Authors: Eden Winters
“We have a hardware store now?”
“Well, actually, no. But there’s one over in Hanley.”
Michael snorted. It figured. Nothing ever happened in this one-horse town and probably never would. If he had his way it wouldn’t matter one way
or another, he’d be long gone. Wherever he wound up would have to be one hell of a lot more progressive.
Jay cleared his throat and Michael glanced over to find an amused smile and piercing eyes sparkling with humor. “Something on your
mind?”
Fatigue took its toll, releasing the tight hold Michael usually kept on his tongue. “I don’t know,” he said.
“It’s just all that’s happened in the last few years, coming home…” He let the thought trail off when
pity wiped away Jay’s smile. Oh shit. He knew. Well, of course Jay knew if Angie did. She never could keep a secret and would have happily told
anyone who would listen about what happened to her brother “over there”.
Michael turned away. Why hadn’t he chosen a different path after graduation? He could have gone to trade school, become a welder or carpenter or
something. But no, he wanted to see the world, earn money for college and, most importantly, escape from the man who was no longer in his mom’s
life anyway. Oh yeah, and escaping the inevitable marriage to his former girlfriend. Mustn’t forget that.
A soft, “Hey,” drew his attention, and a warm hand landed on his knee. “Whatever it is, it’ll be all right.
You’re finally home. You can do whatever you want to now.” The warmth and understanding appeared genuine, and Michael decided then and
there that he liked Angie’s latest flame. It was possible that Jay didn’t know what he’d been through, maybe it was just a
guess; understandable given the media coverage of late. Michael offered up a half-hearted smile.
Jay’s eyes turned to the living room window and Michael followed his gaze. A curtain fluttered. “We’d better get moving
before someone comes out to see why we’re just sitting here.”
“They’d do that?”
“You betcha! I’d like to think that we’re a big happy family and they’re all concerned.” He leaned in and
smiled, hand leaving Michael’s knee to shift the car into reverse. “But I happen to know they’re just really, really
nosy.”
They’d made if a full two full blocks before Michael blurted, “So, how long have you been dating Angie?”
“Do what?” Jay stomped the brakes at a stop sign, whipping his head around to stare open-mouthed at Michael.
“How long have you been dating my sister?”
“Dude, you’ve got it all wrong. What gave you the idea I was seeing Angie?”
“I don’t know, the way you two acted earlier. And I’ve gotta tell ya that she and Mom talk about you—a
lot.”
Jay appeared thoughtful for moment, then threw his head back and laughed. An impatient horn sounded behind them and he turned his attention back to
driving.
Did Michael need to defend his sister’s honor?
Still chuckling, Jay said, “Think about what you just said. Now, think about how you and Angie act when you’re together. And
don’t lie to me; she’s told me all about you.”
Looking back on the incident in the living room, Michael recalled his own memories of Angie. “She treats you like she treats me!”
“Got it in one,” Jay said. “She’s a good friend. A
very
good friend, but that’s it. Besides,
she’s not my type. I’m not into…” he paused mid-sentence and Michael wondered what he’d started to say.
Finally he concluded with, “Redheads.”
“So, you like blondes instead?” Talking women at least beat talking about war.
“Maybe,” muttered Jay, intently focused on the road.
“I see. Maybe that hot blonde that was sitting on the couch.” Michael managed to smile even while developing an instant and intense
dislike for Emmie or Amy or whatever the hell her name was.
“Depends on which one you meant.”
Another stop sign, another eye-locking moment. “So…” Michael prodded.
Jay sighed and turned away, heading them north toward the old main street area of town. “Not the couch, the loveseat.”
The loveseat? But… “Terry?”
“Yeah, Terry,” Jay confirmed. “Terry is my type, or was, rather. I found that, although I like blonds, I can do without
self-righteous arrogance.” He pulled the car to a halt at the town’s one and only traffic light. “I’m gay. Is that
a problem for you?”
Michael clamped down on
Oh hell no!
and replied with “No” instead.
Jay sighed, relaxing his stiff posture. “Good. And before you ask, yes, your sister knows. In fact, I think pretty much everyone does. I
don’t advertise, but I’ve also never tried to hide who I am, either.”
