“I think she’s…I mean…hell, Bennett, Cath and I think she might be gay.”

“Oh,” Bennett said, resting her ankle casually across her knee. “Not to pry, but can I ask why you think that?”

Gus let out a gruff laugh. “Now you’re just jerking my chain.”

Bennett snorted because she was being disingenuous. She had watched all of Gus’s children grow up, and while Kenna and Fallon were identical twins, their looks were one of the only things they shared. Kenna was outgoing, flirty, and feminine, and Fallon was not. Introverted, modest, and tomboyish, once Fallon was old enough to choose her own clothes, she never wore anything pink or girly again. And after puberty came and went, while Fallon’s focus remained on sports and her studies, Kenna fell in love with a new boy every week.

“What? You ain’t gonna say anything?”

Bennett broke out of her thoughts and looked at the back of Gus’s head. “What would you like me to say?”

“I don’t know,” Gus said, shrugging. “Tell me if you think Cath and I are right. I’m asking for some advice here, and since we got about half an hour before we get to Weston, I’d like to hear your thoughts.”

“Well,” Bennett said, glancing out the window for a second. “First, I need to hear your thoughts.”

“Mine?”

“Yes. If Fallon is gay and she eventually finds the courage to tell you, what are you and Cathleen going to do?”

“What do you mean?”

“How are you going to react?”

“Bennett, she’s my daughter. I don’t give a flying crap if she’s gay, straight, or somewhere in between. I just want her to be happy. Cathleen and I both want her to be happy, and right now, we don’t think she is. She’s always been on the quiet side, but the older she gets, the quieter she’s becoming, and I think it’s because she’s afraid to tell us, and we don’t understand why. We’ve always allowed our kids to be themselves. You know that.”

“Yes, I do, but this isn’t only about you and Cathleen. What about Kenna or the girls they go to school with? That’s quite a proper academy you send them to if memory serves.”

“We send them there because you made it possible for us to afford the tuition, and why shouldn’t we give them the best education we can?”

“I’m not holding it against you, Gus. I know you love your children and want to give them the best start possible, and we both know you’d give your life for them. I’m just saying that even in this day and age, peer pressure can be quite intimidating at times.”