River Town Box Set

by Grant C. Holland

  Brody took pride in the staff he managed at the Home Pro store. Lower level positions were subject to frequent turnover before he took over the store manager position three years earlier. However, since he began, he lost only four employees. One of those was a long-term assistant who celebrated a tenth anniversary just before Brody took over, and the other three were all high school students who worked for just over a year before leaving town for college.

  He was cornered by the store’s secretary, Lacey Metzger, less than five minutes after arriving. She said, “Mr. Sexton, they could really use your help out back. We’re filling a huge order of lumber, and only Ed and Seb are here to help load. I heard Ed grumble, ‘Of course this is the morning he decided to take off.’”

  Brody frowned. He knew that Lacey meant no harm, but she often shared information about co-workers that he didn’t need to know. She cringed as she said, “That’s something I wasn’t supposed to share, wasn’t it?”

  With a slight shake of his head, Brody answered, “Yes, and maybe Ed’s right. It was poor timing. Was the pickup on the schedule before today?”

  Lacey nodded in the affirmative. “Yes, Sir.”

  He laughed softly. “I make mistakes just like the rest of you.”

  Brody stuck his head inside his small, cluttered office and set the bag containing the deli sandwich he bought for dinner on the desk. He was eager to help with a physical task. He needed it to help take his mind off the topic of cemeteries and death.

  Sebastian Hansen’s tenure at Home Pro outstripped that of any of his coworkers by eight years. He was the third person hired when the store opened twenty-three years before Brody took over management. He was in his 50s, but his body showed few signs of wear and tear. He was six foot three inches tall, and two hundred twenty pounds of muscle hung on his frame. Seb tossed fifty-pound bags around with ease and eagerly spent most of his time loading and unloading stock behind the store.

  When he wasn’t overwhelmed by the everyday minutiae of running the store, Brody loved to talk to Seb. His family stretched back at least five generations in town, and Seb seemed to know everyone and everyone’s business.

  He called to Ed and Seb as he exited the rear of the store. They were carrying long two-by-fours to a flatbed truck.

  “Hey, Boss, you gonna give us a little assistance here?” asked Ed.

  Brody brushed his hands down his flannel shirt and jeans. “Of course. Have you got a lot left to load?”

  “Whatta you say, Seb? About halfway there?”

  “Halfway,” echoed Seb. He turned toward Brody and said, “This is for the Olsens. They’re putting up a pole barn on their farm up north of town. I think it’s the first improvement on that land in maybe thirty years. Lacey said she suggested us as the vendor for the lumber.”

  As Seb spoke with authority about the project, a light bulb switched on in Brody’s head. He joined in carrying wood and said, “Seb, I have something I want to ask you when we’re finished loading.”

  “Are you in trouble, big man?” asked Ed. “Did they finally catch you loafing on the job?”

  Brody shook his head. “Seb’s not in trouble, but I have a question to ask. It’s not related to work, so this job is my first priority.”

  “Aw, go ahead and ask,” said Ed. “I’m nosy. It’s what I do.”

  Brody laughed. “Yes, it’s what you do well. I’ve heard the stories.”

  Ed growled, and then he laughed. The tight-knit camaraderie at his store was the element Brody liked best about his work. With the three of them working together, the job was complete within fifteen minutes. As Brody peeled the work gloves from his hands, Ed reached up for a high-five. He said, “Hey, thanks, Boss. That was a big help, and I’m sure the Olsens are gonna be happy to get out of here a lot earlier than they expected.”

  Brody said, “Why don’t you go take a break? Seb and I will be inside in just a few minutes.”

  As they walked toward the far corner of the store’s small lumber yard, Seb asked, “Is this something serious? I’m confused, Boss. I can’t think of anything out of the usual I’ve done in the last month. I keep my head down and do my best work.”

  “As I said, it’s not about work, and I’m sorry to take up break time, but you know a lot about people around town.”

  Seb grinned and showed off a mouth of slightly crooked teeth. He said, “Go ahead and ask. I just spend my breaks yakking away, so this ain’t anything new. I guess I do know a lot. Sally at that museum downtown said someday she should write down all of my stories.”

