Love Lives Again

by Jerry Cole

  “Yeah, thanks to Jack and a few other friends, we managed to fill in the gaps. He had two people call in, and he was about to hyperventilate.”

  “Poor guy… that just has to be the worst.” Leslie downed the last of her latte and stood up. “Okay, I need to get to a meeting before my partner has a heart attack over this stupid fishery lawsuit. Tell Luke to call me, and I’ll get this ball rolling.” She grabbed her coat and laptop bag and vanished into the misty Seattle afternoon.

  Jack glanced at his watch. “Yeah, I should probably get back to work myself.”

  Anya grinned. “I love working for myself sometimes. I might just stay here and work for a while.”

  “Rub it in why don’t you.” Jack grabbed his own coat and headed into the crowd outside. His office was just a block from the coffee shop, and his bosses weren’t exactly concerned with where he went or what he did, as long as whatever they wanted to be done was done on time and to specifications. Winter was their slow season because construction in the cold and the wet wasn’t exactly desirable. He made his way into the building’s fancy marble foyer and, from there, into the elevators, where his badge got him up to the 11th floor.

  He wasn’t positive that he was doing the right thing by dragging Luke into something that he maybe didn’t actually want, but he was worried that if he didn’t try and do something, Luke was going to work himself into an early grave. Beyond the fact that he didn’t want anyone to be in that position, Jack was more than a little attracted to the guy. He was grumpy and irritable and exhausted, but underneath all that, Jack could tell there was a lot more. People always looked at him and expected him to be gruff and manly all the time. They were always shocked he had a fondness for baking and a generally sweet, accommodating, and gentle disposition. His military service had been brutal and violent (though thankfully short), and he much preferred the person he was outside of that life and saw no reason to put on a front, so other people’s preconceptions weren’t challenged. Yes, he could be arrogant. Yes, he could be commanding when it was necessary. But at the end of the day, he was more than happy not to be that person.

  Jack was good at reading people. He always had been, and when his life had depended on it in the army, he’d gotten even more perceptive. Luke was someone he wanted around more.

  They had been texting back and forth since the wedding and had set a date for dinner that Thursday. It was, thankfully, Luke’s slow season. Summer was over, and he had not yet hit the wall of office Christmas parties that dominated most of December. Jack tried not to get ahead of himself about it, and he worked to remember that this was just a first date, but it was hard not to fixate and daydream… at least a little.

  He was, fundamentally, a romantic. Anya would punch him and claim he was casting himself as some kind of white knight and tell him to get his head out of his ass. He needed to be careful not to put Luke in a position where he felt he couldn’t say no to Jack, out of gratitude, which would be an absolute nightmare.

  Jack’s phone beeped with an urgent email, and he quickly put the mess out of his mind.

  ***

  Luke had been expecting the call from Leslie since Jack had texted him earlier with a warning, but he certainly hadn’t been prepared for it. His stomach sank as he felt his phone buzz.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi! Is this Lucas Hong?”

  “Yes, speaking.”

  “Wonderful! I’m Leslie, I’m sure Jack told you I would be calling. Listen, I did some digging into this case, and I am shocked you haven’t had a thousand lawyers offer to try this thing already because… holy shit.”

  Luke stepped away from the kitchen and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I mean, I did. But I didn’t know who was reputable and who was just a scumbag, and I was overwhelmed at the time trying to keep everything together.” He wandered into the storage area where they kept spare tables, linens, glassware, chairs, plates, and other assorted baubles that had occasionally come in handy. There was also, inexplicably, a fake ice sculpture of a swan.

  “Oh, that’s totally understandable.” Leslie’s tone was kind. “But listen, Jack said the business is in a bit of hot water and that you’re understaffed, and I’m telling you now that lawsuits take time and energy, so I’m hoping I can talk you into accepting a loan so you can hire some more people? This isn’t going to be easy, and if you’re already drowning, this is going to make it that much worse.” Her voice was a rapid-fire staccato that was easy to understand and clear, but almost felt jarring to listen to. Luke’s head was already spinning.

