Carol of the Bellskis (14 page)

bounce between them, weeping in need. Seth thrust up deeply, and Lars arched backward. Seth's

hand closed on Lars's dick and stroked in time with his thrusts, hands full of him, smelling him,

cock deep inside of him.

Lars came first, nearly collapsing onto Seth's chest as he did, clenching his ass and

spraying liquid heat onto Seth's chest. Seth's orgasm followed, endless, continuing wave after

wave until he felt wrung dry with delight.

Lars didn't pull off him right away. He collapsed forward as far as he comfortably could,

catching his breath. Wincing, he rose off Seth's cock, which remained hard long afterward, no

doubt still excited by the frantic pace of their lovemaking.

Seth dumped his condom and rolled toward Lars.

“Okay,” Lars whispered when he finally got his breath back.

“Okay, what?” Seth whispered back.

“I'll tell Finch. I'll tell my parents, my brother. I'll tell everyone.” Lars didn't look at him.

He stared unblinking up to the ceiling.

Seth's throat felt full, tight. He leaned into Lars, who put his arm around Seth and pulled

him close.

“Serious?” Seth asked after a minute.

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85

Lars's eyes were a little trembly with emotion, but he smiled. “Yeah. Fuck it. All I've got to

lose is everything. As long as I don't lose you.”

Seth didn't know how to put into words what he felt at that moment. It was as if something

hard snapped and broke open inside his heart, and warmth gushed out of the opening; love and

relief and pride poured through him, out of him, filling his fingers and breathing out of his

mouth, out into the world.

“I can't see the clock,” Seth said, voice choked. “What time is it?”

Lars glanced over. “Two thirteen a.m.”

“Officially the best fucking moment of my life,” Seth said.

Until four hours later, when the Bellskis arrived on the porch.

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Chapter Eight

As it happened, Seth was awake.

Lars's decision made sleep impossible; Seth was too excited. Around six in the morning, he

officially gave up on unconsciousness and started some coffee downstairs, where he could read

without disturbing Lars.

So he was awake and sitting there when he saw the kitchen doorknob turn.

He froze, feeling a sense of déjà vu. A week ago he'd seen nearly the same thing. He had

been shocked to find Lars on the other side of the door that time. Who would it be now?

Judi Bellski walked in, switched on the kitchen light automatically, turned around, and

screamed.

Seth screamed back.

“What the hell is going on?” Carl shouted.

“Judi! Carl!” Seth cried.

Judi squinted her eyes, as if not trusting her vision. “
Seth
?”

“What are you doing here?” Carl asked.

Seth stood, motionless in shock. “What…what am I
doing
here? I'm staying here! Where

the hell have you two been?”

“Didn't you get my note?” Judi asked. She sniffed at a glass jar. “Who ate all my crostini?”

“Keep your voices down; you'll wake the guests,” Seth told them.

Carl and Judi stared at Seth, looking like lost lambs.

“Guests? Everyone actually stayed?” Judi asked. She looked thrilled.

“
Yes!
You have fucking…” Seth ran a hand through his hair, trying to stay calm. His aunt

hated swear words. “You have a houseful of paying guests, remember? It's Hanukkah? It's been

Hanukkah for seven entire days?”

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Judi and Carl glanced at each other. Then they both started laughing, hugging each other

enthusiastically. “We're not ruined!” Carl shouted.

“Do you have any idea how upset we've all been?” Seth cried. “We have a nationwide

manhunt out for you! Ahava's about to fly out here with the kids, the police have searched every

icy ditch in the province, and you are now on millions of milk cartons!” Seth looked at their

faces, and the realization that they were here, safe and alive, finally sank through. He ran to Judi

and hugged her tightly, nearly crying into her neck. “I was so worried!”

“There, there, honey,” Judi said, patting his shoulder. “I'm sorry there was a little

confusion.”

“A
little
confusion? Do you have any idea what I've had to go through to run this place for

a week?”

