To You and Back

Chapter 15: In Your Hands Now

Great swaths of sugar maple, white birch, and red oaks set the hillside ablaze in reds, yellows, and oranges. Multicolored leaves drifted down to paint the dark ground, creating winding trails of abstracts through the forest, their flame-like colors doing nothing to hold back the cold, that was like an icy blanket among the tree trunks, seeping through light jackets and thin gloves, numbing bare skin, and making covered ears tingle. The clean, fresh air was redolent with the smell of pine, sugary bark, and damp earth.

Charlie and Keenan spent the day walking the deer trails, stopping at roadside stands for cups of coffee and cocoa, maple candy, and postcards. At night they sipped cognac in front of a fire on a bearskin rug, leaning against the couch, Charlie comfortably and cozily tucked into the crook of Keenan's arm.

"Are you feeling better?" Keenan murmured, nuzzling Charlie's ear.

Charlie, warmed by liquor, fire, and the man beside him, gave a low hmmm. His fingers grazed Keenan's soft cashmere clad arm across his chest. Both their faces were bathed by the warm glow of the fire in front of them, making blue and green eyes flicker with light.

"This was nice," Charlie murmured back. "Nothing like freezing your ass off in the forest to take your mind off a rough week."

Keenan laughed. "Is that a no to tomorrow's hike then?"

"That depends," Charlie said, "on whether either of us can walk."

Keenan chuckled, nuzzling the ear more and biting the tender lobe to make the other laugh and pull away. Pulling Charlie back into his arms, he asked, "Is your brother still upset with you?"

"Considering he hasn't returned any of my calls, I'd say so."

"What did he find out that was so bad?"

Charlie hesitated. "About my...preferences."

Keenan gave a knowing sound. "Ah. Still, he can't stay mad at you forever."

"Clearly you don't know Michael."

Keenan chuckled. "No, but maybe one day," he said. "If you've given any thought to what I asked you last week?"

His spine stiffening ever so slightly, Charlie said, "I haven't forgotten about it. Just, with everything else going on..."

Keenan nodded. "I understand," he said. "And I don't want to rush you. But..."

Charlie turned his head ever so slightly, his gaze on the flames. "But?"

"But," Keenan said, carefully selecting his words, "like all deals, there's a limit to how long the offer will stand."

Charlie's fingers grazing the soft fibers of his sweatered arm, he turned to look up at Keenan, catching and holding the green gaze. "As there should be," he said quietly. "Especially for such a good deal."

Keenan smiled down at him, and Charlie smiled back. They kissed, softly, and sweetly, each tasting of cognac.

**

The next morning Charlie turned on his phone to see he had five missed calls. Four were from Peter—who was saved in his phone as Townsend—and one was from Michael, who had also left a message.

"Someone's been trying very hard to reach you," Keenan said, glancing at Charlie's phone.

"It's...work," Charlie said. "And my brother."

"That's a good sign."

"Yeah. Maybe. Unless this is him calling to disown me completely."

"I have a feeling it's not that." Keenan said. Giving him a side armed hug and kissing his temple, he added, "I'd ignore work, and deal with your brother first."