FanningtheFlames

Fanning the Flames - 1

Thanks to my support group: Meg, Pam, Jared, Lynda,
Chris, John A., John R., my editor, and the

proofreaders. Ear scratches and kitty treats to Chaos
and Mayhem, the inspirations for Toms I, II, and III.

For the readers who wanted more...

Fanning the Flames,

a sequel to The Match Before Christmas

How It All Began...

Barry Richards sympathized with his sister's

parenting woes for a full half hour, hoping to learn a thing or two. He wondered if he'd ever be able to so skillfully juggle a full-time job, housework, unfinished homework assignments, skinned knees, and a toddler's grief over a dead goldfish. As a gay man, hearing the words, "Love you, Daddy," might never happen for him, but he wanted them to, some day. Until then, "Love you, Uncle Barry," would suffice.

Karen's "day in the life" ended with, "Anyhow, what's up with you? You still treating Mr. Cutie Professor right? He's a keeper, and if you let him get away, we'll have words, brother mine, words!"

"We're doing good," Barry answered, unwilling to commit to more and possibly jinx his newfound

happiness.

"Good? Just good? Listen, it's not enough to light the fire, now you gotta fan the flames."

That brought a wry smile to Barry's face, offering the perfect lead-in to why he'd called. "Yes, ma'am, and I bow to your wisdom on flame-fanning, oh she-who's-Fanning the Flames - 2

been-happily-married-for-twelve-years. What are you getting Jack for Valentine's Day?"

Karen replied, "I got him passes to the new golf course in town, when it gets warm enough to play again, that is. Right now, all eighteen holes are buried under three inches of snow."

Damn. This wouldn't be easy. He'd hoped to copy

Karen's gift and be done with it. Sadly, his boyfriend, Adam, didn't play golf, knocking him back to square one, with no gift and no ideas. His budding relationship, going well right now, was still too new for presents that might scare Adam off by hinting at how badly Barry hoped for permanence. Until Adam broached the

subject, Barry felt it prudent to refrain from offers of drawer space and color-coordinated his and his hangers for the closet.

The men had met two months prior on the GLBT

dating site GetaDate.com, and while both of their

profiles listed a common goal of "long-term relationship," that didn’t necessarily guarantee Barry the honors with Adam. Look at how many frogs he'd kissed to even find a prince.

Hmmm... Did Adam see Barry as a frog or a prince?

Barry mentally ticked off his warts, "slightly sloppy housekeeper" heading the list. Or did his obsessive nature about all things other than housekeeping take top honors?

"Barry? Barry? Are you still there?"

Barry snapped back to the present. Time enough to worry about Adam's feelings for him later. Oh wait!

Maybe worrying should head his "Why Barry is Far From Perfect" list -- along with "attention deficit."

"Oh, sorry, Karen," he replied, switching tactics.

"What does Jack normally get you?"

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Karen chuckled. "Now you know good and well that he always gives me jewelry." Even without a visual, Barry readily conjured the dreamy expression on her face that accompanied talk of her husband -- and jewelry. "We started dating in March, making it nearly a year before our first Valentine's Day. He proposed and gave me an engagement ring. Now, every occasion, he gives me shiny pretties. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces; anything from garnets to diamonds."

How could Barry have forgotten? The official

Richards' family Christmas joke was: "What's the difference between Karen and a Christmas tree?"

The answer? "Karen's better decorated."

Good for her, but that wasn't helping Barry any. In his way of thinking, a present involving diamonds after only two months of dating might cause running for the hills, unless it involved tickets to a baseball game. And ballgames, while exciting, weren't really romantic enough for his and Adam's first Valentine's Day.

He'd promised Adam they'd take things slow, and

since that time, found himself putting on the brakes several times a week, determined to keep his word.

Thank goodness Adam had relaxed the "take it slow"

rule enough for their relationship to escalate physically.

Karen's heavy sigh preceded, "Jack won't be here this year. His boss has him in Montréal for three weeks, and to be honest, after being a single parent for going on eight days, what I'd like most is a little girly time. I love my boys, but I need a break to relax, you know? We haven't even been to see Mom and Dad in a month."

A month? Barry counted back, shocked that he hadn't seen his folks either. Living three hours away was a poor excuse not to have visited since New Year's Day, the only time he'd gotten together with his parents since they returned from a holiday cruise. They'd probably
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neatly arranged all their photos into thematic slideshows by now, and were waiting for a chance to share them. Of course, he'd been busy himself, seeing as much of Adam as possible without crossing any boundaries.

He wondered what his parents were getting each

other for Valentine's Day and if he could steal their ideas.

As if reading his mind, his sister asked, "What are you getting my new brother-in-law?"

Barry cringed, hoping Adam didn't find out Karen called him that, or that Barry occasionally slipped up, referring to him as "my better half."
Slow, slow, we must
take it slow
. "I haven't a clue," he confessed.

"Well, you better get cracking! It's only a few days away." Karen blew air kisses into the phone. "Speaking of which... I need to go if I'm gonna pick the kids up from school. It's Monday; family night at Paulo's Pizza."

She singsonged, "I don't have to cook, I don't have to cook!"

Barry hung up the phone, disappointed that Karen hadn't said, "I know exactly what you should get; Adam will love it!"

