Before You

I've had some very kind offers for beta help when mine isn't available. Because the intellectual property in the project will go to retail, it's a tricky legal matter. The contracts department of SP would have to compose some kind of legal release against outside profit rights. I really have to stick with the beta used by my publisher.



Thanks to those who were willing.



KD





CHAPTER TWENTY



Adam tended to spend a lot of time with the more fulltime residents. Women like Roth had watched him with that one night, and some of the more troubled drug users. The doctor in him noted the care his lover invested. Not just in his personal safety, but in insuring that of those he tended.



Roth helped prepare lunch with Joseph. The younger man didn’t meet his eyes, although he remained polite. Finally, Roth peeled off his plastic gloves washed his hands and went to stand beside the guy. Wrapping one arm around the much smaller man, he asked, “Can we talk privately?”



Joseph nodded. “Out back. Gimme five.”



Roth waited. As soon as the younger man arrived, he spoke candidly. “I don’t want you ashamed about the other day.”



Joseph covered his face with his hands like a child. “You’re so wonderful, and I’m so pathetic.”



Hauling him close, Roth hugged him. Fierce in his emotion, he insisted, “You’re far from pathetic. Joseph, I don’t know if you have somewhere besides here to crash, but I want you to come live with me.”



The kid sobbed. “No, I couldn’t do that to you.”



Holding him tighter, Roth said, “I’m offering you a home. Long as you wish to stay.”



The smaller man stepped back, staring up at him. “Why?”



Roth cradled his face in his hands. “Family is important. I know you deserve to have one. Honor me.”



Joseph wept, clinging to him and nodding almost senselessly.







That night, the kid rode home with them. Adam kept up conversation, playing the new arrangement as a favor to Roth-of-the-God-complex. Joseph relaxed. Roth fell farther in love. The sensitivity it required to make a person like Joseph feel they extended a boon rather than accepted one, made Roth’s heart swell.



The new resident’s meager belongings required two plastic grocer’s bags to carry inside. Joseph, clearly intimidated, gawked at his surrounding.



Roth attempted to allay his intimidation. “One remote for each TV. I’ll get you copies of keys to the doors and write down security codes. Help yourself to whatever you like, and just tell me when to expect company so I don’t walk around naked.”



They walked him to the guest house beyond the yet unfinished pool. Adam made an obvious point of showing the young man he approved of his presence. Left with no further host duties, they walked back to the main house. The sliding glass doors had barely closed behind them, when Adam whispered, “We can’t leave him out there by himself, can we?”



“Is he clean?”



“Miraculously, yes.”



“Tell me what to do, baby.”



“He’s probably scared to death. Might help him adjust not being alone the first night. Just having another body in the bed might ease the transition.” Adam turned, opened the sliders and walked back to the guest house. He returned cradling Joseph like a woman. Without speaking, Roth followed his lover as he carried Joseph into what Roth had begun to consider their bedroom.



“Please,” Joseph began softly, “I can’t stand the idea of causing trouble.”



“It’s okay,” Roth soothed. “For this first night, you can sleep between us.”



They undressed Joseph together, just down to his underwear. Roth dug out a pair of pajama pants a visiting friend of his had left, and helped the younger man into them. Although he said nothing, Roth noted the multitude of small old scars, as if he’d frequently received minor to more serious wounds as a child. Joseph seemed to slowly realize he didn’t need to fight the urge to accept comfort or have any fear. They stretched out on either side of him, each putting an arm over him and Joseph slept soundly within minutes.







Joseph attempted to do the grown-man-needed-cuddled walk of shame in the morning. Roth looked at his lover. The mischievous light in those violet irises urged him on. They caught him before he made it to the bedroom door, tussling with him. Having grown up as the eldest, Roth’s experience served him well.



It felt very domestic. Roth cooked for them both and smiled.









His cell rang as he walked from the impromptu exam room. “Garrett.”



“Roth? Nathan Rigley. Keith Dyer advised me to contact you.”



“You helped in my brother’s rescue. Yes. Hello.”



“Looking into a private sector deal near you. Keith said I should call.”



Roth replied, “Yes, stay with me. Love to have you.”



“I appreciate the offer.”



“Tell me when to get you at the airport.” Roth had two extra bedrooms in the main house and the guesthouse had a master and a den with a queen-sized pullout.



“New Year’s Eve at noon.”



“Have Keith give you my email and send me the itinerary. Looking forward to it.”







Roth got caught at the shelter and had to send Adam after Nathan. Thankfully, they had taken both vehicles. They agreed Adam would get Nathan and get him back to the house, while Roth and Joseph finished at the shelter and stopped on their way home for some last minute purchases. Roth planned to do a spread of appetizers, have some mixed drinks and champagne.



Joseph seemed apprehensive about the stranger. As they shopped a little gourmet market on Habersham Street, he asked, “How long have you known this guy?”



Selecting a Brebicet and a wheel of brie from the cheese case, he placed it in the basket the other man carried. “This ‘guy’ risked his life saving my brother.”



“I just get nervous around strangers off my turf.”



Roth regarded him for a second, then added some applewood-smoked prosciutto. “Our place is your turf.” Thinking Nathan might prove a man of more simple tastes, he lead Joseph in a foray to the deli counter for a couple kinds of ham and roast beef. “Tell me what worries you.”



“I don’t mean to whine.”



“That’s not an answer.” Taking a number, he relieved his companion of the increasingly heavy basket. People had a general air of anticipation, doubtless on the same pre-party errand.



“It’s nothing.”



“Not to me.” Roth looked over at him, waiting.



Finally, after a few false starts, he said, “If you trust him, he must deserve it.”