Yes (24 page)

Ian smiled and sat back down. “Of course. She only gave you one of the symbols because forgiveness is never finished.”

“Every morning,” Bartley said, “for the rest of my life, it’ll remind me there’s only one way forward. I’m done being angry. I’m done feeling sorry for myself. And most of all, I’m done being celibate. When are you coming home?”

“Soon. I promise.” Ian lay back down and nestled under the covers. “Do you feel better now?”

“Much. I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Well, you can start by telling me about your day. What did you work on this morning? I want to hear all about the design for the second house.”

“You won’t believe the idea I had yesterday for the kitchen.”

“What’s the idea?”

“A fireplace,” Bartley said.

“In the kitchen?”

“What do you think?”

“Well, I would love to have a fireplace in my kitchen.”

“But no one ever puts one there.”

“It’s a very cool idea.”

“How’s your mom?”

“A lot better,” Ian said. “I told you, I’m going to be coming home soon.”

O
N
T
HURSDAY
,
Ryan worked the day shift and left early for his first carpentry class. It consisted mostly of introductions to the other students plus an overview of the different tools and what they were used for. Luke helped him sketch out his first project—a birdhouse for Ian’s backyard.

Ryan returned to La Tazza at six thirty. Matthew and his friend Cecilia were already there. Mark, Bartley, and Jeremy arrived ten minutes later. Ryan got the board set up as the other teams arrived. Shortly before seven, Ben Walsh and his family burst through the west door and caused a wild commotion, which involved Matthew and Quentin engaging in some good-natured trash talk.

Ryan looked into the parking lot and saw Sam smoking a cigarette. He stepped outside. “We’re about to start.”

“I was just fixin’ to head in,” Sam said as he indicated the cigarette. “I’m trying to quit, but these group things make me nervous. I’m always afraid I’m gonna say something idiotic, and usually I do.”

“Don’t worry about that. Matthew’s put together a good team. Everyone’s going to like you.”

“I trust him.” Sam shoved his free hand into his jean pocket. “Hey, before we go back in, I wanted to say thank you. Things have really started to turn around for me, and I can pretty much trace that back to meeting you. Matthew feels like a brother already and…. Well, I really like this job.”

“You’re good at it. Better than I am.”

“Your uncle’s created something special here. I’m looking forward to meeting him.” Sam extinguished the cigarette against the bottom of his work boot and then threw the butt into the trash can. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Ryan led them inside and over to Matthew’s table. Matthew stood up, kissed Ryan on the cheek, and whispered, “I made sure to save him a seat next to Jeremy.”

“Hey, everybody,” Ryan said. “This is our friend Sam. He’s new in town and just started working at La Tazza on Sunday, so be nice to him. He’s going to be your sports guy.”

Bartley slapped Sam on the back and said welcome. “There’s an empty chair next to Jeremy.”

Ryan and Matthew watched as Sam walked around the table and sat down. He smiled and offered his hand to Jeremy, who turned red as he shook it. They started talking, and Matthew said, “Parker, our work here is done.”

The east door opened, and several of the younger women screamed. Ryan looked up and saw Topher Manning, accompanied by all three of his bandmates, plus Stanton and Marvin.

“What the hell….”

“Surprise,” Matthew said. “I signed them up for the last open slot.” He walked over and greeted the Ackerman twins.

Ryan followed and welcomed Topher with a warm hug. “Thanks for coming.”

“How are you doing?”

“I’m good. Are you ready for some Jeopardy Pursuit?”

“You bet, though I hear the Walsh brothers are gonna kick our asses. We know a lot about music but not much else.”

“Speak for yourself,” Stanton said.

Ryan laughed. “You guys can have the sofas in the corner.”

It took about fifteen minutes to settle everyone down and explain the rules, but once it started, the evening turned into a raucous affair. They played the variant rule, which ended a team’s turn whenever it collected a wedge, preventing any single team from running the board.

All of the teams were strong and quickly went about collecting wedges. In the third round, Quentin rolled the die and moved his team’s game piece. Ryan turned to the Walsh family and read the answer. “In what has been called her defining moment, Joey Potter sings this song in the eleventh episode of the WB teen-angst series,
Dawson’s Creek
.”

