Love Means No Boundaries - Andrew Grey

really did want him there.
     
“I want to too. I want to see you.” Joey felt his leg start to shake. “I want to hold you again.” He felt the emotions fell up inside, and Joey tried to keep his voice under control.
    “Then you’ll come?” There it was again, that same longing.
“Yeah, I’ll come.” Wild horses couldn’t drag him away.
Regardless of whether Robbie told his parents, he had to see him.
His mind wasn’t giving him any peace, and he knew he needed some form of resolution.
Putting his phone back in his pocket, he returned to the kitchen, finding four pairs of eyes looking at him, waiting. Joey broke into a grin, “Looks like I’m going south.” All four faces answered with smiles, and then everyone got to work. They had arrangements to make.
    134
Love Means … NO Boundaries
ROBBIE sat in the shade of the front porch, every sound, every car that passed, making his heart beat faster. Joey was arriving today, and he was too excited to stay inside. He probably should have, the summer heat was oppressive, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Footsteps and the tinkling of glasses announced someone’s approach. “Mr. Robbie, I brought you some cool lemonade.” He heard the tray being set down next to him.
    “Thank you.” Robbie turned in her direction and gave her a smile. Adelle was an institution with his family. She and the gardener Raymond took care of everything—she inside and he outside. Growing up, they were some of his closest friends. Even as they got older, they never slowed and took such good care of him.
“Would you sit with me?” He suddenly wanted some company.
     
“I can’t, baby.” He felt her touch his shoulder. “Your mama’s having a brunch tomorrow for the ladies and I have lots to do.” He felt her pat his hand. “You really should come inside. You’ll cook yourself out here.”
     
“I know, but….” He didn’t know what Adelle thought about Joey’s impending arrival, but her opinion suddenly seemed very important. “Are you okay with me being… you know… gay?”
     
“Sweetheart, if the young man you’re waitin’ on is the reason you’ve been so happy for the last week, I’ll get down on my old knees and thank sweet Jesus for sending him to you.” With that, he heard her walk away, and he smiled to himself before sighing softly.
     
He wished everyone had been so understanding.
     
Robbie hung up the phone with Joey, a tingle of excitement running through him. Joey was coming for a visit! He barely had a chance to enjoy the feeling when he heard his mother’s footsteps in the hall, and he remembered what he had to do. Picking up his 135
    Andrew Grey
violin from the cushion beside him, he located his bowand drewit across the strings, disappearing into the notes and rhythms.
    He lost all track of time, which wasn’t hard whenever there was music involved. Hours passed in the blink of an eye and only his sore arms and stiff neck reminded him it was time to stop. Placing the instrument in its case, he snapped the latches closed and heard the door open. “Are you done for the day?”The music room was the one place in the house that she never interrupted him. As long as he was playing, she left him alone.
“Yes, Mama.”Joey stood up and walked slowly toward her voice. “What time is it? I left my watch in my room.”
    “Almost time for your father.”The evening cocktail hour was a tradition that was never interrupted, and it started almost as soon as his father got home from his office and ended once Harriet served dinner. “I’ll take you down.”He felt a hand on his arm, and she led him through the big house.
Cocktails were served in what his mother called the parlor.
    Robbie remembered the room from before his blindness. He was sure that it no longer actually looked like anything in his imagination, but he had nothing to replace the picture with, so it stayed as it was for him. As he settled on the sofa, he heard the front door open and his father’s footfalls through the hall, getting closer.
“Robert Edward, howwas your day?”Robbie heard the tinkling of glass. “What would you like?”
     
“Whatever you’re having will be fine.”Robbie figured a drink would help steady his nerves. He usually just sat and drank a soda while his parents sucked down martinis and talked about their days.
    “A soda will be fine.”His mother corrected.
“Nonsense, Claudine, he’s a man and old enough for a drink if he wants one.”