Free Hoarded to Death (A Jamie Brodie Mystery) by Meg Perry

cake, hung out for a few hours, then headed back to LA. It was pretty late when we finally dropped into bed that night. It wasn't until then that I got a chance to ask Pete, "I saw you talking to Abby and Val in the kitchen today. We figured you must be comparing notes on the care and feeding of a Brodie boy."
    Pete laughed. "Well, it started out something like that. But as it turned out, Abby wanted to ask Val and me about Jennifer."
    I was surprised. "That doesn't sound like Abby. She's not jealous, is she? 'Cause she certainly has no reason to be."
    "No, she's not jealous. More just curious. Kevin doesn't really say much about his past life, you know. He's the most close-mouthed of the three of you. And she hasn't ever gotten much out of him about his life during the time he was with Jennifer, and she wanted to know. So we talked about it."
    “Huh. Wonder how Kevin will feel about that?”
    “Dunno.” Pete had something else on his mind. I waited. Finally, he said, “Abby also said that they have until the end of the month to let the apartment manager know what you all are doing about the lease.”
    “Oh. That kind of snuck up on me.”
    “Yeah.” Pete looked at me. “So you need to tell them something.”
    Damn . I really needed to stay. I’d been dumped so many times before…but Pete was different. I needed to trust him.
    My silence wasn’t encouraging to Pete. His expression was bleak. "You're not staying."
    "I didn't say that. I didn’t say anything."
    "But you can't say yes, you're staying, end of story. You can't tell me that." Pete was a rock, a paragon of keeping it together, but he was starting to break down a little. It brought tears to my eyes. I sat up, facing him cross legged, and dropped my head into my hands.
    "I don't know what's wrong with me. What's wrong with me?" I looked up at him in supplication. "I want to stay with you. What kind of grown man wants to go back and live with his brother instead of his boyfriend? I don't want that. But..." My voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm afraid. I'm really afraid."
    I could see Pete regroup a little, moving back towards calm therapist mode. "I understand that. I do. And I know there isn't anything I can say right now that will instantly make you know that you have nothing to be afraid of. The only way you're going to believe that is by seeing it, over the coming months and years." He sat up himself, reached out and took my hands. "You've tangled with a crazy person with a gun and come out on top. You've left everything behind and moved to a foreign country." He raised my left hand and kissed my knuckles. "Have faith in yourself. And have a little faith in me. Take this next step with me. C'mon."
    What other choice did I have? It was say yes, or maybe lose him forever. We looked into each other's eyes for a moment. All I saw in his was love. I took a deep breath, blew it out and nodded. "Okay."
    He leaned forward; I leaned too and met him halfway. He let go of my hands and wrapped his arms around me, and buried his face in my neck. I felt tears. I rested my head on his shoulder and felt his heart pounding against mine. I wasn't much on praying, but I said one now. Please make this okay. Please make this okay.
    We sat there like that for a minute, then Pete straightened up and wiped his eyes. I said, "I'm going to text Kevin." I picked up my cell off the bedside table and typed, "Going to stay here. You go for one bedroom." The reply came in about fifteen seconds. "YES!! Knew you'd do right thing. THANK YOU."
    It struck me then just how unfair it would have been to Kevin and Abby to move back in with them. They'd gotten used to their privacy. They'd have to adjust to a smaller apartment, but I figured that wouldn't be a problem. Kevin hadn't said anything, but clearly he'd been hoping that I'd grow up and move out.
    What had I been thinking?
    Pete said, "What did Kevin say?"
    "He said thank you."
    Pete huffed a soft laugh. "It'll be easier for them, too,