Last of the Summer Tomatoes (18 page)

He wondered what Sam saw in him. Sam was so different—taller, with well-defined muscles, sporty, a heck of a lot more agile, and his limbs were in proportion to his body—everything Kyle wasn’t. He took a deep breath and headed down the stairs. Regardless of what Sam said, Kyle still figured he was just a convenient summer fling, which actually was okay. Kyle could live on these memories the rest of his life.

Sam was at the bottom of the stairs, checking his wallet. Kyle swallowed; he hadn’t thought about the cost of the date. He still had the crumpled twenty in his wallet. If he watched what he ordered, he should have enough. Maybe even some left over for gas. Sam looked up at him.

“Well, you clean up nice.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess. Did you… these clothes were in my room.”

“Mom asked what you might like to wear.”

“She didn’t have to.”

“But she wanted to. Let her spoil you a little.” He held his hand out. “You ready?”

“Yeah.” Kyle took his hand.

Sam leaned in and gave him a quick kiss. “Truck’s ready and gassed up. Let’s go.”

Kyle got in, still very apprehensive. They headed out, into the setting sun, Kyle lost in his thoughts, about his life, past, present, and future. It was twenty minutes later, Sam’s voice startled him.

“You’re quiet.”

“Just… thinking.”

“You want to share?”

Kyle shrugged. “Trying not to overthink things, like you said. I don’t think it’s working.”

“Well, why don’t we try to enjoy ourselves, have a good meal, and put the thinking aside?”

“I’ll try.”

“So, what are you in the mood for? I read a couple of reviews of this place. They have killer lasagna.”

“Depends on the cost.”

“Don’t worry about the prices, you’re my date.”

“I’ve got some money.”

“Kyle, I’m taking
you
out to dinner. I worked a part-time job this past semester, I’ve got money.”

“But….”

“No ‘buts’. I want you to have a good time. I want to take you out on your first date, be that special memory for you.” Sam put his hand over Kyle’s. “So, what do you like?”

“Spaghetti is good. Billy’s mom made manicotti once, they were pretty good too.”

“They’ve got a sampler platter, we could try that and share.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Sam turned off the highway onto a side street, following the GPS directions. They pulled into the lot next to a quaint little restaurant that looked like it could have been a home at one time. Kyle reached for the door handle, but Sam grasped his hand, pulling him closer to kiss him.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

Kyle smiled. “That’s okay. I… I liked it. Being in the truck isn’t that public, I guess.”

“Can I hold your hand into the restaurant?”

“Would you take it personally if I said no?”

“No. If you’re not ready for that, that’s okay. Come on, let’s go. I’m starving.”

Sam got out, Kyle came around to his side of the truck, gently grasping Sam’s arm. “I’m not ashamed, you know.”

“I know.”

“Maybe on the way out, okay? I… I want to be a little more comfortable. I’ve never been out like this before. And I don’t just mean going on a date; well, my experience in restaurants is kinda lacking. Never had the money to go out, other than the dollar menu at McDonald’s.”

Sam brushed his hand against Kyle’s. “I understand. Really. And just being with you is enough.” Sam gestured toward the front door of the restaurant.

Kyle had to admit, the smells coming from the kitchen made his mouth water. They were seated off to a corner, a little hidden from the rest of the diners, but not entirely out of sight. It was perfect for a first date.

“You like so far?” Sam took a sip of water.

“It smells good. Place looks nice, but their paintings leave a lot to be desired. They seem to be very tired prints.”

Sam gave a little laugh. “Only a true artist would notice that up front. I hadn’t even looked at the walls. The table’s a little romantic, huh?”

Kyle nearly spat out his water. “Romantic?”

Sam gave him an exasperated look. “Come on, romance isn’t for girls only. Or are we going there again?”

“No, I just… romantic?”

“You’re the artist. You’ve called me beautiful and stunning, I can’t call our date romantic?”

“This is going to take some getting used to.”