“You've run this place?” Carl gasped. Seth tried not to feel insulted by his uncle's horror.

“Yes!” Seth snapped. “And they'll be expecting breakfast in an hour!”

Judi's eyes flashed. “Well, I'd better get started, then.” She smiled at Carl, and then the two

of them kissed. It wasn't something they normally did, and Seth looked away, a little freaked-out

by public displays of affection that involved tongues between people over the age of seventy.

Carl took their luggage upstairs. A few minutes later Lars emerged, hair standing on end,

stubble on his face, wearing a pair of long sweatpants that hung loosely over his hips. “What's

going on?” he asked, yawning.

Seth pointed to where Judi was busy rolling out dough. Lars immediately straightened.

“Lars, I want you to meet my aunt Judi. Aunt Judi, this is…this is my boss, Lars.”

Lars didn't bother shaking her outstretched hand. He gave her a hug. Seth could tell Judi

liked him immediately.

“So you're also a friend of Seth's, then?” she asked, eyebrow raising.

“Well, boyfriend, yeah.” Lars swallowed. He scratched his head.

Seth choked on his coffee.

“There, there,” Judi said, pounding Seth's back with unnecessary force. She beamed at

Lars. “It's very nice to finally meet you.”

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In the next hour the rest of the house woke up. Lars went upstairs, changed, and returned

looking ridiculously overdressed wearing a tie under his sweater. Seth noticed that Lars's sense

of fashion improved the more nervous he got, and therefore didn't say anything.

Over breakfast, Judi and Carl told everyone what had happened. It had, as Constable Singh

had predicted, all been a terrible misunderstanding.

“We had a fight,” Judi said, dishing out blintzes onto each plate. “Carl thought that B and

B meant more to me than he did, and he just up and left!”

“It was a stupid thing to do,” Carl interrupted.

Judi shook her head. “I thought he would come back any minute, but when I realized he

was gone for good, I had no choice but to go after him. I left a note on the door, but I figured you

would all see the locked door and just leave.”

“We'd flown all the way from the East Coast!” Sharon protested.

Rabbi Chaim frowned as well. “Where else would we have been able to eat kosher?”

Judi looked guilty. “I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt any of you. But I was about to lose my

husband, and I couldn't let him continue to think the B and B meant more to me than our

marriage.”

Seth shook his head. “But a week! Where have you been this whole time?”

“I flew home to Albany,” Carl explained. “I wanted to go where we first met, to put things

into perspective.”

“But I thought for sure he went to Hank Needleman's, over in Kamloops,” Judi continued.

“So I drove there first. By the time I figured out where he was, half the week had passed. I never

imagined that any of you would have stayed this whole time!”

“There was no note,” Seth said. “It must have blown away before I arrived.” He wanted to

be angry, but he couldn't. He was too relieved to feel much more than annoyance.

“When Judi finally found me and told me what she did, I realized that she does love me

more than the business,” Carl said, his eyes getting watery. “We assumed that the business was

ruined, though. We figured all of you would hate us for what we did to you and give us terrible

reviews.”

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Judi beamed. “I never figured that my nephew would be able to keep everything running

so smoothly!”

Immediately all the guests launched into exuberant praise, although Seth noted a lot more

was said about Lars's cooking than his own stellar leadership.

“He made me a vegan carrot cake!” Rabbi Chaim bragged.

“And teff grain!” Chana added.

“And the two of them saved my dog,” Ben Berkowitz bellowed, getting teary-eyed.

The atmosphere remained festive, even after breakfast, as Rita and Mendel returned from

the hospital and all the guests milled about in the living room, talking loudly enough to be heard

over Doctor Mister's barking.

Carl said something to Lars and led him over into the corner. Seth watched from a distance

with concern. Having never brought a lover to meet his relatives, Seth was inexperienced in how

his family would treat Lars. While they all accepted Seth's orientation, that didn't always mean

relatives would openly welcome the man who was sodomizing their nephew.