“I know this one,” Travis said. “I used to love that show. What is ‘On My Own,’ from Les Miz?”

“You are correct, for a wedge.”

Ben showered his boyfriend with kisses.

Ryan turned to Topher, who rolled the die for his team. Ryan pulled an Arts & Literature answer. “The date and location of the now legendary final performance by the Beatles, which came to an abrupt end when the police shut it down.”

Topher and Stanton turned to Marvin, who said, “What is January 30, 1969, on the rooftop of the Apple headquarters in London?”

“Correct.”

Maurice rolled the die again and moved their piece four spaces.

“If they get this one right,” Ryan said, “it will give Dime Box a wedge. The category is History. The country with the highest number of fatalities during World War II, it lost more than twice as many lives as the country with the second highest number.”

“What is the Soviet Union?” Stanton said.

“Correct. Twenty-seven million dead. China had eleven million.”

Robin grabbed a history wedge and added it to their collection.

“Team Matthew, you’re up next.” Cecilia rolled the die, and Ryan read an Entertainment answer. “This 1990s television series starring Matthew Fox told the story of a family of siblings who struggled to stay together after the death of their parents in a car accident.”

Cecilia turned to her team.

“What is
Party of Five
?” Mark said.

“Congratulations. You may continue.” Bartley stepped up and took a turn. Ryan smiled, and Ian longed to hold him. He remembered Bartley’s confession from the day before and wanted to tell him again that everything would be okay. Bartley landed on Geography, and Ryan read the answer. “The names of the five Great Lakes, created by retreating glaciers ten thousand years ago, in order of size, from largest to smallest.”

Matthew stood up. “Are you kidding me?”

“Anyone can name the five lakes,” Ryan said. “We needed to make it challenging.”

Bartley put his hand up. “I can do this. Superior, Huron—”

Ryan cleared his throat.

“Oh, sorry. What are Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario?”

“Correct. Keep going.” Sam stepped forward, rolled, and moved the piece. “Science & Nature,” Ryan said. “For a wedge. After recanting his belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun, Galileo supposedly uttered these famous four words as he rose to his feet, though scholars highly doubt the story’s authenticity.”

Sam looked at Jeremy. “I hope you know this.”

“What is ‘And yet it moves’?”

Ryan took a dramatic pause and then said, “Congratulations. You have successfully loaded another wedge.”

Ryan cycled through the three remaining teams and then circled around to the Walsh family. Ben rolled and moved. “Entertainment. In the motion picture
Psycho
, Alfred Hitchcock used this substance in place of stage blood, because it looked better on black-and-white film.”

Ben looked at Jake, who said, “What is Bosco chocolate syrup?”

“Nice job,” Ryan said. “I didn’t expect anyone to know the actual brand. Jake, do you want to come up here and go again?” Jake rolled a three and moved the piece into the wedge position for Sports & Leisure. “This Boston Red Sox player, who hit the three-run homer that tied up game six of the 1975 World Series, admitted in 2010 that he was high on drugs and alcohol at the time.”

Cade raised his hand. “Who is Bernie Carbo?”

“And the Walsh family has their fifth wedge. Dime Box, it’s your turn.” Peter rolled the die and moved. “Arts & Literature. The closing chapter of this American classic contains the line, ‘I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there.’”

“What is
Walden
?” Maurice said.

“Correct. Peter, roll again.” The die came up a six, and their piece landed on the Geography hub. “For a wedge. Although there are currently three hundred plus cities with a population of over one million people, this city was the first to reach that milestone.”

“Oh, that’s tough,” Stanton said. “It’s either Rome, London, or New York. You pick, Peter.”

“What is Rome?”

“You are correct. The Italians did it in 133 B.C. Collect your wedge. Jeremy, have you rolled for your team yet?”

“Nope.” He got up from his chair, and Ryan put his arm around him. “Jeremy here teaches calculus at one of the local high schools and is a real gamer.”

“No kidding?” Topher said. “You play D&D?”

“I do.”

“Talk to me afterward. Maybe you can hook me up with a game.”

“Okay, I’d be happy to.” Jeremy rolled the die and moved three spaces.

