Special Delivery: Special Delivery, Book 1 (39 page)

Unfortunately, though, their relationship only reminded Sam of the call he’d promised to make to Mitch, a call which, by September, he still hadn’t made.

He looked at the photos of the trip all the time, flipping through them on the Internet album he’d loaded them to before he gave away his phone. Every now and again he texted Mitch to tell him someone had called or simply to check on him, to see how he was doing. Mitch always said he was good and Sam’s mother was enjoying herself, perched proudly in a space he’d made on the dash. Always, always Mitch said to call him soon.

Sam wanted to, more every day. Life felt empty without Mitch, even as Sam put his life together as he never had. Every brick he put in place without Mitch felt hollow. Part of what he learned by being apart from Mitch was that he honestly did love him, that he didn’t want Mitch to take care of him, that he wanted to be with him because life was brighter and more interesting with him in it. He understood, too, what Mitch had said about not getting any points for doing everything himself. He needed his uncle and his money, and he needed Emma to help with the rent and to remind him to eat.

The problem was he also learned he needed to work. He missed Mitch, but he didn’t miss feeling like his piece on the side, the cute little boy who had come along for the ride. He was getting better grades now that he wasn’t so distracted, and he was starting to get excited about doing this nursing thing for real. That was the
big
problem.

How could he get a job and still be with Mitch? Would it be better or worse to see him when he blew into town? Would Mitch, the self-confessed gypsy, truly be happy to stay put? He kept trying to write out a compromise in his head, but he couldn’t make it work, no matter how he tried. And so he let time wear on and on, aching more and more with each day but not knowing how to make his misery end.

In October, Randy called him.

Sam hadn’t known it was him, at first—he’d seen the number and not recognized it, and almost hadn’t answered it because he was heading to class. But he had, and before he even had “hello” out of his mouth, his ear was full of swearing.

“What the fuck are you doing? Why the hell aren’t you calling him, you little shit?”

Sam blinked. “Randy?”

“Peaches—seriously, what the fuck is going on?”

Sam put his pack down and sat at the kitchen table. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You haven’t called him. He’s going crazy, Sam, and now he’s calling
me
, and he’s
talking all the time
, and he never does this, so I’m worried, and now
I’m
going crazy.”

Sam clutched at the phone. “Randy, I don’t know how.”

“To use a phone?”

“
No.
” Sam told Randy all his reservations, all his fears and all his unworkable solutions, and then he sank in his chair, so depressed he couldn’t straighten his spine.

For a minute Randy was silent, and then he said, “Peaches, I love you very much.”

Sam ached. Even Randy could see this was hopeless. “I love you too, Randy.”

“Good. Sam Keller, you are a fucking idiot.”

Sam sat up. “
Hey.
”

“You by a computer, sweetheart? Get to one right now, go into Google and type in three words. Let me know when you’re ready.”

Wary and still irritated, Sam went to his laptop and fired up his browser. “Okay, what are the words?”

“Travel nursing jobs.”

Hope flickered in Sam’s heart, but he quelled it, thinking,
no, it can’t be that easy.
But then he hit
search
, and he saw what came up, and his breath caught. Job after job after job, positions around the country, from six weeks to fourteen. Still disbelieving, Sam clicked on one site, and then another and another, and then, quietly, he started to cry.

“Personally, I’m a fan of American Mobile, based on the limited research I did,” Randy said, when the silence went on too long. “But you need to make sure you get something with killer insurance, unless it works out that if you base out of Iowa you’re covered on Mitch’s wherever you go. Most of them really are good, though, for benefits. And, I might add, there are always a lot of openings in Vegas.”

“You knew about this?” Sam couldn’t stop crying. “Why didn’t you
say
?”

“Because I didn’t know you didn’t know. Jesus, Sam, I figured they’d have posters taped to your head with this shit.”

“I didn’t know,” Sam whispered.

“Now, calm down. Honestly, you’re both hopeless. I have no idea what the two of you would do without me.”

“Me either.” Sam smiled at the phone. “Thank you.”

“Call him now.” Randy blew him a kiss and hung up.

Sam waited until he’d recovered, but his hands started shaking as soon as he dialed, and when it finally rang and his own voice message came on, he choked up again, and all he could manage to say was, “Mitch—please come home.”

Then, because he was already late, he left so he could get to class. He kept his phone on even though there were signs in every classroom to turn them off, and he checked it every few minutes to make sure he hadn’t somehow missed Mitch’s call. At six o’clock, though, he still hadn’t, or nine, either, or ten, or ten thirty, and when Sam woke up at five in the morning with the phone in his hand, there was still no missed call.

“Call again,” Emma suggested, when he couldn’t eat his breakfast because his stomach hurt.

“I waited too long. He’s angry. I waited too long.”

“Call him.” Emma spread her books out across the table to do her homework.

Sam didn’t have class until nine, but he couldn’t do his homework, couldn’t do anything but clutch the phone and pace the apartment, and when he couldn’t stand that anymore, he stood at the window, looking down at Middleton with heartsick despair.

As he stood there, despondent and terrified at what he’d left undone, he saw a semi and trailer go by, right beneath his window, heading down the hill into downtown, a little bit faster than it was supposed to be going on Main Street.

The semi cab was blue.

Sam shouted in joy and dashed across the apartment, grabbed his shoes and tore frantically down the stairs. He wore the boxers and T-shirt that were his pajamas. He didn’t care.

It might not be him
.
You could be seeing things.
But his heart was sick of reason and caution, so it didn’t listen. It had to be Mitch. The truck was the same color as Old Blue, and Mitch had said he’d come as soon as he called. It was him. It had to be.

As Sam came down the hill and looked ahead to the pharmacy, he saw that, in fact, it was.