Seth walked closer, ostentatiously returning some books to the bookshelf, and overheard

Carl.

“…so then, am I liable for my opponent's attorney's fees? Or can I force the son of a bitch

to pay my legal costs if I win?”

“That depends, Mr. Bellski.” Lars rolled his eyes at being trapped into giving free legal

advice.

“He's very handsome.”

Seth turned and put his arm around his aunt's shoulder. “I know. I've got good taste.”

Judi wiped her hands on her apron. “How come you never mentioned you were dating your

boss?”

“We haven't been very out about it until recently.”

“Oh? How recently?”

“Like…an hour before you arrived.”

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Judi smiled. “I knew the Chuppah Room was a good choice.” She patted Seth's cheek.

“Thank you, Seth. I know it can't have been easy, but you and Lars did a wonderful job. I really

wrote off the B and B as a lost cause. You saved us, and I owe you for that.”

“But things are good between you two again?” Seth asked, unsure how much detail he

wanted but concerned for the longevity of their relationship. He needed to know people could

make it far into the future, even with obstacles in their path.

Judi nodded. “We're good. Better than we've been in a long time. Sometimes you need a

break from it all to see what's really important.”

Seth looked over to Lars, who tugged at his tie and looked uncomfortable.

“Uh…well, an exception to the American rule is when there's a claim under a statute

providing for the recovery of attorney's fees…”

“You should go enjoy yourself for what's left of Hanukkah,” Judi told him. “You and Lars

are officially off duty. Take him into town. Go eat at a restaurant. Ski. Get out of here.”

Seth finally interrupted his uncle.

“Sorry, Uncle Carl, I need to take Lars for a minute.” Lars smiled politely at Carl and then

sagged in relief as soon as they were out of the house.

“You okay?” Seth asked.

“Christ. Next time your uncle wants legal advice, tell him to make an appointment, okay?”

“Sorry. It's just the temptation of something free; it blinds him.”

“I thought that was a Jewish stereotype,” Lars said.

“Hey, people can be cheap regardless of ethnicity,” Seth said. He linked arms with Lars.

“Come on. Let's go enjoy Whistler.”

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Chapter Nine

The following morning they slept in, both freed from the responsibilities of the B and B,

although at some point Doctor Mister nuzzled open their door and jumped into bed with them.

Guests were already packing and getting ready to leave the following day. That reminder

of the real world, with job responsibilities, empty apartments, and coworkers to face, scared Seth

more than he wanted to admit. Lars had come a long way, and he had done what Seth originally

asked for—spent a week with him in Whistler. But there was always the possibility that his

change of heart was an effect of the vacation, nothing more. Once again faced with the sterile,

mirrored edifice of the Finch and Varga office building, and the bored, unsympathetic faces of

their coworkers, would Lars stay true to his promise?

Lars and Judi had discovered their mutual love of cooking and were working together on

some extravagant final dinner for Zot Hanukkah, the last day of the holiday. Seth tried to let go

of his anxieties by reading in front of the fireplace, although his concentration constantly broke,

thanks to old Ben Berkowitz's continued attempts to woo Sharon.

Rabbi Chaim led the prayers and songs after the candle lighting, and even Lars tried to sing

along, although he just made
chhh
noises and bobbed his head, which made everyone else laugh.

During postdinner celebrations, the doorbell rang, and since Seth was closest, he excused

himself and opened it.

And stared, uncomprehending, at a face he knew very well.

Adam Finch, Seth's other boss and Lars's partner, stood on the porch, looking cold and

miserable in a business suit. Seth felt like the floor underneath him had just given way.

Adam Finch glanced at him, looked away, glanced again, and narrowed his eyes.

“
Seth Bellski
?” Finch asked, incredulous.

Seth gaped.

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Astrid Amara

“Uh…” Adam Finch frowned. “Maybe I'm… I must have made a mistake. I'm looking for