  “But… what if I lose the case and can’t pay it back?”

  “I’m reasonably sure we won’t lose this case. Even with the fact that half of King county is bought and paid for by that fucking family, I’m willing to bet nobody will risk their entire careers on this case. There’s just too much evidence. Yeah, the prosecutor wasn’t willing to try it, but honestly, the family should have just handed you several million dollars immediately if they were smart.”

  “Still… Maybe this isn’t a good idea…”

  “Let’s meet in person to discuss this, on Friday. I work for a large firm, and I’m sure someone knows someone who can figure out how to get you a loan.

  “Just consider it, okay? Figure out how much you’d need to get on better footing and be able to hire some more people. And I’ll text you the time for Friday if you’re free?”

  “Yeah… yeah, I should be. We don’t have any events this weekend.”

  “Great! See you then.” She hung up.

  Luke had the feeling that he was now caught up in a tornado, and there was not a damn thing he could do about it. Leslie seemed nice enough, if a little bit scary, but the idea of taking a loan still made him nervous. Especially from Jack. It would be one thing to get money from a bank or something, but he doubted his ability to convince a bank to loan him so much as a pen.

  He sank down against the wall, sighing, and put his head on his knees.

  “Luke? What’s wrong?” Nate asked from the doorway. He came further into the room.

  Luke didn’t look up. This was the second time in days he’d been caught by another man having a meltdown, and it was getting old. At least Nate knew him well enough to have seen this before. “I… I found a lawyer. Or rather, that guy from the wedding last week found me a lawyer. And she wants me to accept a loan so I can hire more people so I can actually meet with her regularly and file the lawsuit against the guy who killed my parents.”

  “Whoa.” Nate came over and sat down next to him. “So… wait. Why did that guy know anything about this?”

  “I told him… more than I should have. When he bailed us out after we were short staffed? I just had a moment of weakness, and he was sympathetic.”

  “And you’re lonely.”

  Luke sighed. “Yeah.”

  Nate heard Luke’s head thump against the wall. “He looks familiar. Every freaking time I look at him I keep thinking I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

  “He won some baking competition. I think I told you that.”

  Nate hummed agreement and then went silent for a moment. “You’re crushing on him, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah. He’s so damn… nice.”

  Nate laughed at that. “Doesn’t hurt that he’s good-looking and appears to have money and a stable job.”

  Luke sighed even harder. “Don’t remind me. He kissed me. And asked me to dinner. And I said yes.”

  “Wait, why do you sound upset about this?” Nate sounded genuinely baffled. “He’s wealthy, trying desperately to help you save the business despite you being a stubborn twit about it, and he found you a lawyer. Now you’re telling me he kissed you with a tone that you’d use when talking about mussels that aren’t fresh.”

  “Because I’m a fucking disaster, Nate, Christ.”

  “He knows that, though. You told him about the money problems, and I’m sure he can extrapolate that you’re kind of neurotic after the wedding mess.”

>   “Thank you for your vote of confidence,” he replied wryly.

  “What? You know I love you, dude. But you’re not calm, and you’re not good at handling changes in plans gracefully. And you’re sitting next to a stack of champagne glasses and looking like you’re going to put on some emo music and give yourself a bad haircut.”

  “Why am I friends with you?”

  “Because I knew you when you really did have an emo haircut.” Nate put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in for a side hug. “Listen. What I’m trying to say is that this guy probably guesses that there are some… wrinkles in your life right now. Dealing with the sudden deaths of your parents and then trying to keep their business together despite everything would be traumatic and difficult for anyone, and you’re managing. But you’re also smart, creative, good-looking, and really, really funny when you’re not stressed out and sleep-deprived. So maybe take the money and let these people help you. Your parents wouldn’t have wanted you living like this, and I think you know that.”

  Luke sighed and put his head back to look at his oldest friend. “Thanks, Nate. I appreciate it.”

  “Any time. I know you don’t want to accept help, but you can’t keep going like this forever. You’re gonna kill yourself. And hey… maybe let this guy save your ass. He seems the type to enjoy that role.”

