“Anyway, I hope you can still see me as your father. A man who loves his family.”
“Dad, you will always have my respect. And to be honest, I’m relieved you’re not signing off on Mum’s proposal.”
My father hugged me and then turned to Ethan. “And what about you?”
Ethan shrugged. “Look, it’s all come as a shock, of course. I’m not sure where I stand. I need time for it all to sink in. Not you being gay. I mean the land and Mother’s plan.”
My father reflected on this for a moment. “That’s your prerogative.”
“I’m relieved that you’re not signing off on it,” I admitted. “Otherwise, we’d be looking at trucks and cranes and not a flock of grazing sheep.”
“But you’re about to bring in developers,” Ethan said.
“There are no farms there.”
My father smiled. “It’s a grand idea. The army has served you well.” He turned to Ethan. “I want a hotel in New York. I’ve got some agents scouting around for the right building. Heritage, of course. We need to stick to our brand of old-world luxury.”
“I’ll scout around if you like,” Ethan said in his customary upbeat manner. “I love New York.”
“Let’s talk about that later.” My father looked out into the distance. “I’d like you both to meet Luke. He’s a lawyer. We’ve been together for two years now. If I set up a dinner, would you like to come and meet him? Savanah’s keen on it.”
Ethan and I nodded at the same time.
My father smiled. “Great, I’ll make a booking.”
After giving each of us a hug, he walked back to the hall.
Ethan turned to me. “That was intense.”
“You’re not kidding.”
“How’s this going to work?” He opened out his hands. “Can you imagine Christmas? It will be like a dog’s breakfast.”
“At least it’s out in the open, I suppose. Mother being with Will came as no surprise.”
“Our mother with a boy toy. Ick.” He winced. “Something tells me Mother’s not going to give up. She’s got her heart set on that resort.”
I puffed out a breath. “Mm… she doesn’t do ‘no’.”
“I can’t get over the fact that Dad’s gay,” he said as we ambled back towards the hall.
“I saw him outside a gay club one night in London a few years back,” I said.
Ethan stopped walking. “And you were going to tell me when?”
“I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I thought he could have been there with a client.”
“It feels weird to me,” Ethan admitted.
“It does. But these are modern times. Sexuality’s a fluid thing now.”
“Is it for you?” Ethan smirked.
I shook my head decisively. “I like pussy.”
We just stepped into the door and discovered Theadora.
“Speaking of,” Ethan whispered.
I tossed him a dirty look to which he returned a chuckle before flitting off.