Beneath the Palisade (32 page)

“Wow! Can I ask how you found me? We’ve only been up here for a few weeks now.”
This is wild.

“The wife’s brother lives in the Cities not too far from where you guys play. I’ve watched several of your games. Damn, you can hit. Anyway, I got a call from some guy named Spencer a few weeks ago who told me where you were and to give you a shout if we were recruiting new players this season. Debbie and I were looking for a drive today after church, so we thought, hell, let’s just bop over and talk to you in person.”

Spencer….
Ian shook his head. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested. I just can’t commit right now. As you can see, we’ve got one heck of a project on our hands. When do you need to know?”

“Look, Ian, I’ll be honest with you.” Steve took a step forward. “The Taconknights aren’t the Hornets. We play hard, practice hard, but we’re not in the same league. Honestly, if you showed up midseason, it’d still be a boost. Listen, I know you’re busy. Give it some thought, and if you’re interested, here’s my card.”

Ian waited while pregnant Debbie fished a card out of her purse.

Steve extended his hand for a shake. “Good luck with the cabins. Sure is pretty down here.”

Debbie smiled while her husband opened the door for her and helped her swing her legs inside. “Could happen any day,” Steve joked as he got in from the other side.

Any second is more like it. Whew!

“I’ll see you guys in a minute.” Ian strolled down to the last cabin, Cabin 10, where Spencer and Andy were putting the finishing touches on their first firepit of the day. “Looks good, you guys.”

“Thanks.” Spencer wiped his brow. “I’m sure as hell glad it’s not too hot out. It’s been a long winter. Fuck, am I out of shape.”

“We should be able to crank a few more out today. It took us a while to organize.” Andy plopped down on the grass and sipped his soda.

“Say, Spencer.”

“Say, Ian.”

“Say, Spencer and Ian,” Andy piped in, followed by a belch.

“I just had a visitor up near the office I think you might know a little something about.”

Spencer looked over to Andy, and they both came back with blank looks on their faces.

“Testing the sports agent waters, are you?” The two bozos in front of him couldn’t have looked more guilty.

“It was Andy’s idea.” Spencer threw his firepit-building partner under the bus.

“You dick, it wasn’t my idea. Spanky, it was our idea. We just couldn’t see that talent of yours wasted.” Andy stood up.

“Besides, we didn’t do it just for you. We have ulterior motives.” Spencer crossed his arms proudly.

“We do. We have ulterior motives.” Andy mirrored his friend’s stance.

“We thought if for some reason, and trust me we really don’t think this, but if for some reason this cabin shit doesn’t work out for you guys and you come back to the Cities, we want you to be in shape.” Spencer looked over to Andy, who nodded back.

“You guys don’t want this to work out, do you?” If they’d each worn the face of guilt before, it had nothing on what Ian saw now. “I have a feeling you’re both secretly hoping we lose our asses on this venture and come back home with our tails between our legs.”

“Okay, enough of this shit. It’s about time we had this one out.” Spencer threw his can into the pit. “Ian, I love you more than you’ll know. And not in a way you’ll understand because it’s a love you do with your clothes still on. I’m jealous you get to have this adventure. I’m sad you won’t be on the team next year. I knew I was in trouble when I realized I was jealous of you meeting Harper. I know it’s wrong. I know it. I just can’t help it. Andy, care to add anything?”

“I loved him once without clothes on. It wasn’t all that great. With clothes on is the way to go.”

The three of them lasted slightly longer than a split second before they roared with laughter.

“Look,” Ian began, even though he was still laughing so hard tears were rolling down his cheeks, “you have no idea how much I’m going to miss you guys. Yes, I love Harper. We have an adventure here, you’re right. But you guys make me tick in a way he can’t. We have history. Come here, you crazy lunatics!” Ian opened his arms.

“We’ll try harder to want this to work for you, promise.” Andy reached over and pinched Ian’s butt.

“Nice.” Ian shook his head. “You tools, you’re always thinkin’, you two. Anyway, it was pretty damned nice of you to line me up with some ball, no matter what your motive was. I appreciate it.”

“So, you going to play up here?” Spencer raised an eyebrow.