The conversation faded as the light changed. Before the silence grew uncomfortable Jay said, “Knowing your mom and sister I didn’t
think you’d be a bigoted jerk about it, but you never know. I’ve met some pretty cool people in this town but I’ve also met
some real assholes, ya know?”
Yes, Michael did know what people could be like, especially to gays, blacks, or Hispanics in this town, and the fact that Jay had two out of three covered
meant that life could get ugly for him around the wrong folks.
That was precisely why Michael feared this bizarre attraction. Although unafraid of what people might say or do, he didn’t need the aggravation
of being on the receiving end of the ugliness that the jerks could send his, or his family’s way. Still, he couldn’t deny the relief at
finding out that, not only was Jay not Angie’s boyfriend, but that they swung the same way.
Nothing could ever come of his wishful thinking since he didn’t intend to stick around. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen once
life settled down again. Still, he needed hope that life could go on, and the loneliness lurking deep within recognized something it wanted in the darkly
handsome Texan.
His mother had once told him that cravings were the body’s way of telling you that it wasn’t getting what it needed. Until now
he’d only equated that with food, but he was beginning to see that craving also worked in other ways. He definitely craved something and, at the
moment, the something sat next to him firmly gripping the steering wheel.
But, damn it, he didn’t want to feel attraction for another man. Why couldn’t he change that part of himself, find a nice girl, get
married, and have a bunch of kids like he grew up believing he should? It would be so much easier. Michael sighed. He could wish all he wanted to and it
wouldn’t change a damned thing.
Jay remained quiet during Michael’s reverie, except for a soft, Spanish melody. What were the words? The tune sounded sad.
All too quickly the ride ended in front of the simply named,
The Book Store
, and they sat for a moment, neither saying anything. Once again Jay
ended the awkward silence. “Wanna go out for pizza or something sometime?”
Caught off guard at the abrupt invitation he was just working up the nerve to make himself, Michael began to sputter.
Jay hung his head. “I wasn’t asking you for a date.”
“Oh,” Michael replied.
Why am I disappointed?
“Unless, of course, you want me to.” Jay gave him a wink. In a more serious tone he added, “Look, I understand if you
don’t want to be seen with the Mexican queer. I know how folks are here.” He held up a hand to stop Michael denials.
“It’s okay. I know what they say behind my back, how I’m an illegal alien come to steal their jobs even though my
family’s been in this country longer than theirs.
“I’m not ashamed of my heritage from either of my parents, but I’m just visiting here. I can’t wait to leave, to be
totally honest. But you? You have to live here and face these ignorant, narrow-minded morons. You’ve got a lot to lose. Your reputation would
suffer for associating with me.”
Very true. But few people’s opinions actually mattered to Michael, as long as their bullshit didn’t spill over onto his family.
“Look, dude, I don’t really give a rat’s ass what the people around here say about me except for Mom, Angie, and my
grandparents.”
Jay stiffened. “Yeah, well I’ve heard enough off old man Coffey down at the lumberyard not to want that inflicted on anyone
else.”
Jay wasn’t alone in suffering from the words of the bitter, spiteful Herman Coffey, who seemed to want everyone else to be as miserable as he
was. But he’d brought his misery on himself. That asshole was the last man on earth that should be judging anybody.
Though gossiping went against all he’d been taught by his compassionate mother, Michael placed a hand on Jay’s shoulder and donned his
best evil grin. “About old man Coffey…” A faint hint of spicy-scented cologne teased his nose as he leaned in to share a
prime bit of small town news. “He’s got three sons and only two of them with his wife.”
Wide-eyed surprise replaced the pained expression one of the town’s most embarrassing citizens had caused. “Yeah, and it gets better.
His third son is with his wife’s sister.” With a wry smile Michael added, “There’s no way he can deny it, either,
‘cause the boy looks just like him.”
“You’re shitting me,” Jay exclaimed. “There’s actually more than one woman in this world who agreed to
sleep with that horrible asshole?”
Michael raised two fingers. “Scout’s honor. Seems the sister-in-law is spiteful, too. She named the kid Herman, Jr.”
“Oh my God! No she didn’t!”
“Yup, she sure did. So his wife left him and took the kids. Makes you wonder how he affords all that child support on what they pay him down at
the lumberyard, don’t it?”
