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hand.
    Unfortunately, as Alex had recently learned, the
    basement room had already been promised to Aunt Gigi and
    her children. Everett, just to further test Alex"s mad resolve,
    had volunteered that they share his room.
    Alex exhaled.
    They had not done that since they truly had been
    children. The temptation in doing it now was undeniable, so
    he didn"t try to deny it, though he did run the thought
    through his mind the way he always did, cursing therapists,
    cursing checklists, cursing madness in general. He could
    also curse fate, something he could believe in when he didn"t
    believe in much else. He was crazy after all, and was never
    quite sure about things like that. He"d also once believed
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    A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper

    that his father"s long silences had been because of
    something he had done to upset him and that his father
    buying every single box of cereal in the store for him was the
    kind of fun, happy memory that every child had of their dad.
    Both had actually meant his father had loved him.
    Sanity was a strange thing. Like distance, it offered
    perspective, and with it, Alex no longer had to choose
    between giving someone everything or pushing them away to
    protect them, not if he didn"t want to.
    And because there was fate, or because there was a god
    after all and he loved the seething brains of lovers, poets,
    and madmen, the door from the kitchen slammed closed
    behind Everett as he came outside and crossed the yard.
    He stamped his feet when he reached the bench, then
    sat down and said nothing for a few long minutes. He hadn"t
    bothered with more than his coat and finally coughed and
    scooted closer to Alex, probably for warmth. Alex looked over
    at him and the soft grin illuminated by hundreds of
    twinkling lights.
    “That"s enough of this for now, don"t you think?” Everett
    remarked with the suspicious calm of a nurse—or a social
    worker who had seen it all, but he was still smiling as he
    turned to face the house again.
    “Everett, you know not to interrupt a brooder when he"s
    brooding. It"s like waking a sleepwalker,” Alex responded
    seriously, but moved when Everett did, letting himself be
    pulled to his feet, his cold hand in Everett"s chilled one as
    they walked back toward the house.
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    A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper

    It was another thing they had not done in years, but
    when Everett did not let go, Alex chose not to comment. He
    thought of inches again, of miles, and distance, and then
    remembered that Everett was often a sneaky bastard, who
    took inches as miles and then smiled so Alex would not
    mind, not that he ever had.

    achel and Molly were still downstairs with the
    busybody roommate and some of the aunts and
    R uncles, enjoying their adult time without the
    children. Alex was invited to join them, but they
    seemed used to his ways and didn"t press when he said he
    was going to bed early. No one, save Molly, even commented
    when Everett added he was tired as well, though Alex had
    glanced at him.
    A few years ago Ally had sworn she wasn"t going to
    exhaust herself anymore baking and cooking for three days
    when she had perfectly capable adult children to help her,
    and of all of them, only Everett had shown any aptitude for
    baking, so it was Everett who would be up early on
    Christmas Eve to make all the sweet breads and rolls and
    desserts for Christmas, leaving the others to help with the
    cooking. He had every reason to collapse into bed while the
    night was still young. Nonetheless, Alex sat on the edge of
    the bed and said nothing while Everett stripped off his layers
    and replaced them with blue pajama pants and a fresh T-
    shirt.
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    A Wealth of Unsaid Words • R. Cooper

    His eyes met Alex"s in odd moments, so Everett had to
    be aware of how Alex could not stop staring at him, yet there
    was innocence on his face as he kicked off his jeans, as if
    they were still kids. Perhaps that was how Everett thought of
    him, but Alex couldn"t