Old Blue blocked the whole right lane, her flashers going, and everyone on Main Street stood around, pointing and wondering what was going on. Sam ran faster, not caring that his lungs were so overworked they were liable to explode.

Mitch was here. Mitch had come for him. He stood on the sidewalk—until he looked up the hill, saw Sam and started running too.

They met like a movie ending, launching into each other’s arms, but unlike a movie, they banged together, hit heads and came down laughing, not kissing, not at first. Then their mouths met, and though Sam knew all of Middleton would talk of this for
years
, he kissed Mitch back and wrapped his arms around his neck, fully intending to never let him go again.

“There’s a job—” Sam stopped for breath. “A service, online—Randy found it.” He kissed Mitch hard once more on the mouth, just because he could. “I can go with you, Mitch.
I can go
with
you.
”

“Is that why you’ve been waiting?” He tweaked Sam’s nose. “I would have stayed wherever you were, as long as you needed to. And I will, until you’re done with school.”

“But you need to travel. That’s who you are—you want to see the country. I can’t hold you back.”

“Sunshine, I’ve done nothing but drive loads up and down I-80 between Chicago and Omaha ever since I dropped you off. I couldn’t go any farther, because I wanted to be close enough to come right away as soon as you called. You caught me heading
into
Chicago, so I had to dump my load first, before I could come back. I drove here deadhead because I didn’t want to wait to pick anything up.” He smiled at Sam. “Just you.”

A police car pulled up behind Old Blue, and an officer came over. It was a guy Sam knew from high school. “Sir, you’ll have to move your rig. You’re blocking traffic.”

Mitch held up a hand. “I only need one minute. Maybe two.” He turned to Sam, looking nervous but determined. “You asked me before I left what I wanted, and I didn’t tell you. Can I tell you now?”

“You can tell me anything, anytime. What do you want, Mitch?”

Mitch almost went green for a moment, and then, carefully, disentangled himself from Sam’s embrace and went down onto the sidewalk on one knee.

Sam’s head spun.
He isn’t, no he isn’t,
reason whispered, as his heart hoped, and then as Mitch’s hand came out of his pocket holding two silver rings, Sam’s heart soared, because he realized, actually, Mitch was.

With half the town watching, Mitch Tedsoe took Sam’s hand. “Sunshine, will you marry me?”

Sam heard Emma’s strangled, joyful cry from behind him. He saw his aunt’s shocked face through the windows of the pharmacy. He saw them all, but mostly he saw Mitch and the beautiful, wonderful, better-than-he-ever-dreamed future expanding out before them both as a smile split his face so wide it hurt.

“Yes,” Sam replied, his heart so full he was laughing. “Yes.”

About the Author

Heidi Cullinan has always loved a good love story, provided it has a happy ending. She enjoys writing across many genres but loves above all to write happy, romantic endings for LGBT characters because there just aren’t enough of those stories out there. When Heidi isn’t writing, she enjoys cooking, reading, knitting, listening to music and watching television with her husband and ten-year-old daughter. Heidi also volunteers frequently for her state’s LGBT rights group, One Iowa, and is proud to be from the first Midwestern state to legalize same-sex marriage. Find out more about Heidi, including her social networks, at
www.heidicullinan.com
.

Look for these titles by Heidi Cullinan

Now Available:

A Private Gentleman

Family Man (with Marie Sexton)

Let it Snow

Love Lessons

Love Lessons

Coming Soon:

Special Delivery

Double Blind

Tough Love

Love Lessons

Fever Pitch

Know when to show your hand…and when to hedge your bets.

Double Blind

© 2014 Heidi Cullinan

Special Delivery, Book 2

Randy Jensen can’t stand to just sit by and watch as a mysterious man throws money away on the roulette wheel, especially since Randy’s got his own bet going as to the reason this guy is making every play like it’s his last day on earth. The man’s dark desperation hits Randy right in the gut. Half of him warns that getting involved is a sucker’s bet, and the other half scrambles for a reason—any reason—to save the man’s soul.

Ethan Ellison has no idea what he’s going to do with himself once his last dollar is gone—until Randy whirls into his life with a heart-stealing smile and a poker player’s gaze that sees too much.

Randy draws Ethan into a series of wagers that leads to a scorching kiss by midnight, but he isn’t the only one with an interest in Ethan’s vulnerability. Soon they’re both taking risks that not only play fast and loose with the law, but with the biggest prize of all: their hearts.

Warning: This story contains high-stakes poker, gangsters with a weakness for kittens, foursomes, and kinky consensual sex.

It takes a strong man to be this fabulous.

Tough Love

© 2014 Heidi Cullinan

Special Delivery, Book 3

Crescencio “Chenco” Ortiz pulled himself up by his garter straps after his father’s will yanked the financial rug from under his spank-me pumps. He doesn’t need anyone, yet when Steve Vance steps into his life, the prospect of having a sexy leather daddy on tap begins to take on a certain appeal.

There’s a hitch when he learns Steve is friends with Mitch Tedsoe—the half-brother Chenco never knew except through his father’s twisted lies. Despite his reservations, soon Chenco is living his dreams, including a performing gig in Vegas. Now if only he could get Steve to see him as more than just a boy in need of saving.

Steve’s attraction to Chenco is overshadowed by too many demons, ones he knows his would-be lover is too young to slay. Yet as he gets to know the bright, determined young man whose drag act redefines fierce, Steve’s inner sadist trembles with need. He begins to realize Chenco’s relentless tough love might be the only thing that will finally set him free.

Warning: This story contains glamorous drag queens, exhibitionist secondary characters, and steaming-hot BDSM play. Reader may wish to apply glitter eye shadow for maximum enjoyment.