Ryan, still facing Cooper, rolled his eyes before turning to his mother. “Thank you for the vote of confidence, as always.”
“You’re very welcome, son. Ryan was always better with art, though if he dabbles any longer I wouldn’t know. He’s not shown me anything he’s made since he was a teenager.”
Ryan’s shoulders set in a rigid line. Cooper could practically feel the anger beginning to roll off of him.
“Art, huh? I didn’t know that.” He smoothed a hand down Ryan’s tense back. “Do you?”
“Do I what?” Ryan bit out.
“Do…art?”
Ryan relaxed somewhat. Leaning back into Cooper’s touch and huffing again. “You don’t do art. You make it. And sometimes, yes.”
Cooper dared to lean forward to place a kiss on Ryan’s frozen cheek. Ryan grumbled in protest but after, his cheeks were red from more than just the cold.
Gloria was smiling softly at them when Cooper pulled back.
“I doubt there will be snow enough to ski,” Cooper commented idly, wanting to change the subject before anything else could strain the already tense air between Ryan and his mother.
“There’s plenty in Eaglecrest,” Gloria said, surprising them both. “What? I did my research.”
Cooper caught sight of Cat and Malcolm heading toward them, bags in hand. She was grinning and breathless, looking windswept.
“Now,” she exclaimed, sounding entirely too happy, “Let’s get back to the hotel.”
It wasn’t so much a hotel as a cabin.
“I made sure it was spacious,” Ryan told him on the ride over, after explaining the more private cabin option he’d chosen. Then, quiet enough for Cooper’s ears only, “Meaning I wanted everyone decidedly away from each other when shit inevitably hits the fan.”
Spacious turned out to mean a series of cabins. Gloria had her own. Cooper and Ryan had theirs. Malcolm was stuck on the couch with their parents and Cooper couldn’t help but laugh at his expense, but only a little. Enough for Malcolm to pinch him hard on the side. Each had their own resplendent Christmas tree in the corner, fully decorated with stumps freshly chopped.
Joseph wasn’t anywhere Cooper could find, to his unsaid relief.
It was on the water. They had two rental cars, nicer than Ryan’s back home, and a series of kayaks lined up in a row waiting to be set in the water by eager rowers.
“How much did this cost you?” Cooper whispered to Ryan as their families put their things away. He felt anxious just looking at everything. Full kitchens and furnished suites accompanied each one. The curtains were even nice, they had lace embroidery. Who put that on curtains? “Ryan this is too fancy.”
Ryan hummed, no concern for being quiet. “Don’t worry about it. Not my money technically, right? Not yet at least.”
Gloria glanced over at them at that before making her way inside her own cabin.
“I’ll not be held accountable for whatever untoward actions I take this week,” Ryan muttered, glaring at where she’d disappeared inside.
“Ryan, she’s your mother.” She was, regardless of whatever she’d told Cooper on the plane ride here. “I’m not going to allow her to suddenly and under entirely innocent circumstances go missing on a mountain somewhere. Besides, I think she’s just happy to be here.”
Ryan let out a loud scoff at that before trudging up the steps to their own cabin. He produced a key and shouldered his own luggage inside.
At least he managed his own luggage this time, Cooper thought.
Theirs was smaller than his parents’ cabin, but equally nice. The only problem was the bed.
“It’s so short.”
Ryan didn’t dispute it, laying out his clothes to fold on top in neat stacks. “We’ll figure it out.”
Cooper went to the window facing Gloria’s cabin and inched open the curtain. He caught sight of her shadow moving within, probably unpacking like they were.
“You know, she told me some wild stuff on the plane.”
“I caught the end of it. She never has anything good to say about me, trust me.”
Cooper nodded, distracted. “You two should talk. Really just get everything out there.”
Ryan snorted at that. Cooper heard a creak and turned to see Ryan siting on the edge of the small bed, watching him.
“What, like you and Joseph’s little heart to heart?”
Cooper narrowed his eyes. “That’s different.”
“How?” Ryan countered, knowing.
He had Cooper there.
“He hit me.”
“You told me.” Cooper had told him. Had told him a lot of things in the last few weeks. “You think Gloria and Paul never hit me? Cooper, please.”