  Brody thought that expecting Seb to know anything about his great-uncle was like throwing a last-minute “Hail Mary” pass in a football game, but he decided to ask his question anyway. “Did you know a Clyde Miller in town? He would have been older than my mom, so maybe ten, fifteen years older than you.”

  “Miller. That’s part of your family isn’t it, Boss?”

  “Yes, my mom was a Miller. Clyde was her uncle. He was my great-uncle.”

  “Lots of Millers around, but Clyde. That’s an unusual first name.” Seb tapped his index finger against his head.

  Brody waved a hand and said, “Don’t worry about it. I need to get back in the office, and I’ll let you get back to your work. It was a shot in the dark anyway.”

  Seb reached out and gripped Brody’s arm. “No, Boss, wait a second. I think I do remember him. Clyde Miller. I think he went to high school with my oldest sister. She’s ten years older than me. Would that be about right? He had sort of sandy brown hair. He wasn’t that distinctive in appearance, but he kept himself up well.”

  Brody blinked and stopped in his tracks. “It could be, yeah.”

  “If you don’t mind me saying, he had that sharp Roman nose like you, Boss. Most of the Millers have that.”

  Brody knew that he was on the right track after the comment about his nose. He had dates who thought it was sexy and couldn’t stop themselves from stroking it and kids in school who teased him mercilessly about it. “So did you know him, Seb?”

  “I wouldn’t say I knew him myself, but I occasionally heard stories about him. He worked for the newspaper. I think he wrote general news articles, and I remember they were signed, ‘C.M.’ He was a bit of a loner. I heard that he spent a lot of weekends in the Twin Cities.”

  “How did you know that?”

  Seb shrugged. “Word gets around I guess. My sister liked him, but he ignored her. She always said she felt a little bad for him. She didn’t know if he had any close friends. If you don’t mind me asking, how is he doing these days? Did he finally move to Minneapolis?”

  Brody said, “He passed away.”

  An expression of shock appeared on Seb’s face. He asked, “Was it sudden? I’m so sorry for your family.”

  “It was years ago. I didn’t know him well, but I’m finding out more.”

  “And you just lost your mother, too.” Seb opened his arms to reach for a hug. He smiled and said, “Even bosses need hugs sometimes.”

  Brody wrapped his arms tight around Seb. He followed a policy of staying distant enough from employees to avoid conflicts due to friendship, but he didn’t divorce himself from providing support to each other through the ups and downs of life. “Thank you, Seb. It is rough, but I’m making it through each day. You know, I’m not sure my head has figured out yet that she is gone and not coming back.”

  Seb kept his arms wrapped tight and whispered, “That’s the way it works, Boss. Grief is a strange thing. I lost a brother just before you took over the store. A drunk driver crossed the median and hit him on the highway just outside of Red Wing. One day he was around, and the next he was gone. About four months later, I woke up one morning and I couldn’t get out of bed. It was like somebody tied heavy bowling balls all over my body.”

  Pulling back from the hug, Brody stared into Seb’s eyes. “How did you deal with that?”

  “I was good to myself,” said Seb. “I told myself if I made it to the bathroom three times t
hat day, I was doing well. I took it one step at a time, and I slowly got better. It didn’t take too long. I still miss him all the time, but life goes on. You know?”

  Brody clapped Seb on the back. “It does go on, and I know there is a lot of it still to come for me. I miss getting to tell Mom the high points.”

  “She’s buried somewhere?”

  Brody nodded. “Down in the cemetery by the river. I’ve been there several times already.”

  “Then go right down there and tell her, Boss. When you have something to say, go and tell her. She’ll hear. Make sure you let her know that you finally found that good man that deserves you. You know, when it happens.” Seb grinned showing off his teeth again. He said, “You’re a good man, Boss. You’re the best I’ve worked for. Lacey said the same thing just the other day. Someone is out there. I’ve got to find my good woman, and you need a good man.”

