The Boy Who Came in From the Cold (45 page)

Chapter 22

 

G
ABE swept Todd into his arms an instant after the door closed. Todd trembled, almost pulled away. “You knew they were coming,” he whispered.

 

“No, Todd. I didn’t. But I wasn’t surprised.”

Not surprised. Why weren’t you surprised?
“How did you know all that stuff about me? The will. The money?”
The money. Twenty thousand dollars!
Maybe that wasn’t a lot to someone like Gabe, or Peter for sure. But twenty thousand dollars was a hell of a lot to him.

“I found out a little last night, just before Peter and Izar got here. I didn’t think it wasthe time.”

 

“And after they left?”

 

Gabe pulled him closer. “I’m sorry. It just didn’t seem the time either.”

 

Todd looked up into his lover’s eyes. “Maybe. But you should have.”

Gabe bit his lower lip. “Maybe.”
“No maybe,” Todd replied. “You said it before. The time you bring someone like my mother and stepfather back into my life, I need to know. I need a warning.”
“It was a hell of a shock?” Gabe asked.
Todd nodded, pressed his face into the cleft between Gabe’s pectorals.
“Sorry,” Gabe said. “It just happened. But I promise.”
“Good,” said Todd.
“I mean it,” Gabe said. He lifted Todd’s chin, looked down at him with those gorgeous country-sky-blue eyes. “We have to trust each other. Build a foundation. One built on rocks and not sand. One that will allow us to withstand anything.”
Todd sighed. His heart raced—
“I love you, Todd.”
—then skipped a beat. “I love you too.”
They kissed.
But for only an instant, when there was a knock at the door.
No! It’s them!
“Gabe! Todd?” came a voice from the other side of the door. “It’s me. Tracy.”
“Tracy?” Gabe said, and pulling out of Todd’s arms, opened the door.

Todd saw a tall woman there, thick but stunning, wearing a red dress and long dark coat. “I missed it all, huh?” she asked. “Those two nearly mowed me down outside. I did get in, though.” She leaned against the threshold. “Wow, what a day!”

“Tell me about it,” Todd said.

 

She looked at him with large dark eyes. “So you’re Todd?” She looked at Gabe. “He’s cute, all right,” she said.

“Todd, this is Tracy. She’s the one who set all this in motion.” “All this?” Todd asked.

She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Yeah. That’s me all over.” She slumped. “Was it crazy?”
“Pretty crazy,” Gabe said.

“Frigging insane,” Todd added.
“Look, sorry kid. I didn’t mean all this to happen.”
“All of what?” he asked her. “What did you do?”
The was a cry in the hallway.

“I’ll explain it all,” she said. “But first, I got something for you.” She went into the hallway and came back in with a small animal carrier. “Is this yours?”

Todd looked down, surprised.
What the hell?
He squatted, looked into the plastic box and then his eyes went wide in shock. “Leia!” he cried.

He quickly opened the container, and a squalling ball of whiteand-black fur launched up into his arms, crying piteously. “Leia!” he sobbed and buried his face against her shoulder. “Oh, Leia!” He rocked her in his arms, then looked up at Tracy. Damn, she was tall. “How?”

“Well, when I was in Buckman—”
“You were in Buckman?” Todd asked, astonished.
“—and I was talking to your neighbors, I saw this cat. Made me

remember Gabe talking about how much you loved yours. And any man who loves a cat is okay by me!”

“But how did you know she was mine?” Todd said laying his beloved Leia over his shoulder. Gabe had stepped up and was holding out his fingers, which she sniffed curiously.

“The one I saw wasn’t her. But I asked the neighbors—an older couple who say you used to mow their lawn all the time—they told me what she looked like. Said she came to their back door for food.”

So the son of a bitch did kick her out
, Todd thought and snuggled his cat closer. She was purring up a storm now and nudging her face against Gabe’s hand.

“So I went to the Wally Mart and picked up this carrier and came back and waited. Sure enough, she came along—finally—but she sure as heck didn’t want to go in it.” She held up a hand showing several scratches.

Todd laughed. “Well, she’s out of it now.” He turned to Gabe. “Can I keep her?”

 

“Of course you can,” Gabe said, and kissed Todd’s forehead. “Thank you, Tracy.”

“Oh, yes, Tracy, thank you!” Todd said, and hugged her, Leia pressed between them.
“It was the least I could do, huh, Gabe,” she said.

“You done good, Tracy. You done good.”

Todd went to the couch and sat down, and his cat instantly flipped over belly-up, demanding a good petting. Todd didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he scratched her tummy. He looked up at his lover, and even Tracy. Sighed.

Wow. It was true. What Gabe had said.
The only way had been up.
And how could it ever get better than this?

