garage that they had been accumulating for the past ten years. It was amazing that despite
the cross-country move, they were all still in perfect condition. Even the thin crystal
icicles were intact, because Jake had packed them all so carefully the last time he’d taken
the Christmas tree down.
But Ed wasn’t sure about the location of the tree. He tried to convince Noah that
the tree would look better to the right of the fireplace, but Noah flatly insisted on placing
it near the piano. Noah tightened his face and pointed to the end of the piano. “Dad
always put it next to the piano, and that’s the best place for it.”
Ed ran his fingers through his hair and smiled. “Then that’s where we’ll put it this
year,” he said. Ed had never paid attention to these details when Jake had been alive.
He’d spent six days a week at his animal clinic in New York, and Jake had been the one
to put up the Christmas tree, organize the holiday meal, and handle the decorations. Now
all these things kept cropping up, and Ed wasn’t always sure how he was supposed to
deal with them. This was the first tree Ed and Noah put up without Jake. The first
Christmas after Jake’s death, Ed had booked a trip to Hawaii and they’d spent the holiday
in a tropical paradise, trying to forget how devastated they were. By the time Jonathan and Lisa returned from the stores, the tree was decorated
and Ed was ready to plug in the lights. Lisa and Jonathan came into the room and stared
at the tree. Their arms were filled with packages. When they saw the decorations, they
both smiled and told Noah it looked gorgeous. Then Ed plugged the cord into the wall
and thousands of multicolored lights illuminated the ornaments. There was silver and
gold glitter on Noah’s face, and Tucker was chewing on a wrinkled red ribbon.
Jonathan placed his packages on the floor looked the tree up and down. He’d been
the only child of elderly parents, and he’d lost them both within a two-year time frame in
his early twenties. He hadn’t bothered with a Christmas tree in five years. “I really like
the colored lights,” he said. “They make the tree look warmer than all white lights.” Then
he patted Tucker on top of the head a few times and pulled the ribbon from his mouth.
The dog inspected the bags and wagged his tail.
Noah looked at Ed and nodded. Then he told Jonathan, “My other dad, the one
who died, always liked them better, too.”
Jonathan put his hands in his pockets smiled. “You did a great job, buddy. And
I’ve never seen so many ornaments. It must have taken all afternoon to decorate.”
Noah lifted his head and squared his shoulders. “My dad used to collect them. He
bought new ones every year. There are so many we can’t put them all on the tree.” Then
he pointed to a small ornament in the middle of the tree—a blown-glass multicolored hot
air balloon. It was very detailed, with two small delicate people standing in the basket,
waving their arms to an invisible crowd below them.
Noah smiled and said, “This one was his favorite. He loved hot air balloons.”
Then he stared at the ornament and sighed. Ed cleared his throat and said, “We’d better start getting ready for dinner now.”
He knew the fact that Noah could talk about Jake this way was a good thing, and it meant
that Noah was accepting Jake’s death. But Ed didn’t want to talk about it for too long.
Lisa put her bags down and said, “It looks great, Noah. You guys did a fantastic
job today.” Then she turned to Ed and asked, “Is it okay if we keep everything we bought
over here in the basement? The guest house has no storage, and it’s silly for Jonathan to
keep his things in a hotel room.”
“Sure,” Ed said. “I’ll carry them down for you.” He was dying to ask about
Jonathan’s college friend, but he didn’t want Lisa to get the wrong idea.
“Oh no,” Jonathan said. “I’ll carry them down. There are things we don’t want
you
to see.”
Ed felt a tug in his stomach. He hadn’t thought about shopping for the holidays.
With all the renovations and working so hard to get the house together for Christmas,,
he’d totally forgotten to go shopping. He’d have to sneak out on Monday night. Gifts for
Noah and Lisa wouldn’t be a problem, but he had no idea what he’d buy for Jonathan.
A few minutes later, Jonathan’s car was empty and the packages were all in the
basement. Lisa asked Ed, “Do you mind if two more join us tonight?”
“Two more what?” Ed asked. He’d planned to go out to dinner that night with
Lisa and Noah because Jonathan was having dinner with his old college friend and fuck
buddy. Ed was trying hard to keep his voice calm and normal, but when he thought about
Jonathan and Joel, it felt like his head was ready to explode.
“
People
, you fool,” she said, shaking her head. “Jonathan and Joel. I invited them
to join us tonight.” Ed rubbed his chin. Lisa’s voice sounded too casual and forced, as if she were up
to something she didn’t want him to know. “It’s fine with me,” Ed said, “as long as
Jonathan doesn’t mind. I thought he wanted to have some privacy with his good old
buddy. Actually, I’d like to meet Joel. He sounds like a great guy.” He was being
facetious now, but in a subtle way that only Jonathan would recognize.
Jonathan gave him a look and said, “It’s fine with
me
. I’m actually looking
forward to it. I think you guys are going to be great buddies.” Then he leaned forward
and stared at Ed’s face. “But you’d better shave first. You look a little scruffy.”
Ed smiled. He knew Jonathan was teasing. He also knew how much Jonathan
loved it when he rubbed his five o’clock shadow back and forth across his neck. “I think
I’ll stay like this,” he said. “I like being casual and rough looking.”
“Suit yourself,” Jonathan said. “It’s of no concern to me.” Then he poked Noah in
the arm and said, “C’mon, buddy, let’s take Tucker out for a quick walk while your dad
changes his clothes. Even though he’s not going to shower and shave, I’m sure he’s going
to put on a decent pair of pants and a fresh shirt.”
Ed was wearing the camouflage shorts and a paint-stained T-shirt he’d been
wearing all day. He smiled and tugged his shorts. “I think I look okay. I don’t think old
Joel will mind.”
