Personal Shopper (9 page)

Hudson touched his arm, gentle and tentative. “I don’t want to intrude.”

Will rolled his eyes. “I need a drink, you did all this work. Your cousin is in there.” He shook his head. “I’m an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot. I lied because I was afraid and I was trying – I’m trying to make things work out.”

“Stupid perfect moron,” Will muttered. He was standing so close to Hudson, sharing body heat. Trying not to respond. “I don’t want you to lie to me ever again – including lies by omission.”

Hudson’s breath caught. “Never.”

Will felt dizzy but he jumped into the big black hole named Hudson Smith, NOT an international spy but rather an unemployed international businessman, and kissed him on his sexy mouth.

~ * ~ * ~

“Okay, so – this is Hudson. Smith. Roan’s cousin. And my new boyfriend.” Will’s hand waved as soon as Nancy opened her mouth. “Tom and Nancy Nixon, use your company manners.”

Hudson was already moving, hand extended, smiling faintly and nervously. “I wish circumstances were better but…hello.”

Tom didn’t hesitate. He shook Hudson’s hand firmly, confused, but his normal mellow self. “Been a hell of a day, right? Can I fix you a drink?”

“I love you Dad,” Will murmured.

“Hudson, nice to meet you,” Nancy said, shaking his hand as Tom moved off to the make-shift bar. “I’m sorry your family are a bunch of jerks.”

“Seriously Mother?” Will and Veronica, in twin stereo.

Hudson smiled sadly. “So am I. You have the most lovely and devoted children Mrs. Nixon,” he said. “I can’t imagine how Roan and were so fortunate to meet them.”

This pleased Nancy, clearly. She was happy to take full credit for Will and Veronica’s awesomeness. “We may not be the most traditional family in the world.” She looked directly at Will. “But we always have each other’s backs.” An appraising look went from her son to his new boyfriend. “I appreciate what you did for your cousin and Veronica.”

“Apparently I’m a closet romantic.” Hudson winked and Nancy melted a bit.

Will was starting to think Hudson could negotiate world peace with those eyes.

Tom returned with a Scotch on the rocks for Hudson and a glass of wine for himself. “So I’m thinking dinner would be a good idea, soak up some of the alcohol and family drama.”

“That’s my cue actually,” Hudson murmured. He detached himself from the clique of Nixons and headed for the kitchen. Will started to follow but he saw Roan kiss Veronica on the cheek and trail his cousin, so he stayed put.

His sister joined them a second later and the clot of Nixon family members was complete.

“Do I even want to know?” Nancy sighed, taking the glass out of Tom’s hand.

“He came here to break up Roan and I and then he couldn’t,” Veronica said firmly, her hand on Will’s arm. “He told Roan’s parents and they disowned him, just like Roan.” Her voice shook. “That’s the important part.”

“How did you meet him?” Tom’s tone wasn’t accusatory but curious and Will felt between that and his mother’s glare, he didn’t have a choice.

There were a number of ways to make it sound better but Will’s ability to spin a story was currently numbed by Scotch and a brain full of thoughts about Hudson. In his kitchen with his cousin, a two person island without means or plans, pulling food out of the oven and the fridge. They were talking together, quietly, but still here and still…giving a crap about this stupid holiday dinner.

“He followed me, talked to me in hopes of finding some dirt on Veronica…”

Even Tom looked pissed at that.

“And instead he figured some things about his own situation.” Will lowered his voice, Veronica’s hand squeezing into his. “Which sucks, and everyone needs to be nice to Roan and Hudson. Or Veronica’s gonna kick your ass.”

“You met him three days ago and you’re dating?”

“Mom – before you start. You married Dad eleven days after meeting him!” Veronica whispered. “Neither one of you can talk.”

Tom put his arm around Nancy’s shoulders. “Long courtships are not the forte of the Nixons.”

“It was the Peace Corps, we were in Zambia. Things were different back then!” But the fight quickly went out of Nancy, her hand pressed to her forehead. “Fine. Whatever. I’ll be pleasant.”

“A holiday miracle!” Will leaned over and kissed her exasperated self, right on the cheek.

“I’d rather be on a cruise ship,” Nancy murmured.

~ * ~ * ~

Dinner was extraordinary.