Epilogue

 

T
O THEcasual observer, the kitchen of Izar’s Jatetxea might have looked like chaos, but that wasn’t the truth of the situation. Todd Burton was directing the apparent bedlam like a conductor over his orchestra. Everything was going just as it should. Pots simmered or boiled, per his carefully organized plans. Cooks and helpers were all doing just exactly as they should, as if choreographed. Todd had learned quickly and well, responding to Izar’s teachings like a prodigy. In fact, she had recently given him control over the lunch crowd: Izar would let no one else have her kitchen for dinner; it was a part of her pride. It suited Todd perfectly because he had every evening with Gabe. And it suited the restaurant even more: a recent reviewer had praised the lunch venue, and Izar was considering letting Todd make more serious changes.

“Change can be good, right,
maitia
?” Izar had told him.

The comment could have no less surprised him than if she had announced she was going to get rid of the restaurant and sell used cars. Izar was pretty set in her ways!

Todd smiled at the endearment.
Maitia
. Sweet. Honey. Could he have imagined the woman who threw him out of her kitchen a year and a half ago would use such a word about him?

“Todd!” He turned as Janice, a young woman he had convinced Izar to hire a few months before, ran up to him as per her habit. She held a big spoon with one hand cupped beneath it.
“What do you think?” she asked, holding it up for him to taste.

“What do
you
think?” he asked, as he sampled the spoon’s contents.
“Well….” She hesitated. “I think it needs just a touch of fennel. I think the saffron is perfect.”

“I think the same thing,” he replied and winked. “Trust your instincts.”

“I’m learning, but you’re still the general,” she said with a grin. “The general?” came Izar’s familiar voice, “Not the colonel?”
Izar? What was she doing here?
he wondered.

“Then am I no longer first in command?” She was coming up the main isle, her thick dark hair pulled back, and she was shoving it into a net as if she was ready to cook.

“Miss Goya!” Janice cried. “I didn’t mean any disrespect.” Izar smiled and waved her hand. “Go on, Janice,” she said, chuckling, “I only tease.”

 

Janice giggled and ran back to her station.

“You were right about her,” Izar told Todd. “What would I do without you?”
“You did just fine before.”

“But I do better now!” She grinned. “Thanks to you.” “I think I’m the one who owes you the thanks.”
“Enough with the thanks! We are beyond that now. Okay?” Todd nodded.
“Are you nervous,
maitia
?”
“Nervous?” he asked.
What for? Everything was going just fine
.

“About the papers. Everyone’s here, you know. In the dining room.”
Papers?
Todd’s eyes flew wide.
The papers!
That’s why Izar was here.
He dashed out of the kitchen and into the main dining room, and there was Gabe, looking stunning in his business suit, and Kent—their Realtor—sitting at a table with a stack of papers in front of him. Kent rose when he saw him. “Todd. You ready to become a homeowner?”
He nodded to the other man who was sitting there, someone Todd could only think of as The Man from the Bank.

Gabe stepped up to Todd and kissed him, “Hey, Babe.” “Was this today?” Todd asked, surprised.

Gabe chuckled. “I’d thought you remembered after the way we… ah… celebrated last night.”

Todd blushed furiously, Kent looked away—obviously a little embarrassed himself—and when Todd glanced Izar’s way, he saw her leaning back on the bar, arms crossed across her chest, an amused look on her beautiful face. The Man from the Bank had no expression at all.

He’s like a robot
, thought Todd nervously.
“Let’s do it,” Gabe said and pulled out a chair.

Papers. I’m going to own a home.
That reminded him of the night long ago when Gabe had told him why he didn’t own a house…

“I don’t want to find a house until I find him,” he’d said that day. And then…
“When I find him, I want us to find a house together. So it’s more

than a building made of wood or stone or brick. So it’s a home. Our home.”

Now they were going to own that home together.
So they signed what felt like a thousand different pages, and when they were finally done and The Man from the Bank checked once more to make sure there wasn’t an unsigned or uninitialed page, he finally smiled and handed them a set of keys. “Congratulations. You are nowboth homeowners.” He rose and held out his hand.
Todd discreetly wiped his on his pants leg as he brought it up from his side, a trick Peter had taught him.
Never ever let anyone shake a sweaty palm.

Then the man was packing up his briefcase, like an extra in an off-Broadway play, and disappearing into—as it were—the wings.

Izar came forward, and behind her Janice wheeled a cart with a bucket of ice and a bottle of Champagne. “Congratulations,” she said, beaming. “I’m so proud.”

She popped the cork and the rest of the crew ran out for a glass, even if it was fast and they only had an inch. A watched pot never boils, but an unwatched pot can boil over and make a complete mess.

“To Todd and Gabriel and their new
exte
, casa, home. May it hold more than a pillow to rest their head, be more than a fortress to protect them, but a place where their love can thrive and grow even more beautiful than it already is. Congratulations, my friends!”