He hadn’t been raised to gossip and knew it wasn’t right to do so; however, it also wasn’t right for folks to say things that
they shouldn’t because of who Jay was. And the beautiful smile that replaced that dejected expression was worth a prayer or two for forgiveness.
Jay shook his head and laughed. “You probably know the dirt on everyone around here, don’t you? Remind me not to piss you off.
“
“I don’t tell what I know because Mom raised me better than that. But she also raised me not to say hurtful things to people. Folks
that do are asking for what they get. I was raised to take up for those who were being picked on. I won’t tolerate bullies.”
With a heavy sigh Jay confessed, “I couldn’t use that stuff against him anyway. That would bring me down to his level.”
It wasn’t often that Michael met someone with that kind of integrity. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one who’d been raised to
have a conscience. “You don’t have to use it against him. But tell me, knowing what you do about Herman, the next time he goes off on
you, is it going to matter?”
Jay seemed to consider those words before replying, “Not so much. ‘Cause I now know that no matter what he says to me he’s
got problems of his own—worse problems.”
Good answer. “And that makes it easier not to take his words to heart, right?”
“Yeah, I suppose it does.”
“Look, Jay. You’re in college. Soon you’ll graduate and go out into the world. You’ve got your whole life ahead of
you. Hell, you’ve probably already been more places than old man Coffey ever will.”
The store lights were off and Mom was probably waiting, but Michael wanted to see Jay smile once more before they parted company. “In ten years
you’ll be long gone from here, Cookesville will be a distant memory, and all these small-minded people will still be here doing the same thing,
day in, day out. For them this is as good as life is gonna get. You have the world, Jay, and they know it. If they have anything against you it’s
that fact. They’re jealous.”
“So, what you’re saying is they don’t matter?”
Jay’s hopeful expression tugged at Michael’s heart until he was ready to confront Herman or anyone else that dared offer insult.
“No, they don’t matter. In fact, they deserve your pity, not your fear.”
Suddenly that brilliant smile reappeared, just like Michael had hoped. “You’re a wise man, Michael Ritter, you know that?”
“I just pay attention to what’s going on.” They needed to change the subject now. Michael had never quite learned how to
handle compliments. “So, now that we’ve established that I’m not worried about gossip, what say we get together for pizza
some night? Umm…Please tell me someone opened a decent pizza place around here while I was gone.”
A more relaxed Jay replied, “Yeah, about four blocks down from here at The Pie Man. It’s some pretty decent pizza, too. He gets a lot
of business from the Zoo.”
Jay’s pushed a hand into his jeans pocket and wriggled out a cell phone. Caught off-guard by the unintentionally erotic display, Michael breathed
a sigh of relief and discreetly adjusted the semi-hard he’d sprouted while wishing it was his own hand burrowing into the pocket of those 501s.
Intent on the phone’s tiny keypad, Jay missed the effect his actions had on his passenger. “What’s your number?” he
asked.
Michael took the phone and began to program his number with one hand, handing Jay his own phone with the other. “I guess I need to get in there
before Mom comes out and drags me in.”
White, even teeth flashed brightly against dark skin. “You know, I can see her actually doing that, too.”
“I wouldn’t put a whole lot past Mom,” Michael admitted, though her unpredictability was actually something he admired.
That earned him another laugh and a sexy little smile that left him needing to adjust his jeans again, but grateful that their ride wasn’t ending
on a sour note.
Michael opened the dorr slowly, judging the distance from the car to the store. Only a few steps, and traffic was light at this time of day, most shoppers
having gone home for the evening. With a harsh exhalation he exited the car and removed his bags from behind the seat. “Thanks for the ride, man;
give me a day or two to get settled in and then call me. We can just hang out or something.” He bumped his fist with Jay’s in parting
and then closed the car door firmly, turning to face his new home.
Chapter Four
“Sweetie!” Michael braced himself as a red-haired whirlwind launched itself at him—the second today. This one was more
aggressive, however, and nearly knocked him down. Despite the fact that she was almost half his size, his mother was a presence unto herself. Chaos, thy
name is Sarah Shiller. Or rather, her name had been Shiller on the last letter he’d received. No telling which of her previous last names
she’d resumed during her most recent divorce.