There were courses of delectable food on brand new classy china, with Fair Trade wine in elegant glasses. They managed to talk about things to fill the silences between chewing, without touching on the bad subjects – like Roan’s snotty snobby family back in Paris probably burning all of the family pictures in a bonfire.

Or something like that. Will felt he managed much better thinking of them as villains and not Roan’s mother weeping in a chair while her husband furiously paced as they missed their son and the nephew they’d practically raised.

Curse his writer’s mind.

For right now he sat at the head of the table, looking over the burning tapers and artful combination of berries and holly in a round bowl and the debris of far too much food. Under the table, his knee rested against Hudson’s, who - every few minutes - would find an excuse to touch Will’s hand.

“Great job,” he said softly as the rest of the table sparred over British colonization in the late 1800s. Clearly it was almost time to announce last call.

Hudson tore his gaze away from the intellectual free for all going on and smiled as he rested his elbows on the table. “Dinner turned out quite lovely, yes.”

“Dinner, the apartment. Uh…making my holiday totally amazing.”

“I am sorry for the initial dishonesty Will. I can’t say that enough.”

Will shook his head. “I think you’ve said sorry enough okay? I lost count after seven hundred.”

Hudson played with the stem of his wine glass, eyes downcast. “I should feel guilty for my actions but as it brought us together, there’s only so much self-flagellation I can allow.”

“The way you use too many words to tell me you like me is adorable – still!” Will teased. He slid his hand under the table to rest on Hudson’s thigh. “Never gets old.”

“Let’s see what happens when we hit a week.”

Will shrugged. “Or a month.”

Words dried up then and Will and Hudson let meaningful glances fill up the time until the next course.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Sooooo.” Will handed the wet dinner plate to Veronica. “You’re marrying an out of work French dude who just got disowned. How’s that working out for you?”

Veronica took the plate – after first jabbing Will in the ribs with her elbow. “Wonderfully. It might be the emotional shock but he seems more relaxed than he’s ever been.”

“Emotional shock and like, four bottles of expensive red wine.” Will rinsed off a salad bowl.

“It’s not going to be easy,” she admitted with a sigh, stacking the plate on top of the others. “I imagine we’ll be staying in the states for awhile. Once we get married he’ll be better able to find a job. In the meantime…”

It was a lot to consider. They were both now technically homeless since they’d been living at the company apartment in Paris. The economy wasn’t great and finding work as a musician was tough in the best of the times. Will sensed Veronica’s falling mood.

“Hey, come on. True love conquers all and that stuff.”

“Love doesn’t pay the rent.”

“You can move back in with Tom and Nancy.”

Veronica flinched.

“How much am I not looking forward to that.”

An idea popped into Will’s head but he kept his tongue for the moment. He needed to text his agent Michelle ASAP.

“Come on – think of all the bonding you and Mom will be able to achieve. Shopping, getting a pedicure.”

“Your nonsense babble does not amuse.” Veronica gestured towards the living room couch where Roan and Hudson were sitting on the sofa in deep conversation. “Hudson’s a great guy.”

“Nice change of subject.” Will dug back into the hot soap water. “I could say the same about Roan.”

“You could and should. He’s amazing.”

Will gave her a side glance and noted the swoony smile.

“So we’re both dating amazing great guys. Who are disowned and out of work,” she added.

“I don’t think Hudson and I are quite at you and Roan’s level yet,” Will said faintly, rinsing off a handful of silverware. “It’s been three days.”

Veronica shrugged, unimpressed. “I knew I was going to marry Roan ten hours after we met.”

“Well, you’re crazy.”

“And you have a guy living with you after three days. Woo hoo – so normal and grown up!”

Will resisted the urge to stick his tongue out and handed her the clean forks. “He’s just staying here until…” The words sort of died in his throat and he sighed dramatically. “Until I unlock his ankle chain and weepingly allow him to leave. Ugh, Veronica – it’s like I’m fatally crazy about him.”

“It’s their DNA. Clearly Nixon genes are chemically attuned to Smith genes and it’s, you know, science. We can’t fight it.” Veronica sounded so logical.

~ * ~ * ~

At some point during the evening, Will figured out he had forgiven Hudson entirely.

He could recount clearly both all the lovely moments, and then all the times when Hudson seemed sad and distant. They were equally true – and Will couldn’t discount the mounting evidence that his initial feelings about Hudson still held – he was a good guy with a big heart getting his soul sucked dry by his shitty job and apparently an even more shitty family.

