"Oh my, God." Austin says softly, tightly gripping the counter, silently praying that his shaking legs would not let him fall.
"It was a tragic shock. He was a maintenance man at a factory in Hillsdale. He had to work a half a day on Christmas Eve. While he was at work, it began to sleet pretty bad. Covering the road quickly making the roads extremely slick. As he was trying to get home, his car slid on the ice as he was coming around that curve. The car overturned several times before hitting a tree. He was pronounced dead at the scene. This is a small town, everyone knows everybody. Everyone was so worried about Adam and Avi. They were so grief stricken. We were afraid they would do something stupid." The man shook his head. "I'm sorry, I'm just rambling on. My name is Adam Chance but everyone just calls me Chance."
"Austin. Austin Brown." Austin replies, still trying to comprehend everything Chance had just told him.
"So, you new in town?" Chance smiles, leaning on the counter.
"Uh, yeah. I decided to relocate but not sure where yet." Austin smiles.
"Relocate from where?" Chance says, politely handing Austin a soft drink.
"Georgia." Austin smiles and nods a thank-you.
"Well, like I said, this is a very small town. Not much here. But I wouldn't dream of living anywhere else." Chance says as he mindlessly wipes off nonexisting crumbs from the counter. "So, uh, how long you plan on staying?"
"It really depends." Austin answers with a shrug.
"On what?" Chance asks looking up into Austin's blue eyes.
"If I find something that makes me want to stay." Austin says with a smile, biting his bottom lip.
"I'd love to show you around our little town. That is if you don't mind." Chance says in a soft voice. "Although there's really not much to see." He chuckles.
"I'd like that." Austin grins.
"Maybe, I could take you out to eat?" Chance asks.
"You mean, like a date?" Austin asks with raised brows.
"Yeah, unless that offends you. I mean, I'm sorry if I'm stepping over the line." Chance says. "If you're straight, please forgive me."
"Relax, will you?" Austin chuckles. "I'm gay and I would love to go out with you."
"Really? Cool." Chance says with a huge smile. "There's a small diner here in town called, Po Folks. The food is great."
"Sounds awesome." Austin smiles.
"So it's a date?" Chance grins.
"Absolutely. I'll probably be staying at the Fousts' house. If they let me stay a little longer." Austin chuckles.
"They will. They're good guys.". Chance nods. "So, does Friday night sound good? Maybe 7:00?"
"Sounds good. But I need to go. A wrecker is on the way to get my car and I need to get my suitcases." Austin says. "I'll see ya."
"Sure, be careful." Chance smiles.
~~
Austin gets into the car wearing a huge smile. He hasn't even been in town twenty-four hours yet, and already has a date with a very cute guy. He glances around at the town as he's driving through. It actually did look like he had driven back in time. Little girls playing 'Hop Scotch' on the sidewalk. An elderly couple sitting out on their front porch in their rocking chairs, enjoying a pitcher of lemonade. He could see why anyone could easily fall in love with this laid back little town.
But as he's driving out of town, he passes the Foust's home on the way to where his car was. His mind goes back to what Chance had told him. Was it true? Was Tim really dead? Maybe it wasn't the same Tim. But if Adam and Avi were as grief stricken as Chance said, they wouldn't have moved on so quickly. Plus, Tim did say that Adam and Avi were his wives. They wouldn't have gotten remarried so soon.
He arrived at his car only a few minutes before the wrecker. He was able to get everything he needed out of the car before the wrecker hauled it away.
As he pulls away from the wreck site, he passes the lone white wooden cross. He quickly stops the car and backs up to where the cross was. His heart quickens as he gets out of the car and slowly walks toward the cross.
In the daylight, he notices that the cross was standing beside a large tree. The first thing he notices is that some of the bark had been knocked from the tree. A grim reminder. He slowly squats down in front of the cross.
"Oh. My. God." Austin says quietly, as he reads. "Tim Foust, 12/16. Holy sh*t." He rubs his fingers over the name. He suddenly remembers that he had passed a small cemetery on the way. Jumping up, he runs to the car.
The Georgia boy felt as if he were on a mission. He pulls into the well kept little cemetery. Getting out of the car, he begins to look for a rock with the name Foust. Just as he was about to give up, he notices a lone tombstone under a beautiful weeping willow tree.
He swallows hard as he gets closer, he could clearly read the name, Timothy Regan Foust. Born: July 19, 1981. Died: December 24, 2016.
Austin raises a shaky hand and lightly runs his fingers across a picture that was on the tombstone, below the picture was engraved 'Beloved Husband and Friend'. Looking at the picture of the man who, just last night, took him in and gave him food and a place to stay.
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"It's true." Austin says to himself as he sits down on the ground by the rock. "But how? How is this even possible?"
Austin brushes back his reddish brown curls and looks around at the beautiful flowers that were on the grave. He shook his head just trying to make sense of all of this.
Maybe, just maybe, he had hit his head harder than he thought. Maybe he was actually unconscious and this was all a dream.
He slowly reaches up and touches the band-aid that Avi had put on his head. He quickly looks around at the black Mustang sitting nearby.
There was only one thing to do. He had no way of leaving town. He would go back to the house and keep his secret to himself. But he planned on watching Tim more carefully just to see if he was just imagining all of this.
***********
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