Cooper winced. “I don’t work with Joseph though.”
It was Ryan’s turn to narrow his eyes. “It’s nice you think I was given the choice.”
Cooper went to him, placing his hands on Ryan’s shoulders. Ryan wouldn’t look at him.
“Is this our first fight?” he asked.
Ryan toed at his shin. “With our work history? More like our five-hundredth.”
It made Cooper laugh, sudden and unexpected. Ryan leaned forward and pressed his forehead to Cooper’s navel. Then Cooper felt the press of Ryan’s mouth to his groin in an easy peck.
“Hey now.”
“We have yet to cash in on the benefit of make-up sex. So Cooper, if you’ll be so kind as to indulge me after the major indiscretion of our raucous first couple’s argument.”
“Really? That’s the conversation that got you going?”
“I’m positively quaking,” Ryan deadpanned.
“Ryan…”
Ryan’s hands stilled where they’d gone to finger at Cooper’s belt and fly. He sighed and peered up at him, unimpressed.
“You’re a real good mood killer, you know that?”
Cooper smiled at him, easy and full. Ryan tugged unhurriedly at his belt, more pressure than purpose.
“You know I’m right. You have to talk to her eventually,” Cooper said, soft. “Just like I have to talk to Joseph.”
Ryan set his jaw but nodded slightly anyway.
“And what if I’m not ready for that yet,” Ryan said, quiet and bitter.
“That’s fine,” Cooper assured. “Neither am I. But one day.”
Ryan hummed, unconvinced.
“One day.”
It was decided at some point that afternoon that Ryan would be enlisted to make peanut brittle.
Cat dragged him off by the elbow, Cooper following dutifully behind if only to witness more attempts at Ryan’s cooking and gossiping with his mother. He was still so pleased his mother was taken by Ryan so completely. She seemed to adore him.
Gloria had almost followed but announced offhandedly she’d be by the water instead. Now, from the main cabin’s large windows, he could see her sitting at the edge of the kayaks.
“Now, Christmas Eve is tomorrow,” Cat said, all excitement. “Are you going to tell me what you got Cooper?”
Cooper turned to them. “Yeah, you should let me know now just in case.”
“In case of what?” Malcolm called from his spot on the couch.
Cooper made a face. “In case I got him the same thing.”
And it was a good gift, too. Cooper was quite proud of what he’d managed to pick out. Fit in at just the edge of his budget but he knew Ryan would appreciate it. At least Cooper hoped he would. His plan was to hand it to Ryan on Christmas morning.
Ryan’s expression was blank. “Of course. Yes, of course.” He seemed to snap out of whatever had come over him. “Like hell am I going to tell you. It’s a surprise.”
Malcolm chuckled and Cooper raised an eyebrow at it.
“Where’s dad, by the way?” Cooper asked instead. He still hadn’t seen him.
Cat grinned, a familiar look of mischief Cooper recognized from better days.
“Oh, he’s putting together a surprise for you boys,” she announced, pul
ling out bowls and wax paper. “That’s for tomorrow though, so get up early. He should be back in a couple of hours.”
Ryan cast Cooper a questioning look. He shrugged. He had no idea what Joseph could be planning.
“How early is early?”
Cat made a show of shrugging. “Four, I think. Should be right.”
“Good lord,” Ryan muttered. Cat bumped his hip with hers.
“It’ll be a good experience, I promise.”
Peanut brittle wasn’t Cooper’s absolute favorite, but his mother’s recipe always took the treat to a level above good to decidedly comfort food territory. It was easy enough to make though Ryan looked, to Cooper’s amusement, worried at each turn. He mixed the ingredients while Cat prodded him about their plans for any children.
“So, you two mentioned kids. Did I hear that right?”
“Very wrong, actually.” Ryan wore a pinched expression, and Cooper imagined he looked no better. It wasn’t a conversation they should be having. Least of all him and Ryan.
She swatted at Ryan’s arm while he mixed.
“So,” Cooper said, ignoring both of them to peer into the array of bowls laid out before them, desperately needing the subject to change. He saw peanuts, walnuts, almonds; the works. “How much are you making?”