He'd lucked out with the perfect Christmas present, tickets to see
Tutankhamen and the Golden Age of the
Pharaohs
at the Denver Art Museum. Adam had loved it, leaving Barry with the need to top his previous gift-giving efforts. And he couldn't repeat that gift because, even to a little-experienced dater like Barry, three-thousand-year-old dead bodies didn't seem that

romantic.

He paused a moment, considering. Who did he know who excelled at giving presents? Ah ha! A wedding photographer should know all about the perfect romantic gift, right? His hope rebounding, he called Pat, a lesbian friend he'd met when the online dating service

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mistakenly paired them up. Once they stopped laughing, they'd become good friends. Surely she'd have some answers.

"Hey, Barry, how's it going?" Pat's greeting lacked its usual cheer.

"Did I call at a bad time?"

"No." A heavy exhale wafted from the phone. "I'm sorry, Barry. It's Kit."

Barry swallowed hard, feeling somewhat responsible for his friend's current woes, since his suggestion had prompted Pat to contact Kit in the first place, after another of GetaDate.com's "We've found the perfect lesbian for you!" blunders. Trying for a light, I'm-not-prying tone, he stuck his nose firmly into his friend's business. "Trouble in paradise?" His sister often used that phrase to nudge information out of reluctant people, with great success at times -- especially with Barry.

"Oh, no!" Pat quickly assured him. "Things are perfect. It's just that I looked forward to Valentine's Day now that there's someone special to spend it with, and Kit left this morning for Cleveland to repair some smart-alecky hacker's damage to a department store's security system. I don't expect her back until the sixteenth."

A problem easily enough fixed, or so Barry thought.

"Why not go to Cleveland? Surprise her?"

"Are you kidding? Valentine's is a hectic time in the matrimony business. I've got three weddings to

photograph this weekend."

Out of practice in the romance department, if he'd ever even been
in
practice, Barry wondered if he'd earn a smack for suggesting, "Wait until she gets back, then do something special. It's the thought that counts, not that actual day, right?" He didn’t get a lecture on "It's Valentine's Day! You can't postpone Valentine's Day!"

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so he soldiered on. "Did you have anything particular in mind?"

As excited as he'd ever heard the woman, bowl

games notwithstanding, Pat gushed, "Oh, I'm dying to take her to Sebastian's. Since she's fairly new to the city, she's never been and..." Pat paused before continuing in a husky purr, "And I really wanted to see her in that little black dress she's got hanging in the closet."

Barry held his breath, listening closely. Was she blushing? Blushes didn't make noise, did they?

And Sebastian's? Yes, it was nice, but he personally worried about going there and dredging up the memory of a controlling date, or worse yet, seeing the date himself, leading some other poor soul around by an invisible leash. With the right company, however, Barry supposed he'd like the restaurant much better. Especially if he got to order his own entrée. And beverage. Or was allowed to contribute to the conversation. He shuddered, recalling one horrid night.

"Enough about me; what are you getting Hot Stuff?"

And the conversational door swung open. "I'm not sure yet. That's why I called, for advice. I really want to go all out. What's your ideal Valentine's gift?"

"That's easy," Pat replied, "I'd want to be flat-out ruined."

Do what?
"Say again?"

A giggle sounded over his phone's tiny speaker.

"Pampered. As in massaged, facialed, pedicured to within an inch of my life. You know -- spoiled silly."

Now there was a suggestion. And Barry knew just the place. "Thanks, Pat. You've given me a great idea."

"Glad to help. Now if only something would come up so I wouldn't have to spend Valentine's alone."

Barry's heart went out to his friend. Just two short months ago, he'd been facing a lonely holiday himself
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before meeting Adam mere weeks before Christmas. "If there's anything I can do... "

"Thanks, but don't worry about it. Like you said, we'll go out after she gets back." Pat didn't sound very thrilled at the prospect.

Barry hung up the phone, sad for Pat and Kit, but elated at the suggestion for the perfect gift for his guy.

Ironically, he wouldn't even have to go out of his way to make the appointment.

Fanning the Flames - 8

Putting Plans into Action

"Hi, Simone," Barry called, stepping into A Day by the Sea spa. A soft background track of ocean waves and crying gulls set the mood inside the tiny lobby of one of the town's fastest-growing businesses. Cool blues decorated the room, very restful to the eyes, and the faint scent of jasmine incense hung in the air. A painted mural of golden sand, frothy whitecaps, and a perfect sunny day covered one wall.

Soon all of it would change, thanks to him. He'd really miss the mural and hoped to dismantle the sheetrock carefully, preserving the relaxing image. How odd to be staring at a painting of summertime while brushing snow from the shoulder of his jacket.

"Barry!" A petite brunette peeled her eyes away from her BlackBerry, greeting him with a wide smile. "Right on time." She rose up on tiptoe to buss his cheek with brightly glossed lips. "Do you have the plans?"

He held up a stack of rolled-up papers, and she

motioned him to the cashier's counter, unrolling them to run a blood-red nail along the diagram of her spa -- the way it would look in a little over a month. "Oh, I like the changes," she said, eyes lighting up. "This is really going to be amazing." A tiny frown line appeared between her eyes. "The skylights?"

Barry smiled, caught up in his client's enthusiasm.

"Just like you wanted... only..." his finger joined hers on the paper, "they need to go here and here, instead of there and there. Otherwise, the afternoon sun will be too harsh."