  Luke looked sour again. “What if he’s doing it to manipulate me? I don’t want to end up with some jackass—”

  “He didn’t come across as the controlling type to me at all, Luke.”

  “You barely said five words to him.”

  “Yeah, but you said yourself, I’m good at reading people.”

  “You just want me to get laid, take the money, and give you a raise.”

  “I want what’s best for you, and also yes a raise, but if you get even a hint of him being a manipulative jerk, then bail. It wouldn’t be the first time we found ourselves in a new hole right after we climbed out of the old one.”

  They both laughed, then lapsed into silence for a few minutes. Finally, Luke stood up. “Well, I guess I’ll get ahold of my accountant and figure out exactly how much we’d need to be solvent.”

  “And then call Jack and pour on the charm.”

  Luke looked at Nate blankly. “We’re in trouble if I have to be charming.”

  Chapter Seven

  Luke hadn’t done a lot of dating, but he was fairly used to the current trend of ‘don’t go somewhere expensive, be ready to share the cost, and run at the first sign of trouble.’ He had suggested they meet at one of the cheaper tapas bars downtown, figuring that maybe Jack would realize his mistake when faced with Luke while sober, and tapas bars were easy to escape from quickly.

  Jack had agreed, and Luke had found him standing outside the restaurant right at seven. He was wearing tight, dark jeans, a black button down, and a leather aviator jacket that would have looked absurd on most men, but seemed to suit him perfectly. He grinned as soon as he spotted Luke walking up the sidewalk, and Luke swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. Jack wasn’t movie-star attractive, but he was good-looking and confident in a way that was just effortless.

  “Hey, glad you could make it,” Jack murmured as soon as he was within speaking distance, still grinning.

  “Yeah, it’s good to see you again when I’m not covered in potatoes.” Luke dithered for a second, then decided that caution was pointless, and moved in closer, making the invitation clear.

  Jack grinned even wider under his thick beard, then leaned in and gave him a quick, close-mouthed kiss. “I’m even gladder you let me do that. You look good.”

  “You too.” Luke pushed his glasses up his nose, hoping the dim light would hide his blush. He was wearing a dark purple sweater with a pair of black slacks and a black leather jacket his mother had bought him last Christmas when he complained about how cold Vancouver was.

  They headed into the restaurant and were seated a minute later. Any concern that Luke had that they wouldn’t have anything to talk about, quickly vanished when Jack smiled at him with that disarming, charming quirk to his lips. It was just infuriating how good he was at that.

  Luke felt a little like he was out of his league, but they fell into an argument about fondant and why Jack hated it, and before Luke knew it, they were both done eating, and they had been talking for two hours.

  Luke looked around at the restaurant. “So… um. We should get out of here. But I don’t actually want to say goodbye… do you maybe want to follow me back to my place? I have a couple of bottles of wine a family gave me…”

  “Sure, though my place is a bit closer from what you’ve described…”

  Luke blushed a little. “Well, the thing is, I kind of need to feed my cat. He’s on a restricted diet, and if he doesn’t eat on time, he’ll get sick and make a mess.”

  Jack just laughed. “I didn’t realize you had a cat.”

  “He belonged to my parents before the accident, and he’s just such a friendly old-man cat that I couldn’t really think of getting rid of him. He’s kind of aloof around strangers, but I love him.”

  “Then text me your address, and I’ll meet you there.”

  ***

  Jack looked around the house and realized it looked exactly like it had when Luke’s parents were alive. Jack couldn’t imagine a man his own age who had lived in the United States his entire life decorating with such a mishmash of 1980s colors and Chinese knick-knacks. The furniture all looked worn, and most of it was beige. The cabinets in the kitchen were a hideous oak finish with brass hardware.

  Luke started to laugh. “Your face is priceless. You’re such a snob, you know that?”

  “Sorry, just… brass? Luke, come on… and the cabinets… they need to be painted at least.”