Which he no longer had.

They’d brought all the luggage up eventually, tucked in the lobby of Will’s building behind the doorman’s desk. Roan had a suitcase, Hudson had three and that was it. The sum total of their possessions at the moment.

Without saying anything, Will had taken Hudson’s luggage into his bedroom. When he’d reentered the living area, Hudson was watching him with those beautiful hazel eyes, his face alight with shock. As if he couldn’t quite believe that Will would do that.

So Will kissed him, in front of everyone, and announced the next course of food.

I love you all
, Will thought to himself from the kitchen side of the counter, looking out over the oddball collection of his family lounging at his table after a final round of desserts. Veronica was draped over Roan – and wasn’t that a collection of empty wine bottles at their end. They looked drunk and in love and it was pretty sweet.

Tom had kicked back in his chair about twenty minutes previously, head tipped back, eyes closed, glasses askew, snoring quietly as the rest of the holiday unfolded around him. Nancy made half-hearted attempts to clean the table but each time she started she’d stop with a confused look in her face, as if she didn’t quite know how to do it.

And Hudson? Hudson was impeccable as ever, wearing his uncreased gray suit pants and pale blue button down. His tie lay over the back of his chair. Will wanted to tie him to said chair and never let him go.

Wasn’t that a jolt to his stomach?

Thirty years old and he’d never had that feeling before.

Hudson must’ve realized he was being stared at; he turned his head slightly from something Roan was saying to turn his attention to Will. It quickly turned into a staring contest, both of them sharing secret smiles that seemed to say the same thing.

When the hell are you people leaving?

“When the hell are you people leaving?” Will asked, loud enough to wake Tom up.

Veronica rolled her eyes. “Trying to get rid of us already?”

“And as I mentioned – loved it. Great holiday.” Will clapped his hands together and gestured the mess that surrounded him. “But I don’t have a guest room and you’re all drunk. Dad’s been asleep for two hours…”

“I have?” Tom pushed his glasses up, stretched his hands over his head. “That reminds me – where are we staying?”

Roan sighed. “I had made arrangements for some rooms at the Plaza but I would imagine that isn’t happening.” Beside him, or rather, on top of him Veronica made soothing noises, kissing his cheek.

“Its okay. We’ll figure something out. It’s just until tomorrow – then we can drive back to Connecticut with Mom and Dad.”

“Oh God, they’re moving in with us,” Nancy murmured, picking up a stack of dishes and standing with a huff.

“Mom.” Veronica issued a warning. There were exchanged glares.

Tom and Roan both reached for the last standing bottle of wine on the table.

“I have already made arrangements for you all to stay at Michelle’s brownstone.” Will continued talking like there wasn’t an ice crater forming in his dining room. “She has an empty apartment, it has two bedrooms and she’s in Antigua until New Year’s. I have the key.” He walked around the counter and stood behind Hudson’s chair. “Annnnd, maybe I can talk to her when she gets back about you two renting from her for a while,” he added softly to Veronica who beamed back.

“Thanks Will.”

“No problem. I love you. Now leave so I can spend time with my new boyfriend.”

~ * ~ * ~

It took another hour to get people out the door, bundled up and clutching leftovers, gifts and luggage. Hudson walked to the busier corner to hail some cabs. Will waited on the street with his parents, his sister and his future brother-in- law, out of conversation but feeling strangely content.

“This might’ve been the best holiday we ever had.” Tom shifted his weight to keep from dropping anything.

“I might agree,” Nancy said.

Will assumed the outcome would eventually hinge on how long Veronica and Roan would be staying.

“Good to hear.” Will felt strangely proud of himself. “Although we’re never doing this again. Seriously. Next year we’ll all go on a cruise.”

There were murmurs of agreement from everyone.

Nancy might’ve mumbled “separately” but Will couldn’t be sure. He also might have agreed with the sentiment.

Two yellow cabs slowed down a second later; Hudson hopped out of the second one with a wave. In Will’s puffy blue coat, he looked faintly (perfectly) ridiculous, hustling everyone into the cabs and tucking things into the trunk. There were kisses and hugs, calls for a wonderful night and “We’ll have brunch tomorrow!”.