“I’m going to talk to Harper and see what he thinks. This place could get crazy, and I don’t want to leave him high and dry with all this to deal with.”

“He knows. He said you could.” Spencer flashed a sheepish smile.

“You guys are like frickin’ four-year-olds. I
want
to play, and probably
will
play. I just want to talk it out with him before I commit.”

“I
LIKE
those guys. You’d never in a million years know they’re fags—I mean gays.” Colin sipped his beer.

“Yeah, they’re really great. They couldn’t have come around at a better time.” Alex downed half of his Dew.

“Ian, he’s cool, man. When he was telling us how to do stuff, it wasn’t like he was bossing or anything. Just matter-of-fact. He must know a lot about plants and shit. And what’s the other dude’s name, Harper? He’s hysterical. So they’re kind of like married, right?” Colin sat down at the table near the window.

“They’re partners.”

“What about Fred and Barney?”

“Fred and Barney?”

“Yeah.” Colin laughed. “You know, Fred and Barney, the Flintstones?”

“Oh.” Alex laughed. “That’s a good one. Fred is Andy. He owns a garden center down in the Cities, and Barney is his partner, Emmett. I’ve met Andy before, but this is the first time he’s brought Emmett.”

“Okay, and Dick and Jane?”

Colin was on a roll. It was so much fun having him around. Alex missed him like crazy. When Colin had mentioned he’d be up this weekend from school, Alex had been bummed, knowing he’d be too busy to hook up. It had been Colin who’d volunteered to come over and help so they could spend time together.
Will we be friends for life?

“That would be Spencer and Allison. They’re really good friends. Everyone, they’re all really good friends. It’s cool.”

“What about leaving the palisade? Do you still want to head west?”

“I don’t know.” He felt comfortable discussing almost anything with Colin. Always had. But they didn’t have the same friendship they’d had a year ago, that was for sure. It had changed. Alex detected a distance. For the first time since they’d been friends, he didn’t know everything about Colin. They’d gotten together several times over the past year, but it had always been so rushed. Or there were a ton of people around. Colin remained popular here even though he’d been away for almost a year. “I’ve got the money now. It’s ridiculous what these guys pay me to sit here. I’ve agreed to help them open this place up and work through the summer. I want to do that. They’re cool to be around. They make me feel good.”

“You guys don’t sleep together and shit, do you?”

“Colin, so help me, if you don’t stop it I’m going to kick the crap out of you. These guys are awesome.”

“I know, I’m just jerkin’ your gherkin. Hey, can I ask you something?” Colin leaned across the table.

“Sure.” Alex looked out the window. Ian walked by on his way to the truck and waved.

“You’re not going to like it.”

He knew where this was headed. Colin needed to know. It was the way he was. “You want to know if I’ve talked to my old man.”

“That’d be it. My dad asked me about him this morning. I guess he saw him at Norbert’s a few months back and he looked pretty rough.”

“The answer is no. If I see him, I’ll hurt him.”

“Dude, don’t you need to resolve this? It’s not good to let shit like this just hang.” Colin sat back in his chair, frustrated. “He’s your dad. I know he’s an asshole, but he’s your dad.”

Ian tapped on their window as he passed by with a flat of ferns.

“I’ll go over there with you if you want. I’m serious.” His friend stood and downed the last of his beer. “We’ll just stand there and you can scream and holler at him and tell him what a prick he is and then we can leave. You can leave forever.”

“Thanks, but I want him out of my life
now
. I’m working really hard to move on, with a bunch of stuff.” Alex finished his soda and walked out, holding the screen door for his friend.

“
M
ORNING
, Audrey.” Ian waltzed into the Smacker with Harper close behind.

“My two favorite fellas. I wondered if I’d see you this week. Are those cabins open yet? When they are, I’m going to rent one for two weeks and never even set foot in this damned parking lot. Even if the place burns down. And this is just the start of the season. How am I ever gonna get through it?”

“Just say the word. We’ll give you the good neighbor rate. Hell, it’ll be so cheap you might want to stay a month.” Harper loved how they were starting to have relationships with the locals. Audrey and the Lip Smacker were their ground zero.

“Seriously, boys, how’s it going?”