“Sports & Leisure,” Ryan said. “Not exactly your strong suit.”

Jeremy shrugged. “Maybe not, but that’s why we have Sam.”

“Here is your answer,” Ryan said. “In Texas hold’em, it’s the name given to the three face-up cards dealt after the initial round of betting.”

Travis slumped in his chair and mumbled, “I know this one.”

“So do we,” said the twins.

Ryan smiled. “Unfortunately, it’s not your turn.”

Jeremy looked at Sam, who answered, “What is the flop?”

“Are you sure?” Matthew asked.

Sam chuckled. “Where I come from, every night was poker night. Trust me, I’m sure.”

“You should listen to him more often,” Ryan said, “because he is correct.”

Jeremy raised his fists and cheered.

The game continued for three more rounds, and despite everyone’s valiant efforts, team Walsh collected all six wedges and entered the hexagonal victory hub first. The other teams agreed that their question should come from the Geography category.

Ryan looked down at the card. “Colleen wrote this one, and I thought it was pretty good. For the win. This northernmost US city is the setting for the vampire comic book series
30 Days of Night
.”

The entire Walsh clan erupted into cheers.

“Not fair,” Stanton said.

Ryan turned to face him. “Why not?”

“Because Travis has been there.”

Ryan turned back to the Walsh team. “That’s perfectly fair. Travis, would you like to give us the question?”

“What is Barrow, Alaska?”

“And for the fourth month in a row…. You. Are. Correct.”

Ben and his brothers jumped up and threw their arms around Travis. As the other teams congratulated them, Ryan noticed Mark answer his phone. He nodded toward the door, and Ryan followed him onto the patio.

“I’m going to put you on speaker, Tad.” Mark tapped the screen. “Ian is here too.”

“Hey, Tad. Did you talk to Mrs. Brown?”

“She just left the shop.”

“And?” Mark asked.

“She didn’t seem surprised when I told her about your claim, but she almost fell off her chair when I told her you want to reverse it. She said she can do it, though.”

Ian smiled. “That’s great news. Thank you. What do I need to do?”

“She has to steep the butter for three days. It will be a white chocolate kiss, but you’ll have to come back to Denver. We can’t send marijuana-laced candy through the mail.”

“I’ll fly in on Sunday, then.”

“Great. Just come by the shop when you get here. We’re open every day until midnight.”

Mark ended the call. Ian turned away and looked through the window. He saw Bartley talking to Ben and Travis. “I knew it.”

“Are you okay?”

“I don’t know.” Ian took a few steps toward the street and watched the cars go by. Then he turned back to Mark and said, “Something’s not right.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Didn’t you notice? During the game. No one got any of the answers wrong.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

T
HE
NEXT
night at seven, Quentin’s freshman study group came into La Tazza and claimed their Friday table. Quentin approached the bar and said hello.

“First round is on the house,” Ryan said. “As a way to say thanks for Tuesday night. It was very cool of you to invite us to the after-party.”

“You made quite an impression on Topher.”

“He’s not what I expected at all.” Ryan leaned on the bar and lowered his voice. “We got a call from Denver last night. They have a remedy.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I booked my flight this morning. I’m in love with Bartley, but he’s in love with Ian, not Ryan. So I’m going to reverse what happened to me, and when I get back, I plan on dating Bartley. But do I keep everything that’s happened over the past two weeks a secret for the rest of my life? I told him my mom had emergency surgery, and now I hope he’ll meet her someday. I’ve systematically deceived him, which is exactly why his last relationship ended.”

Quentin took a deep breath, and Ian could read the concerned look on his face. “You have to tell him everything. Now, before you go to Denver.”

“Why would he believe me? And even if he does believe me, how can I ask him to forgive all the lies?”

“Maybe that’s the point.”

“Why do you keep saying that?”

“He needs to know someone will be honest with him,” Quentin said. “And you need to know someone will forgive you when you screw up. I’m not saying it’s all going to be hunky-dory if you tell him. I would never blow smoke up your ass like that. But if you don’t tell him, there’s no way in hell you two stand a chance.”

“But you know how he’s going to react. He’ll probably think I have Ian in a basement somewhere and then call the police, just like you threatened to do.”