“Enough to last through to Christmas, at least. Do you have a preference, Ryan?”
Ryan slowed in his mixing. Then sped up again, and Cooper knew the look that spread over Ryan’s face. He was assuming control, and it never meant anything good for Cooper.
“I do indeed.”
“Oh, what kind?” Cat asked him.
“Cooper works magic with nuts,” Ryan replied, and Cooper fought not to smile.
“Oh!” Cat exclaimed, turning on him. “All these years of you saying you couldn’t help me with the desserts, you’d been learning from me anyway?”
“That’s my secret.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“Cooper’s nuts are the best,” Ryan continued.
Malcolm’s attention drifted to them at that, sending Cooper a curious look.
“He really knows how to handle them. Knows how to pick out the best sets by hand, even. Organic, through and through. But my God, the salt content could use some work. Delicious, but sometimes it’s just so much to swallow down. Cooper’s nuts are always the saltiest. Cooper’s nuts are probably the saltiest I’ve ever tasted.”
Malcolm’s eyebrows were to his hairline. Cooper had to bite his tongue until it hurt.
“I’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth I will admit,” Ryan went on. “I love a good candy bar. A Snickers. A Payday. I just love nuts. Salty nuts especially, and Cooper’s are just the best. They’re the saltiest and nuttiest nuts I’ve ever had in my mouth. Just perfect really.”
He hummed then, and kept stirring.
Cat launched into a discussion about the dietary information of candy bars versus organic bulk products to make your own, and did you know if you used flax seed it’s a decent substitute for eggs, and—
Ryan was nodding along, fully absorbed with Cat’s recipes he and Cooper could try when they got back.
Cooper caught Malcolm’s eye, who mouthed over to him, What the fuck?
“Oh,” came Gloria’s voice from the door, “Do I smell peanut butter?”
Just before dinner Joseph returned, and in his hands he carried a bag Cooper had only really seen in movies. He had to look twice before realizing he was right.
“Dad,” Cooper couldn’t help but say when he saw him walk in, shrugging out of his winter jacket, “why do you have a bag of rifles with you?”
Joseph nodded his hello to Cooper and Ryan—now sitting beside him on his phone since Gloria had replaced him to bob and weave around Cat as they made the finishing touches on dinner. He ignored Malcolm, and went to set the bag on the dining table.
“Your mother didn’t tell you?” Joseph asked, lips tilted up. He surely seemed in better spirits than Malcolm had made him think. Cooper tried to gauge his brother’s reaction but he was still sat on the couch, decidedly ignoring them in return.
“She did not.”
“I’m taking you boys out hunting. I picked up the temp license this morning when we got in, but these,” he said, waving at the rifles, “took a little while longer.”
Ryan and Malcolm’s attention drew up at that.
“What exactly are we hunting?” Cooper asked, wary.
Ryan let out a breath. “That can’t be legal.”
“Blacktail deer. They’re plentiful this season, so I thought it’d be a good bonding experience.”
“Bonding,” Malcolm echoed. He rose and went to unzip the bag and peaked inside. “Jesus.”
“You’ve never taken us hunting in our lives,” Cooper reminded their father. “Your idea of bonding is driving us past your favorite bars.”
Joseph had the grace to look away from them at that. Cat tutted at them.
“All that’s in the past,” she stated firmly. “Now we—”
“Kill animals for fun?” Malcolm’s eyebrows were drawn together.
“One deer,” Joseph said. “We’ll use the meat for Christmas dinner. Make it special.”
Ryan’s hand found Cooper’s knee under the counter they sat at. He tapped twice and squeezed. When Cooper met his eyes Ryan shook his head just enough for Cooper to see it. Thankfully, Joseph missed it.
“We could just go fishing,” Malcolm said. He looked pale. “I can do a mean fish fry.”
Joseph frowned. “When I was a boy my father took me hunting a few times. It’s good to pass down to your sons.”
“Hunting is a barbaric practice engaged in by our ancestors and those without the means to access a grocery. Hunting for fun is worse. As we fall into neither category, I believe a fishing excursion to be the most beneficial to your sons,” Gloria said easily, matter of fact. Cooper suspected she was going into CEO mode. “Besides, I believe it would be nice to spend the afternoon doing something all of us can partake in, as one big family, right?”