“We’re several weeks out, but things are moving right along. We had a whole crew up here from the Cities this weekend helping out. Surprisingly, we actually managed to get a few things done.” Ian heard his stomach growl. “I’m starving.”

“Looks like your booth is open.” Audrey handed them menus, even though by now they weren’t needed. “Head on over, and I’ll have Francine bring you coffees.”

Breakfast appeared and disappeared in record time. When their plates had been cleared and their coffee mugs refilled, Harper slid the legal pad he seemed to carry everywhere these days into place. “So, where are we?”

“I’ve been thinking more about the opening.” Ian brought his leg up onto the booth to make himself comfortable. “The grounds, at least the first round of landscaping, should all be planted by next weekend. Andy’s coming up alone with another truckload of product Thursday. Depending on what they have delivered at Jungle Gems this week, he’ll decide if he can stay a day or two and plant with me. Anyway, I think our guests will appreciate how things look after this next weekend. So we can scratch that off the list.”

“I think it looks amazing already. I’m so glad we took all those before and after pictures. It’ll be fun to look back on this little adventure and admire all of our….” He couldn’t get another word out. If he tried, he’d make an ass out of himself. Scrunching his face up in a ball, he weathered the unexpected wave of emotion.

“Harp, what is it? You okay?” Ian looked around as if something in the restaurant may have upset him.

Harper shook his head. Taking a few sips of water, he felt tears well up in his eyes.

“Harper, what’s going on? Is it something in here?”

“I’m sorry,”—he wiped his eyes with a fresh napkin—“I don’t know where that just came from.” Several seconds passed before he felt it safe to continue. “Ian….”
Okay, this is just fucking nuts!
“I’m so in love with you. Really.” He laughed at how absurd he must be presenting. “When you were talking a minute ago, I had this overwhelming feeling of joy. I’m so completely in love with you it makes me cry. It’s so powerful, I don’t know what to do with it yet.”

Ian laughed and reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze. “You
are
worse than I am. I didn’t think that was possible. I have moments like this too. Maybe it’s all starting to catch up to us in some way. Damn, think of the speed we’ve been traveling at.”

“It’s probably a lot of that. It’s also this whole cabin thing. I know we’re just getting started with it, but it’s already been so rewarding to me. And I guess here’s where I get all crazy.”
Get a fucking grip, Harp! Honestly!
“It’s so intoxicating, is that the right word? It’s so potent going through this with you. I’ve always been on my own. Everything I’ve ever done has been solo. I had no idea….”

“I feel the same way. Wanna cry for a few minutes and then we’ll get back to the list?”

“I hate you.”

“Do not. You just said you loved me.” Ian gave his hand another squeeze.

“Okay, I’m over it.” Harper laughed, wiping his eyes again. “Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever had anything like that happen before.”

“It’s because I’m so special. Happens to people around me all the time.” Ian looked away as if bored.

Before Harper had a chance to respond, three guys sat down at the table directly across from their booth.

“Okay,” Ian forged on, “let’s talk about the cabins. We’re halfway done painting. Do you want to keep going this week? You can have Alex as a painting partner. I’ll concentrate on the grills when I’m not planting. Wait, let’s do this. I have a better idea.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Harper caught something at the next table that put him on high alert. He hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was. “What’s your idea?”

“The soft opening we talked about. Let’s make sure we have two or three units completely finished and the rest almost done before we try and snag our first customers. We can test drive a few guests for a week or two until we feel we’re ready to open the place up completely.”

Ian seemed apprehensive at the thought of having to handle a full house this early in the game. He needed a little push. “Okay.” Harper thought for a second. “But I think there’s merit to jumping in with both feet too. But the units definitely have to be finished before we do that.” Another thought popped into his head, but he put it on hold when the table of guys burst into laughter. This time there was no mistaking it. The not-so-subtle looks in their direction were bordering on harassment. Pissed off at the fact these dimwits were taking a shot at destroying this wonderful morning, he looked over and asked, “Is there a problem?” There was no mistaking what he’d seen before. The burly dude sitting between the other two was putting on a show. The exaggerated limping of his wrist was meant to be only one thing. The dude was making fun of them because he’d probably heard from someone they were gay.