Free Coming Home- Rock Bay 1 by M. J. O’Shea Page A

in the back to do some bookwork in the office, and Tally knew it was really hard for him to leave and not come popping back in every five minutes, but after a week of practicing with the coffee drinks and nearly three weeks at the register, they’d both decided that Tally was as ready as he was ever going to be. The afternoon had passed with little incident. Tally still got a few glares from the older locals, but the after-school crowd was cool, and he’d gotten used to the uncomfortable stares from those who remembered him not so fondly. His basic strategy was to respond as if they were smiling, and that usually threw them off enough that they just ordered their drink and went away. Even with the relative success of the afternoon, it was still a relief to flip the sign to “closed,” clean up, and walk into the back so he could stick his head in Lex’s office and tell him he was done for the day.
    Tally found Lex bent over his desk, a pair of wire rims perched on his nose, angrily tapping the keys of an oversized calculator.
“Hey, uh, Lex? I’m done cleaning, and I was going to clock out.”
Lex looked up, startled. “It’s already six?”
“Yeah, actually it’s six fifteen.”
“Aw, shit! I’m supposed to be at Amy’s in twenty minutes. We changed it to Friday this week. If you’re done, I’ll see you Monday. You’ve got the whole weekend off.”
Tally smiled. He’d been thinking of going to sit at the beach the next day, maybe relax and read a book or something. “Yeah, I’ll see you Monday. Have fun with Amy.”
“I will—and great job today. I did spy a few times, and it seemed like you were doing really well. Hopefully, if this damn drive-through window permit ever goes through, I’ll be able to hire another employee and really get things going.”
“The city giving you grief?”
“Yeah. I’ve applied at least four times, and I keep getting railroaded.”
“Is it a problem with blocking alley traffic?”
“No, I have plenty of room to put a drive-through on the north side of the building, which is part of my property, it’s just the asshole who does permits—you know what? I’m sorry to dump all this on you. It’s really not your problem. Have a nice weekend.”
“Thanks, Lex. You too.”
It was blindingly obvious that there was something more to the permit story, and Tally was determined to see if he could do something to help—he’d have to see who it was downtown. A few of the people in that office would remember him fondly. Jerk that Tally may have been when he was with his friends, he’d known who to suck up to. He hadn’t brought out his ass-kissing skills in a while. Perhaps it was time for them to get a nice polishing.
But it would have to be on Monday. He was bushed, Lex was late for his dinner, and more than anything, Tally was looking forward to hitting the grocery store for some ice cream and going home to a long night of lounging. It was kind of a relief not to have much of a social life anymore—no social life at all, honestly. The gay scene in Seattle had always seemed like so much work . Looking good, having the right (rich) date, hiding his sub-par apartment from the obnoxious stuck-up queens who ruled the social universe; none of it had been easy. A night of the Food Network and some well-earned dessert was exactly what he wanted, and since there was nothing else going on in Butt Crack, Washington, he didn’t have to feel like a loser for wanting it.
But the universe, as usual, was fucking with him. This time, fate came out to play on the side of a muddy road at least two miles from his grandmother’s place. Just when a blissful night of Disney cake challenges and ice cream gluttony was so close he could taste it, smell it, and feel it melting on his tongue, his dumb car decided it had a different idea of the perfect Friday night, one that included dying when he was still nowhere close to home and a spring storm was pouring down in sheeting, splashing gushes that