Page 72 of Dreams and Reptiles

“What?”

“I just don’t want things to go south. I love my daughter fiercely, but she’s kind of unpredictable. I would hate for her say something to chase you away.”

“Oh, you don’t think Saucy Boyfriend can handle a little bananapantsery? She won’t scare me away. And I dare her to not like me. I’ll turn on the charm so stealthily she won’t know what hit her, and before you know it, we’ll be besties.”

“I hope you’re right,” I said, as I held the door open for him. I’d had a taste of such a great life this weekend. I didn’t want it to be over.

Francis made me scrambled eggs and sausage, frowning at the lean contents of my fridge.

“I eat a lot at work, so I don’t buy too much for home. I hate to waste.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Hmph. Oh well, just means I get to feed you more.”

“Baby, you don’t have to⁠—”

“But you know I love to. And if I’ve got an event, I’m going to have extra anyway.”

“I feel bad that I’m keeping you from your retreat,” I said, drinking the tea he’d made. It was good. I forgot how much I actually liked tea. I had a feeling he’d given me tea rather than coffee in hopes that I would get some more sleep today. He’d really listened when I’d said that on my first day off, I tried to rest.

“I’ll head over in a bit, it’s fine,” he said, sitting down in the chair next to mine at the small table. He rested his bare foot on the rung underneath the seat. “Mom and Auntie Judy already said they’d handle breakfast, which is just putting out goodies. This group only paid to have lunches and dinners prepared, and breakfast is on their own. I guess some of them like to get up at the crack of dawn, and others sleep in, probably like the ones from last night. They finally took some cans of cider and headed to the guest wing around eleven. I hadn’t thought about having folks in my house, staying up at all hours. I need to think about how to handle that for future retreats. You should have heard some of their wild ideas! A couple of them even write gay romance novels. Can you believe it?”

I waggled my eyebrows at him. “Little do they know there’s a gay romance going on right under their noses.” I leaned toward him and rested a hand on his thigh.

He moaned with a happy smile as he leaned in and kissed me. “So, I have to ask…”

I stopped with a forkful of eggs halfway to my mouth.

“No, please eat. I wondered if the decor in this house was your grandmother’s doing?”

I smiled. “Yeah. I know, it’s a little dated, but it makes me think of her from a time when she wasn’t sick.”

“Did you spend much time out here?”

“Actually, yeah. Summers when I was a kid. I fished in the lake with Grandpa and helped him take care of the animals. I learned to sew with Grandma. I loved it, loved them. It helped that I was the only grandkid and they spoiled me with attention.”

“Oh, so we’re both only children? That’s wild.”

“You had your cousins, though, yeah? You were close?”

“Oh yeah. We were best friends. Our Lau grandparents are really fun, too. We spent a lot of time with them as kids because they lived with Auntie Judy and Uncle Gordon. When we started college, they sold the restaurant to Auntie Judy and Uncle Gordon, and they took off to Palm Springs. They’re living it up down there.”

“I almost moved here when I was a teenager and my parents got divorced. I hated the back and forth, and they did not hide their dislike for each other. They each fell short of blatantly talking shit about the other, but yeah. I was ready to move here, Grandma invited me, but then I discovered girls…”

“Ah. The downfall of many men. Or so I hear.”

“I hate being a cliché,” I said, flinging my nonexistent hair back. “Anyway, I’ll update the place eventually, but it felt homey when I got here. I helped Grandma make the quilts and drapes in the bedroom when I was like ten, I think. I forgot you hadn’t been over yet.”

“After Alberto and I were done, and your captain came to tell us you’d be back, I just thought I’d wait for you. I hope I didn’t overstep,” he whispered, gazing at me with dark eyes that held a bit of uncertainty.

“Why would you think that? I loved that you were here. Wish it wouldn’t have been under those circumstances though.”

“When I saw the fire, I sprang into action like I knew what I was doing or something.” He laughed and covered his mouth. “My mom was like ‘what are you going to do?’ It’s a good thing I didn’t ask my own self that question.”

I took his hands in mine. “It means so much to me that you wanted to help. I would hope, however, that if the fire was any closer, you would have evacuated your family and your guests. Have you had a fire inspection over there?”

He blinked. “I… no? The sprinkler people came and tested the systems in the sheds. The alarm company checked the systems… Oh my goshness. Am I in trouble?”

“No, but do you have an evacuation plan? I can help you. It’s crucial that you have one. Last night was a perfect example of why.”