“How the hell’s he making cake without milk and eggs?” Steve laughed.
“The kid’s a magician,” Jamie chuckled. “Didn’t you know?”
“I do now.”
“We better hurry then,” Ian said. “I want some of that cake, whatever the hell it’s made from.”
They cleared the dining room of all its unnecessary contents and added three more chairs. Seating rearranged, a china cabinet pushed and arranged into the living room, an American flag removed from its golden poles, but never allowed to touch the ground—it was this process that struck a chord in Dakota’s chest and played Mozart across his heart as he watched Jamie fold the flag into a triangle and place it into its embossed-wood display case. The name Carter Marks briefly winked back at him, but didn’t remain in view as Jamie wrapped his arms around it and pressed it against his chest.
His father’s, he thought, watching his boyfriend leave the room with a sense of guilt in his heart.
“Maybe we shouldn’t have done this here,” Steve sighed.
“He’s ok,” Erik said, gripping Steve’s shoulder. “It’s not easy to take a flag down, especially when it’s for someone you loved.”
“Have you had to do it?” Dakota asked.
“Once. For my uncle. That was different though…he died here, at home. Not at war.”
Dakota pushed the conversation into a different direction by commenting on how large the dining room was and how it would be nice to have everyone sit down for dinner just in time for Jamie to return to the room. While Steve and Erik continued to talk—Erik retelling a story from his and Jamie’s childhood, Steve nodding and commenting as needed—Jamie sought Dakota’s eyes from the threshold and smiled when their gazes met.
“Sorry about that,” Jamie said, drawing all eyes in the room toward him. “I forgot it was in here.”
“Nothing to apologize for,” Ian said.
“We know it’s tough,” Steve said.
“Thanks, guys, I appreciate it.”
“Desmond says dinner’ll be ready in ten,” Ian said, sticking his head into the room. “One of us needs to go get Kevin and his kids.”
“I’ll do it,” Dakota said, stepping toward the threshold. He stopped in midstride to run his hand along Jamie’s arm and lace their fingers together. “You gonna be ok?”
“I’ll be fine,” Jamie said, kissing his hair. “Go get ‘em. I’ll be here when you get back.”
Dakota squeezed Jamie’s hand one last time before heading for the door.
The cold, early-November air snaked along his body and curled around the base of his neck as he made his way across the front lawns and toward the third house. The wall now freshly-raised, the barricade from the outside world in place, Dakota felt peace as first his foot fell onto a stepping stone, then landed on the grass. Like an Olympic runner pulled from the track and placed in the woods, each stepped seemed foreign, strange and alien in a world that shouldn’t seem to exist. It felt odd to feel safe after months of feeling as though his life trembled on trapeze wire.
Pausing to consider himself, Dakota climbed up the three brief stairs before he raised a hand to knock.
A flicker of movement stirred the curtains in the window near his side. The deadbolt on the other side of the door snapped out of place and the door opened. “Hey,” Kevin said, bracing his upper arm against the doorjamb. “Something wrong?”
“We haven’t seen you around,” Dakota smiled. “Are you guys all right?”
“We’re good,” Kevin said, glancing back into the house. “I didn’t know what to expect, but…this wasn’t it.”
“I’m glad you like it.” Dakota paused. He thought he saw another flicker of movement behind the curtain—this time complete with two pairs of eyes—but returned his attention to Kevin. “I’m don’t mean to bother you, sir, but Jamie asked me to come over and invite you all to dinner. Desmond’s making something special to celebrate the wall.”
“The wall?” Kevin asked, peering over Dakota’s shoulder.
“They finished putting up the gate.”
“I only just woke up, so I wasn’t sure what you were talking about.”
“We finished it about an hour ago.”
“That’s great,” Kevin smiled, reaching out to set a hand on Dakota’s shoulder. “As to your invitation, are you sure that would be acceptable?”
“He invited you,” Dakota said. “You’re one of us.”
“Thank you, son. And give your boyfriend my thanks as well. Me, Mark, Arnold and Jeh…I mean…we will be over in a few.”
“Take your time. We’ll wait for you.”
Dakota waited for Kevin to close the door.
When he turned, stepped off the porch and started to make his way back home, he sighed.
Kevin had known about him and Jamie.
And he still can’t remember that Jessiah isn’t alive anymore.
However sobering the thought, he couldn’t let it get to him.
Regardless of another’s circumstance, despite someone else’s troubles, he had his whole life ahead of him. He might as well start enjoying it now.
“They comin’?” Jamie asked.
“Yeah,” Dakota said, shrugging his coat off his shoulders. “Smells good in here.”
“I know.”
“He just pulled the cake out of the oven,” Ian laughed, sticking his head out for a brief moment before carrying a pan of something into the dining room.
“How much did he make?” Dakota inquired.
“From the looks of it, enough to feed an army,” Jamie said. “Hey, is something wrong?”
“Huh?”
“You look bummed.”
“It’s nothing,” he said, leaning up against Jamie.
“Ok,” the older man said, setting his arms over Dakota’s shoulders. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“It’s nothing we need to talk about. Just something I realized when I was over at Kevin’s.”
A knock came at the door.
“Come in,” Jamie called.
The door opened. Kevin and his two children stood in the doorway, dressed from head to toe in winter gear.
“Good to see you,” Jamie said, gesturing them into the house. “Come in, come in.”
“Thank you for inviting us,” Kevin said, reaching out to accept Jamie’s hand over Dakota’s shoulder.
Dakota shrugged out of Jamie’s grasp so he could stand at his side. “How are you guys?”
“Doing better. Thank you for inviting us, Jamie.”
“You’re one of us now,” Jamie smiled. “Friends gotta stick together, right?”
“They sure do,” Kevin nodded.
“Get in here!” Steve called. “Dinner’s ready!”
“I just finished the cake!” Desmond added.
“Cake?” Mark said excitedly.
“How’d he make cake?” his older brother questioned, equally excited.
“I don’t know,” Kevin laughed, gesturing his children into the kitchen, “but I know I want some.”
When the father and his sons had fully disappeared from view, Dakota turned to face Jamie.
“Everything fine now?” Jamie asked.
“I’m fine,” Dakota smiled, reaching down to take Jamie’s hands. “Just thankful.”
“For what?”
“You… us… life.”
“I think we all are,” Jamie said, sliding an arm across Dakota’s shoulders before leading him toward the kitchen. “Trust me. I know we are.”
CHAPTER 13
The first touch of snow began to fall in the middle of November.
“Beautiful,” Jamie whispered. “Just beautiful.”
“You act like you’ve never seen snow before,” Ian taunted, throwing himself onto one of the couches.