Sam placed his hand on the table, his fingertips just brushing Kyle’s. “It’s all still okay, right?”

Kyle nodded, giving him a shy smile. “Yeah, it’s okay.” Kyle moved his hand to lock fingers with Sam. He didn’t move his hand away when the waiter came. They placed their order, alone again within a couple of minutes.

“Thank you.”

Kyle cocked his head. “For what.”

“For being brave. For… liking me enough to do this. For….” He looked down at their clasped hands. “… not backing off.”

“I figured if the waiter wanted a good tip, he wouldn’t say anything, right?”

Sam chucked. “Well, I guess not. But still, thanks.”

Their salad came out first, and Kyle watched Sam to figure out which fork to use.

“Just remember outside in.”

“Huh?” Kyle took a bite of the salad.

“Silverware, outside in. You use the outer ones first, the closer to the middle, the bigger the food portion. The extreme outer silverware will be smaller, for smaller courses, with the last fork remaining for the main course. My part-time job was a waiter at a pretty swanky place. So I remembered it by repeating ‘outside in’.”

“I never knew there was so much to know about eating.”

“You should have seen the seven-course meals we catered. Now that was a lot of exercise, putting food down, taking plates away.”

“
Seven courses?
”

“Oh that’s for what they call a mid-class society function. You know, just the millionaires. I’ve heard of fifteen-course meals for those high-society billionaires on Wall Street. Figure their meals take four hours to get through at the least.”

“Some people have too much money and too much time on their hands.”

“True, so true.”

Their sampler platter came out and both dug in.

“This is good. Those reviews were spot on.” Kyle took another helping of the lasagna.

“We’ll write our own when we get back.”

“Be sure to talk up the breadsticks. I think I could make a meal out of those alone.”

“We might have to come back, that is if you want another date.”

“Um….” Kyle took another bite, slowly chewing so he didn’t have to answer.

“So, um, afterwards, you want to get some ice cream? There’s a little shop a block over. We could walk some of this off.”

“Yeah, walk it off, then put more back on and then some. You’re gonna have to roll me out of here.”

“Well, tomorrow is Sunday. We can sleep in a bit. We’re probably gonna be in a carb coma by the time we get home.”

“I… I don’t think I want this to end.”

“So you’re having a good time?”

“Yeah.”

“You wanna do it again?”

Kyle thought for a moment, deciding to take the plunge. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

The waiter came with the check, Sam paid, and they headed out toward the ice cream shop. Kyle looked around at the people on the sidewalk and in the little cafés and restaurants. None of them were paying attention to them at all. He took a deep breath and grasped Sam’s hand. Sam gave him a little squeeze.

Two ice cream sundaes later, they were headed back to the farm, holding hands in the truck, enjoying the silence of the evening. Once back, Sam leaned over and kissed Kyle.

“You really had a good time?”

Kyle nodded. “A really good time. Does it have to end?”

“We can go for a walk if you want. Maybe next time we can stay in town, see a movie? I figured the first public outing for us needed to be a quiet affair.”

“A walk sounds good. And yeah, next time, dinner and a movie.”

Sam got out of the truck, and Kyle followed. They held hands as they walked down to the creek, the moonlight illuminating their way.

Fifteen

“T
HE
Fourth of July is next week; you wanna go see the parade, check out the festival in town?” Sam speared two more pancakes for his plate.

“What kind of festival?” Kyle helped himself to a second stack of pancakes.

“Dunking booths, carnival-type games, lots of food that’s bad for you. A few rides. Hey, I can win you a stuffed animal.” Sam winked at him.

“I’ll pass on the stuffed animal, thank you. But it sounds like fun.”

“Best part is the fireworks.”

“Billy and I have seen fireworks over the Hudson. It’s pretty cool.”

“Yeah. We’ve got a local radio station that synchronizes the music to the fireworks. We can take some snacks with us, set up early to get a good spot.”

“Does… does the whole town come out?”