Ryan gripped Cooper’s knee so hard he knew he’d find bruises later.
Cat and Joseph both sighed, Cat’s sounding only a touch more exasperated.
“What did you have in mind?” Cooper asked.
Gloria turned to him, effortlessly avoiding a collision with Cat as she set out plates. “Well, if we’re going to Eaglecrest Christmas day, would it not be fun to do something out of the ordinary for Christmas Eve? Perhaps the Mendenhall Glacier?”
Cat’s mouth fell open. “Oh, I did want to see that before we left. How about we do that tomorrow afternoon while you all fish? Malcolm can teach you!”
Malcolm nodded emphatically. Even pat Joseph on the back, as if to say it was alright to relinquish this one thing. “It’s too late for most salmon, but we can definitely track down some char. Trout definitely.”
Needless to say, they were all more comfortable waking early to fish and go glacier viewing than hunting, no matter how much Joseph quietly grumbled about it.
“You’re gonna wear that thing to fish in?” Malcolm voiced, eyeing Ryan like he was very confused. “Have you never been fishing before?”
A glower was all the answer Malcolm needed before he was rolling his eyes.
Ryan was wearing a dark suit and shades. Malcolm had on mud pants tucked into knee high rubber boots, a life vest and a wide-brimmed sun hat.
“I don’t think we’re going catfish baiting either,” Cooper told his brother, gesturing to his clothes. “You both look ridiculous.”
Ryan and Malcolm turned on him. “Hey,” they echoed, glaring next at one another.
Cooper laughed and went to pick out a life vest for himself. He handed one to Ryan. Cooper waved his hands aside and took the liberty of pulling Ryan’s straps closed, tugging him forward to plant a kiss square on his mouth.
Ryan’s lips twitched up.
“I want you to ride my face tonight,” Cooper murmured low, reveling in the flus
h that spread over Ryan’s cheeks.
“That.” Ryan cleared his throat. “That can be arranged.”
Cooper gave him a parting kiss on the cheek before leading them onto the boat. Ryan wobbled, but found his footing quicker than Malcolm seemed to expect.
“You’re both going to regret not having hats. Doesn’t matter how cold or cloudy it is; you’ll burn. Probably really bad in overcast weather like this.”
Malcolm told them to pick out their fishing poles. Ryan hesitated, considering each one and its individual merits. Malcolm sighed and shoved one each into their waiting hands, saving them the choice altogether.
Joseph brought up the rear in jeans, a shirt, and a hat to Malcolm’s eager finger wagging. “See, he gets it.”
Joseph smiled when he took them in, apparently in better spirits than last night. He set down the pole and bucket of bait he was carrying and, to Cooper’s surprise, clapped Ryan on the back.
“You ever been fishing before?”
Ryan shook his head, lips thin.
“Malcolm always took to it better than me, but I can teach you some things even he can’t just yet.”
“I resent that,” Malcolm breathed, shrugging at his back.
“If I can’t teach you to hunt I can at least add some pointers about fishing, stop your griping.”
“Dad, I swear—”
While Joseph and Malcolm bickered, Cooper drew Ryan aside.
“I’m sorry about all this,” Cooper sighed, squeezing Ryan’s wrist gently. “I know it’s a lot.”
Ryan tilted his head, watching them. His eyes went soft.
“I don’t know,” Ryan muttered, thoughtful. “It’s kind of nice.”
Cooper started to realize what Malcolm meant by their father turning…sad. Pathetic, he had said. Cooper knew Joseph was pathetic a long time before that, in a lot of different ways. But it was neither here nor there, and an opinion better left unvoiced if he wanted the rest of their trip to be as peaceful as it had been.
But still, something about how Joseph was different didn’t strike Cooper as sadness. The lack of anger was there, sure, but sadness seemed just a note off. Something else had to be going on.
Cooper left Malcolm to teach Ryan how to fix his reel. He drew up beside Joseph, hands in his pockets, his own pole sat comfortably on the bench.
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