  6

  Dak

  Brody phoned Dak just an hour before he planned to stop by and help pack the last of Dak’s apartment into his rented storage unit. “Hey, this really sucks. I can’t make it to help pack your things up. I thought I could leave at four, and then Jess called in, and she’s sick. I’m stuck here until eight. I could try for tomorrow if that helps.”

  Dak said, “It’s no problem. You just have to make me a promise. We’re getting together on Thursday night before I board the tow on Friday. We’re keeping our tradition, okay? I need the company, and I won’t let you back out.”

  He couldn’t remember the last time he missed seeing Brody the day before he hit the boat. For the two most recent months, they had lunch before he left instead of spending the evening together. Dak was obligated to spend the evenings with Lewis. Their relationship was still wrapped in early infatuation the first month, and things were starting to feel creaky just before the second.

  For the two most recent weeks since he last got off the boat, there was nothing but dangerous fireworks between them. Lewis planned a week off from work, and every day seemed to bring a new argument or ominous silence. Dak refused to spend his last night on dry ground with Lewis for a third month in a row. With Brody, he could laugh and drink and generally have a good time. Trying to spend it with Lewis would only result in another shouting match with glass or ceramic objects shattering on the floor.

  As he wedged his TV between soft cushions in the back end of the truck beneath his topper, Dak scanned the load to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything behind. The apartment came with the basics of a bed, kitchen table and chairs, and an ugly, ratty sofa. The sofa worried him. He always thought some sort of insect or vermin could come crawling out of it. At other times, he thought maybe he’d watched a few too many scary movies.

  Dak had his own aging loveseat. He brought it out of storage to use and pushed the sofa back against a wall. He laughed to himself thinking about when he nearly knocked Brody to the floor to keep him from sitting on the ratty couch. Instead, they wedged in next to each other on the loveseat and swigged beer while watching people cook on cable TV.

  The loveseat cushions protected the TV as Dak drove across town. For the current two weeks on shore, Dak left half of his belongings in storage. It felt like he brought fewer and fewer things out to use in an apartment each time. He wondered if he might eventually pare everything down to just the two pieces of luggage he took with him for the boat.

  Dak had three nights left on shore, and he opted to live a spartan life in his apartment before leaving. He could have waited to move belongings into storage, but Dak hated doing anything at the last minute. He preferred living with the sheets for his bed, two towels, a laptop computer, and the two weeks worth of clothes he would take with him to the river.

  It left little to do in the evening at the apartment other than watch TV shows and movies on the computer. That lasted about an hour before Dak retired to the bedroom and pulled up some of his favorite porn clips. He liked a long, lean, hungry look in models, and he wished he could find something with a story. He liked the idea of basketball players hooking up after winning the championship.

  The story was Dak’s whole reason for reading romances. He loved a plot with the sex. He knew a lot of guys only wanted the sex, but for Dak, the story made it twice as exciting. In real life, the sex was good with Lewis, but the story was painful. A good fuck was never worth that kind of suffering.

  After looking for something new, Dak settled on clips he’d seen dozens of times before. Some nights were perfect for old reliable material. He laid back on the bed and slowly peeled off his T-Shirt. He folded it up and laid it to his side on the queen-sized bed. Closing his eyes, Dak let his rough fingers roam over his toned pecs teasing at the wispy red hairs that spread across his chest.

  He imagined someone else touching his body as he closed his eyes and set the laptop to the side on top of the T-Shirt. It was two large hands gentle at first and then more firm. They began to knead at his flesh not unlike the one erotic massage he had a few years back when he decided on an unplanned, spontaneous weekend in St. Paul.

  The picture in his mind involved just hands at first, but soon more elements became clear. Instead of lying on a massage table, he found himself reclining on a pool table in a bar. Dak was very familiar with his exhibitionistic streak down inside although he’d never indulged it.

  As his fantasy progressed, he was no longer just shirtless. His body was totally naked while everyone else in the bar was clothed. Dak looked down toward his waist. He was fully aroused and he watched the hands continue to move over his body. They gripped and tugged at the hard muscle of his thighs. Finally, one hand began to stroke him. He laid flat on the table and closed his eyes for a moment.