Lisa rolled her eyes. “Just go up and change, Ed. You look like a slob.”
Ed looked to Noah for support, but Noah pressed his lips together and nodded in
agreement with Lisa. “You could use a shower, Dad.”
* * * * A half hour later, Ed jogged down the steps in a pair of fresh jeans, a white dress
shirt and black dress shoes. He was carrying his best black sport jacket over his arm, and
he’d styled his short, sandy blond hair with product. He’d shaved, showered, and
splashed cologne on his face. Normally, he would have worn a polo shirt and a leather
jacket, but he wasn’t sure what to expect with this Joel guy. He pictured him as the Ivy
League type, with thick blond hair, a double-breasted navy blazer with an emblem, and
loafers with tassels.
Lisa, Noah, and Tucker were outside waiting in the car. Ed heard the powder
room door open and Jonathan came down the hall. He put on the sport jacket and reached
for his car keys on the table.
When Jonathan saw him, he stopped in the middle of the hall and said, “You look
good. I like that jacket.”
Ed shrugged his shoulders. “I figured you didn’t want to be seen with a slob.”
Jonathan leaned forward and whispered, “
I
never said you looked like a slob. Lisa
said that. You look great now, but I think you looked just as great before you changed
and shaved. You know, you were wearing those old shorts the first time I met you.”
“I was?”
Jonathan nodded. “I thought they were sexy then, and I think they are even sexier
now.”
When Jonathan said things like that, Ed’s eyebrows usually went up. How did he
remember these things? So Ed reached forward and grabbed the back of his head. He
pulled Jonathan’s face to his and kissed him on the mouth. They locked tongues and Ed placed his palm on the small of Jonathan’s back. For a moment, Ed’s strength increased
and Jonathan’s arms fell limp.
But then Jonathan pressed his palms on Ed’s chest and said, “We have to go
now.” Then he grabbed Ed’s crotch, squeezed it twice, and headed out the front door with
a huge smile on his face. Jonathan was wearing low-rise jeans with a wide black leather
belt. The pockets hugged his small, round ass. It was the hottest ass Ed had ever seen. He
wanted to pull him back into the hall and sink his teeth into it. When he followed
Jonathan out the door, he didn’t even realize he was licking his lips.
They dropped Tucker off at the guest house and drove over to Joel’s hotel. Lisa
sat in the back seat with Noah and Jonathan was up front with Ed. When they pulled up
to the lobby and Ed saw that Joel was staying at the hotel where Jonathan was staying, he
raised his eyebrows and gave Jonathan a knowing look. Jonathan must have been reading
his mind, because he turned in the opposite direction and sighed out loud.
Joel was waiting at the lobby door. Lisa opened the back window of the Range
Rover and waved in his direction. When the lobby door opened and he jogged toward
them, Ed grabbed the steering wheel with one hand and made a fist with the other. The
guy was even better looking than Ed had imagined. His hair was light blond, his face was
tanned and he had one of those naturally athletic bodies that jog with ease. Nothing
jiggled or bounced; his hair hardly moved. His eyes were so blue you could see them
from a distance. He was dressed casually in a black cotton shirt and tight beige jeans. The
bulge between his legs was enormous. And when he reached the car and smiled, two
perfect dimples formed on both of his cheeks. He reminded Ed of Australian actor Simon
Baker. Ed tried to force a smile, but his heart was thumping and his stomach was turning
in circles. He couldn’t stop picturing him in bed with Jonathan.
At first, it was awkward. Joel sat in the back seat with Lisa and Noah, and
Jonathan introduced him on the way to the restaurant. Joel’s voice was clear and deep,
and his handshake was strong and solid. The fact that he had tons of money and a great
job made him even seem like the most perfect man on earth. Ed wanted to fold himself in
half and disappear under the front seat. He’d never felt so old and been so intimidated in
his entire life.
Then Ed noticed a sudden change in Lisa’s mannerisms. It started in the car, and
became more obvious when they were inside the restaurant. She sat across the table from
Joel. She spoke softly to him, and batted her eyelashes. When Joel spoke, she sat back,
looked into his eyes, and listened to his words as if no one else was in the room. He made
a few bad jokes, and she laughed so hard she almost choked on her drink. Ed looked at
Jonathan, and Jonathan shrugged his shoulders with a mouthful of food. When Ed looked
at Noah, Noah was rolling his eyes and making a face at Lisa.
Joel was just as bad. He didn’t talk about his college days with Jonathan once. He
barely said a word to Jonathan during the entire dinner. He kept smiling and staring at
Lisa the whole time, paying her compliments and asking questions about her life in New
York. When it came out that Lisa loved to go to the Met, he slapped his knee and said,
“Isn’t that something,” three times in a row. When she mentioned that her favorite novel
of all time was
On the Road
, and he said that was
his
all-time favorite novel, too, Ed
almost gagged on his pork chop. Evidently, Lisa had forgotten to mention the real reason she’d wanted Joel and Jonathan to go to dinner with them: so she could get into Joel’s
pants that night.
By the time the waiter brought the check, Ed was smiling so wide his gums were
showing. Joel was definitely straight and he was only interested in Lisa. He’d barely said
two words to Jonathan all night. Ed paid the entire bill and left a huge tip for the waiter.
He was so happy that he actually patted Joel on the back on the way out of the restaurant
and said, “I’m so glad I had a chance to meet you. You’re a great guy, Joel. I wish you
could stay and spend Christmas with us.”
On the way to the car, Lisa pulled Ed aside and said, “Joel and I are going to walk
around town for a while, and then we’ll take a taxi back to his hotel. Would you mind
staying at the guest house with Noah tonight?”
