Slow Burn
By YodaandLumiere
"Is that everything? It's over?"
"Yes, Grant, you're officially divorced. Think of it as a new beginning. You're still young. I'm sure you'll find the right girl for you." The lawyer looked down his nose at me, so superior and condescending. And so fucking wrong.
"Thank you. I'll be going now." I couldn't get up and get out of there fast enough. The end of a nightmare era was finally here.
I'm Grant Hayes. At twenty two, I was a divorced man and living in an uncomfortable closet. I'm gay and my closet was a living hell.
I grew up in this tiny central Indiana town. It's a place for the super conservative, low-income and the proud to be trailer trash slice of America. The cross section of ignorant and toothless is devastating.
I knew I was gay when I was five or six. I learned to hide it immediately. My father called me a sissy and slapped me hard enough to bust my lip. After that, I straightened up and flew right, as my mom said I should.
I quickly realized that being into other boys was something I should keep secret and ignore. I was the only homo in this whole place as far as I could tell so it wasn't like I was ever going to find someone to date.
In high school I dated very nerdy girls. Me and my girlfriend, whoever it may have been at the moment, would stick together and stay under the radar as much as possible.
The last of those geeky beards was my senior year love, whom I married at twenty. Her name was Alicia and she was a very nice girl. We went to our senior prom together and we were serious by the end of that summer.
I got a job and we got an apartment. At twenty, we were married and she was already talking about a baby. Every time we were together, I wished she was a man. It couldn't last. Two years later, both of us broken and broke, we divorced.
I moved in with my cousin Sandy and her husband Guy while I got back on my feet. As it turned out, they needed me as much as I needed them. They had a handicapped baby and an extra adult in the house was necessary. I didn't mind helping my family and I loved feeling needed.
A few months after the divorce, I started taking trips to Indianapolis or Cincinnati to visit a gay bar or two. I had a few anonymous hookups.
Those interactions with men confirmed what I already knew. I was into guys and guys only. It also confirmed that I wanted a real life, with a house and a cat and a husband.
I couldn't have that where I lived and I couldn't move away. I only worked part time so I'd be available to help with Sandy's baby and they didn't charge me rent. My bank account was dismal, to say the least.
Every few months I'd have enough money to take an overnight trip to one of the big cities and get laid. Or try to get laid. Many of those trips were unsuccessful. I would get in my head and ruin it or the dude was a creep and I got the fuck out of there.
Life dragged on like this for years. Sandy's child, my second cousin, whom I thought of as a niece, was almost five. She'd beaten the odds and was further along than anyone expected.
One evening at the dinner table, my cousin handed me some mail. I set it aside and continued to eat and chat with my family. Finally, Guy noticed the matching envelopes in our two piles of mail.
"What's this? It's from some lawyer in Virginia. You both got one." We all stopped eating and my cousin and I opened our letters.
"Oh no! My Great Aunt Kathy died!" Sandy kept reading while I pictured my second cousin Kathy. I hadn't seen her since I was pretty little, like ten or eleven.
She came and visited once and we went to see her in Virginia Beach on the only family vacation we ever took in my whole life. I remember the beach and her big white house. I loved her house.
I remember sitting and talking with her and she'd tell me all about her antiques and prized possessions. I was rapt.
I always felt like I could be myself, guard down, around Kathy. In hindsight, she probably knew I was gay and she loved me more because of it.
Through my tears, I read the letter from the lawyer. She wanted to meet with me so we could discuss my inheritance. My cousin's letter basically said the same thing.
A few days later, the lawyer came to Indiana and set up meetings with each of us, individually. I guess that's how Kathy wanted it done. At least that's what the lawyer eluded to.
My cousin and her husband went into their meeting first. I watched my niece while they were behind closed doors. It was less than a half hour when they came back. Sandy was crying and Guy had his arm around her shoulder, holding her close.
"What happened?" I was so worried.
"She left us some money. Enough money to get her into a good school. Enough for us to move to Bloomington and get her the help she needs."
I now understood her tears. She was relieved and happy for an opportunity to help her child. I was so happy for them, I nearly missed it when the lawyer called me in next.
My visit wasn't much longer than my cousin's. But my own tears poured down my cheeks much as hers had a short time ago. I, too, was given a chance at a new life thanks to Kathy.
While my cousin was given a life changing inheritance in the form of money, I was given something even more incredible. I was given a life, a job and a reason to go on as I damn well pleased.
I inherited my second cousin's house, which had been run as a bed and breakfast for over fifty years. The Hayes-Ward House was a southern coastal Victorian built in 1856. It had five guest rooms and a premium location in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
I googled it and found out that the area was very gay friendly. I couldn't wait to see what my new life would be like. I would be alone but I would be able to be me for the first time in my life.
I would be Grant Hayes, gay, 27 year old owner of an established bed and breakfast. I had been given the house I loved and all the antiques and stories it was filled with. And I was given the business that had allowed Kathy to lead a happy and successful life. She gave that life to me. I knew I was the favorite!
My cousin bought a tiny house in between Bloomington and Indianapolis. They got my niece into an amazing medical program and a special school. They were sad I was leaving, but they wished me nothing other than happiness and success of my own.
"We couldn't have gotten this far without you, Grant. You'll always have a home with us, no matter where we go." Sandy hugged me as we said our goodbyes.
"I love you guys. Please come and visit whenever you want. It will still be family first at the Hayes-Ward House."
With the goodbyes behind us, I took my crappy car, packed to the brink with everything I owned, and headed for the coast. The only things tying me to Indiana were in several small boxes. I didn't really know what to expect in Virginia, but I was ready to find out.
The house was bigger than I remembered. The covered porches that created ornate walkways around both floors of the building as well as every other surface you could see, were painted white.