  When he opened them again, he saw a familiar face smiling down. Brody didn’t speak. He only caressed Dak’s body. While he fantasized about Brody, Dak closed his eyes and touched himself. He jerked his cock thinking about Brody’s long, slim fingers.

  In the fantasy, Brody’s T-Shirt clung tight across his chest. Dak glanced down at his friend’s waist. The bulge in the jeans was readily apparent. Dak stretched a hand out to discover that Brody was rock hard, too.

  Dak stroked himself more furiously. He could feel himself moving toward the edge. His balls began to ride up tight as his breathing grew faster and shallower. It wasn’t the first time he’d fantasized about his friend, and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. Brody was handsome in a relaxed, humble way. He was one of the quiet guys, and Dak guessed that he could be an animal in bed.

  Dak kept his eyes shut tight as Brody leaned down. His lips neared Dak’s, and, just as they were to touch, Dak yelled out. The creamy, white fluid flowed down over his hand as his cock erupted. He gasped for breath while his body shuddered. It was a powerful orgasm. It was one of the strongest since he got off the boat.

  When Dak opened his eyes, Brody faded from view. It was almost like turning a TV off. Dak’s breathing slowed, and he felt a familiar ache in the pit of his stomach. He remembered seeing Brody naked in the high school locker room. He was slim, but his body was fit and well formed. He was long, lean and wiry. Brody’s chest was nearly smooth, and Dak ached to touch the bare skin.

  In the dozen years since graduation, he’d never seen Brody naked again. He only caught glimpses when Brody pulled his T-Shirt up to wipe away sweat in the summer heat. Brody had a thin, dark trail of hair above and below his navel. One time when Dak couldn’t help but stare at the trail of hair disappearing beneath the waist of Brody’s jeans, Brody asked, “What are you looking at?”

  Dak responded with a degree of honesty. “Is it okay if I think my friend has a hot body?”

  He remembered Brody’s blush as he responded, “Aw, I’m just a skinny guy. You’re the one that’s built. Just go look at yourself in the mirror. I’m sure it’s a whole lot more interesting.”

  Maybe to someone else it would be, but Brody was wrong about Dak. He longed to take a good long look at Brody’s bare flesh once again. He knew that he wouldn’t be able
to stop with just looking.

  Dak climbed out of bed, went to the bathroom and cleaned himself up. It didn’t take long to drift off to sleep after he slipped back into bed.

  Dak heard his alarm buzz at 7:00 a.m., and it was almost like the night had passed in the time it took to snap one’s fingers. Dak didn’t need to wake up so early, but he was retraining himself to respond to an alarm. For the first week off the boat, he always let himself sleep without it. However, he needed to respond quickly to an alarm while waking up on the boat.

  Dak sat on the side of the bed and raked his fingers through his coarse, wavy red hair. He grunted, “Fuck, whomever invented mornings needs to be taken out back and shot.”

  His dishes were all packed away in the storage unit, so he needed to pick up fast food or visit one of the local diners for breakfast. Dak lifted his cell phone from the nightstand, and, for a moment, he considered punching in Lewis’ number for a last-minute effort at pulling everything back together.

  Then he stopped himself. It was over, and he needed to accept the fact. Real life wasn’t a romance novel, and there was nothing remaining worth fighting for with Lewis. He took three deep breaths. It was more than six months since the last time he climbed aboard the tow without leaving a boyfriend behind. Multiple relationships fell apart while he was on the boat, and the boyfriends discovered someone else before Dak returned. A few lasted longer like Lewis, but when the relationships finally ended, Dak felt compelled to find someone else before leaving town.

  A sudden chill raised the hairs on his forearms. Dak was nearly thirty with no prospects on the horizon. That wasn’t the expectation when he left high school, secured a job on the river with a solid pay scale, and planned to live with a partner in one of those bungalows just blocks away from the riverfront.

  He never considered the months away to be an insurmountable obstacle to the success of a relationship. He had cousins in the military and their marriages survived while they were deployed overseas. Their wives gave birth to babies, and they were welcomed home with open arms. Dak knew that no one would be waiting for him when he climbed back onshore the next time.