“Pretty much. You know us, pretty laid-back, so when a shindig like this comes along, we all check it out.”

Kyle took a sudden interest in his breakfast, even though he had stopped eating.

“What?”

Kyle shrugged. “Everyone knows you in town.”

“Well, yeah, I grew up here.”

“They know….”

“I’m gay? I told you they did.”

“And they don’t, you know….”

“Run me out of town?”

Kyle looked up at that. “That’s not what I—”

“Well, kinda sounded like it. Why do you continue to think being gay is a bad thing, or at least something to be ashamed of?” Sam kept his voice even, nonjudgmental.

“Because that’s all I’ve known. Hank… hell, the whole neighborhood, being gay is wrong. It’s a sin.”

“Riiiight.”

“I didn’t write the rules.”

“Well, believe me, they are just picking out the last vestiges of Old Testament rules that are still PC to do so. It won’t be long until those bigots are a thing of the past and gays will be accepted as normal.”

“How do you deal with them?”

It was Sam’s turn to shrug. “Ignore them. They aren’t worth my energy trying to convert them. I can only hope by portraying a positive gay person, they will see the error in their beliefs.”

“So, you’ve taken a date into town before?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“And what? I took my high school boyfriend to the diner. We ate, talked, walked the square, went home.”

“No one tried to mess with you?”

“Nope. Got some stares and one stupid idiot called us a name… from his car that sped past us. Couldn’t even say it to our faces. Coward.”

“So, it’s okay for us to… you know, go there?”

“I wouldn’t have asked you if it wasn’t. I figure our little sleepy town is a little more tolerant than others. Or at least just too polite to say anything. Haven’t quite figured out which.” Sam reached across the table to give Kyle’s hand a squeeze.

“I guess, it sounds okay. I’d like to see the fireworks with you.”

“Then it’s settled. We’ll all head into town, let the folks go off and do their thing, we’ll do ours.”

“I’m still kinda surprised at your parents.”

“Why’s that?”

“They are just more… accepting than what I’m used to.”

“Do you know anyone who’s gay back in the city?”

“Billy’s brother, Lawrence. He got beat pretty bad when he came out. His parents, well, they didn’t beat him, but they ignored him, which I think is worse. He finally got out of our neighborhood when he got a scholarship to college. Billy hopes to go visit him one day. I doubt he’ll be coming back home anytime soon and I can guarantee that if he does, he won’t be bringing a boyfriend with him.”

“I’m sorry for him. I couldn’t imagine not having my parents by my side. Wanting whatever makes me happy. And you make me happy.”

“I… I’m happy too.”

“Good. Now, finish up, those cows aren’t going to milk themselves.”

The week went by quickly and the Fourth was upon them. Kyle couldn’t believe an entire month had gone by since he came to the farm. Even with the constant e-mails and chats with Billy, his life back in the city seemed like a lifetime ago.

“Yo, Kyle, get moving!” Kyle heard Sam’s voice carry up the stairs. He quickly finished an e-mail to Billy and shut off his laptop.

“I’m coming.” Kyle bounded down the stairs to see the Johnson family all ready to go. “Sorry.”

“No worries, here’s your jacket, it’s going to be a little cool out tonight.” Sam handed him the jacket, then took his hand. “Let’s go. I’ve got a craving for a corn dog.”

It took a few minutes to realize they were holding hands right in front of his parents who… didn’t even take notice. Yeah, he could get used to this kind of lifestyle very easily. “All you think about is food.”

“Well, as Mom puts it, I’m a growing boy.” Sam leaned over and kissed his mother on the cheek.

“If that’s the case, you should be seven feet tall by now.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Come on, let’s go get some terribly-bad-for-you food. We’ll work it off tomorrow.” He led them out of the house; they all got into Glenda’s car, where Sam proceeded to take Kyle’s hand again.

Kyle glanced over at him, and keeping his voice quiet, he said, “You like holding my hand.”

“Well, yeah. That’s what two people do when they’re dating.”