  “The whole house needs to be gutted and redone, I know. But I don’t have the time to do it myself or the money to pay someone else, so it’s just gonna stay ugly for now.”

  “I’m pretty handy, you know. Worked with my dad as a contractor in high school.”

  Luke snorted. “That’s a fuck load of work, and we’ve had exactly one dinner. I’m not letting you gut my kitchen.”

  “I hear a ‘yet’ at the end of that sentence.” Jack slid a hand down Luke’s back. “Like maybe a few more dinners, and you’ll let me destroy your house.”

  “We’ll see. You don’t even know me that well. How can you possibly want to get stuck in a project like that?”

  Jack just grinned. “I’m a good judge of character.”

  “I get the sense you weren’t always a cake-baking civil engineer with a penchant for aerobic dance classes.” Luke sighed and partly opened one eye to look at him. “Same with Anya and Ricky and about half of the people at that wedding.”

  Jack took a long drag from his beer. “What gave you that idea?”

  “I’m not an idiot, and I lived in San Diego long enough to run into more than a few SEALs over the years. You have the same… aura? I guess? Not in a woo kind of way, but in a… you won’t sit in a restaurant with your back to a door kind of way. It’s a vibe.”

  “We weren’t in the Navy. Rick and I were both in the special forces, and Anya was a medic we met in the middle of a mission. But yeah, I know what you’re trying to say.” He sighed and leaned his head back on the couch to look at the ceiling. It was a popcorn ceiling someone had painted several times, and he mentally added it to the list of ‘things to fix if Luke ever lets me.’ Popcorn ceilings that had been painted were a pain in the ass.

  Luke moved over to fit himself against Jack’s side almost tentatively, and Jack lifted his arm. “You don’t need to tell me anything. I was just curious.”

  “No, it’s a fair question. If we’re… you have a right to know these things.”

  “I don’t have a ‘right’ to know anything. I want to know if you’re willing to tell me, but if you’re not comfortable talking about it, we won’t. That simple.”

  Jack sighed. “Yeah, I usually don’t mind talking
about it, but I think I’m just too tired to tell you the whole story right now. It isn’t too long, but it isn’t fun.”

  Luke hummed agreement. “Then tell me about this baking competition you were in. You’ve had to listen to the whole crazy story of my life, but all I know about you would fit on an index card.”

  Now Jack laughed, and some of the tension went out of his shoulders. “It was supposed to be a joke. Eve entered me when she saw the ad on the internet. It was just the American version of that famous British show everyone loves, and she knew I’d been baking a lot, and she figured maybe I might get a callback or something.”

  “You got more than a call?” Luke prompted.

  “They wanted me on because they figured the story was good, though they kept what I actually did in the military very vague. A big tough war hero comes home and bakes scones. I think they figured I would be eliminated within a round or two, and I got close to leaving a few times, but then I got the hang of things.”

  “And you won.”

  Jack nodded, blushing under his beard. “I wasn’t the best baker in the tent, but I was the one who operated best under very stressful conditions, and when we had to make a shit load of caramel in the middle of a monsoon… that was what made the difference. I was nervous and anxious, but I didn’t panic, and I finished my cake and all of the sugar work on time.”

  Luke laughed. “I need to watch that season. I want to see you covered in flour and doing sugar work.”

  Jack finally looked down into Luke’s face and grinned. “I look forward to making a mess of your kitchen.”

  It was Luke’s turn to blush. “I think I want you to make a mess of me first.”

  “That can definitely be arranged,” Jack murmured, turning his head to look at Luke, smiling a little more confidently.

  ***

  Luke leaned up, Jack leaned down, and they kissed. There were no fireworks and the world didn’t shift on its axis, but for the first time in a long time, Luke relaxed and stopped thinking. This was right. This was what he was supposed to be doing. Nothing else was important at that moment. Jack’s cologne was something that smelled like sandalwood, and the tip of his nose was cold. His beard wasn’t scratchy like Luke had expected, which was a pleasant surprise. He had never been able to grow facial hair and honestly it was probably for the best.