposed to nothing but displays of heterosexuality from his dad, I have to give him credit for how cool he is about Nate and Phel, even when they’re at their most obnoxiously affectionate. Obviously it wasn’t always like that—it’s clear Liam struggled to adjust to the new relationship at first, trying to balance his like of Phel as a person with the dissolution of his parents’ marriage and Nate’s identity as a gay man. That would be tough on any kid; hell, it was even tough for me at first, and I had plenty of time to adjust to the idea. Now, though, you’d never know it was once otherwise, with Liam adapting to Phel’s new role as co-parent and, most of all, friend.

This explicit acceptance is how Nate and Phel can get away with playing up public displays of affection just to watch Liam squirm. He never fails to be as dramatic as possible about it, but I see no difference from the exaggerated show of disgust he used to put on whenever he caught Nate and Emilia kissing. Liam treats all demonstrations of adult affection as equally horrifying, and that, I know, is a sign of his approval of Phel and Nate’s relationship.

Helping Liam into his wetsuit before we jog out into the surf together, that Nate settles down next to Phel and Callie on their towels, his arm slung around Phel’s neck, doesn’t escape my notice—they’re always touching in some way or another, which, after over a year of being back together, is both the most astounding and ridiculously sappy thing I’ve ever seen. It’s a difference in Nate I can’t help but double take over each time. The fact that I’ve never known him to be so openly affectionate clearly doesn’t mean he’s never wanted to be; and if the way he looks at Phel is anything to go by, he wants it all the time. (Whatever else Nate happens to want all the time is strictly not for me to comment upon.) Taking into account everything they went through, it’s a damn miracle he and Phel can be together this way. I’m definitely not the one to accuse them of being too gooey around each other and, given the alternative, would never ask them to stop.

I guess it’s what one might call an unconventional arrangement, but after Phel went to go find Nate in Mount Vernon, they were able to work out a system that allowed the unlikely family unit to split its time between California and the Midwest. Things are finally really good between Emilia and Nate, who have taken to the role of joint parenting with an enthusiasm I both respect and admire. They make it look easy, really, and personally I think Emilia seems a lot happier too, having started dating this chiropractor called Chris who Nate says is really nice. Rather than spending all their time flying back and forth, he and Phel tend to spend longer stretches of time in each place, including summers exclusively in Cali with Liam, who seems to have taken to the SoCal lifestyle like a duck to water.

Meanwhile, the surfboard business Phel and I took on as partners is going great; it took about five seconds for me to realize the untapped goldmine we had in Max and Logan, who produce some of the most beautiful and technologically advanced surfboards I’ve had the pleasure of trying. Even Nate got in on the game, starting off as an apprentice before taking on his own share of projects in the shop. He’s a natural to the craft with his artistic eye and background in carpentry. In one way or another, we’re making a real name for ourselves in the industry, and between the four of us, work can get done pretty much anywhere. Phel still has contacts to help with the marketing aspect back in Chicago, and Nate even has a workshop set up in the basement of their house in Ohio in addition to the one here. Max and I keep things running smoothly while they’re away—after all, he’s the founding partner of the business—and so far I think we’ve got a promising future ahead of us.

I know Phel would say things could only be more perfect if he was back in contact with his family, but we all know that’s probably not going to happen. Even Aurelia, who always seemed pretty cool from Phel’s stories about her, limits her contact to a few texts and phone calls every couple of months. It’s obvious how much it pains him to still be cut off, but he claims not to blame her for being unable to sever the ties to their family for Phelan’s benefit alone. I would certainly do that much for Nate, and vice versa, but if Phel’s family refuses to come around, the most we can do is try to compensate with love of our own. Where Nate is concerned, I know how happy he makes Phel; they effect such a recognizable difference in each other, I’m almost at a loss as to how they managed before.

Obviously Nate is a different person now that he no longer has to pretend to be what he’s not, but it’s Phel who seems the most changed out of everyone. He’s so confident and self-possessed, finally in control of his life, and with such calmness and ease I actually feel envious sometimes. It’s obvious he’s found the balance he struggled with so much when he and Nate were apart. Seeing that guy, I think I know what attracted my brother in the first place, and it’s amazing how Nate, just by being in proximity to Phel like this, is so much more open and unguarded and vibrant, where he always seemed to be on the defensive before. They saved each other, I guess.

And me? Well, some days I feel like everything has changed, others like it’s exactly the same. My last book was a hit, the fans seeming to enjoy the addition of Agent Jacob as a new character to the series, with critics calling him a welcome counterbalance to the Manderfeld twins. I’ve even started dating again, though I’m aware that my love life is the laughingstock of this family. It’s still a work in progress, but I’m here in Cardiff with the people I love most in the world, drawn together, however weirdly, by surfing and some sleepy town in the middle of nowhere.

I’ve since changed my opinion about Cardiff: it isn’t just a place for people to go with all their baggage and when their lives feel the most broken, though I do think it rescued us, in its way, from a lifetime of real misery. It might have started off as a home for my grief, but now it’s the only place on earth where I’ve ever felt perfectly happy, and like things have worked out exactly as they’re meant to. In one way or another, I can’t think of anyplace else I’d rather be.

M
AL
P
ETERS
’s first complete story was a retelling of
The Tortoise and the Hare
, co-written at age six with her father and set in the Welsh countryside of her birth; it involved the conspicuous use of vintage muscle cars. Although she’s since gone solo due to creative differences, in the past twenty years she hasn’t forsaken her love of sweet rides or writing fiction, having completed degrees in creative writing, English, and information studies, and has published her work in a small (very small) selection of Canadian university journals. Simultaneously a librarian, freelance editor, and fencing coach in Toronto, where she has lived more than half her life, she also enjoys cooking, music snobbery, soldering things, loudly pontificating the superiority of Piedmont region wines, and talking bollocks. If she can’t be overheard making sarcastic remarks or working on her trilogy in four parts, she’s probably asleep.

Visit her on the web at http://www.malpeters.com.

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